Late%20Medieval%20Art%20

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Medieval Art Architecture
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Medieval Times

• In the 11th century, Europe social structure was
  based on a system called Feudalism. Feudalism
  was the social order where the peasants provided
  labor and military service to a lord in return
  for the use of his land. This meant that
  peasants were considered the lowest in the
  society and got very little food and respect.
  They also had to pay the most tax money back to
  their lords. Because the system was not fair to
  everyone it often caused fights amongst the
  people. When the peasants started to get more
  control over their own lives, they would turn to
  the Christian religion for stability.

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Feudal system
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• This is why they began to build large churches
  called cathedrals that could hold lots of people.
  These first churches are described as
  Romanesque. Romanesque buildings were made of
  stone, but often had wooden roofs because people
  were still not very good at building stone roofs
  yet. If they did have stone roofs, the walls had
  to be very thick in order to hold up the roof.
  This meant there couldn't be very many windows
  either, so Romanesque buildings were often very
  heavy and dark inside. They had round arches,
  like the classical buildings of Rome, and
  decorated them with carvings of people or
  animals.

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Chartres Cathedral, Paris
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RomanesqueFloor Plans
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RomanesqueCathedralArchitectural Style

• Rounded Arches.
• Barrel vaults.
• Thick walls.
• Darker, simplistic interiors.
• Small windows, usually at the top of the wall.

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Interior of a RomanesqueCathedral
Note the rounded arches and the small windows.
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Gothic Cathedrals
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Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris
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• After the Romanesque period in architecture,
  around 1200 AD, most people began to build
  Christian churches and palaces in the Gothic
  style. The easiest difference to see between the
  two styles is that while Romanesque churches have
  round arches, Gothic churches have pointed
  arches. But there are a lot of other differences
  as well. Gothic cathedrals have lots of windows
  to let in more light so they are not as dark as
  Romanesque churches.

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Interior of a Gothic Cathedral
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Interior of a Gothic Cathedral
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• They were able to do this because the architects
  found some new ways of building stone roofs that
  the walls could support. One of these was called
  the flying buttress. It was something outside the
  church that pushed against the wall so the
  building wouldnt fall over. Gothic churches are
  also usually bigger than Romanesque churches. By
  1200 AD people had more money available, and they
  could afford to spend more on building great
  churches.

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Flying Buttress
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St. Etienne, Bourges, late 12c
Flying Buttresses
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Gothic Floor Plans
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Gothic CathedralArchitectural Style

• Began in France in the 12c.
• Pointed arches.
• Flying buttresses.
• Stained glass windows.
• Elaborate, ornate interior.
• Taller, more airy ? lots of light.
• Lots of sculpture ? larger-than-life.

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Gothic Filigree Closeups
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Chartres Cathedral, Paris
Many churches were very richly decorated, both
inside and out. Here we see important figures in
history and tales from the Bible.
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Cathedral Gargoyles
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• Perhaps one of the most interesting features of
  Gothic architecture are the figures of the
  grotesques, the gargoyles. Although they fit
  every stereotype about evil creatures, they are
  instead guardians of the buildings which they
  sit. A gargoyle is actually a carved spout which
  takes water away from the sides of building just
  like a eves trough on a house. There are similar
  sculptures that do not carry away water and are
  and simply ornamental are called chimera.
  Nowadays it is common for both types of carvings
  to be referred to as gargoyles.

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Stained Glass Windows

• The term stained glass can refer to the material
  of colored glass. Throughout its history, the
  term "stained glass" has been applied almost
  exclusively to the windows of churches, cathedrals
  , chapels, and other significant buildings.
  Stained glass, as an art form, reached its height
  in the Middle Ages when it became a major way to
  communicate using pictures about the Bible
  because most people couldnt read

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Rose Window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term
applied to a round window, but is especially used
for those found in churches of the Gothic
architectural style and being divided into
segments by a dark frame.
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Rose WindowDesigns of Various Kinds
Original Design
Labyrinth, 1200
Buddhist Mandala
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Which Interior Is Which?
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Illuminated Manuscripts
An illuminated manuscript is a page from an old
book where the words are surrounded by
decorations fancy letters, borders and small
pictures. These were made as a way of giving
respect to ancient documents that help them
survive during the periods just after Feudalism.
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Illuminated Manuscripts
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Medieval Tapestriesfrom theWorkshops in Flanders
The Lady the Unicorns, 1511
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Late Medieval Church Art
Chalice, paten, and straw, mid-13c
Relinquary, late 12c
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Late Medieval Art

• St. FrancisRule Approved
• Giotto
• 1288-92?
• Tempera on wood and ground gold.

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Medieval Religious Themes

• The Epiphany
• Giotto
• 1320
• Tempera on wood and ground gold.

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The Crucifixion

• Giotto
• 1305
• Tempera onwood andground gold.