Medieval Design Discussant: Anna Katrina N. Rint Medieval Era or Middle Ages CHARACTERISTICS • • • • • Rich colors Heavily outlined Flat and stiff figures showing no depth Religious Icons Architecture is influenced by Greek and Roman – Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles emerged from this period. • Mosaics replaced carved decoration • Large Domes central to the church Art of the Early Middle Ages Justinian as world conqueror (Barberini Ivory) mid-6th century ivory 1 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 in. Christ enthroned with Saints (Harbaville Triptych) ca. 950 , ivory, 9 1/2 in. x 5 1/2 in. high Theodora and attendants , south wall apse mosaic, San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy ca. 547, mosaic Medieval art almost always depicted religious topics. (Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images) MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE • Two styles of architecture emerged: 1. Romanesque 2. Gothic style 3. Bryzantine The Leaning Tower of Pisa, begun in 1173, is considered a Romanesque structure. (Medioimages/Photodisc/Ph otodisc/Getty Images) Romanesque Architecture -Thick walls -Semi circular Arches -Heavy in visual weight San Vitale Ravenna, Italy 526-547 San Vitale Ravenna, Italy 526-547 Notre Dame of Paris One of the finest examples of gothic architecture and most well known churches in the world – Notre Dame de Paris Hagia Sophia ***Known as one of the grandest examples of Byzantine Architecture. A view of the DOME Hagia Sophia Constantinpole, (Istanbul), Turkey 532-537 Byzantine Hagia Sofia, (eye-ya SO-fia)Turkey & St. Catherines Monestary, Egypt Gothic – St. Patricks, NYC Romanesque –St. Vitale, Revenna, Italy St. Patrick's Cathedral Tour Glass Window from Troyes Cathedral, Troyes, France - 1200 Monastery of St. Catherine Mount Sinai, Egypt, 6c. Getty Images of St. Catherines start at 2min Illuminated Manuscripts • are books that have been decorated, sometimes elaborately, with precious paints and gold leaf • monks in scriptoriums • decorated, sometimes with gold, other precious metals and gemstones In an illuminated manuscript, the first letters of paragraphs were decorated, and illustrations could be a half or whole page. (Photos.com/Photos.c om/Getty Images) Ireland's Book of Kells, the most beautiful illuminated manuscript that survives from the early Middle Ages. It consists of four Gospels written in Latin. Only two of its 680 pages are without color. Gerona Bible Master, Bologna, Italy, 1285 Historiated initial R from the frontispiece of a 12th-century manuscript of St. Gregory's Moralia in Job, Dijon, Bible Medieval Painting • It depicts religious subjects or topics of war • Human faces in paintings throughout the era were very flat, unrealistic and looked alike • Human and animal body parts are disproportionate and usually elongated • Architecture and landscapes are awkward. The human figure in medieval paintings looks flat and disproportionate. (Photos. com/Photos.com/Getty Images) Madonna from the Annunciation, 1340-1344 Simone Martini, c.12841344 Tempera on panel Late 1400’s mural - dawning on realistic representations and attempt at perspective Medieval Sculpture • depict topics of religion and war • human bodies are disproportionate and perspective is not realistic • common kind of medieval sculpture technique is the RELIEF (180 degrees of the figure are visible) These figures on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris seem to have their backs glued to the wall. (Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images) Christ as Savior of Souls, early 14th century tempera, linen and silver on wood 3 ft. 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 1/2 in. • First to use Flying Buttresses (Arched exterior support system to accommodate higher and thinner walls) • Famous for the use of water spouts, or gargoyles • Completed in 1345 • The “rose window” contains symbolism – center is blessed virgin mary and child who are surrounded by prophets and saints. 6th or 7th century Icon of Jesus and an abbot shares in the anti-realist style of Byzantine iconic art, Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt The Enthroned Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, 6th century, perhaps the earliest iconic image of the subject to survive at Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt This ICON is believed to have originated in Tuscany c. 1300, and influenced a wide number of paintings from the following century as well as Florentine sculptures from the 1440– 1450s. This version was in turn widely copied across Italy and northern Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries – THIS WORK SERVED AS A BRIDGE FROM BYZANTINE TO EARLY RENAISSANCE