Unit 3: Early Europe and Colonial America

Vienna Genesis (Date)

6th century

Vienna Genesis (Medium)

Illuminated manuscripts (tempera, gold, and silver on purple vellum)

Vienna Genesis (Artist/Culture)

Early Byzantine Europe

Vienna Genesis (Form)

• Illuminated manuscripts: refers to viewer’s enlightenment using vibrant colors

• Vellum = calf-skin (expensive)

• Simple figures

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well (Sub image Content)

• Rebecca meets Eliezer at well

• Rebecca signals to Eliezer that she will become Isaac’s wife by tilting jug towards Eliezer

Jacob Wrestling the Angel (Sub image Content)

• Jacob leads family over river, crossing over bridge with Roman columns/arches

• Jacob gets separated and meets Angel who tests him

• Jacob persistently fights against angel

Vienna Genesis (Function)

• Manuscript in the Book of Genesis (First Book of Old Testament)

• Preserved Biblical stories

Vienna Genesis (Context)

• Earliest well-preserved manuscript with biblical scenes

• Use of classical elements despite trying to avoid them

  • Ionic colonnade

  • Bridge with arcade

  • female personification of elements

San Vitale (Date)

526 - 547 CE

San Vitale (Medium)

Brick, marble, and stone veneer; mosaic

San Vitale (Location)

Ravenna, Italy

San Vitale (Artist/Culture)

Early Byzantine Europe

San Vitale (Form)

• Central plan (symbolizes unity and timelessness)

• Interior is bright and illuminated

  • Classical order replaced by impost blocks

• Cross cultural influences

  • Roman dome

  • Byzantine church with Greek orthodoxy

  • New Christian iconography and culture

Justinian Panel (Sub image Content)

• Justinian is depicted in eucharist ceremony holding bread

  • Bread = body of Christ

• Justinian stands in center resembling a priest-king

• Portrays Justinian as religious, Administrative, and military authority through central position

Theodora Panel (San Vitale Sub image)

• Theodora wears purple robe and jeweled crown to show status and divinity

• Carries cup of wine, partaking in same ceremony as Emperor Justinian

San Vitale (Function)

• Propaganda for Justinian

  • Display power and wealth of new Byzantine empire

• Matyrium - Place where sainted is matyred and buried

San Vitale (Context)

• Byzantines promote the idea that the ruler has more power over the pope

Hagia Sophia (Date)

532 - 537 CE

Hagia Sophia (Medium)

Brick, ceramic elements, stone, and mosaic veneer

Hagia Sophia (Location)

Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia (Artist/Culture)

Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus (Early Byzantine Europe)

Hagia Sophia (Form)

• Basilica and central plan

• Pendentives support weight of dome

• Uses Roman spoila

Haghia Sophia (Content)

• Started as Byzantine church, then became Islamic mosque

• Plain exterior

Hagia Sophia (Function)

• Byzantine church for emperor Justinian to show Byzantine superiority over Rome

• Later appropriated for Islam

Hagia Sophia (Context)

• Justinian proclaims that Christianity is the only lawful religion

  • Defined Byzantine art

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Date)

6th - 7th century

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Medium)

Encaustic on wood

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Artist/Culture)

Early Byzantine Europe

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Form)

• Encaustic = pigment + wax

• Formal - Religious/political artwork

• Flat - shallow, frontal poses

• Frontal - People in front completely rigid

• Floating - Characters don’t seem to hold weight

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Content)

• Virgin (Theotokos) = Mother of god

  • Embodiment of support to Christ

• Saints Theodore and George

  • Religious soldiers/warriors; protect Christian faith

• Christ is depicted in old man’s baby body to indicate that he had infinite wisdom

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Function)

• Icon - Image for personal depiction/worship

• Helped convey religious meaning and experience

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George (Context)

• Based on late Egyptian funerary portraiture during Roman period

• Iconoclastic Controversy = Christians argue whether worshiping idols is idolatry

  • Icon seen as personal mediums for worship

  • Feared that this would develop pagan idolatry once again

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Date)

6th century

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Medium)

Silver gilt worked in filigree, with inlays of garnets and other stones

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Artist/Culture)

Early Medieval Europe (Merovingian)

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Form)

• Decorative art

• Filigree - ornamental metalwork

• Cloisnoe - technique where wires are attached to metal base to make shapes

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Content)

• Side view of an eagle’s head

  • Associated as symbols of Zeus/Jupiter; but later as Saint John

• Fish shown on body of fibulae

  • References Christ’s miracle where he creates bread and fish to feed people

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Function)

• Fibula - pin that fastens garments

• Sign of status (materials expensive)

Merovingian Looped Fibula (Context)

• Merovingians - Barbarian group who ruled over France and northern Spain

• Part of Art of Migrations Period

  • Art becomes Christian as barbarian groups convert

Lindisfarne Gospels (Date)

700 CE

Lindisfarne Gospels (Medium)

Illuminated manuscript (ink, pigments, and gold on vellum)

Lindisfarne Gospels (Artist/Culture)

Early Mediveal Europe (Hiberno Saxon)

Lindisfarne Gospels (Form)

• Classically Medieval codex

  • Horror vacui - No empty space

  • Animal style - Art where animals decorated in stylized manner with patterns

  • Interlacing - Repetitive knots and spirals

Lindisfarne Gospels (Content)

• Book has 3 different parts for each of the four gospels

  • Portrait page

  • Cross-carpet page

  • Gospel text

St Matthew Cross-carpet page (Sub image Content)

• Cross-carpet page: Flat geometric design covering page in shape of cross

• Many knots appear like snakes

St Luke Portrait Page (Sub image Content)

• Gold halo around head indicates divinity

• Blue winged ox (St Luke’s symbol) clasps Bible

St Luke Incipit Page (Sub image Content)

• Many animals around page

  • Snakes move within the Q

  • Border resembles a cat

Lindisfarne Gospels (Function)

• Monk-made Bibles helped patience and devotion

• Vibrant colors lead to meditation and comtemplation

Lindisfarne Gospels (Context)

• Monasticism growing in popularity and being incorporated in Christian practices

  • Monasticism - remove oneself from distractions and pleasures of daily life

• Hiberno-Saxon art flourishing in monasteries

  • Interlacing manuscripts, horror vacui, and animal style are all characteristics

Church of Sainte-Foy (Date)

1050 - 1130 CE

Church of Sainte-Foy (Medium)

Stone

Church of Sainte-Foy (Location)

Conques, France

Church of Sainte-Foy (Artist/Culture)

Romanesque Europe

Church of Sainte-Foy (Form)

• Square schematism - Dimensions of church based on crossing square’s size

  • Bay - Section of church from one nave to next

  • Crossing Square - Where nave crosses transept

  • Transept - Horizontal piece that crosses nave

• Basilica plan with transept

• Romanesque: Rounded arches and thick walls

Tympanum (Sub image Content)

• Decorations help viewer understand theme of building

• Right side: Hell

  • Pilgrims enter on this side (entering as sinners)

• Center: Christ as judge

• Left side: Heaven

  • Side where pilgrims exit (forgiven)

Reliquary of Sainte-Foy (Sub image Content)

• Gems used to build reliquary were offerings from pilgrims

• Head from Roman statue of Jupiter

Church of Sainte-Foy (Function)

• Abbey church - part of monastery where monks and nuns reside

• Pilgrim’s path teaches about salvation and heaven/hell

Church of Sainte-Foy (Context)

• Relics are objects of religious significance

  • Believed to be used as miracle-workers

• Reliquaries protect and display relics

• Churches built a long pilgrimage routes to awe crowds

Bayeux Tapestry (Date)

1066 - 1080 CE

Bayeux Tapestry (Medium)

Embroidery on linen

Bayeux Tapestry (Artist/Culture)

Romanesque Europe (English or Norman)

Bayeux Tapestry (Form)

• Organized to lead eyes towards each scene

• Divided into three registers

• Neutral background with lots of negative space

• Bodies unnatural, flat, and stylized

The Cavalry Attack (Content)

• Depicts strength of Norman formation

• Soldiers use horses to storm Anglo-Saxon infantry

First Meal (Sub image Content)

• Celebratory scene after reaching England shore

• Servants prepare food and Bishop Odo blesses meal

Bayeux Tapestry (Function)

• Celebration of Normal victory over Anglo-Saxons

  • Conquest completely justified

Bayeux Tapestry (Context)

• Horsemen essential to William the Conqueror’s victory

  • Could advance and retreat quickly

  • Broke up enemy front line

Chartres Cathedral (Date)

1145 - 1155 CE

Chartres Cathedral (Medium)

Limestone and stained glass

Chartres Cathedral (Location)

Chartres, France

Chartres Cathedral (Artist/Culture)

Gothic Europe

Chartres Cathedral (Form)

• Gothic style known for detail and ornamentation

  • Contain pointed arches, thin walls, stained glass, and flying buttresses

• Nave arcade with quadriparite rib vaults

Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere (Sub image Content)

• Stained glass panel consisting mostly of blue, red, white, and purple

• Mary depicted enthroned with Christ on her lap

• White dove over Mary extending three lights represents the Trinity

Great Portal of the West Facade (Sub image content)

• Jambs and jamb figures surround door

  • No sense of free movement, rigid bodies conformed to column

Chartres Cathedral (Function)

• Marian devotion - Gothic fascination with Mary

• Church symbolized Mary’s body

• Admitting light resembles Christ being admitted into Mary’s womb

Chartres Cathedral (Context)

• Built off a Romanesque church

• Hard times in Gothic era

  • Mary seen as figure one could appeal to

  • Christ seen as judge

Bible Moralisee (Date)

1225 - 1245 CE

Bible Moralisee (Medium)

Illuminated manuscript (ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum)

Bible Moralisee (Artist/Culture)

Gothic Europe

Bible Moralisee (Form)

• Gothic style

  • Appears similar to Gothic stained glass window

• Tempera = pigment + egg yolk

Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France (Sub image Content)

• Top Left: Blanche of Castile

• Top Right: King Louis IX holding sceptor

  • Enthroned together, similar to Virgin Mary and Christ normally were

    • Connected them to Mary and Christ

Scenes from the Apocolypse (Sub image content)

• Pages have 8 medallions

• Specific page tells of St John’s vision (sees end of time)

Bible Moralisee (Function)

• Sign of status (only owned by French royalty)

• Connects people and events in real world to people and events in Bible

Bible Moralisee (Context)

• Apocolypse/Revlelations = last book of bible

  • Describes end times

• Believed end times had come due to many wars and plagues

Rottgen Pieta (Date)

1300 - 1325 CE

Rottgen Pieta (Medium)

Painted wood

Rottgen Pieta (Artist/Culture)

Late Medieval Europe (German)

Rottgen Pieta (Form)

• Andachtsbild - German devotional image

• Presents very solemn tone/first impression

• Gothic art restrained, emphasizes sense of pain (late gothic)

Rottgen Pieta (Content)

• Jesus appears very bloody

• Stigmata - Holes in hands/feet of Christ after being crucified

Rottgen Pieta (Function)

• Humanizes biblical figures

• Makes viewer think about the pain they have gone through in comparison to Jesus’s pain

Rottgen Pieta (Context)

• Late gothic era focuses on suffering

• 14th century has many worldly events

  • The plague

  • 100 years war

  • Famine

Golden Haggadah (Date)

1320 CE

Golden Haggadah (Medium)

Illuminated manuscript (pigment and gold leaf on vellum)

Golden Haggadah (Artist/Culture)

Late Medieval Spain (Jewish)

Golden Haggadah (Form)

• Presence of Gothic style

  • Elongated, thin figures

  • No sense of space

  • Gothic decorative architectural elements

The Plagues of Egypt (Sub image content)

• Frogs overrun land

• Painful boils afflict Egyptians

• Wild animals invade

• Pestilence kills domesticated animals

The Scenes of Liberation (Sub image Content)

• Egyptian queen’s first-born is killed and buried

• Pharaoh orders Israelites to leave Egypt

• Pharaoh changes mind and searches for Hebrews

• Hebrews cross Red Sea as Moses parts the sea, washing away Egyptian soldiers

Preparation for Passover (Sub image content)

• Miriam and her maidens dance and play musical instruments

• Master of house orders distribution of matzoh and haroset to children

• House prepared for passover

• Sheep killed for passover meal

Golden Haggadah (Function)

• Haggadah - tells story of passover

• Display wealth and status of owner

Golden Haggadah (Context)

• Passover - Story of miraculous salvation from slavery and is recounted annually at a passover Seder

• Cross-cultural elements

  • Christian illuminated manuscript appropriated by Jews

  • Islamic musical instruments

Arena Chapel (Date)

1303 - 1305 CE