STUDY GUIDE for Chapters 9, 10 & 11/12
Use the following as a guide to what you need to know for these chapters. You will also need
to study your text and notes from class. Know the visual characteristics of each of the
referenced images in this study guide - including title/name of image and the specific era to
which it belongs. Be familiar with the significance of the image and how it relates to the era.
Chapter 9: Early Medieval in Western Europe – c. 500 to 1000 CE
Vocabulary:
Charlemagne, cloisonné, scriptorium, interlace, cloister, monastery, illumination (and
illuminated manuscript), Odo of Metz, Bishop Bernward
Concepts:
Describe the rich blend of motifs in early Medieval art, as evidenced by works such as
the cloissoné purse cover from the Sutton Hoo burial and the animal headpost from the
Osberg burial ship.
Who was Charlemagne? What were some of the important social constructs and reforms
instituted during the Carolingian era?
What is an illuminated manuscript, and why were these important treasures during this
period?
Who was Bishop Bernward, and what is he known for creating?
Images:
Mihrāb Dome, the Great Mosque, Córdoba, Spain, Early Medieval (Islamic)
Animal headpost, from the Burial Ship, Oseberg, Norway
Early Medieval (Vikings)
Sutton Hoo purse cover, from burial ship, England
Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon)
Interior of Palace Chapel of Charlemagne, (Odo of Metz, architect), Aachen, Germany
Early Medieval (Carolingian)
Adam and Eve Reproached by God, from the Doors of Bishop Bernward, Abbey Church
of Saint Michael, Hildesheim
Early Medieval (Ottonian)
Chapter 10: Romanesque - Western Europe – c. 1050 to 1150 CE
Vocabulary:
ambulatory, archivolts, chevrons, embroidery, Evangelist, relic, reliquary, trumeau,
tympanum, jamb, mandorla, portal, Santiago de Compostela, Crusades, pilgrimage,
feudalism, Gislebertus
Concepts:
What do the Crusades and holy pilgrimage have to do with the development of
Romanesque church architecture?
What are the main parts of a church portal, and what did portal sculpture communicate to
the pilgrims who paused in front of a western portal?
What is the subject matter of the Bayeux Tapestry, and who commissioned it? What
technique was used to execute it and who probably created it?
Who are the four Evangelists, and what symbol is associated with each? What is the
source for these symbols?
Images:
Reliquary Statue of Sainte-Foy, Abbey Church of Conques, France
St Paul, trumeau - South Portal, Church of Saint Pierre, Moissac, France
Last Judgment,by Gislebertus, tympanum West Portal, Church of Saint-Lazare, Autun,
France
Bayeux Tapestry, England
Nave of Durham Cathedral, England
Chapter 11: Gothic - Western Europe – c. 1150 to 1400 CE
Vocabulary:
flying buttress, portals, rib vaults, rose window, pointed arch, Abbot Suger, guild,
gargoyle, grotesque, lux nova
Historic Context
1. Paris becomes the center for Gothic art/architecture
2. Growing importance of the “cult of the virgin” (churches built to notre dame)
3. Cities grow and power shifts from monasteries to urban bishoprics
4. Feudal society gradually replaced by kings—taxation, central governments = stability
Characteristics of Gothic Style
1. Choir, ambulatory, radiating chapels become unified open space—interior walls
dissolve, replaced by piers for support
2. Rib vaulting carries the weight of roof structure
3. Stained glass windows replace heavy walls of Romanesque style. Clerestory lighting
fills interior space with ‘divine light’ (lux nova). Rose windows refer to petal-like
window design, as well as the rose as traditional symbol for Mary.
4. Pointed arch transfers more weight from above vertically, reducing outward thrust of
vaulting (allowing for taller and narrower style than Romanesque). European cities
compete for greatest vault height
5. Flying buttresses transfer weight of walls and roof to exterior piers of Gothic cathedral.
Concepts:
Who is Abbot Suger, and why is he well known in the Gothic period? When and where
did the Gothic style emerge?
What are the major characteristics that determine the Gothic style in architecture, and
how does a Gothic cathedral differ from a Romanesque?
Identify the scenes and figures portrayed on the tympanum and jambs of the Royal Portal
of Chartres.
How does stained glass figure into the importance of Gothic architecture? What
architectural features make an extensive use of glass possible?
What is the “cult of Mary?” How is Mary’s role expressed in Gothic architecture?
Images:
West Facade, Chartres Cathedral, France
Second Coming of Christ, center tympanum from the Royal Portal, west façade of
Chartres Cathedral, France (fig. 11.18)
Saints Theodore, Stephen, Clement and Lawrence, south portal, Chartres Cathedral
Rose window and lancets, north transept, Chartres Cathedral
Nave, Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
Chapter 12: Precursors of the Renaissance
EXTRA CREDIT IMAGES:
Duccio di Buoninsegna Virgin and Child in Majesty, main panel of Maestá Altarpiece
Siena Cathedral, Siena 1308-11
Ambrogio Lorenzetti Allegory of Good Government in the City
fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy 1338-40
Giotto di Bondone
The Lamentation, fresco, in the Arena Chapel, Padua 1305-06