Medieval Art and Architecture Notes

Under Constantine, Christianity's spread facilitated territorial cohesion.
Early churches adopted basilica form (public buildings) to house crowds and symbolize ties between Christianity and imperial tradition.
Christian basilica: elongated hall with columns dividing a central nave and side aisles, emphasizing the longitudinal axis.
With Christianity's legalization, mosaics evolved, glass expanded color range, gold leaf added to enhance light reflection.
Hagia Sophia was built by Justinian to surpass previous Christian structures.
The Hagia Sophia's design features a large rectangle enclosing a square space with four massive pillars supporting the dome.
The dome rests on four triangular pendentives, a Byzantine innovation.
Unlike Roman domes, Hagia Sophia uses brick instead of concrete; its dome was initially covered in gold mosaic.

Italy saw political stability and economic recovery, leading to the rise of commercial city-states.

Characterized by classical elements, cylindrical vaults, massive stone pillars, heavy walls, and groin vaults.
Ribs in vaults provided support, with lighter materials filling the vault sections.

Gothic architecture connects material with immaterial and human with divine, emphasizing unity of structure, construction, and form.
Eliminated Romanesque heaviness, featuring verticality and narrower arches.
Gothic structures exhibit harmony in form and proportions, combined with ethereal light through stained glass windows.
Flying buttresses enabled greater height.
Urban life revolved around the cathedral.
Gothic sculpture emphasizes decorative criteria over the body's natural form.

By the Late Middle Ages, Byzantine conventions in painting (Maniera Greca) were undermined, notably in Giotto's work.
Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel mark a turning point from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
Giotto's art featured robust figures with strong outlines, architectural or natural backgrounds, and a sense of volume, depth, and realistic space.
Lorenzetti's frescoes in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico depict allegories of good and bad governance, set in a panoramic urban landscape.
The frescoes illustrate the effects of good governance—a harmonious and prosperous city and countryside—versus the ruin caused by tyranny.
Outside Italy, the International Gothic style flourished, characterized by elegant lines, graceful drapery, precise details, and jewel-toned colors.