Late Medieval Art

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Late Medieval Art and a little bit of
architecture (Romanesque Gothic)
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Romanesque and Gothic art get lumped together
into Medieval art principles while architecture
is divided into specifically Romanesque and Gothic
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Pope Innocent III, On the Misery of the Human
Condition, c. 1200
Man is conceived of blood made rotten by the heat
of lust and in the end worms, like mourners,
stand about his corpse. In life he produced lice
and tapeworms in death he will produce worms and
flies. In life he produced dung and vomit in
death he produces rottenness and stench. In life
he fattened one man in death he fattens a
multitude of worms.
Thus humans are horrible sinners, life is
deservedly hard, and only God is good.
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Medieval Art
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Scene of Martyrdom French Romanesque Fresco
Coming out of the Dark Ages, artists had yet to
figure out how to capture painted imagery
naturalistically or realistically. They look
childlike or cartoony.
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Human faces in paintings throughout the era were
very flat, unrealistic and looked alike.
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Human and animal body parts are disproportionate
and usually elongated. Romanesque elongated in
painting. Gothic elongated in sculpture.
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Medieval painters had not yet learned how to
handle perspective, so architecture and
landscapes are awkward.
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Up to this point, weve been looking at
Romanesque art. Know as we move into Gothic art
that there are some principles that are true of
Romanesque as well as Gothic art. Such as
elongation and missing perspective or depth.
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Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned, 1280-90
Example NO PERSPECTIVE
Flat pictorial space similar to Ancient
Byzantine works
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detail
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Dematerialization the realities and structures
of reality are absent, like its occurring in a
vacuum. There is no tangible background, or
perspective, Madonna and child have no clarity of
bone. They are soft and ungrounded.
Madonna and Child, ca. 1326Simone Martini
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ByzantineEnthroned Madonna and Child, 13th
century, tempera on panel
Greek Italian blend
In Gothic art, the infants (usually Jesus) look
like a shrunken version of an adult.
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GIOTTOMadonna in Glory, c. 1311Tempera on
panel
suggestions of PERSPECTIVE in a GOTHIC ERA work
PERSPECTIVE is a major development of the
RENAISSANCE
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detail
Shading gives volume
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Giotto, Pieta(Lamentation)frescoGothic art
also showcases a strong diagonal line.
BOLD DIAGONAL
Late Gothic/ Early Renaissance from 1305
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GIOTTOThe Presentation of the Virginc.
1305Fresco.Cappella dell'Arena, PaduaIs there
a diagonal in this composition?
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In the Frick panel, a majestically towering
Christ is shown rejecting the devil, who offers
Him all the kingdoms of the world if Christ
will worship him (Matthew 4811). Duccio retains
medieval conventions in depicting the figures as
large and the spurned kingdoms as small, thus
suggesting a scale of values rather than
naturalistic proportions. Yet the story is
presented in terms that are immediately
meaningful. Christ expresses a sorrowful
solemnity, and the cities in the foreground
packed with turrets, domes, and crenellations
vividly evoke the festive colors and crowded
hill-sites of Siena.
Duccio di Buoninsegna The Temptation of Christ
on the Mountain, 1308-1311
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Pope Innocent III, On the Misery of the Human
Condition, c. 1200 (1)
. . . man was formed of dust, slime, and ashes
what is even more vile, of the filthiest seed.
He was conceived from the itch of the flesh, in
the heat of passion and the stench of lust, and
worse yet, with the stain of sin. He was born to
toil, dread, and trouble and more wretched
still, was born only to die. He commits depraved
acts by which he offends God, his neighbor, and
himself shameful acts by which he defiles his
name, his person, and his conscience and vain
acts by which he ignores all things important,
useful, and necessary. He will become fuel for
those fires which are forever hot and burn
forever bright food for the worm which forever
nibbles and digests a mass of rottenness which
will forever stink and reek.
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CimabueThe Flagellation of Christ, c.
1280Martyrdom?Softness of bone?Awkward
landscape or background? .
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The earliest Gothic art was monumental sculpture,
on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian
art was often typological in nature, showing the
stories of the New Testament and the Old
Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often
depicted. Figures were elongated from
Chartres Cathedral
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Chartres Cathedral detail
Unnatural proportionsheads way bigger than they
would realistically be.
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Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the
Byzantine iconic form to a more human and
affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying
from her hip, and showing the refined manners of
a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.
Romanesque, because of the funny proportionsbig
head, kind of cartoony.
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Gothicchild looks like shrunken adult,
elongated, but elegant body
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Recap of Medieval Art Principles
Romanesque Not naturalistic or realistic of
body Romanesque look cartoony or
flat Romanesque Awkward landscapes or
architecture Romanesque and Gothic elongated
bodies Romanesque and Gothic sculpture
disproportionate body (big heads) Romanesque and
Gothic Affectionate mother and child Gothic No
background at all, just colored space Gothic No
perspective Gothic The stuff that is most
important is largest Gothic Look soft or
boneless Gothic infants look like shrunken
adults Gothic Strong diagonal line Gothic
Stained glass
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The Gothic's were known for their stained glass
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Kylemore Abbey, Galway, Ireland
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Principles of Gothic architecture
Pointed archesFlying buttressesEmphasis on the
verticalStained glass (lots of light) Ornate
decoration Elongated sculpture Ribbed vaulting
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Notre Dame Cathedral
begun in 1163
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Notre Dame Cathedralflying buttressesc. 1175
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Chartres Cathedral buttresses
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Flying Buttress diagram
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Abbey Church of Saint Denis
ribbed vaulting
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Chartres Cathedral
V E R T I C A L I T Y
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SUMMARY Late Medieval art Gothic architecture

• ARCHITECTURE arches get the point
  buttresses fly glass is stained emphasis on
  VERTICAL
• ART dematerialized human figures moving
  towards realistic pictorial space
• IDEAS life is bad, humans worse, God is great
• EVENTS plague, weakening of Church authority