AP Art History: Early Christian, Byzantine and Early Medieval: Art and Architecture

*Catacomb of Priscilla*

*Rome, Italy*

*Late Antique Europe*

*C. 200-400 CE*

*Excavated Tufa and fresco*

-Roman Christians buried dead in catacombs

-Opening in walls hold the dead

-Contained chapel for funerary rites

-Martyrs buried here

-An important pilgrimage site throughout the middle ages

-Contained the *Orant Frescoes*, *Good Shepard Fresco* and *Greek Chapel*

*Catacomb of Priscilla*

*Orant Fresco*

-Woman raising her arms

-Pagan symbol for soul, here it is christian

-Soul achieving oneness with God

-Promience of symbol indicates importance of God and the afterlife

*Catacomb of Priscilla*

*Good Shepard Fresco*

-Greek "Calf bearer" - calf that is being taken to be sacrificed

-Depicts Christ as the good shepherd

-Painter was familiar with Roman Copies of Greek art

-Christ is beardless and has no halo

*Catacomb of Priscilla*

*Greek Chapel*

-Originally contained large, expensive marble sarcophagi

-Frescoes unusually feature women

-One might depict a funeral banquet - the kind of celebration that both pagan and early Christian Romans would hold at the tomb of the deceased

*Santa Sabina*

*Rome, Italy*

*Late Antique Europe*

*C. 422-432 BC*

*Brick and stone, wooden roof*

-Oldest Roman Basilica that has its rectangular colonnade

-Simple wooden truss roof

-Wall of the nave is broken by Clerestory windows

-Used to be decorated with mosaics that provided shimmering light

-Light was a symbol of divinity

-Was Built on the house of the martyr Sabina

*Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well and Jacob Wrestling the Angel, from the Vienna Genesis*

*Early Byzantine Europe*

*Early 6th century CE*

*Illuminated manuscript(pigments on vellum)*

-*Rebecca Story: from Genesis ch. 24*

-Abraham wants a wife for Isaac, sends Eliezer and he comes back with Rebecca

-Naked woman alludes to greek and roman world

-She represents source of the water

-The woman represents bodies of water

-*Jacob wrestling the Angel*

-It continuous narration

*San Vitale*

*Ravenna, Italy*

*Early Byzantine Europe*

*C. 526-547 CE*

*Brick, marble, and stone veneer; mosaic*

-Has a plain exterior

-Central plan

-Interior has mosaics

-It was made on the orders of Justinian to project his power

-The mosaic with Jesus is meant to be set in the Spiritual Reality.

*Emperor Justinian and His Attendants, North wall Mosaic*

*Empress Theodora and her Attendants, south wall mosaic*

-Justinian has a halo. But the fanciness determines holiness.

-Bread represents the Eucharist.

-Maximinus- he's the one with the robe next to Justinian is holding a cross.

-Clergy to the right

-Soldier has the Kairos symbol (The P and X) means protection

-The Theodora mosaic(not shown here) shows her holding wine representing the blood of christ

*Hagia Sophia*

*Constantinople(Istanbul)*

*Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus*

*532-537 CE*

*Brick and Ceramic elements with stone and mosaic veneer*

-Built for Justinian after the Nika riots destroyed the old church

-*Pendentive*

-Construction device - allows the placing of a circular dome over a square space

*Pendentive*

a curved triangle of vaulting formed by the intersection of a dome with its supporting arches.

*Virgin (Theotokos) and child between Saints Theodore and George*

*Early Byzantine Europe*

*6th or early 7th century CE*

*Encaustic on wood*

-Shows Virgin + Child flanked by 2 soldiers saints St. Theodore to the left and St. George at the right

-Above are 2 angels gazing up at the hand of God. Light emanates from this falling on the Virgin

-Painter uses classicizing style inherited from Rome.

-Spatial ambiguity that places the scene in a world that operates differently from our.

*Encaustic*

painting technique that uses wax as a medium to carry the color

*Merovingian Looped Fibula*

*Early Medieval Europe*

*Mid-6th century CE*

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

-A Fibulae

-Ornate Fibulae became popular in the middle ages

-Commonly found in barbarian graves

-*Cloisonne* - Artisans would solder wires onto a metal base and fill the areas those wires created with stones

-End of the Fibulae in the shape of an eagle head

-The Eagle, initially used by Imperial Rome, and became an emblem of St. John

*Fibulae*

brooches that were made popular by Roman military campaigns

*Lindisfarne Gospels:*

*Early Medieval (Hiberno Saxon) Europe*

*C. 700 CE*

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

-Artist was a monk called Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne between 698 and 721

-Painting of the gospel's Evangelist is followed by a patterned cross carpet page

-Then follows the opening page with a fancy first letter

-Combination of many art styles

-Classical/Roman influence and Barbarian Design

*Lindisfarne Gospels*

*St. Matthew, Cross-Carpet page*

*St. Luke incipit page (Lindisfarne Gospels)*

*St. Luke portrait page (Lindisfarne Gospels)*

-It has his animal

*Church of Sainte-Foy*

*Conques, France*

*Romanesque Europe*

*Church: 1050-1130 CE.*

*Stone.*

-Romanesque churches were built on Early Christian basilica plans, but has structural innovations.

-*Aubulatory* - Allows access to radiating chapels without disturbing the high altar.

-*Compound Piers* - Piers supporting the nave arcade have attached ½ columns on the four sides.

-Barrel Vaults

*Tympanum with Last Judgement*

From

*Church of Sainte-Foy*

*Conques, France*

*Romanesque Europe*

*Church: 1050-1130 CE. Stone.*

-Depicts the last judgement

-Has the saved above and the damned below

-Christ is in the center

-Hand of God

-Bowing of Saint Foy

*Compound Piers*

Piers supporting the nave arcade have attached ½ columns on the four sides.

*Reliquary of Sainte Foy*

*Ninth Century CE with later additions*

*Gold, silver, gemstones, and enamel over wood*

-the monks at Conques plotted to steal it in order to attract more wealth and visitors.

-Head is thought to be part of a roman statue of a child

-The reuse of older materials in new forms of art is known as *spolia*

-Associates it with the past glory of Rome

-Size functioned to honor the relic, and to prevent theft.

-*Reliquary* - something that contains the body of a holy person

*Spolia*

reuse of older materials in new forms of art

*Bayeux Tapestry*

*Romanesque Europe(English or Norman)*

*C. 1066-1080 CE*

*Embroidery on linen*

-Documents events of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066

-Odo, Bishop of Bayeux William the Conqueror ½ brother

-Political document: validates W's victory, promotes' Odo's as a leader

5 Gothic Architectural innovations that characterize Gothic

-Pointed arch

-Flying buttress

-Pointed Rib Groin Vault

-Tracery and Stained Glass

-Spire

*Chartres Cathedral*

*Chartres, France*

*Gothic Europe*

*Original Construction c 1145-1155 CE*

*Reconstructed c. 1194-1220 CE*

*Limestone, Stained Glass*

-*Interior - *

-It's relatively dark even though it has windows - its because its colored

-It transforms natural light into mystical Lux Nova ("New Light", Abbot Suger)

-*Plan*

-New kind of spatial organization

-Rectangular nave bays

-Bays = identical units of space

*Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere Window*

Part of

*Chartres Cathedral*

-Shows virgin and child adored by angels

-Composition, known as *Sedes sapientia* (Throne of wisdom), based on famous cult figure kept in crypt

-Lower part shows scenes from Christ's childhood

*Röttgen Pieta*

*Late Medieval Europe*

*c. 1300-1325 CE*

*Painted Wood*

-Aimed to create an emotional response in medieval viewers

-In the Rättgen Pieta, Christ died horrifically, his skin is taut around his ribs. Shows he lead a life of hunger and suffering

-Mary's response to her dead son is unique

-She is confused and angry

*Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, including Lamentation*

*Padua, Italy*

*Unknown architect; Giotto di Bondone (artist)*

*Chapel; c. 1303 CE; Fresco: 1305*

*Brick (architect) and fresco*

-Wealthy Paduan merchant Enrico Scrovegni bought a piece of land on the site of a former Roman arena

-Probably constructed to atone for his father's sins of usury

-His father, Reginaldo, was in the Inferno

-38 frescos

-3 main registers

-Top: Life of Virgin and her parents

-Middle: life and ministry of Christ

-Bottom: Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection

*Lamentation*

From

*Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel*

-Spectrum of grief

-Angels are hysterical

-Mary mourns

-Spatial arrangement

-Diagonal rock directs viewers to focal point

-Figures seen from the back make a foreground

*Great Mosque*

*Cordoba, Spain*

*Umayyad*

*c. 785-786 C.E.*

*Stone masonry*

-Begun by order of Abd al-Rahman

-He established the Umayyad dynasty in Spain

-Built on site of San Vincente, the oldest church in Cordoba

-testament to continuance of Umayyad dominion, but also to the triumph of Islam in the westermost reaches of the Christian World

-Turned into a church when Cordoba was reconquered

-*Interior*

-Horseshoe arches from Visigoths

-Floral from Roman and Persian traditions

-Islamic Geometry and calligraphy

-Distinguishing feature was its collection of over 500 columns, scavenged from the ruins of Roman and Visigoth structures,

*Alhambra Palace*

*Granada, Spain*

*Nasrid Dynasty*

*1354-1391 CE*

*Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gilding*

-Nasrids = last islamic dynasty on the Iberian Peninsula

-Was the royal city for the Nasrid rulers

-Name means red citadel

*Court of the Lions*

from

*Alhambra Palace*

-Heart of the private section

-king's residence and private apartments are around this court

-Name comes from the central fountain resting on the backs of the 12 lions, whose mouths throw jets of water.

-Resembles christian cloister

*Hall of the sisters*

from

*Alhambra Palace*

-Named fro 2 big twin marble flagstones that are part of the floors

-This was the center for the chambers where the sultana and her family lived

-Room has a small fountain in the middle with a little channel that carries the water to the Court of the Lions

-Sophisticated and refined interior

-Abstract patterns

-May have been used as a reception and music room

Minaret

a tall slender tower, typically part of a mosque, with a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer.

Muezzin

a man who calls Muslims to prayer from the minaret of a mosque

Mihrab

(Islam) a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca

Minbar

in a mosque, the pulpit on which the imam stands

Sahn

An open courtyard in a mosque

Qibla

This wall in a mosque always faces Mecca.

-It has the Mihrab

Four-Iwan Mosque

-arranged around a large open courtyard

-However, in the four-iwan mosque, each wall of the courtyard is punctuated with a monumental vaulted hall, the iwan

*Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France, from a Bible moralisée*

*Gothic Europe*

*c. 1226-1234 C.E.*

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

-Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France seated at the top. On the bottom a cleric and illustrator are seated.

-The king's and Blanch's pose reflects the pose of The Virgin and her son.

-Texts allude to historical events and convey a moral.

*Scenes from the Apocalypse, from a Bible moralisée* *Gothic Europe*

*c. 1226-1234 C.E.*

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

-Intended to show both biblical and commentary text in two separate columns.

-Commissioned by members of royal families

-Among the most expensive medieval manuscripts ever made because they contain an unusually large number of illustrations

*Golden Haggadah (The Plagues of Egypt, Scenes of Liberation, and Preparation for Passover)*

*Late medieval Spain*

*c. 1320 C.E.*

*Illuminated manuscript (pigment and gold leaf on vellum)*

The book was for use of a wealthy Jewish family.

-The holy text is written on vellum - a kind of fine calfskin parchment - in Hebrew script, reading from right to left.

-Copied and illuminated in Catalonia

-Shows the events of Exodus, meant to be read at Seder