Art of the Middle Ages: Romanesque, Gothic

[Sutton Hoo Treasure] Anglo-Saxon

MEDIEVAL

625, purse lid

• gold

• Cloisonne, wire, enamel: ground glass pulse

• interlace patterning

• heraldic composition, eagle/duck

Oseberg ship burial

MEDIEVAL

Oslo 825

• Viking

• interlace patterning

• animal head mast/post

  • interlace patterning

Lindisfarne Gospel

MEDIEVAL

7th c

• The book of the New Testament about the life of Christ

• “carpet page”—> full-page illumination in an insular manuscript

• interlace patterning

Reliquaries

container for holy relics

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage churches were designed along the pilgrimage route

Crusades

ROMANESQUE ART AND ARCHITECTURE

• military campaigns sanctioned by the catholic church to gain access to the Holy Land + Jerusalem

• artifacts + relics were collected by the church

• Workshops were opened to help design and construct replicas of reliquaries

“S. Sernin”

ROMANESQUE ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Toulouse, France, 1070-1120

• cruciform, ribbed barrel vaulting, stone masonry, and round “Roman arch”

• ribbed barrel vaults —> 100ft tall

Triforium: The weight of the stone in the vaulted ceiling is transferred down through the triforium wall into the foundation

Eadwine the Scribe

ROMANESQUE ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Eadwine Psalter, 1160-1170

Book of Psalms

• A heavily illuminated 12th-century psalter named after a monk of the Christian church

Abbot Suger

*added a lot of windows

Abbey Church of St. Denis

GOTHIC

1140-1144

• Abbot Suger added alot of windows

• open, not compartmentalized

• stained-glass windows

• “pointed gothic arch”

• canopy like vaulting: open, floating

Chartres Cathedral

GOTHIC

France, 1070-1120

• influences: large, stone, triadic symbolism, transparency

• taller structures

• more complex ribbed vaulting

• ribbed groin vault

• gothic pointed arch

• rose window (1220) —> large circular stained glass window

Psalter of St. Louis

GOTHIC

1270

• manuscript illumination

• interlace patterning

“Abraham and the Angels”

GOTHIC

1270

• Abraham is entertaining three angels who bring news that his wife, Sarah, will have a son

• interlace patterning

Cloisonne

wire, enamel paste (ancient metalworking and enamel technique where colored enamel, glass, or gemstones)

Interlace Patterning

decorative technique where bands of lines, cords, or plant stems are braided, looped, and knotted together

Manuscript illumination

art of decorating or illustrating a manuscript with gold or silver leaf

Scriptoria

dedicated writing rooms in monasteries where monks copied, wrote, and decorated manuscripts by hand

Prototypes

original or foundational manuscripts that served as model examples for later scribes and artists to copy and emulate

“making clear”

• providing visual explanations of the narrative

• gold and colors

carpet page

full-page, non-figurative, and highly decorative design that resembles an oriental carpet

frontispiece

a large, decorated page at the beginning of a manuscript that faces the title page

reliquary

container, often a shrine or casket designed to hold sacred relics

pilgrimage route

camino de santiago

Romanesque basilica

• heavy thick walls

• cross-shaped floor plan

• rounded arches

• heavy piers

• stone vaults

Nave

processional way

Apse

sacred alter

transept

crossing of Nave

earthly —> sacred

3,000-4,000 worshipers

ambulatory

walking path along interior

radiating chapel

projecting chapel arranged radially around the semicircular

Barrel Vaulting

Semi-cylindrical ceiling or roof by extruding a single arch

Groin Vaulting

The intersection of two barrel vaults at a right angle

Ribbed Vault

• four way arch

• intricate design with ribs

• allows for larger windows and higher ceilings

Groin Vault

• Simpler, without decorative ribs

• smaller windows

Triforium

• gallery above the arches of the nave, choir, and transepts

Narthex

• Enclosed porch or lobby at the main entrance of a church, located between the entrance and the main body of the church (the nave)

The Crusades

• military campaigns sanctioned by the catholic church

• to gain access to the holy land + Jerusalem

• relics were collected by the catholic church

• workshops opened along pilgrimage to replicate relics

Pointed arch

GOTHIC

• arch with pointed crown

“Mantle of the Virgin”

• Protective and maternal care of the Virgin Mary

Buttressing

• structure that shifts the transference of weight to a propping function

Gothic Cathedral

• Nave, Apse, Transept, Crossing, Aisle, Ambulatory

• Vaulting (ribbed, groin vault)

• Triforium

• Stained glass, Rose window

• Narthex

• Buttressing

Buttress Pier

• a pier that receives the thrust from a flying buttress