Transcript Stained Glass and Medieval Art - Ms. Carty's Website

Stained Glass: Medieval Art,
Romanesque, and Gothic Art
Visual Art I, 2013
Early Medieval Art Vocabulary
• Illumination: colored illustrations, often
containing gold and silver, that decorated
manuscripts during the Early Middle Ages.
• Vellum: a fine parchment made from calfskin
and used for writing, manuscript illumination
and book binding.
Early Medieval Art
• The Middle Ages refers to a time period that spans
over 1000 years. After the fall of the Roman empire,
Europe was mostly inhabited by large migrating tribes.
Most artwork from this early migration period (400600) is in the form of portable object like ornaments,
weapons, and objects of daily use. Animal motifs were
also common in decoration and design due to pagan
tradition that remained in the largely Christian society.
Manuscript illumination was an important art form
during this time because it allowed missionaries to
spread the gospel through books that were easy to
read and carry. These manuscripts were usually drawn
by monks in secluded monasteries throughout Europe.
Illumination
• Landisfarne Gospel Book
(698-721), this manuscript
is made from a superior
type of parchment
(bleached animal skin)
called vellum. The page
shown here is the beginning
of the gospel of St.
Matthew. The illustration is
beautifully integlated with
abstract and geometric
designs of minute detail.
Priest, Knight,
Peasant
The British Library,
London
August from the Hours
of the Duke of Berry
Limbourg Brothers (1370-801416)
Battle of Hastings
Detail of the Bayeux
Tapestry, c. 1073-83.
Life of St. Hedwig of Silesia
Early Christian Art was largely symbolic as the artist did not know how to
use perspective , and or anatomy until later in the early 1500’s
Romanesque Art
• This term applies to the eleventh and twelfth
centuries (1050-1200). This period of art history
is greatly characterized by religious fervor.
Pilgrimages to religious sites and the Crusades
move immense numbers of people back and
forth across Europe, which resulted in a mingling
of cultures and goods. Building campaigns were
undertaken all of Europe toward building
churches, carving sculpture, and decorating
them. Thus this period of art greatly reflects the
religious enthusiasm that characterized Medieval
life during this time.
Romanesque Art Vocabulary
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Tympanum: a carved or decorated space over the door and under the arch of a
Romanesque of gothic church façade.
Narthex: a porch of vestibule, sometimes enclosed, preceding the main entrance of a
church
Mandorla: an almond-shaped outline enclosing the full figure of a person endowed
with divine light, usually Christ.
Crossings: the area of a church where the transept intersects the nave. Sometimes a
dome of tower is built over this area, further emphasizing it as the focal area of the
worship space.
Ambulatory: any passageway around a central space. A place for walking around the
apse of a church, often a continuation of the side aisles, or a covered walkway around
the cloisters.
Buttresses: a massive support built against a wall to receive the lateral thrust exerted by
a vault, roof or arch.
Abbey: a complex of buildings comprised by a monastery and a church.
Cloister: a covered walkway or ambulatory around an open court or garden.
Cathedra: the chair or throne of a bishop.
Campanile: a bell tower either attached to a church or free standing nearby.
Detail from Chartres Cathedral
The Mission of the Apostles (1120-1132)
Tympanum of the central portal of the narthex. The title of
this relief refers to the Christian belief that the apostles and all
the faithful are obligated to spread the Gospel to all nations.
Common Vaulting System
Wooden roofs of previous ages were replaced by masonry
barrel vaults. These vaults eliminated the danger of fire and
produced better acoustics. These Vaults, similar to those
used by the Romans, were extremely heavy and required
the support of buttresses.
Diagram of Sainte-Sernin,
Toulouse, France.
This structure was a
pilgrimage church. That is, it
was built to hold multitudes
of travelers on their way to
sacred shrines. A large apse
and ambulatory, many small
chapels, and double side
aisles helped control the
crowds that moved through
the church.
Pilgrimage Roads
• During the Middle Ages, Christians in search of
salvation made pilgrimages to important shrines.
A pilgrimage could mean a dangerous trip of
hundreds, even thousands of miles. Pilgrims
traveled to churches to see the relics, or
remnants of a saint’s clothing, hair, or bones
which they believed had the power to cure
disease, forgive sins, and perform miracles. Like
tourist centers today, people in the various towns
where shrines were located made their living
from tourist trade selling souvenirs and fake relics
to weary pilgrims.
Notre Dame la Grande (1162-1271)
In Poitiers, France this church is a low and wide
structure. The barrel vaulted interior has small windows,
and is heavy and dark. The exterior has more sculpture
than many Romanesque churches.
Giselbertus, The Last Judgments (1130)
This carving in the church of St. Lazare at Autun, is a
landmark of Romanesque sculpture. It depicts the
moment at the end of the world when Christians believe
all of humankind will rise from the dead; each to be
judged worthy of Heaven or sentenced to Hell.
Gothic Art
• This period in art history spans throughout the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries during a time of massive
population shift in Europe.
• Gothic was first used as a term of ridicule by
Renaissance critics because the style did not conform
to the standards of Classical Greece and Rome. Today
Gothic art is synonymous with the new energy and
dynamic style of the period.
• Cities grew during the Gothic period and cathedral
building flourished
• The church became the most important influence in art
and daily life
• Unity is the key concept in Gothic architecture
Gothic Art Vocabulary
• Flying buttress: a supportive structure consisting of a tower
buttress and a flying arch which spans the side aisles and supports
the upper wall of the nave of a Gothic church.
• Clerestory: the upper section of a wall (windowed or open) used for
fighting and ventilation; also, the upper story of the nave of a
church building.
• Rose window: a circular window with stone tracery radiating from
the center and a characteristic feature of Gothic church
architecture.
• Tracery: ornamental stonework in a decorative pattern with a lacelike effect; a decorative interlacing of lines suggestive of such
stonework.
• Fan vaulting: a complex vault with radiating ribs, characteristic of
late English Gothic (perpendicular) architecture.
• Cartoon: a full scale drawing from which a painting or fresco is
made.
Chartres Cathedral, 1194, France
One of the best remaining examples of Gothic construction. The
basic design is unified, indicating that is was designed by one master
builder. Thought the construction proceeded through four centuries
and was never completely finished.
Interior view of
Chartres
Cathedral:
a good example
of flying
buttresses which
eliminated the
need for heavy
Romanesque
walls.
Abbot Suger
(c. 1081 – 13 January 1151)
• He was one of the last Frankish abbot-statesmen, a
historian, and the influential first patron of Gothic
architecture.
• Abbot Suger, friend and confidant of the French Kings,
Louis VI and Louis VII, decided in about 1137, to rebuild
the great Church of Saint-Denis, the site of Coronation
of the French monarch since 754. It is often cited as the
first building in the Gothic style.
• Suger wished to construct a church that was as
beautiful and richly decorated as possible because
anything less would be unsuitable for God’s house. His
main concern was light because it symbolized the
presence of God.
Notre Dame (exterior), began in 1163
Notre Dame is considered one of the best known of all Gothic
cathedrals. Looking at the exterior view one can see how it is
possible for flying buttresses and other elements of Gothic
architecture are able to support this huge stone structure while still
allowing the space to be open and well lit.
West façade,
Cathedral of
Reims, 1225-1229
In this cathedral
solidity and
heaviness have
been replaced by
openings and
lightness. The
towers and not
solid but are made
up of carved stone
tracery.
Example of fan Vaulting, Wells Cathedral,
early 14th century England
Here small clustered columns seems to be transformed into ribs
for the vault and create a feature called fan vaulting. The
vaulting was so elaborate that the style was alter referred to as
Flamboyant Gothic.
Examples of Stained Glass
from Medieval to Modern
Detail of a medieval window at Troyes Cathedral,
France (1300s)
Contemporary Stained Glass Window
Duke Chapel Stained Glass
Tiffany Glass Lamp, 1902
Tiffany Stained
Glass Window, 1905
One of eleven Tiffany
windows at Brown
Memorial Presbyterian
Church in Baltimore,
Maryland. It has 58 panels
and is thought to be one of
the largest Tiffany Studios
windows