European Art: Medieval Period to Renaissance

Medieval Period

• Characteristics of Medieval Art:
  • Subjects are mostly religious
  • Figures look flat and stiff with little real movement
  • Important figures are large and fully clothed
  • Faces are solemn with little emotion
  • Paintings use vibrant colors
  • Backgrounds are a single color, often gold, with no interest in creating a realistic space
  • The church forbids displaying the naked human body
• Forms of Art: stained-glass windows, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, paintings, and tapestries
• Purposes: to teach religion to people who cannot read or write
• 3 Major Periods of Medieval Art: Early Christian, Romanesque, and Gothic

Early Christian Age (350 C.E)

• The Catholic Church had two main centers of power: Rome and Constantinople
• Medieval art was popular in houses of worship and was used as decoration for the public's appreciation

Romanesque Architecture (11th Century)

• Semi-circular arches, heavy stone walls, and stable construction in monasteries and churches marked the growth of the European City

Defining Art from the Medieval Period to the Renaissance

• The Dark Ages refer to the Early Middle Ages, or occasionally the entire Middle Ages, in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire
• The fall of Ancient Rome in 476 A.D. marked the beginning of the "darkness" in Europe
• Byzantine art, architecture, paintings, and other visual arts were produced in the Middle Ages in the Byzantine Empire (centered at Constantinople)
• Byzantine Empire continued to exist for many more centuries

Gothic Style (12th Century)

• Developed as a result of the French Monarchy
• Characterized by menacing gargoyles and flying buttresses in Gothic Cathedral

Famous Artist of Medieval Period

• Duccio di Bouninsegna, founder of the Sienese School painting, was one of the greatest Italian painters
• Maesta has been recognized as the greatest of all his works

Renaissance Period

• Renaissance art is marked by the gradual shift from the abstract forms of the medieval period to the representational forms of the 15th century
• Characteristics of Renaissance Art:
  • Both religious and nonreligious scenes
  • Figures look idealized, perfect
  • Bodies may look active, moving
  • Bodies may be nude or clothed
  • Real people doing real tasks of daily life
  • Faces express what people are thinking
  • Colors respond to the light that falls on them
  • Interest in nature, lots of natural details
  • Paintings are symmetrical (balanced on both sides)
• Forms of Art: sculptures, murals, drawings, paintings
• Purposes: to show the importance of people and nature, not just religion
• 3 Major Periods of Renaissance Art: Proto-Renaissance, Early Renaissance, and High Renaissance

Proto-Renaissance Art (1300-1400)

• Refers to the Renaissance in Italy, pioneering "figurative realism"
• It is the foundation of what was considered the period of the Italian Renaissance
• In the early Renaissance, one of the principal characteristics is humanism