Medieval Art History Overview from Phil Hansen

The

medieval

period or Middle Ages covers almost a thousand years between 400 and 1300 AD. This was a time when important artistic movements took place. New artistic genres were created. Different artistic traditions were combined, including Middle Eastern and African styles and notable artists. He created some stunning masterpieces that would inspire the Early Renaissance The Medieval period encompassed eight major art movements including Byzantine Islamic Viking Carolingian Celtic Ottonian Romanesque and Gothic art The Middle Ages was also a time when Christianity was flourishing throughout Europe and this meant a rejection of older pagan ways of life The Roman emperor Constantine gained many followers after his public proclamation that Christianity, a religion that had been harshly persecuted in its early years, would now be tolerated.

Medieval art reflects the great popularity of Christianity. The

medieval

era saw the collapse of Western Roman civilization. Empire, which is one of the reasons Emperor Constantine moved the Roman capital from Rome to Byzantium, which we know is modern-day Istanbul. Constantine's Byzantine Empire depended on the stability of the East while maintaining extensive trade routes with the West. A new sect of Christianity. Catholicism gained prominence. in the West, but artists in the region followed the example of their Eastern Byzantine peers in terms of artistic style. One of the key points to remember about the art of this era is that, due to concerns about the biblical prohibition on carved images, medieval artists avoided sculptures. in the circle that could be seen from all sides, like Roman busts, artists tended toward one-dimensional and somewhat abstract art during the decline of the Western Roman Empire.

Religious mosaics and frescoes made their appearance in medieval churches, cathedrals and basilicas. Medieval art involved a fusion. from Eastern and Western cultures, including Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the oldest medieval art dating from 500 to 800 AD. C. is best known for the tessellated or repeating patterns of Islam and Viking, jeweled migratory art. Islamic art reflected Muslim ideas of heaven as a natural paradise. and featured many floral patterns as well as repeating geometric shapes and elegant calligraphy. The Vikings excelled in carpentry and metalwork with interlocking patterns and abstract representations of animals, as they were a migratory people.

Most of his art was portable. The Vikings are known for their golden fibula. brooches and one of the most famous is the Ostrogothic Golden Eagle Fibula, an abstract eagle brooch with a circular center and a geometric arrangement of precious gems during the Carolingian period between the late 8th and early 10th centuries. Emperor Charlemagne sponsored the many extravagant construction. churches and monasteries, he also lavished the churches with gifts of liturgical items for use in Christian services, such as chalices, incense censors, and crosses made of gold and silver covered with pearls and gems, although elaborate metal art had been common in last.

Charlemagne deliberately challenged the Byzantine iconic. Charlemagne was also responsible for spreading literacy among the nobles throughout his reign. He highlighted the importance of books and reading which had been neglected for many years and his views led to the development of the popular Carolingian minuscule script. Illuminated manuscripts or elaborately illustrated books with covers made of precious metals and covered in jewels were popular among monks in medieval times. The best-known illuminated manuscripts come from Celtic artists who used many of the same designs found in their intricate goldsmithing heritage, not as paintings in their books. Wealthy families owned their own illuminated manuscripts which were called the Book of Hours and were used for their daily religious activities as demand grew, artists were encouraged to display them.

The geometric patterns of Coptic Egypt and the Anglo-Saxon fascination with animal art began to influence the Celtic style in the 7th century. Some of the best examples of early medieval art. that we have today are found in illuminated manuscripts the book of duro the book of kells the lindisfarne gospels and the ebo gospels are four of the best known manuscripts during the atonium period named after king otho the great and his son and grandson Otto the second and the third, the cultural renaissance that Charlemagne had spearheaded influenced new art that adopted an increasingly Germanic style in 1000 AD.

C. Romanesque architecture had begun to gain followers in France and spread rapidly throughout Europe as cities and their monasteries gained more and more power and wealth. Romanesque architecture was characterized by semicircular Roman arches, thick stone walls and spaces separated according to their function. The cathedrals were larger than ever and were richly decorated with vibrant paintings and figurative sculptures. The relief works in these cathedrals tended to be larger than ever. An artist explored new forms. To make them increasingly imposing, each church had impressive frescoes depicting religious scenes and this became almost mandatory for the churches and cathedrals of the dead.

Many paintings featured horrible monsters and beasts fighting with heroes or each other. At the beginning of the 12th century, Gothic art had emerged. In France, Gothic art was more realistic than earlier medieval styles and also incorporated striking and elegant new designs into traditional art, making this new style distinctive and popular. One of the key changes was in architecture, where it brought the integration of sculpture into buildings such as St. shaped pillars and angels floating in the window frames the new design adopted by Gothic architects allowed them to free up space for stained glass, as a result some spectacular stained glass windows were created and installed in many churches the most common themes represented the Virgin Mary and the motif of the Christ child when 1380 came to an end.

Leedy medieval artists such as Giotto began looking for a way to differentiate their work from the older Byzantine style as a result of these artists' experimentations with the Renaissance style that produced masters such as Michelangelo da Vinci and Raphael. you were born