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History of Medieval
Art
European art during the Middle Ages developed
out of the artistic heritage of classical antiquity, the Roman Empire,
as well as Christian iconography. To this mixture, must be added the influence
of the Middle East in the forms and ideals of Byzantine culture. Interestingly,
at the start of the Medieval period, nearly all works of art were commissioned
by religious authorities (for churches/monasteries) or secular leaders
(for public edification), and most were actually created by monks. By
the end of the period, the arts industry had broadened considerably from
its original monastic base: not only were most artists laymen, but a number
of artworks were commissioned by wealthy bourgeois patrons for personal
enjoyment.
Even so, for 600 years (c.400-1000 CE)
Europe was a cultural backwater. Only one institution survived: the Christian
Church - centred in Rome, and Constantinople. Not surprisingly, therefore,
the church became the main sponsor of architecture, and other types of
art, during the medieval era.
Early Christian Artists (650-900 CE)
One of the finest examples of early Christian
fine art were the Irish and Anglo-Saxon illuminated
manuscripts dating from the mid-sixth century CE. These beautifully
illustrated books (eg. Book of Kells, Book of Durrow), combining
Celtic art
with Anglo-Saxon and Celtic
metalwork art, were produced by scribes and artist-monks in the scriptoriums
of abbeys and monasteries across Ireland and Northern England. They were
succeeded by Carolingan, Ottonian and Byzantine illuminated texts, as
well as a host of Persian Islamic illuminations.
Medieval Artists on the Continent
The first signs of a Continental cultural
renaissance appeared about 775 at the royal court of the Christian King
Charlemagne. Influenced by artists from Late Antiquity and Byzantium,
Charlemagne's artists and calligraphers produced a number of outstanding
illuminated texts, like the Godscalc Evangelistary, the Lorsch
Gospels and the Gospels of St Medard of Soissons. For more,
see: Medieval Christian Art
and Medieval Sculpture.
Romanesque Designers (c.950-1140)
By the mid-10th century, the Rome-based
Christian Church had begun to establish a network of Bishops and lesser
clergy in most areas of Western Europe. As its wealth increased, the church
turned to monumental architecture, using a new design language known as
Romanesque, to promote its divine message. Romanesque designers and architects
erected hundreds of new churches and monasteries across the Continent.
Famous examples included: the Cathedral of Pisa with its famous leaning
bell tower, the Florence Baptistery, Laon Cathedral, Augsburg and Worms
Cathedrals, the abbeys of Cluny, Aux Dames (Caen) and Les Hommes (Mont
Saint-Michel). In England, 26 out of 27 ancient Cathedrals were started
during the Romanesque period. For more, see Architecture
History. See also: Romanesque
Sculpture.
Gothic Architects (c.1140-1300)
Romanesque architecture was impressive
but boring. Also, the interiors of most churches were dimly lit because
of their small windows. All this was changed by architects working in
the new Gothic art style, whose soaring arches,
vaulted ceilings, and massive stained glass windows inspired and informed
the Church's illiterate congregations. Gothic design first appeared (c.1140)
in the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, near Paris, before being applied most
famously to the cathedrals of Northern France, which were richly decorated
with Gothic sculpture.
Famous Gothic buildings include the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris,
Reims, Chartres, Cologne, Vienna, Florence, Siena, Milan, Burgos, Toledo,
Leon, as well as Westminster Abbey, York Minster and the cathedrals of
Salisbury, Canterbury and Lincoln. See also: English
Gothic Sculpture and German
Gothic Sculpture.
Byzantine Artists (c.500-1400)
By the time Rome was sacked in 450 CE,
thousands of Roman and Greek painters, craftsmen and other artists had
moved to Constantinople (Byzantium) where they proceeded to create a new
set of Eastern Christian images and icons - based on a combination of
Greek, Roman and Persian culture - known as Byzantine
Art.
Almost exclusively devoted to religious
expression, its architecture and painting (little sculpture was produced
by Byzantine artists) developed within a rigid tradition. This led to
a sophistication of style rarely equalled in Western art. Major types
of medieval Byzantine art included public mosaics, private icons made
with encaustic wax paint on portable
wooden panels, illuminated manuscripts such as the famous Rabula Gospel
(586), fresco painting, as well as
decorative art including ivory diptychs and exquisite metalwork. Unlike
medieval religious art in Western Europe, Byzantine artworks hardly ever
had a didactic or narrative function: they remained essentially impersonal,
ceremonial and symbolic.
Byzantine architects built numerous outstanding
churches and religious buildings, including: the Hagia Irene (c.360) and
the Hagia Sophia (532-37), both in Constantinople (now Istanbul); and
the Church of St. Sophia in Sofia in Bulgaria (527-65) - all richly decorated
with gilding, mosaic art, murals and relief
sculpture. In time, medieval Byzantine architects became more influenced
by eastern traditions of design and decoration, and exerted a deep influence
on early Islamic art and architecture,
as exemplified by the Umayyad Great Mosque of Damascus.
Medieval Artists Heralded Renaissance
During the 14th century, the Gothic style,
which up until 1300 had been mainly exemplified by architecture and sculpture,
began to be applied to painting and the decorative arts in a variant known
as International Gothic. Characterized by the overriding primacy of pattern
and colour, to which composition and naturalistic detail were subordinated,
the style was a blend of Italian and Northern European art, and was practised
especially in centres like Lombardy, Franco-Flemish Burgundy and Bohemia.
This idiom was developed and improved by three important pre-Renaissance
painters, Cimabue (Cenni di Peppi) (1240-1302), Duccio di Buoninsegna
(c.1255-1319) and Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), whose fresco work and
panel painting laid the groundwork for 15th century Florentine painters
and sculptors, especially their mastery of linear perspective and realism.
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