The Middle Ages
In the first two centuries after Christ, Christianity grew in
popularity pushing out the old notions of the Greek and
Roman pantheon and replacing them with another pantheon
(all the gods of a people or religion collectively) of the
Christian Trinity and Saints.
Art in the early Christian era was heavily influenced by
Byzantine style because the Roman Empire was ruled
from the East.
Map of the Byzantine Empire
Head of Constantine
Rome, ca. 325
Marble
H. 37 1/2 in. (95.3 cm)
Byzantium
Byzantine refers to eastern Mediterranean art from AD 330, when Constantine
transferred the seat of the Roman Empire to Byzantium (later called Constantinople)
until the city’s fall to the Turks in 1453.
The focus is on human figures, whose identities reveal three main elements in the formation of the Byzantine
empire. Most prominent are the holy figures of the Christian faith--Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints, and the
apostles. Bishops and angels often are portrayed in their company. Central to the political structure was the
emperor, who was believed to be divinely sanctioned by God. Art played a vital role in visualizing his powers.
Images of cherubs, mythological heroes, gods and goddesses, and personifications of virtues are reflections of
the continuing influence of Byzantium's classical heritage.
Byzantine-Central-dome church
Hagia Sophia
532-37 AD
“holy wisdom”
Emperor Justinian assigned the task of
building the structure to two mathemeticians,
Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus.
He wanted to build a church as grand as his
empire in the great city of Constantinople,
the greatest city in the world for 400 years.
The church measures 77 x 79 m. and the impressive huge dome soaring 62 m. above the floor has a diameter of about 33 m.
Diagram of domes on cylinder, squinch, pendentive
The dome of the Hagia Sophia (Istanbul) undergoing restoration.
Apse
Portrait of Saint John Chrysostom of Antioch (Hagios Ioannis Chrysostomo)
Icons
Gloomy images, but absolutely necessary when discussing Byzantine art.
Often images of tortured martyrs, were typically rigid, frontal poses with
large staring eyes. These small wooden paintings were believed to
possess supernatural powers.
Saint Demetrios is believed to have been a deacon
who was killed in Serbia in the late third century
while preaching the Christian gospel. His legend
grew in the East. During the Middle Byzantine
period he began to be represented in military dress,
literally as a soldier of Christ. He is known as the
patron saint of both the city of Thessalonike,
Greece, and the church of Constantinople.
Icon with Saint Demetrios
Byzantine, second half of the 10th century Ivory
7 3/4 x 4 3/4 (19.6 x 12.2 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Byzantine Mosaics
Unlike the Romans who used opaque marble cubes, Byzantine
artists used reflected glass cubes to create mosaics that sparkled.
Their surface was uneven to reflect even more light. Byzantine
mosaics are found on walls and ceilings-especially on church
domes and apse. Romans used mosaic mainly in private homes.
Subjects were religious, and larger cubes created a more stylized
design, as opposed to the Romans who used minute pieces to
create a more realistic image.
The Battle of Issus, Pompeii c.80 BCE
The Battle of Issus, Pompeii c.80 BCE
Justinian and Attendants c.547 San Vitale, Ravenna
Miracle of Loaves and Fishes
Location: Sant' Apollinare Nuovo c.540
Christ between two angels, St. Vitalis, Bishop Ecclesius
Location: San Vitale c.540
Theodora and attendants
Location: San Vitale c.540
Romanesque 1050-1200
With the Roman Catholic faith firmly established, a wave of church
construction occurred. Builders borrowed elements from Roman
architecture, such as rounded arches and columns, giving rise to the term
Romanesque. Yet because Roman building were timber roofed and prone
to fire, medieval artisans began to roof churches with stone vaulting. In this
system, barrel vaults resting on piers could span large openings.
Pilgrimages were in vogue at the time, so church architecture took into
account the hordes of tourists visiting the shrines of sacred bones,
garments and splinters of the true cross brought back by the crusaders.
Reliquaries held these sacred artifacts.
St. Sernin
Toulouse France c.1080-1120
The church of St. Sernin at Toulouse (c.
1075-1120) is one of the best-preserved
examples of the pilgrimage plan churches.
•
the nave (the
highest part of the roof) surrounded by the
aisles and crossed by the transept
•
the crossing,
surmounted by a tall tower
•
the apse, (the
semicircular or polygonal termination to the
choir or aisles of a church) with the
ambulatory providing a passage around
the monks' area for the pilgrims
•
the chapels off the
apse and transepts, where relics were
often on view for for the pilgrims
Floorplan of St. Sernin
Toulouse France c.1080-1120
The nave of St. Sernin showing barrel
vaults
Diagram of barrel (or groin)vaults
example of reliquary
The Last Judgement from Autun Cathedral c.1130-1135 (Burgundy)
Realism yields to moralism. Bodies, distorted to fit the masonry niche, were elongated with expressions of
intense emotion.
Suicide of Judas
1120-30
Stone
Cathedral
of
Lazare, Autun
Saint-
Dream of the Magi
1120-30
Stone
Cathedral of Saint-Lazare, Autun
Illuminated manuscripts
Made from vellum (calfskin) or
parchment (lambskin)
manuscripts were considered
sacred objects containing the
word of God. Covers were made
of gold and studded with precious
stones. Until printing was
developed in the fifteenth century,
these manuscripts were the only
form in existence, preserving not
only religious teachings, but also
classical literature.
Book of Kells
Illuminated gospel produced by Irish monks. (760-820)
Gothic Art
1200-1500
Height and Light
The pinnacle of Middle ages artistic achievement was the Gothic Cathedral
(“stone bibles”). Medieval builders created intricate structures with soaring
interiors unprecedented in the world of architecture.
Chartres Cathedral, France 1300
Communal devotion to
the buildings was so
intense that everyone
participated in
construction. Lords and
Ladies in worshipful
silence worked alongside
buthchers and masons.
Buildings were so
elaborate that costruction
took ages, sometimes
centuries, which explains
why some seem a
hodge-podge of
successive styles.
Floor plan of Chartres Cathedral
Two engineering breakthroughs: ribbed vaults and external supports called flying buttresses,
allowed builders to forgo solid walls with small windows for skeletal walls with huge stained glass
windows flooding the interior with light.
Ribbed vault
Apse Buttresses
South Flying Buttresses
North Portal
Nave
The windows at Chartres measure over 25,000’ in total area. Illustrating the
bible, these windows are like a giant illuminated manusscript.
Rose Window
Samaritan Glass
Zodiac window
Tapestry
Weavers in the middle ages created highly refined tapestries minutely
detailed with scenes of contempoary life. Large wool and silk hangings used
to cut drafts , decorated stone walls in chateus and churches. Huge scale
paintings were placed behind the warp of a loom in order to imitate the design
in cloth.
The Unicorn in captivity
c.1500
The Lady and the Unicorn
"To My One Desire"
Flanders ca:~1510