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223 Cards in this Set
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Primaporta Augustus
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Typical portrait of Augustus as it shows him armed, and as a recipient of the civic crown for saving the lives of fellow citizens • Augustus’s idealized portraits were modeled on Classical Greek statues and depict him as a never-aging son of God • The cupid at Augustus’s feet alludes to his divine descent • The sculptor took a borrowing from the Greeks in that Augustus is standing in the pose of Polykleitos’s Doryphoros, but with his right arm raised to address his troops in the manner of the orator Aule Metele • Adopts a signature hair style- a fork where the hair separates and next to it, almost a pincer shape- characteristic of his image from now on • Breastplate: an event that took place in 20 BC, the Romans had lost their military insignias/standards and Augustus got them back- the historical scene is presented in a great cosmic frame- the sky above, the sky god, the sun rising and the earth down below, provinces are personified and divine figures appear- the historical event is placed in a big cosmic picture |
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Portrait of Livia
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Even though her hair is Roman, Livia’s youthful appearance and sharply defined features derive from images of Greek goddesses • Like Augustus, she never aged in her portraits; meaning that the imperial woman of the Augustan age shared the emperor’s eternal youthfulness • Same simple hairstyle and eternal youthfulness as her husband Augustus • Her hair is conservative and under control |
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Augustus wearing corona civica
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Was the work of a virtuoso sculptor, a master wielder of hammer and chisel • Demonstrates the fact that patrons typically dictated how they would be portrayed in art, and Augustus demanded that he always be portrayed as young and godlike • Typical hairstyle • Civic crown means he saved lives of Roman citizens |
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Ara Pacis
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • On his wife Livia’s birthday, Augustus dedicated this monument to her, which celebrated his most significant achievement, the establishment of peace • Panels depict carefully selected mythological subjects, including Aeneas who was a key element in of Augustus’s political ideology for his new Golden Age • Complex iconographic program |
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Frieze from Ara Pacis
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • On his wife Livia’s birthday, Augustus dedicated this monument to her, which celebrated his most significant achievement, the establishment of peace • Panels depict carefully selected mythological subjects, including Aeneas who was a key element in of Augustus’s political ideology for his new Golden Age • Complex iconographic program • Procession of the Imperial Family • These friezes were inspired to some degree by the Panathenaic procession frieze of the Pantheon, and Augustus sought to present his new order as a Golden Age equaling that of Athens under Pericles • This emulation of Classical models makes it a political statement as well as an artistic one • The children tie in because they promote fertility and child bearing, are core family values and represent a family unit, but the irony is that Augustus had a dysfunctional family but he is promoting the core values, and the future is the children • Embedded political meaning: Augustus is saying his children will follow after him and set up a dynasty (which is antithetical to the Roman Republic) |
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Maison Carrée, Nîmes France
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Built by Roman architects in Nîmes to bring Romanness to France- one of its provinces • Brackets underneath the projecting cornice- come into monumental stone architecture in the Augustan period • Is the best surviving example of the Augustan Neo-Classical architectural style |
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Pont du Gard, near Nîmes
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Demonstrates the skill of Roman engineers- they were very good at bringing in water from the countryside, because that is an important part of a city once it gets to a certain size • The aqueduct runs underground, but when it crosses a river it has to go consistently downhill • There is a proportional relationship between the larger and smaller arches- individual blocks not Roman concrete are used to make the arches • It modifies the landscape which expresses the roman presence |
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Porta Maggiore, Rome
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Constructed at the point where two of Rome’s water lines converged • Is the outstanding example of the Roman rusticated (rough) masonry style- instead of using precisely shaped blocks the Greek and Augustan architects preferred, the PM designer combined smooth and rusticated surfaces • The rusticated stones create an exciting, eccentric facade |
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Domus Aurea, Golden House of Nero
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Nero built a country estate for himself inside the walls of Rome after that part of the city burned • Artificial lake, fields, open areas, fountains • Architects: Severus and Celer • The architects designed something significant in the history of architecture: Octagon, and rooms radiate off the octagon • This is a dynamic composition- it radiates outward • The construction material is roman concrete • The oculus- the hole in the room- provides illumination and light comes over the back of the oculus and into the rooms: vault-haunch clerestory lighting (an invention by the architects) |
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Portrait of Vespasian
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Vespasian’s portraits make an important political statement- breaking with the tradition Augustus established of depicting the Roman emperor as an eternally youthful god on earth, Vespasian’s sculptors resuscitated the veristic tradition of the Republic, possibly at his specific direction • Perhaps V did this to underscore the elderly new emperor’s Republican values in contrast to Nero’s self-indulgence and extravagance • Frankly records his receding hairline and aging, leathery skin- proclaiming his tradition Republican values in contrast to Nero’s |
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Portrait of a Flavian Lady
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Purpose was to project not Republican virtues but rather idealized beauty- through contemporary fashion rather than by reference to images of Greek goddesses • Notable for its elegance and delicacy and for the virtuoso way the sculptor rendered the differing textures of hair and flesh • Her hair creates a dense mass of light and shadow set off boldly from the softly modeled and highly polished skin of the face and swanlike neck • Used the drill which played an important role |
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The Colosseum
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Built in Nero’s drained artificial lake- Vespasian reclaimed the land Nero had confiscated for his private pleasure and turned it into entertainment for the Romans • Enormous structure is an amphitheater (building that has a theater on both ends) • Celebrates the arch, and the Greek column (Doric, Ionic and Corinthiain order)- but the columns are decorative, the arches are doing all the work |
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Arch of Titus
• Roman Art: Early Empire, 27 BC – AD 96 • Is a “triumphal arch” which has a long history in Roman art and architecture- they were freestanding sculptures that commemorated a wide variety of events • Column capitals are the Composite type- an ornate combination of Ionic volutes and Corinthian acanthus leaves • There is a panel that displays the intermingling of divine and human figures- the first known instance of divine beings interacting with humans on an official Roman historical relief |
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Pompeii Forum
• Pompeii Art and Architecture: Destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79 • The forum is the center of civic life in any Roman town- it was of great importance • On the north end there is a temple of Jupiter which later became a Capitolium when the Romans made Pompeii a colony- the Capitolium was a triple shrine of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the chief Roman gods • The temple was the standard Roman type- constructed of tufa covered with fine white stucco and combining an Etruscan plan with Corinthian columns • Had a basilica on the outer edges, which was the law court of Pompeii- its plan resembles the forum itself- long and narrow, with two stories of internal columns dividing the space into a central nave and flanking aisles |
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Pompeii Amphitheater
• Pompeii Art and Architecture: Destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79 • Is the earliest amphitheater known and could seat over 20,000 spectators- more than the entire population of the town • Seating in the amphitheater was assigned by rank, both civic and military, so that the roman social hierarchy was on display at every event • The word amphitheater means “double theater” and Roman amphitheaters closely resemble two Greek theaters put together- cultural borrowings |
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Brawl in the Amphitheater at Pompeii
• Pompeii Art and Architecture: Destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79 • A brawl broke out between the Pompeians and their neighbors, the Nuccerians, during a gladiatorial contest in AD 59 • The fighting left many seriously wounded and resulted in the closing of the amphitheater for a decade • The painting shows the cloth awning that protected spectators from the sun and rain • Features the distinctive external double staircases that enabled large number of people to enter and exit in an orderly fashion |
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The Roman House
• Pompeii Art and Architecture: Destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79 • The Roman House was more than just a place to live, it played an important role in Roman social rituals • Most roman houses were inwardly-looking • Featured an atrium, small bedrooms, a peristyle garden • There was axial symmetry to the houses |
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Atrium of the House of the Vettii
• Pompeii Art and Architecture: Destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79 • Was remodeled and repainted after the 62 CE earthquake • Roman townhouses had a central atrium with an impluvium to collect rainwater. Cubicula (bedrooms) opened onto the atrium, and in Helleniezd houses like this one, builders added a peristyle garden at the rear • The house’s owners were rich and their wealth enabled them to purchase and furnish the kind of fashionable townhouse that in an earlier era only patricians could have acquired |
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Sanmite House, Herculaneum
• Roman Painting, First Style: 2nd century – early 1st century BC • The First Style is also called the Masonry Style because the decorator’s aim was to imitate costly marble panels using painted stucco relief • The fauces of the Samnite House at Herculaneum greets the visitor with a stunning illusion of walls constructed, or at least faced, with marbles imported from quarries all over the Mediterranean • This approach to wall decoration is comparable to the modern practice, employed in private libraries and corporate meeting rooms of using cheaper manufactured materials to approximate the look and shape of more expensive materials |
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Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
• Roman Painting, Second Style: 100 BC - 15 BC • Features a cubiculum- the painter opened up the walls with vistas of towns, temples and colonnaded courtyards. The convincing illusionism is due in part to the use of linear perspective • In linear perspective, all the receding lines in a composition converge on a single point along the painting’s central axis to show depth and distance • Linear perspective was a typical tool of Second Style painters seeking to transform the usually windowless walls of Roman houses into “picture window” vistas |
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Villa of Livia at Prima Porta
• Roman Painting, Second Style: 100 BC - 15 BC • The ultimate example of a Second Style picture-window mural • Imperial painters decorated all the walls of a vaulted room with lush gardenscapes • To suggest recession, the painter mastered another kind of perspective- atmospheric perspective, indicating depth by the increasingly blurred appearance of objects in the distance |
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Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii
• Roman Painting, Second Style: 100 BC - 15 BC • Maybe used to celebrate the rites of the Greek god Dionysos- the figural cycle of the Villa of the Mysteries, illustrating mortals (all female save for one boy) interacting with mythological figures provides some evidence for the cult’s initiation rights • Striking is the way some of the figures interact across the corners of the room • There is cultural borrowing- figures from Greek mythology are there |
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Villa of Agrippa Postumus at Boscotrecase
• Roman Painting, Third Style: 15 BC – AD 60 • In place of the stately columns of the Second Style are insubstantial and impossibly thin colonnettes supporting featherweight canopies barely reminiscent of pediments • In the Third Style, Roman painters decorated walls with delicate linear fantasies sketched on predominantly monochromatic backgrounds. Here, a tiny floating landscape on a black ground is the central motif |
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Domus Aurea Wall Painting, Rome
• Roman Painting, Fourth Style: AD 60 – AD 79 • Mixes the third and fourth styles: the creamy white walls are third style but the views through the wall revealing irrational architectural vistas characterize the new fourth style |
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House of the Vettii, Pompeii
• Roman Painting, Fourth Style: AD 60 – AD 79 • Late Fourth Style murals are often garishly colored, crowded and confused compositions with a mixture of architectural views, framed mythological panel paintings and 1st and 3rd style motifs • This is a rejection of the quiet elegance of the 3rd style |
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Still Life with Peaches, Herculaneum
• Roman still life, portraits and wall mosaics: 1st century AD • The Roman interest in illusionism explains the popularity of still-life paintings. This painter paid scrupulous attention to the play of light and shadow on different shapes and textures |
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Portrait of a Husband and Wife, Pompeii
• Roman still life, portraits and wall mosaics: 1st century AD • This husband and wife wished to present themselves to their guests as thoughtful and well-read. The portraits are individualized likenesses, but the poses and attributes they hold are standard types • Is an example of realistic portrait placed on a conventional figure type- the fact that their faces are sensitive studies but the types are standardized |
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Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum
• Roman still life, portraits and wall mosaics: 1st century AD • In the ancient world, mosaics were usually confined to floors, but this example depicting Neptune and Amphitrite decorates the wall of a private house • The sea deities fittingly overlook an elaborate fountain • The wall mosaics foreshadow the extensive use of wall and vault mosaics in the Middle Ages |
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Timgad, Algeria
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Trajan, AD 98-117 • Timgad became the physical embodiment of Roman authority and civilization for the local population and served as a key to the Romanization of the provinces • The Roman army knows to build their cities the same why they build their forts- it’s design resembles that of a castrum • Built off of the Greek orthogonal plan- there was cultural mixing |
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Forum of Trajan, Rome
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Trajan, AD 98-117 • Glorified Trajan’s victories in his two wars against the Dacians and was paid for with the spoils of those campaigns • Even as late as the fifth and sixth century, the forum was still standing and people were still marveling at it- meaning, we will never see something like this again- it’s the last great addition to the city of Rome • The Forum= the civic center, political center, religious center of the city • Civic life: markets, temple: religion, basilica: civic and political meeting place • The city of Rome has 1 million people in it at the height of Trajan- this population isn’t seen again until the 1970s- it’s a big deal to have such a big city • Features the standard colonnade- and colossal statues of Datian prisoners line it- the message is that the Romans soundly beat the Datians |
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Markets of Trajan, Rome
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Trajan, AD 98-117 • Lots of markets pop up in Rome as outdoor markets but this one is fixed in a permanent building • Concrete made possible the transformation of a natural slope into a multilevel complex- a great engineering feat • Contrary to Augustus where he found the city in brick and finished it in marble, Trajan is kind of the same way but things like the marketplace start to recognize brick as a decorative quality- they used to cover all the brick up with marble veneer or stucco but now as brick buildings become more sophisticated, people begin to accept it more- brick allows you to outline the doorway and draws your eye more to the actual entrance |
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Markets of Trajan, Rome
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Trajan, AD 98-117 • Lots of markets pop up in Rome as outdoor markets but this one is fixed in a permanent building • Concrete made possible the transformation of a natural slope into a multilevel complex- a great engineering feat • Contrary to Augustus where he found the city in brick and finished it in marble, Trajan is kind of the same way but things like the marketplace start to recognize brick as a decorative quality- they used to cover all the brick up with marble veneer or stucco but now as brick buildings become more sophisticated, people begin to accept it more- brick allows you to outline the doorway and draws your eye more to the actual entrance |
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Column of Trajan, Rome
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Trajan, AD 98-117 • The crowning achievement of the Forum • Decorated with hundreds of scenes and 2,500 individual figures carved on it • The frieze winds up the column telling the story of the Dacian wars (there were multiple) • It’s a big propaganda war memorial, and is also Trajan’s tomb • Only about ¼ of the images have anything to do with actual fighting and warfare- the others have to do with military logistics (food, clearing forests, building fortresses, etc.)- from the mundane to the spectacular • The artist took time to render each person individually • And Trajan has adopted Augustus’s look- he is clean shaven, hair is the same • Trajan became emperor through adoption- you don’t even have to be Roman anymore- the period is called “the adopted emperors” • The artist used dual perspective- we are seeing troops from the side and from above- shows they aren’t good at rendering total perspective quite yet but they want it to be aesthetically pleasing and to tell a story (and to tell the story they need all the information there) |
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Arch of Trajan, Benevento, Italy
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Trajan, AD 98-117 • Trajan built a road from Rome down to Benevento and to show the people what he did, he build a giant arch and in standard, imperial propaganda form he carved it with scenes of propaganda • Compare this to the arch of Titus where on the outside it was fairly plain, whereas with Trajan it was completely covered • Jupiter is handing a thunderbolt to Trajan- meaning Jupiter is giving god power to Trajan while he is still alive (bring this back to being buried in the city limits)- and Trajan was so good, no one objected • Depictions of the “first citizen” of Rome as a divinely sanctioned ruler in the company of gods henceforth became the norm, not the exception in Roman art |
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Portrait of Hadrian
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Hadrian, AD 117-138 • Differences between Hadrian and Trajan- he’s bearded, has different hair • Why the change in appearance? Hadrian as a child of means and privilege, while people are in the army he is relaxing in Greece, and the beard tends to be Greek, and as soon as he adopts it the beard sticks around for the rest of the second century and into the third • There is more detail added to the faces • The busts were painted in antiquity- it used to not be as austere • The drill is at work, getting under the marble (“undercutting”)- there is a greater display of light and shadow • Hadrian is always portrayed as a mature adult who never ages |
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Pantheon, Rome
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Hadrian, AD 117-138 • Octastyle temple • What is interesting about the exterior is the inscription- mentions Aggripo, meaning that Hadrian has rebuilt a temple and put the original dedicators name on it, much in the way that Trajan was showing the same piety to Augustus by mimicking his style • Monolithic columns- it was all cut from one piece of stone (and they’re 50 feet high)- come from a quarry down the Nile, meaning to get the granite all the way to Rome is a huge message- they didn’t break it into drums like the Greeks did- incredible logistical nightmare • The Romans loved geometry and the temple is a sphere perfectly encapsulated by the building- they admired that kind of perfection • Is thought to mimic the sky- the idea behind it is that it would represent the sky on the ceiling • Hadrian is not going for height, he is going for space- emphasizing the horizontal not the vertical • Floor: square tile, round tile, etc.- curvilinear vs. rectilinear space- the effect is dynamic, adding motion and liveliness |
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Pantheon, Rome
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Hadrian, AD 117-138 • Octastyle temple • What is interesting about the exterior is the inscription- mentions Aggripo, meaning that Hadrian has rebuilt a temple and put the original dedicators name on it, much in the way that Trajan was showing the same piety to Augustus by mimicking his style • Monolithic columns- it was all cut from one piece of stone (and they’re 50 feet high)- come from a quarry down the Nile, meaning to get the granite all the way to Rome is a huge message- they didn’t break it into drums like the Greeks did- incredible logistical nightmare • The Romans loved geometry and the temple is a sphere perfectly encapsulated by the building- they admired that kind of perfection • Is thought to mimic the sky- the idea behind it is that it would represent the sky on the ceiling • Hadrian is not going for height, he is going for space- emphasizing the horizontal not the vertical • Floor: square tile, round tile, etc.- curvilinear vs. rectilinear space- the effect is dynamic, adding motion and liveliness |
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Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli
• Roman Art, The Second Century; Hadrian, AD 117-138 • This villa demonstrates his Greekness • At the end of the canal you have a serapaim • See the curvilinear and rectilinear idea in the columns flanking the canal- there’s a lintel then an arc- creates a kind of aesthetic vibrance that comes with the Baroque idea of art • Hodgepodge of all Greek things he loved • Caryatids • Got to build his pumpkin dome |
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Model of Insula at Ostia
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Port City of Ostia • One of the few places that we have remnants of Roman apartment buildings- 4 stories, the bottom are shops built like Trajan’s markets with arches and storage space above it • Where is the best place to live in these apartments? The top- can have skylights, have less things blocking your natural light, but the apartments are overall smelly, gross, and noisy • In place of peristyles, insulae had only narrow light wells or small courtyards • A strikingly modern feature of these multifamily residences is their brick facades, which were not concealed by stucco or marble veneers |
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Floor Mosaic from the Baths of Neptune
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Port City of Ostia • This is important because it’s black and white- they knew fully well that they could make mosaics in color, but here it is a specific stylistic choice • Black and white gives us a choice between light and dark • Compare this to greek vase painting? They could paint in color but they did red-figure painting because of the aesthetics • As a composition in itself, the mosaic doesn’t need to make total sense • The objects are oriented to the viewer coming into the room- make more flexibility to appeal to visitors |
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Tombs of Working Men and Women: Relief of a Vegetable Vendor
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Port City of Ostia • Terracotta plaques illustrating the activities of middle-class merchants frequently adorned Ostian tomb facades • The facades of these houses of the dead resembled those of the contemporary insulae of the living • The artist had little interest in the Classical-revival style of contemporary imperial art and tiled the counter forward so that the observer can see the produce clearly |
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Column Base of Antonius Pius
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Antoines, AD 138-192 • He kept the beard like Hadrian and showed so much piety toward Hadrian that he got his name • 2 distinct sculpting styles • There are 2 scenes • Apotheosis of Antonius Pius: dying after his wife and ascending to heaven on the back of the winged messenger • Classical tradition with its elegant, well-proportioned figures, personifications and single ground line |
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Column Base of Antonius Pius
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Antoines, AD 138-192 • He kept the beard like Hadrian and showed so much piety toward Hadrian that he got his name • 2 distinct sculpting styles • There are 2 scenes • The decursio: the parade that his sons would have given him in his death • The figures are much stockier than those in the apotheosis relief, and the panel was not conceived as a window onto the world |
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Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Antoines, AD 138-192 • The statue remains because Christians thought he was Constantine so they didn’t destroy it • Equestrian statues= symbol of conquest and power • Marcus Aurelius is not trampling you, but extending his hand in a show of clemency • Clemency and the idea of justice are trademarks of Marcus Aurelius- he is not threatening but is bringing peace to the empire- peaceful thinking • His ideology: think of peace but be prepared for war • In his portraits he looks very tired, weary, aged beyond his years, heavy lids and the drill is starting to create pupils in his eyes- the drill gives us more light, more shadow, more drama |
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Sarcophagus with the Myth of Orestes
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Antoines, AD 138-192 • Profound changes occurred during the reign of Trojan, Hadrian and the Antonines, notably that Romans began to favor burial over cremation- this reversal of funerary practices may reflect the influence of Christianity and other Eastern religions, whose adherents believed in an afterlife for the human body • Greek mythology was one of the most popular subjects for the decoration of the sarcophagi • The repetition of sarcophagus compositions indicates that sculptors had access to pattern books |
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Asiatic Sarcophagus with Portrait of a Woman from Melfi, Italy
• Roman Art, The Second Century; The Antoines, AD 138-192 • The decoration of all four sides of the marble box with statuesque images of Greek gods and heroes in architectural frames is distinctly Asiatic • The lid portrait carries on the tradition of Etruscan sarcophagi • The woman is reclining on a kline (bed) |
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Portrait of a Priest of Serapis, from Faiyum, Egypt
• Roman Art, The Second Century: Mummy Portraits • In Roman times, painted portraits on wood often replaced the tradition stylized portrait masks • Hundreds of Roman mummy portraits have been preserved in the cemeteries of the Faiyum district- one of them depicts a priest of the Egyptian god Serapis, whose curly hair and beard closely emulate Antoine fashion in Rome • The portrait was painted in encaustic- colors mixed with hot wax |
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Painted Portrait of Septiumius Severus and His Family
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Severans, AD 193-235 • Unique example of a painted portrait of an emperor- it’s on wood and from Egypt (why it survived because it’s so dry there)- it’s a family portrait of the husband and wife and two sons • Painted in tempera (pigments in egg yolk) on wood, as were many of the mummy portraits from Faiyum • His wife is wearing a strange hairstyle: “melon coiffure” but it was the style of the times • Septimius had long hair just like the previous emperors and since he had no legitimacy- he was an usurper, he wanted to establish his legitimacy so he tried to make himself look like previous emperors, he grew a beard like Marcus Aurelius • All the family members are wearing crowns with jewels painted on them- so it’s a family portrait and a dynastic portrait- it’s making a political statement • Caracalla wanted the memory of his brother eliminated from the record- why the boy on the left has his face rubbed off |
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Portrait of Caracalla
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Severans, AD 193-235 • Angry, worried, agitated- it is a moving characterization of Caracalla’s suspicious nature- a further development from the groundbreaking introspection of the portraits of Marcus Aurelius • Shows the texture of the skin, the texture of the short hair, the face is polished, there is a mustache and a very short beard • It looks real- a very natural approach, but at the same time it is geometric and abstract- abstract: the lines on the forehead are a result of him scrunching his forehead make an x with the lines around his mouth and nose area, and the upper part of the x creates a triangle |
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Chariot Procession of Septimius Severus, from arch at Lepcis Magna, Libya
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Severans, AD 193-235 • The emperor is presented frontally and the chariot is moving to the right, but he’s not facing the direction the chariot is moving- he is facing the audience, which is a new way of presenting oneself • Very calm chariot procession- doesn’t have quite as much vigor and motion as usual • It is not like the triumph panel on the Arch of Titus in Rome because it gives no sense of rushing motion- but displays a stately stillness • The attendants on the right are very tall- but there are no legs and there is no connection to the ground- maybe they didn’t want to confuse people with too many legs and if they were the right height they would be hidden by the horses: proves that there is a kind of formula being used, even though it’s not natural • Style of drapery: the folds are much simpler and very different from the folds on Augustus’s primaporta statue • 3rd century: period of transition leading us from the ancient world with many gods into a new world that is eventually the middle ages in which Christianity becomes the dominant religion |
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Baths of Caracalla, Rome
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Severans, AD 193-235 • Theme: emperors build buildings for the city of Rome in order to contribute to the monumentalizing of the city and to help people live their daily lives • Its infrastructures uses urban devices to move people along • Fenestrated sequence of groin vaults- a kind of clerestory lighting • Michelangelo transformed part of these baths into a church so you can get a sense of the scale and space • They needed BIG statues to put in the area |
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Frigidarium, Baths of Diocletian, Rome
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Severans, AD 193-235 • Where the people went to bathe in cold water • Can get an idea of what it once looked like from the nave of the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli which was once the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian • Gives an idea of the lavish adornment of imperial Roman baths |
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Trajan Decius
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Soldier Emperors, AD 235-284 • It was a period of economic, political and military crises but it is also a period of great portrait art- it is a high point in portraiture • Degree of worry, anxiety, instability • Signs of age- thinning hair, lines, bags under eyes • The sculptor modeled the marble as if it were pliant clay, compressing the sides of the head at the level of the eyes, etching the hair and beard into the stone, and chiseling deep lines in the forehead and around the mouth |
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Trebonainus Gallus
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Soldier Emperors, AD 235-284 • Heroic nudity- he is presented as a Greek hero • Projects an image of brute force, he has the massive physique of a powerful wrestler, but his face has a nervous expression • This image of brute force was well suited to the age of the soldier emperors • His body is not Greek but one of a wrestler |
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Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Soldier Emperors, AD 235-284 • Chaotically constructed sarcophagus • By the third century, burial of the dead had become so widespread that even the imperial family was practicing it in place of cremation, so sarcophagi were more popular than ever • Here, a chaotic scene of battle between Romans and barbarians decorates the front of this sarcophagus. The sculptor piled up the writhing, emotive figures in an emphatic rejection of Classical perspective • The young general portrayed is boasting that he is a fearless commander assured of victory- this confidence may have stemmed from him embracing one of the increasingly popular Oriental mystery religions |
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Sarcophagus of a Philosopher
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Soldier Emperors, AD 235-284 • The composition with a frontal central figure and two subordinate flanking figures is typical of the Late Antique style • Sculptors used the wise-man motif not only to portray the deceased but also Christ flanked by his apostles • Two standing women gaze at the philosopher from the left and the right, thus confirming his importance |
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Temple of Venus, Baalbek Lebanon
• Roman Art, The Third Century: The Soldier Emperors, AD 235-284 • Is a demonstration of the decline in respect for Classical art as the architect ignored almost every Classical design • The columns are the only known instance of five-sided Corinthian capitals with corresponding pentagonal bases • The concave forms and those of the niches in the cella walls play off against the cella’s convex shape • Even the “traditional” façade of the Baalbek temple is eccentric- the unknown architect inserted an arch within the triangular pediment |
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The Four Tetrarchs
• Roman Art, The Third Century: Diocletian and the Tetrarchy, AD 284-306 • Artists did not try to capture their individual appearances and personalities, but sought instead to represent the nature of the tetrarchy itself- that is, to portray four equal partners in power • It is impossible to name the rulers, each of the four emperors has lost his identity as an individual and been subsumed into the larger entity of the tetrarchy • Like the figures on the decursio relief of the Column of Antonius Pius, have large cubical heads on squat bodies • Made of porphyry- purple marble- why it has lasted so long |
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Model of the Palace of Diocletian
• Roman Art, The Third Century: Diocletian and the Tetrarchy, AD 284-306 • A well-fortifed suburban palace • Has the layout of a Roman castrum, complete with watchtowers flanking the gates • It gave the emperor a sense of security even in the most insecure times • The imperial residence had a templelike facade |
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Arch of Constantine
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • Has three passageways and is bigger than the arch of Titus • The Arch of Constantine is the quintessential monument of its ear, exhibiting a respect for the past in its reuse of second-century sculptures while rejecting the norms of Classical design in its frieze, paving the way for the iconic art of the Middle Ages • Attic storey- upper part where there is inscription and sculpture- all is there to proclaim the achievements of Constantine • Inner cultural borrowings- much of sculptural decoration on the arch was taken from earlier monuments of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius- and sculptors recut the heads of the earlier emperors with Constantine’s features • The reuse of statues and reliefs on the Arch of Constantine has often been cited as evidence of a decline in creativity and technical skill in the waning years of the pagan Roman Empire • He puts sculpture from earlier emperors’ monuments on the arch- he’s saying he’s the summation of all the good emperors, that it his message |
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Arch of Constantine, Distribution of Largesse
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • Has three passageways and is bigger than the arch of Titus • The Arch of Constantine is the quintessential monument of its ear, exhibiting a respect for the past in its reuse of second-century sculptures while rejecting the norms of Classical design in its frieze, paving the way for the iconic art of the Middle Ages • Attic storey- upper part where there is inscription and sculpture- all is there to proclaim the achievements of Constantine • Inner cultural borrowings- much of sculptural decoration on the arch was taken from earlier monuments of Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius- and sculptors recut the heads of the earlier emperors with Constantine’s features • The reuse of statues and reliefs on the Arch of Constantine has often been cited as evidence of a decline in creativity and technical skill in the waning years of the pagan Roman Empire • He puts sculpture from earlier emperors’ monuments on the arch- he’s saying he’s the summation of all the good emperors, that it his message • Distribution of Largesse • The emperor distributes largesse to grateful citizens who approach him from the right and left • Constantine is a frontal and majestic presence, elevated on a throne above the recipients of his munificence • The figures are squat in proportion, much like the Tetrarchs, they also do not move according to any principle of naturalistic movement but rather have the mechanical and repeated stances and gestures of puppets • The frieze is less a narrative of action than a picture of actors frozen in time so that the viewer can distinguish instantly the all-important imperial donor |
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Coin Portrait of Constantine
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • First time you’ve seen a beardless emperor since Trajan (in the 2nd century) and here we are in the early 4th century and the beard is gone- he presents himself entirely differently and he grows his hair out • Projecting in front of his military helmet is an arc of curls- the idea of arranging your hair in a particular way is very much like Augustus • Evoking the foundation myth of rome- there is the wolf in the corner • The sword is very suspiciously like a cross- there is also a Christian monogram |
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Constantine the Great
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • Very youthful • Constantine’s artist modeled the seminude seated portrait on Roman images of Jupiter • The nervous glance of the third-century portraits is absent, replaced by a frontal mask with enormous eyes set into the broad and simple planes of the head • The emperor’s personality is lost in this immense image of eternal authority • He’s not making eye contact with the person looking at him- looking way over your head and into a different realm- part of the message? This is around the time when he became the sole ruler and he was not interested in mingling with the subjects but rather being a monarch above them • His upward glance and huge eyes combine to produce a formula of overwhelming power appropriate to Constantine’s exalted position as absolute ruler • Colossal- 10 feet tall |
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Basilica Nova or Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • His architects used the same building technique as the other architects had used in the bathing establishments: three large barrel vaults, nave, groin vaulting • Constantine’s giant portrait sat in the western apse of the Basilica Nova, which dominated the interior of the basilica in much the same way that enthroned statues of Greco-Roman divinities loomed over awestruck mortals who entered the cellas of pagan temples • Concrete groin vaults replaced the clerestory of a traditional stone-and-timber basilica |
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Aula Palatine, Trier, Germany
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • The austere brick exterior is typical of later Roman architecture • The use of lead-framed panes of glass for the windows enabled the builders to give life and movement to the blank exterior surfaces • The audience hall was also very simple • The main hall is divided from the semicircular apse by a so-called chancel arch |
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Aula Palatine, Trier, Germany
• Constantine Art, AD 306-337, In Hoc Signo Vinces • The austere brick exterior is typical of later Roman architecture • The use of lead-framed panes of glass for the windows enabled the builders to give life and movement to the blank exterior surfaces • The audience hall was also very simple • The main hall is divided from the semicircular apse by a so-called chancel arch |
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The Synagogue at Dura-Europos, Syria, Wall Paintings: Samuel anoints David
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Third Century • David is being anointed by Samuel and making him king • The figures lack volume and shadow, stand in frontal rows and have stylized gestures- features of contemporaneous pagan art • Figures: frontal and center- the same kind of composition of the time- moving away from Classical styles of the anatomy • The painter drew attention to David by making him larger than the rest, a convention of Late Antique art • David and his brothers are emotionless and almost disembodied spiritual presences • The painter distinguished David from his brothers by his purple toga- which was associated with the Roman emperor, it was an imperial toga to signify David’s royalty |
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The Synagogue at Dura-Europos, Syria, Wall Paintings: Samuel anoints David
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Third Century • David is being anointed by Samuel and making him king • The figures lack volume and shadow, stand in frontal rows and have stylized gestures- features of contemporaneous pagan art • Figures: frontal and center- the same kind of composition of the time- moving away from Classical styles of the anatomy • The painter drew attention to David by making him larger than the rest, a convention of Late Antique art • David and his brothers are emotionless and almost disembodied spiritual presences • The painter distinguished David from his brothers by his purple toga- which was associated with the Roman emperor, it was an imperial toga to signify David’s royalty |
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The Domus Church: Christian Community House
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Third Century • A remodeled private residence • This is the kind of architectural environment in which Christians worship during the early centuries • Featured an assembly hall and baptistery |
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Catacombs and Catacomb Painting: Catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, Rome
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fourth Century • Similar in format to the painted vaults of some third-century apartment houses at Ostia • There is a figure of a male carrying a sheep on his shoulder on the ceiling- looks like the calf-bearer from the acropolis and he is doing what is typical of shepherds in antiquity- tending sheep and occasionally picking up the smaller ones- and it is Christ as the Good Shepherd who takes care of his flock • Iconographic package • Features lunettes: semicircular frames- the lunettes here contain the key episodes from the Old Testament story of Jonah |
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The Early Christian Basilica: Old St. Peter’s, Rome
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fourth Century • The greatest of Constantine’s churches • The Old Saint Peter’s stood on the western side of the Tiber River on the spot where Consantine and Pope Sylvester believed Peter, the first apostle and founder of the Christian community in Rome, had been buried • It fulfilled Christ’s wish that Peter be the rock on which he would build his church • The plan and elevation of Old Saint Peter’s resemble those of Roman basilicas and audience halls, rather than the design of a Greco-Roman temple • Unlike pagan temples, Old Saint Peter’s was not adorned with lavish exterior sculptures- the brick walls were austere |
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The Early Christian Basilica: Santa Sabina, Rome
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fourth Century • A small church- it has the nave and one side aisle • The columns carry an arcade, there are windows above the side aisles with clerestory lighting to illuminate the central area • Why not use a roman temple form? They didn’t want to associate Christianity with pagan rituals and pagan buildings- to distance oneself from the old religions and practices and also the roman temples were small and they wouldn’t have been on the same scale as the basilicas- and also the basilica has associations that are not religious but are also administrative and legislative • The Corinthian columns are all ancient roman- they took them from another temple |
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The Central Plan: Santa Costanza, Rome
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fourth Century • Designed for Constantine’s daughter • Is a reference to the pantheon because of its circular form and niches and perhaps there was an oculus • The central-plan building: the building’s parts are of equal or almost equal dimensions around the center • Features an ambulatory: a ringlike barrel-vaulted corridor separated from the central domed cylinder by a dozen pairs of columns • Like other early Christian basilicas, Santa Costanza had a severe brick exterior • The Santa Costanza mosaic program included subjects common in Roman funerary art |
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The Central Plan: Santa Costanza, Rome
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fourth Century • Designed for Constantine’s daughter • Is a reference to the pantheon because of its circular form and niches and perhaps there was an oculus • The central-plan building: the building’s parts are of equal or almost equal dimensions around the center • Features an ambulatory: a ringlike barrel-vaulted corridor separated from the central domed cylinder by a dozen pairs of columns • Like other early Christian basilicas, Santa Costanza had a severe brick exterior • The Santa Costanza mosaic program included subjects common in Roman funerary art |
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The Central Plan: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fifth Century • The exterior is relatively plain in its brickwork • Cruciform: cross-shaped structure with barrel-vaulted arms and a tower at the crossing- represents one of the earliest successful fusions of the two basic Late Antique plans- the longitudinal, used for basilican churches and the central, used for baptisteries and mausoleums • The theme: the Good Shepherd (Christ) • The decoration anticipates the afterlife of whoever is going to be buried there- the ceiling represents heaven?? • Nice contrast between the plain exterior and the elegant interior- every single inch is covered with mosaics |
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The Central Plan: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fifth Century • The exterior is relatively plain in its brickwork • Cruciform: cross-shaped structure with barrel-vaulted arms and a tower at the crossing- represents one of the earliest successful fusions of the two basic Late Antique plans- the longitudinal, used for basilican churches and the central, used for baptisteries and mausoleums • The theme: the Good Shepherd (Christ) • The decoration anticipates the afterlife of whoever is going to be buried there- the ceiling represents heaven?? • Nice contrast between the plain exterior and the elegant interior- every single inch is covered with mosaics |
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The Central Plan: Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fifth Century • The exterior is relatively plain in its brickwork • Cruciform: cross-shaped structure with barrel-vaulted arms and a tower at the crossing- represents one of the earliest successful fusions of the two basic Late Antique plans- the longitudinal, used for basilican churches and the central, used for baptisteries and mausoleums • The theme: the Good Shepherd (Christ) • The decoration anticipates the afterlife of whoever is going to be buried there- the ceiling represents heaven?? • Nice contrast between the plain exterior and the elegant interior- every single inch is covered with mosaics |
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Mosaics: The Parting of Lot and Abraham
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Fifth Century • A good example of taking a Jewish story and including it in a Christian building • There are a lot of Jewish references in a Christian building because Christianity is built on it- it’s not a split from it- there is continuity • However there is a split in the image- the two groups have sidelong, uncertain glances and the two families are going in different directions- there is a literal parting of the ways • The mosaic looks very roman- it is a style we’re familiar with- it’s classical but the figures are grouped heads- it’s the exact formula used for trajan’s soldiers on the column of Trajan- “head cluster” • They dressed like romans- tunics and togas • They style Is familiar the message has changed |
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Saint’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Sixth Century • The palace-church features an extensive series of mosaics depicting Old Testament prophets and scenes from the life of Christ • *Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes* |
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Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: Sixth Century • At Saint’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna • Is different from other mosaics because Jesus is beardless, and dressed in the imperial dress of gold and purple, is distinguished by the cross-inscribed nimbus (halo) that signifies his divinity- he faces the viewer directly • Blue sky has given way to the otherworldly splendor of heavenly gold- the standard background for medieval mosaics • The emphasis is instead on the holy character of the event instead of the details- the spiritual fact that Jesus is performing a miracle by the power of his divinity |
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Vatican Vergil
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 5th Century • The oldest preserved painted Greek or Latin manuscript • A prime example of the survival of traditional Roman iconography and of the classic style long after Theodosius banned all pagan cults • Here, the farmer speaks about the pleasures of living a simple life in the country- a recurrent theme in Latin poetry and on his methods of gardening • The style is reminiscent of Pompeian landscapes- with quick touches that suggest space and atmosphere |
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Rebecca and Eliezer at the well
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 6th century • The manuscript painter presented two episodes of the story within a single frame- first Rebecca leaving her home and then her offering water to Eliezer and his camels • The artist painted Nahor as a walled city seen from above like innumerable ealier Roman representations of city in earlier paintings and sculptures • A seminude female personification of a spring is the source of the well water- this is a reminder of the persistence of classical motifs and stylistic modes in Early Christian art |
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Christ before Pilate
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 6th Century • The vividly gesturing figures are on two levels separated by a simple ground line • In the upper level, pilate presides over the tribunal and sits on an elevated dias, following a long-established pattern in Roman art • The people form an arch around Pilate and demand the death of Jesus |
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Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 4th Century • Junius Bassus was a pagan convert to Christianity and was the city prefect of Rome • The sarcophagus is of eclectic format- decorated only on three sides in the western Roman manner but divided into two registers of five compartments, each framed by columns in the tradition of Asiatic sarcophagi • The deceased does not appear on the body of the coffin- breaking with tradition- but rather there are stories from the Old and New testament • Christ has pride of place and appears in the central component of each register- as a teacher enthroned between his chief apostles |
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Christ seated
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 4th Century • Resembles the Christ on the Junius Bassus sarcophagus • Christ’s head is that of a long-haired Apollo-like youth but the Romans employed the statuary type only for bearded philosophers of an advanced age • Like scholars, Chrsit wears the Roman tunic, toga and sandals and holds an unopened scroll in his left hand |
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Ivory diptych of the symmachi
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 5th Century • The theme and the style are significant, and the theme has nothing to do with early Christianity- it is about traditional sacrifice- the attendant is making an offering of incense at a small altar on which a fire is burning- the way the ancients would conduct a small sacrifice • Shows that traditional religion continued, with practice and that there were priestesses and altars for sacrifice • The style is also significant- it looks much more like it is based on a traditional classical kind of style which goes back to the 5th century BC in Greece • One of the themes we’ll see is the resurgence of classical motifs and the perpetuation of classical style- the longevity of classical style |
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Suicide of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ
• Late Antiquity/Early Christian Art: 5th Century • Is not a unique piece- it is one of a set • Style: non-classical figures, short, squat, proportions are not classical/in the current style • There is almost a victorious presentation with Christ- he is place on the cross rather than hanging from it- this is a suggestion of the triumph that comes in the resurrection |
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Justinian as world conqueror
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Justinian is riding triumphantly on a rearing horse, while a startled, half-hidden barbarian recoils in fear behind him • The dynamic twisting postures of both horse and rider and the motif of the equestrian emperor thrusting his spears are survivals of the pagan Roman empire • Also borrowed from pagan art are the barbarians at the bottom of the plaque bearing tribute and seeking clemency • The barbarians at the bottom are juxtaposed with a lion, elephant and tiger- exotic animals native to Africa and Asia- sites of Justinian’s conquests • A roman soldier on the left carries a statuette of another Victory- reinforcing the message • The emperor’s strength comes from God because there are two angels at the top carrying an image of Christ |
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Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • The minarets are from 1453 when it became Muslim- not part of the original building • Vast building with a central dome and then next to it, a lower semi-dome and then smaller domes- domes cascading down • The most important monument of Early Byzantine art- the Church of the Holy Wisdom • Was built by a mathematician and a physicist- neither an architect which is impressive because the dimensions are formidable without the use of steel • Characteristic Byzantine plainness and unpretentiousness of the exterior vs. the magnificence of the interior |
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Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • The minarets are from 1453 when it became Muslim- not part of the original building • Vast building with a central dome and then next to it, a lower semi-dome and then smaller domes- domes cascading down • The most important monument of Early Byzantine art- the Church of the Holy Wisdom • Was built by a mathematician and a physicist- neither an architect which is impressive because the dimensions are formidable without the use of steel • Characteristic Byzantine plainness and unpretentiousness of the exterior vs. the magnificence of the interior |
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Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai Egypt- Transfiguration Mosaic
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Jesus appears in a deep-blue almond shaped mandorla (aureole of light) • The artist stressed the intense whiteness of Jesus’ transfigured, spiritualized form, from which rays stream down on the disciples • The stately figures of prophets and the static frontality of Jesus set off the frantic terror and astonishment of the gesticulating disciples- effectively contrast the eternal composure of heavenly beings with the distraught responses of the earthbound • The bodies cast no shadows, even though supernatural light streams over them- this is a world of mystical vision, in which the artist subtracted all substance that might suggest the passage of time or motion through physical space |
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Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt- Virgin and Child enthroned between St Theodore and St. George
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Virgin and Child Enthroned • Byzantine icons are small portable paintings depicting Christ, the Virgin or saints • Icons became enormously popular in Byzantine worship- and were given much value • Painted in encaustic on wood- continuing a tradition of panel painting in Egypt that has its roots in the Roman empire • The foreground figures are strictly frontal and have a solemn demeanor • Background details are few and are suppressed- the forward plane of the picture dominates as space is squeezed out • Greco-Roman illusionism is present in the Virgin’s personalized features and the posture of the angels’ heads, but the saints bodies are rendered in the new Byzantine manner |
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S. Vitale, Ravenna
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Highly articulated end of the building • Centrally planned building- unlike any of the other sixth-century churches of Ravenna but like Justinian’s churches in Constantinople • Each side of the octagon is articulated to give it some character • The narthex was set at a weird angle- we don’t know why but there may have been a street there they had to work around • Challenges: make the decoration fit in the church and make it fit thematically and appropriately within the function of the building • Christ’s claim: “I am the vine, you are the branches”- ties into the painting of the vines • Rich diversity of ever-changing perspective greets visitors walking through the building- arches looping over arches, curving and flattened spaces, wall and vault shapes |
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S. Vitale, Ravenna
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Highly articulated end of the building • Centrally planned building- unlike any of the other sixth-century churches of Ravenna but like Justinian’s churches in Constantinople • Each side of the octagon is articulated to give it some character • The narthex was set at a weird angle- we don’t know why but there may have been a street there they had to work around • Challenges: make the decoration fit in the church and make it fit thematically and appropriately within the function of the building • Christ’s claim: “I am the vine, you are the branches”- ties into the painting of the vines • Rich diversity of ever-changing perspective greets visitors walking through the building- arches looping over arches, curving and flattened spaces, wall and vault shapes |
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S. Vitale, Ravenna
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Highly articulated end of the building • Centrally planned building- unlike any of the other sixth-century churches of Ravenna but like Justinian’s churches in Constantinople • Each side of the octagon is articulated to give it some character • The narthex was set at a weird angle- we don’t know why but there may have been a street there they had to work around • Challenges: make the decoration fit in the church and make it fit thematically and appropriately within the function of the building • Christ’s claim: “I am the vine, you are the branches”- ties into the painting of the vines • Rich diversity of ever-changing perspective greets visitors walking through the building- arches looping over arches, curving and flattened spaces, wall and vault shapes |
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S. Vitale, Ravenna Mosaic of Emperor Justinian and his attendants
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Justinian stands on the Savior’s right side, and the two are united visually and symbolically by the imperial purple they wear and by their halos • A dozen attendants accompany Justinian, paralleling Christ’s 12 apostles • The mosaic program underscores the dual political and religious roles of the Byzantine emperor • Justinian is foremost among the weightlessness and speechless frontal figures hovering before the viewer, their positions in space uncertain • The figures positions are important- each group has a leader whose feet precede the feet of those who follow |
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S. Vitale, Ravenna- Mosaic of Empress Theodora and attendants
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • Justinian and Theodora • Theodora was a powerful figure at the Byzantine court- it’s significant that she is portrayed in the mosaics because they attest to her power • Neither she nor Justinian ever visited Ravenna- the mosaics are proxies for the absent sovereigns • Both processions move into the apse- Justinian proceeding from left to right and Theodora from right to left, in order to take part in the Eucharist • Theodora carries the golden cup with the wine • The portraits in the Theodora mosaic exhibit the same stylistic traits as those in the Justinian mosaic, but the women are represented within a definite architecture |
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Ascension of Christ- Rabbula Gospels
• Early Byzantine Art: Sixth Century • The composition shows Christ, bearded and surrounded by a mandorla borne aloft by angels • The artist set the figures into a mosaic-like frame |
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David the Psalmist from the Paris Psalter
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • During the Macedonian Renaissance, Byzantine painters revived the classical style… David is portrayed as if a Greek hero and is accompanied by personifications of Melody, Echo and Bethlehem • Is in a setting similar to Pomepeian murals- playing his harp and in the background is a rocky landscape and a town |
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Monastery of Hosios Loukas, Phocis, Greece
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • Among the churches that feature a brilliant series of variations on the domed central plan • Light stones framed by dark red bricks- cloisonné technique which was a term borrowed from enamel work- make up the walls • The interplay of arcuated windows, projecting apses and varying roof lines further enhances the surface dynamism • The plan is a domed cross in square with four equal-length, vaulted cross arms (the Greek cross) • The interior elevation of HL reflects its involved plan • The eye is drawn upward to the dome but much can distract it in the interplay of flat walls and concave recesses; wide and narrow openings; groin and barrel vaults; single, double and triple windows; and illuminated dark spaces • Middle Byzantine architects seem to have aimed for the creation of complex interior spaces with dramatically shifting perspectives |
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Monastery of Hosios Loukas, Phocis, Greece
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • Among the churches that feature a brilliant series of variations on the domed central plan • Light stones framed by dark red bricks- cloisonné technique which was a term borrowed from enamel work- make up the walls • The interplay of arcuated windows, projecting apses and varying roof lines further enhances the surface dynamism • The plan is a domed cross in square with four equal-length, vaulted cross arms (the Greek cross) • The interior elevation of HL reflects its involved plan • The eye is drawn upward to the dome but much can distract it in the interplay of flat walls and concave recesses; wide and narrow openings; groin and barrel vaults; single, double and triple windows; and illuminated dark spaces • Middle Byzantine architects seem to have aimed for the creation of complex interior spaces with dramatically shifting perspectives |
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Church of the Dormition, Daphni Greece- Christ as Pantokrator
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • Mosaic of Christ as Last Judge of humankind • Like a gigantic Byzantine icon hovering dramatically in space, connecting the awestruck worshipper below with Heaven through Christ |
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Church of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece- Crucifixion mosaic
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • The Virgin Mary and Saint John point to Christ on the cross as if to a devotional object • A subtle blend of the painterly Hellenistic style and the later more abstract and formalistic Byzantine style • A skull at the foot of the cross indicates Golgotha- the “place of skulls" |
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San Marco, Venice
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • The interior of St. Marks is, like its plan, Byzantine in effect • Light enters through a row of windows at the bases of all five domes, vividly illuminating a rich cycle of mosaics • Nothing here reflects on the world of matter, of solids, of light and shade, of perspective space- rather the mosaics reveal the mysteries of the Christian faith |
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Pantocrator, Theotokos and Child- Sicily
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • In centrally planned Byzantine churches, the image of the Pantokrator usually appears in the main dome, but the Monreale cathedral is a longitudinal basilica and the semidome of the apse is its only vault • A colossal allusion to William’s kingly power and a challenge to all who would dispute the royal right • Theotokos is flanked by archangels and the 12 apostles, symmetrically arranged in balanced groups • The Monreale mosaics, like those at Saint Marks, testify to the stature of Byzantium and of Byzantine in medieval Italy |
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Lamentation, St. Pantaleimon, Macedonia
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • An image of passionate grief • The artist captured Christ’s followers in attitudes, expressions and gestures of quite human bereavement • Mary presses her cheek against her dead son’s face and Saint John clings to Christ’s left hand- but in the gospels, neither Mary nor John were present at the entombment of Christ- their inclusion here, as elsewhere in Middle Byzantine art, intensified for the viewer the emotional impact of Christ’s death • Painter working in the Balkans in an alternate Byzantine mode • The artist strove to make utterly convincing an emotionally charged realization of the theme by staging the Lamentation in a more natural setting and peopling it with fully modeled actors |
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Virgin and Child
• Middle Byzantine Art: 843-1204 • Reveals the stylized abstraction resulting from centuries of working and reworking the conventional image • This icon exhibits all the typical Byzantine traits: the Virgin’s long straight nose, small mouth, the golden rays in the infant’s drapery, the decorative sweep of the unbroken contour that encloses the two figures, the flat silhouette against the golden background • Tender and personal image- shows emotion • Image infused with a deep pathos as Mary contemplates the future of her son |
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Constantinople, Apse of the side chapel- Anastasis
• Late Byzantine Art: 1204-1453 • The Anastasis is here central to a cycle of pictures portraying the themes of human morality and redemption by Christ and of the intercession of the Virgin- both appropriate for a funerary chapel • Christ, a white apparition surrounded by a luminous mandorla, raises Adam and Eve from their tombs as John the Baptist and Kings David and Solomon look on • The jagged abstractions of drapery found in many earlier Byzantine frescoes and mosaics are gone in a return to fluid delineation of drapery characteristic of the long tradition of classical illusionism |
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Christ as savior of souls- from church of St. Clement in Macedonia
• Late Byzantine Art: 1204-1453 • Notable for the lavish use of finely etched silver foil to frame the painted figure of Christ as Savior of Souls • Typifies Byzantine eclecticism • Christ’s fully modeled head and neck contrast with the schematic linear folds of his garment |
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Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • An architectural tribute to the triumph of Islam- marked the coming of the new religion to the city that was sacred to both Jews and Christians • Reputed place where Adam was buried and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac • Also the spot from which muhamad miraculously journeyed to Heaven and then, in the same night, returned to his home in Mecca • As Islam took much of its teachings from Judaism and Christianity, so too its architects and artist borrowed and transformed design, construction and ornamentation principles long applied in Byzantium and the Middle East • The dome of the rock is a domed octagon resembling San Vitale • Islamic practice does not significantly distinguish interior and exterior decor |
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Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • An architectural tribute to the triumph of Islam- marked the coming of the new religion to the city that was sacred to both Jews and Christians • Reputed place where Adam was buried and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac • Also the spot from which muhamad miraculously journeyed to Heaven and then, in the same night, returned to his home in Mecca • As Islam took much of its teachings from Judaism and Christianity, so too its architects and artist borrowed and transformed design, construction and ornamentation principles long applied in Byzantium and the Middle East • The dome of the rock is a domed octagon resembling San Vitale • Islamic practice does not significantly distinguish interior and exterior decor |
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Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • Islamic tradition shuns the representation of fauna of any kind in sacred places • Hypstyle type of mosque most clearly recalls the layout of Muhammad’s house in Medina • Owes a debt to Roman and Early Christian architecture in its plan and decoration • The mosaics of the Great Mosque at Damascus are probably the work of Byzantine artists and including buildings and landscape elements common in Late Antique art, but exclude any zoomorphic forms |
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Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria- Mosaic
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • Islamic tradition shuns the representation of fauna of any kind in sacred places • Hypstyle type of mosque most clearly recalls the layout of Muhammad’s house in Medina • Owes a debt to Roman and Early Christian architecture in its plan and decoration • The mosaics of the Great Mosque at Damascus are probably the work of Byzantine artists and including buildings and landscape elements common in Late Antique art, but exclude any zoomorphic forms |
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Great Mosque at Kairouan, Tunisia
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • The arcaded forecourt of the hypostyle hall of the Kairouan mosque resembles a Roman forum but it incorporates the distinctive Islamic elements of mihrab, mihrab dome, minbar, and minaret • One of the finest hypostyle mosques and is still in use today • Built of stone, its walls have sturdy buttresses, square in profile • Scholars believe the minaret is a near copy of a Roman lighthouse |
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Minaret of the Great Mosque, Samarra, Iraq
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • The unique spiral Malwiya (snail shell) Minaret of Samarra’s Great Mosque is more than 165 feet tall and can be seen from afar • It served to announce the presence of Islam in the Tigris Valley • Once thought to be an ancient Mesopotamian ziggurat • Inspired some European depictions of the biblical tower of Babel |
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Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • A unique series of double-tiered horseshoe-shaped arches • The arches seem to billow out like windblown sails, and they contribute greatly to the light and airy effect of the Cordoba mosque’s interior • The builders created rich and varied abstract patterns and further enhanced the magnificent effect of the complex arches by sheathing the walls with marbles and mosaics • Crisscrossing ribs form an intricate pattern in the dome • The dome is an octagonal base of arcuated squinches- Byzantine artists fashioned the mosaic ornament |
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Dome of the Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • A unique series of double-tiered horseshoe-shaped arches • The arches seem to billow out like windblown sails, and they contribute greatly to the light and airy effect of the Cordoba mosque’s interior • The builders created rich and varied abstract patterns and further enhanced the magnificent effect of the complex arches by sheathing the walls with marbles and mosaics • Crisscrossing ribs form an intricate pattern in the dome • The dome is an octagonal base of arcuated squinches- Byzantine artists fashioned the mosaic ornament |
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Umayyad Palace, Mshatta, Jordan
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Early Islamic Art- 7th-9th century • Richly carved stone frieze with geometric, plant and animal motifs, however no animals appear on the exterior wall of the palace mosque • In keeping with Islam’s disavowal of representing living things in sacred contexts, there are no animal figures to the right of the entrance portal • Triangles with projecting rosettes |
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Alhambra, Granada, Spain- Muqarnas Dome
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • The Palace of the Lions takes its name from its courtyard that boasts a fountain with marble lions carrying a water basin on their backs • The lion fountain is an unusual instance of freestanding stone sculpture in the Islamic world, unthinkable in a sacred setting • The palace of the lions is noteworthy for its stucco ceilings • The ceiling is covered with some 5,000 muqarnas- tier after tier of stalactite-like prismatic forms that seem aimed at denying the structure’s solidity • The lofty vault and others in the palace symbolized the dome of Heaven |
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Alhambra, Granada, Spain- Court of the Lions
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • The Palace of the Lions takes its name from its courtyard that boasts a fountain with marble lions carrying a water basin on their backs • The lion fountain is an unusual instance of freestanding stone sculpture in the Islamic world, unthinkable in a sacred setting • The palace of the lions is noteworthy for its stucco ceilings • The ceiling is covered with some 5,000 muqarnas- tier after tier of stalactite-like prismatic forms that seem aimed at denying the structure’s solidity • The lofty vault and others in the palace symbolized the dome of Heaven |
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Madrasa-Mosque-Mausoleum of Sultan Hasan, Cairo
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • Because fo its location directly south of the complex’s mosque, praying Muslims faced the mamluk sultan’s tomb • Madrasa: a theological college devoted to the teachings of Islamic law • Sultan Hasa’s complex comprised four madrasas as well as a mosque, his tomb and various other buildings • The plan with four iwans opening onto a central courtyard derives from that of Iranian mosques • The builders intentionally placed the dome-covered cube south of the mosque so that the prayers of the faithful facing Mecca would be directed toward Hasan’s tomb |
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Mosque of Selim II, Edirne, Turkey
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • A mosque with a massive dome set off by four slender pencil-shaped minarets • The mihrab is recessed into an apselike alcove deep enough to permit window illumination from three sides- making the brilliantly colored tile panels of its lower walls sparkle as if with their own glowing light • Fluid interpenetration of several geometric volumes that represents the culminating solution to Sinan’s lifelong search for a monumental unified interior space • Sinan’s form are clear and legible, like mathematical equations • Height, width and masses are related to one another in a simple but effective ratio of 1:2 |
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Mosque of Selim II, Edirne Turkey
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • A mosque with a massive dome set off by four slender pencil-shaped minarets • The mihrab is recessed into an apselike alcove deep enough to permit window illumination from three sides- making the brilliantly colored tile panels of its lower walls sparkle as if with their own glowing light • Fluid interpenetration of several geometric volumes that represents the culminating solution to Sinan’s lifelong search for a monumental unified interior space • Sinan’s form are clear and legible, like mathematical equations • Height, width and masses are related to one another in a simple but effective ratio of 1:2 |
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Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • The Madrasa Imami mihrab is a masterpiece of mosaic tilework- every piece had to be cut to fits its specific place in the design • Perfect aesthetic union between the Isamic calligrapher’s art and abstrat ornament |
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Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran- Shahi Mosque
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • The Madrasa Imami mihrab is a masterpiece of mosaic tilework- every piece had to be cut to fits its specific place in the design • Perfect aesthetic union between the Isamic calligrapher’s art and abstrat ornament |
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Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp
• Islamic Architecture and Art: Later Islamic Art- 14th-18th century • The off-center placement on the page enhances the sense of lightness that permeates the painting • Depicts Gayumars, the legendary king of Iran • Wild beasts became instantly tame in the presence of Gayumars • The painter gave his royal patron a singular vision of Iran’s fabled past • The sense of lightness and airiness that permeate the painting is enhanced by its placement on the page- floating, off center, on a speckled background of gold leaf |
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Merovingian Looped Fibula
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • Fibula: a decorative pin the Romans wore (and the Etruscans before them) • Fibulae were emblems of office and prestige • Covering almost the entire surface of each Merovingian fibulae are decorative patterns adjusted carefully to the basic shape of the object • Features eagle heads and fish- zoomorphic elements- highly disciplined, abstract decorative design that the animal forms become almost unrecognizable |
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Purse Lid from Sutton Hoo ship burial
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • Very geometric, has a lot of repetition- the elements of Classical art never go away • Technique: cloissoné- metal strips are saudered onto the background and then jewels/gems are inlaid into the spaces that are formed • Abstract interlace, animal interlace • End groups consist of a man standing between two beasts • Two center groups represent eagles attacking ducks- the animal figures are cunningly composed • Elaborate intertwining linear patterns are characteristics of many times an dplaces, notably in the art of the Islamic world • Combination of abstract interlace ornament with animal figures is the hallmark of early medieval art in western Europe |
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Animal head from the Oseberg, Norway ship burial
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • Abstract interlace • Checkerboard pattern- pure geometry • The Vikings were master wood carver • This post from a Viking ship combines in one composition the head of a roaring beast with surface ornamentation in the form of tightly interwoven writhing animals • A powerfully expressive example of the union of two fundamental motifs of warrior-lord art on the northern frontiers of the former Roman empire- the animal form and the interlace pattern |
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Wood-carved portal of the stave church at Urnes
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • Has no Christian iconography in it even though it’s from a Christian context • Even though Scandanavia had become mostly Christian by this time, Viking artistic traditions persisted- as seen in the intertwining animal and platn decoration in the portal • Gracefully elongated animal forms intertwined with flexible plant stalks and tendrils in spiraling rhythm • The effect of natural growth is astonishing, yet the designer subjected it to a highly refined abstract sensibility |
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Man (symbol of St. Matthew) Book of Durrow
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • No contrapposto, very rigid and frontal • Ink and tempera on parchment • The cloak of Saint Matthew’s man resembles a cloissone brooch filled with abstract ornament • Schematic frontal head and two profile feet • A cloak of yellow, red and green squares resembling cloison filled with intricate abstract designs • The book of durrow weds the abstraction of early medieval personal adornment with Early Christian pictorial imagery |
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Cruciform Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • Missionaries brought Christianity to the British isles • The greatest examples of Hiberno-Saxon art are the Gospel books in which illuminators married Christian imagery with the narrative animal-interlace style • The rhythm of expanding and contracting forms produces a most vivid effect of motion and change • The cross- the all-important symbol of the imported religion, stabilizes the rythms of the serpentines and, perhaps by contrast with its heavy immobility, seems to heighten the effect of motion • Motifs in detailed symmetries, with inversions, reversals and repetitions |
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Saint Matthew from the Lindisfarne Gospels
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • There’s a general style of the period- compare it to the geometric shapes and interlacing • The inspiration for this author portrait may have been a Mediterranean book • The illuminator converted the model’s fully rounded forms into the linear flat-color idiom of northern European art • Author portraits were familiar features of Greek and Latin books, and similar representations of seated philosophers or poets writing or reading abound in ancient art • The evangelist’s seat is at an angle, which suggests a Mediterranean model employing classical perspective • Uninterested in the emphasis on volume, shading and perspective that are the hallmarks of the pictorial illusionism of Greco-Roman painting |
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Chi-rho page from the Book of Kells
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • The painter transformed the biblical text into abstract pattern, literally making God’s words beautiful • The intricate design recalls early medieval metalwork • Half-figures of winged angels appear to the left of chi, accompanying the monogram as if accompanying Christ himself |
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High Cross of Muiredach, Ireland
• Early Medieval Art: Before Charlemagne, 600-800 • Reliefs depicting the crucifixion and last judgment, themes suited to a Christian funerary monument • The risen Christ stands as judge of the world, the hope of the dead • Below Christ, the sould sof the dead are being weighed on scales- a theme the sculptors of 12th century church portals pursued with extraordinary intensity |
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Equestrian statue of Charlemagne, from Metz, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • His hair style looks like Constantine • He’s carring an orb which signifies universal power • He’s thinking about Constantine the Great- he names himself Charles the Great- he wants to emulate Constantine by establishing in his territory a revived Classical Christian realm • The ultimate model for the statuette was the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome- and in the middle ages people mistakened this statue for Constantine • He wears imperial robes rather than a general’s cloak, although his sheathed sword is visible • In his hand he holds a globe, a symbol of world domination |
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Palace Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • Central plan, towers, central vaulting system • What was the architect Odo of Metz thinking about? • Transformed the complex, glittering interior of San vitale into a simple and massive geometric form • The lower part of the arches have an arcade theme- maybe the three arches are supposed to evoke the trinity? But it could also evoke a triumphal arch as well • The pantheon was brought in because the exterior walls add up to 16 • The roof is sloped so the snow will come off it- very different from the architecture in the Mediterranean • The first vaulted structure of the Middle Ages north of the Alps |
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Saint Matthew from the Coronation Gospels
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • The painted manuscripts for Charlemagne’s court reveal the legacy of classical art • The carolinginan painter used light and shade and perspective to create the illusion of three-dimensional form • Illusionistic brushwork deinfes the massive drapery folds • The cross-legged chair, the lectern and the saint’s toga are familiar Roman accessories |
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Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • Saint Matthew writes frantically and the folds of his drapery writhe and vibrate • Even the landscape behind him rears up as if alive • Ebbo Gospels illuminator replaced the classical calm and solidity of the Coronation gospels evangelist with an energy that amounts to frenzy • Merged classical illusionism and the northern linear tradition |
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Utrecht Psalter
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • The drawings in the Utrecth Psalter are rich in anecdotal detail and show figures acting out- literally- King David’s psalms • The vivid animation resembles that of the Ebbo Gospels Saint Matthew • The painter displays a genius for anecdotal detail throughout the manuscript • The earth heaves up around the figures • The rapid, sketchy techniques used to render the figures convey the same nervous vitality as the Ebbo evangelists |
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Front Cover of the Lindau Gospels
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • There’s lots of geometry but then there is a bejeweld border which looks a lot like the coissoné border or the painted borders in manuscripts where the stones are carefully placed • Blue is surrounded by red- it’s balanced in a careful geometric fashion • The statuesque figure of the crucified Savior, heedless of pain, is classical in both conception and execution |
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Schematic Plan for a Monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • It presents all the components of a monastery- and relates to what was going on in aken with Charlemagne • This is not a big city/big church building time- there were monasteries instead where monks came together to live and work and pray together • The design’s fundamental purpose was to separate the monks from the laity (nonclergy) who also inhabited the community • Near the center, dominating everything, was the church with its cloister, a colonnaded courtyard not unlike the Early Christian atrium- reserved for the monks alone as a kind of earthly paradise |
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Westwork, Abbey Church, Corvey, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Carolingian Art, 9th Century • The west end of the church= the “Westwork” • Is an elaborate emphasis on the west end of the Church • Rectilinear elements are projecting out from rectilinear elements, etc. • An important new feature of Carolingian church architecture is the westwork- a monumental western façade incorporating two towers • Westworks functions as churches within churches- housing a second altar for special celebrations on major feast days |
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Nave of the church at St. Cyriakus, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • Clerestory lighting • There are apertures- columns that create a gallery- three part nave elevation • Alternating support system- column, column, pier, etc. • Draws the eye up • It’s a transitional building- looking back to early Christian basilica form- long shape, flat ceiling, and then it’s looking forward by having the tri part elevation and having the columns link together by colonnades that run in between them • Moving us into the future without abandoning the past • Ottonian builders modified the interior elevation of the early Christian basilica |
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Saint Michaels, Hildesheim, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • An interior from one church and an exterior from another • Complicated exterior with columns and recitlinearity • Contrast to the plain exterior of Old St Peters or Santa Sabina • The interior has only a two part interior • The two apses, two transepts and multiple towers give it a distinctive profile • The transepts create eastern and western centers of gravity • The nave merely seems to be a hall that connects the transepts • Lateral entrances leading into the aisles from the north and south additionally make for an almost complete loss of the traditional basilican orientation toward the east |
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Bronze Doors of Bishop Bernward, Saint Michaels, Hildesheim, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • An impressive entrance- and doors have been important for us- Ishtar gate, Lion gate, etc. • Thematically decorated to fit the place (a church)- all the salvation history depicted in the three dimensional panels • Takes us from the creation of humans in the book of Genesis to the resurrection of Christ and the appearance of him to his followers- the whole story • There is agility to the figures- they’re always doing something- a characteristic of Ottonian art (God is leaning over Eve like he’s a surgeon, and there’s also an angel who is praising God) • Drapery is kicking up but there is no reason for it do so- another Ottonian characteristic • There is a lot of hand gesturing- another characteristic of Ottonian art |
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Column of Bishop Bernward, St. Michaels, Hildesheim, Germany
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • Modeled on the column of Trajan • The seven spiral bands of the Hildesheim column relate the life of Jesus from his baptism to his entrance into Jerusalem • Both the doors and the column lend credence to the Ottonian emperors’ claim to be the heirs to Charlemagne’s renovatio imperii romani |
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The Crucifix of Archbishop Gero, for the Cologne Cathedral
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • A cross is just a cross but a crucifix has the body of Christ on it • The earliest large structure we have north of the Alps in this period • He’s suffering and not triumphant- like the Byzantine depictions of Christ • The examples of suffering are that his head is down and his eyes are closed • He looks defeated- we can see his physical and emotional pain • There’s blood down his forehead but no crown of thorns • Is Christ dead or alive? There a spear mark which was made after he died so maybe he’s alive |
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Annunciation to the shepherds, from the Lectionary of Henry II
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • Lots of Ottonian gesturing • The painting is a highly successful fusion of the Carolingian-Ottonian anecdotal narrative tradition, elements derived from Late Antique painting (rocky landscape with grazing animals and golden background) |
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Otto III enthroned, from the Gospel Book of Otto III
• Early Medieval Art: Ottonian Art, 10th Century • Holding the scepter and cross-inscribed orb that signify his universal authority • At his sides are the clergy and the barons • Ottonian gesturing |
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St. Etienne, Vignory, France
• Romanesque Architecture: France, 11th-first half of 12th Century • There is a lot of local variation in Romanesque architecture but there are still a lot of commonalities • Developed a 3 part elevation in the nave which was an element that would have a long future- a lot like the three-story naves of Ottonian churches • Here it is the articulation of the nave and not a separate floor/gallery • Like the earlier churches there is a timber roof • Compound piers: another characteristic of Romanesque architecture |
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St. Sernin, Toulouse, France
• Romanesque Architecture: France, 11th-first half of 12th Century • Good example of a fully developed Romanesque church with its nave and trinceps- which give it a cruciform shape • One of the earliest Romanesque examples of stone vaulting • The plan is extremely regular and geometrically precise • A telling feature of the St. Sernin design is the insertion of tribunes over the inner aisle and opening onto the nave • The groin-vaulted tribune galleries house overflow crowds and buttressed the stone barrel vault over the nave |
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St. Sernin, Toulouse, France
• Romanesque Architecture: France, 11th-first half of 12th Century • Good example of a fully developed Romanesque church with its nave and trinceps- which give it a cruciform shape • One of the earliest Romanesque examples of stone vaulting • The plan is extremely regular and geometrically precise • A telling feature of the St. Sernin design is the insertion of tribunes over the inner aisle and opening onto the nave • The groin-vaulted tribune galleries house overflow crowds and buttressed the stone barrel vault over the nave |
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Abbey Church of St. Pierre Moissac
• Romanesque Architecture: France, 11th-first half of 12th Century • One feature of a monastery is a cloister- a closed place where the monks/nuns would walk to exercise and pray- a nice architectural feature • They tend to be very peaceful and isolated places • They are usually next to the church proper • Rectangular/square area with a roof over it and columns separating the lawn from the walkway • There is sculpture on all the capitals- and here is the most extensive preserved ensemble of sculptured early Romanesque capitals • The capitals are variously decorated- some with abstract patterns and some with biblical scenes or lives of saints, and others with fantastic monsters- these are called bestiaries- illustrations of real and imaginary animals: these monstrous forms were reminders of the chaos and deformity of a world without God’s order |
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Abbey Church at Cluny, France
• Romanesque Architecture: France, 11th-first half of 12th Century • Largely destroyed after the French Revolution • The round windows protrude from the heavy masonry • Cluny set the standard for the three part nave elevation- it had been used before • The arches of the nave are slightly pointed • Clun III was the largest church in Europe for 500 years… it had a 500 foot long, three-story nave, four aisles, radiating chapels, and slightly pointed stone barrel vaults |
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Abbey Church of Notre Dame, Fontenay, France
• Romanesque Architecture: France, 11th-first half of 12th Century • Looks simple and spare compared to other churches and this is because it is the church of the Cistercians order- monks who believed in physical labor and who did a lot of gardening and road building/clearing of forests and they made simple yet beautiful architecture- they rejected sculptural ornament • There is no apse- just a plain flat wall punctured by windows • The side aisle is not completely open- the arches divide it into components |
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Speyer Cathedral, Germany
• Romanesque Architecture: Germany, 11-12th Centuries • Compound piers with an alternating support system- as in the Ottonian churches of Saint Cyriakus and Saint Michaels at Hildesheim • The more compound ones send arches over to the other side and the simpler/less compound ones divide it into two arches • The ceiling is 107 feet- extremely high for the time period • First introduction to complex vaults in Romanesque architecture • Groin vaults made possible the insertion of large clerestory windows above the nave arcade |
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Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, Italy
• Romanesque Architecture: Italy, 11-12th Century • Romanesque art in Italy will always be different from the north of the Alps because of the connection with the Roman world and early Christianity • Courtyard up front • A triumphal arch gets you into the narthex • Compound piers with alternating support systems and the complex piers come all the way up and there is groin vaulting here and great ribs in the groin vaults • An early example of ribbed groin vaulting over the vase of the church |
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Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, Italy
• Romanesque Architecture: Italy, 11-12th Century • Romanesque art in Italy will always be different from the north of the Alps because of the connection with the Roman world and early Christianity • Courtyard up front • A triumphal arch gets you into the narthex • Compound piers with alternating support systems and the complex piers come all the way up and there is groin vaulting here and great ribs in the groin vaults • An early example of ribbed groin vaulting over the vase of the church |
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Pisa, Italy
• Romanesque Architecture: Italy, 11-12th Century • The famous leaning tower of Pisa does not stand in isolation as a must-see tourist destination- it is part of a complex that has 4 components that are Romanesque • Pisa’s cathedral resembles early Christian basilicas more closely than the structurally more experimental northern Romanesque churches • Separate bell towers and baptisteries are characteristically Italian |
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Baptistery of S. Giovanni, Florence, Italy
• Romanesque Architecture: Italy, 11-12th Century • Round arches, three of them- a Trinitarian significance? • Blind arcade with smaller arches underneath • San Giovanni is the city of Florence’s patron saint • Freestanding Italian baptisteries are unusual and reflect the great significance the Florentines and Pisans attached to baptisms • The simple and serene classicism of San Giovanni’s design recalls ancient roman architecture |
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San Miniato al Monte, Florence, Italy
• Romanesque Architecture: Italy, 11-12th Century • Along the mountain- why it has the al monte at the end • Another Romanesque building that consciously picks up on the baptistery • The design of San Miniato is close to that of Early Christian basilicas- but diaphragm arches divide the nave into three equal components, and compound piers alternate with columns in the arcade |
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St. Etienne, Caen, France
• Romanesque Architecture: Normandy and England, 11-12th Century • Another form of ribbed vaulting • The division of Saint Etienne’s façade into three parts corresponding to the nave and aisles reflects the methodical planning of the entire structure • The towers also have a tripartite design • The west façade is a striking design rooted in the tradition of Carolingian and Ottonian westworks, but it reveals a new unified design- four buttresses divide the façade into three bays that correspond to the nave and aisles • The large windows and reduced interior wall surface give Saint Etienne’s nave a light and airy quality that is unusual in the Romanesque period |
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Cathedral of Durham, England
• Romanesque Architecture: Normandy and England, 11-12th Century • The first example of a ribbed groin vault placed over a three-story nave • Quadrant arches were used in place of groin vaults in the tribune to buttress the nave vaults • Is typically English in its long, slender proportions • In the nave, simple pillars alternate with compound piers that support the transverse arches of the seven-part groin vaults |
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Bernardus Gelduinus, Christ in Majesty
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • Refers to Christ in his heavenly existence, sitting on a throne, and often time in an almond shaped surround, which is called Mondola • Christ is frontally presented and the images of the evangelist are around him • His right hand is raised in blessing and his left hand rests upon an open book inscribed with the words “pax vobis” (“peace be unto you”) • The composition could have been used earlier for a Carolingian or Ottonian work in metal or ivory- and the polished marble has the gloss of both materials and the sharply incised lines are characteristic of pre-Romanesque metalwork |
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Prophet at the Abbey Church of St. Pierre, France
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • He displays a prophetic scroll where his prophetic vision is written • His position below the apparition of Christ as the apocalyptic judge is yet another instance of the pairing of Old and New Testament themes- is in keeping with an iconographic tradition established in early Christian times • The animation of the body reveals the passionate nature of the soul within • Long, serpentine locks of hair and beard frame an arresting image of the dreaming mystic- the prophet seems entranced by his vision of what is to come |
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Cathedral of Autun, France, Gislebertus, Last Judgment
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • Christ in a mandorla presides over the separation of the blessed from the damned in the dramatic scene of the last judgment- designed to terrify those guilty of sin and beckon them into the church • Christ is far larger than any of the other figures- hierarchy of scale • Two of the men near the center carry bags emblazoned with a cross and a shell- these are the symbols of pilgrims to Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela |
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Ste Madeleine, Vezelay, France
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • From jamb to jamb there is a lintel • The portal is extremely wide- it would be impossible to run a full lintel from one jamb to the next without a break in the middle- so you need a vertical support which is called a trumeaux- provides another architectural element and you can put sculpture on it • The figures have intense expressions and they also have unbridled fantasy • The light rays emanating from Christ’s hands represent the instilling of the Holy Spirit in the apostles |
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Benedetto Antelami, King David, West Facade of the Fidenza Cathedral, Italy
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • King David is in a niche- and he seems confined by it- he holds his elbows close to his body • He is completely classical except for his beard (it’s too long), his stance (he’s not in a full contrapposto) • A rare example of life-size statuary in the Romanesque period • The style is unmistakably rooted in Greco-Roman art |
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Renier of Huy
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • Angelic contingent- the drapery is pulling against their body to reveal their arms, shoulders, legs, etc.- very Greek • Figures are moving in the opposite direction- someone is walking and it looks like the real anatomy- gives it balance • Christ is naked- and nudity was extremely rare in the middle ages (except for Adam and Eve- but they represent the opposite of the value the classical world placed on the beauty of the human body) |
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Christ in majesty, apse fresco from Santa Maria de Mur, Lerida, Spain
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • A true fresco • Mondola, Christ in majesty, sitting, compartmentalized drapery, holding a book in his left hand and balancing it on his knee • There are the evangelists next to Christ • The formality, symmetry and placement of the figures are Byzantine- but the Spanish artist rejected Byzantine mosaic in favor of direct painting on plaster-coated walls • Apocalypse theme fasinated people in the Romanesque period |
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The vision of Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • She is sitting within the monastery walls, her feet resting on a footstool- much in the same way the painters of the Coronation and Ebbo Gospels represented the evangelists • The artist showed Hildegard experiencing her divine vision by depicting five longue tongues of fire emanating from above and entering her brain – just as she describes the experience in the accompanying text • In a singularly dramatic context, it is a piecture of the essential nature of ancient and medieval book manufacture- individual scribes copying and recopying texts by hand |
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Initial R from the Moralia in Job, from Citeaux, France
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • The artist translated the Hiberno-Saxon era initials into a Romanesque context- the duel between knight and dragons symbolized a monk’s spiritual struggle |
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Bayeux Tapestry, from Bayeux Cathedral
• Romanesque: Sculpture and Painting, Eleventh and first half of the twelfth century • Like historical narratives in ancient Roman art, it depicts contemporaneous events in full detail, as in the scroll-like frieze of Trajan’s column • Closely related to the Romanesque manuscript illumination, its borders contain the kinds of real and imaginary animals found in contemporaneous books • The first depicts the funeral procession and the second one depicts the battle of Hastings |
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Amiens Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The concept of a self-sustaining skeletal architecture reached full maturity at Amiens Cathedral- the four-part high Gothic vaults on pointed arches rise an astounding 144 feet above the nave floor • Almost every part of the superstructure has a corresponding element below- the overall effect is of effortless strength, of a buoyant lightness not normally associated with stone architecture • The light flooding in from the clerestory makes the vaults seem even more insubstantial |
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Amiens Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The concept of a self-sustaining skeletal architecture reached full maturity at Amiens Cathedral- the four-part high Gothic vaults on pointed arches rise an astounding 144 feet above the nave floor • Almost every part of the superstructure has a corresponding element below- the overall effect is of effortless strength, of a buoyant lightness not normally associated with stone architecture • The light flooding in from the clerestory makes the vaults seem even more insubstantial |
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Abbey Church of St. Denis, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • Innovative plan of the east end of Saint Denis- by using lightweight rib vaults, the builders were able to eliminate the walls between the radiating chapels • Abbot Suger’s remodeling of Saint Denis marked the beginning of Gothic architecture- rib vaults with pointed arches spring from slender columns… the radiating chapels have stained-glass windows • Restored large central rose window- a new feature that became standard in French Gothic architecture |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Chartres Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The Early Gothic west façade was all that remained of Chartres Cathedral after the fire of 1194 • The design still has much in common with Romanesque facades • The rose window is an example of plate tracery • The sculptures of the royal portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ • To unite three doorways iconographically and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next • Mary is given a prominent role in the iconography at the cathedral • The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female Liberal arts and their male champions- the figures represent the core of medieval learning and symbolize human knowledge • The sculptors of the Royal Portal statues initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality |
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Nave elevations of four Gothic cathedrals
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • Gothic nave elevations evolved from the Early Gothic four-story elevation to the High Gothic three-story elevation |
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Laon Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The huge central rose window, the deep porches in front of the doorways and the open structure of the towers distinguish Laon’s Early Gothic façade from Romanesque church facades • The insertion of a triforium at Laon broke up the nave wall and produced the characteristic four-story Early Gothic interior elevation • At Laon, the guiding principle was to reduce sheer mass and replace it with intricately framed voids |
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Laon Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The huge central rose window, the deep porches in front of the doorways and the open structure of the towers distinguish Laon’s Early Gothic façade from Romanesque church facades • The insertion of a triforium at Laon broke up the nave wall and produced the characteristic four-story Early Gothic interior elevation • At Laon, the guiding principle was to reduce sheer mass and replace it with intricately framed voids |
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Notre Dame, Paris
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • Architects used flying buttresses on a grand scale in the cathedral of Notre Dame • The buttresses countered the outward thrust of the nave vaults and held up the towering nave walls • Has a very complicated building history • Windows fill two of the four stories, further reducing the masonry area • Unknown architect |
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Reims Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The façade of Reims Cathedral displays the High Gothic architect’s desire to reduce sheer mass and replace it with intricately framed voids • Stained-glass windows, not stone reliefs, fill the tympana • The statues and reliefs of the west façade celebrate the Virgin Mary • Illustrated statues appear completely detached from their architectural background |
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Reims Cathedral, France
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The façade of Reims Cathedral displays the High Gothic architect’s desire to reduce sheer mass and replace it with intricately framed voids • Stained-glass windows, not stone reliefs, fill the tympana • The statues and reliefs of the west façade celebrate the Virgin Mary • Illustrated statues appear completely detached from their architectural background |
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Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The architect succeeded in dissolving the walls to such an extent that stained glass accounts for ¾ of it • The chapel is a masterpiece of the so-called rayonnant (radiant) style of the High Gothic age, which dominated the second half of the century • The emphasis is on the extreme slenderness of the architectural forms and on linearity in general |
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Virgin and Child, Notre Dame, Paris
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • Late Gothic sculpture is elegant and mannered • Here, the solemnity of Early and High Gothic religious figures gave way to a tender and anecdotal portrayal of mary and Jesus as royal mother and son • Also called Virgin of Paris because of its location in Notre Dame • The sculptor portrayed mary in an exaggerated S-curve posture typical of Late Gothic sculpture • Mary is a worldly queen, decked out in royal garments and wearing a heavy gem-encrusted crown |
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Bible Moralise
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • Paris was the intellectual capital of Europe and the center of production of fine books • This artist portrayed God as an industrious architect creating the universe using the same tools as Gothic builders • The gold background is typical of art during the period- especially when it depicts divine figures |
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Blanche of Castille
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The younger monk is at work on the paired illustrations of a moralized bible • A lot of gesturing- Ottonian period like |
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Psalter of Saint Louis
• Gothic, France 1140-ca. 1300 • The architectural settings reflect the screenlike lightness and transparency of royal buildings such as Sainte-Chappelle • The colors emulate those of stained glass • A lot of gesturing- Ottonian? |
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Salisbury Cathedral, England
• Gothic, England 1220-1520 • ***A LOT OF TIME SPENT ON THIS*** • 1220 was the same year that Amiens was begun (an example of French Gothic) • The plan is very rectilinear- no curves on any component at all- a feature of an English Cathedral • 130+ meters long- a long building • There is a pair of trinceps • French cathedrals are in developed cities, but English cathedrals have green space around it- a significant difference • There is a Chapter house- where there would have been official meetings- the activity is given a separate building • Three-part nave elevation- characteristically gothic • There is not the verticality of the French system • The capitals colors make a strong dark accent- so there is a horizontality that is at odds with the verticality • Shows that Gothic architecture is not the same in every single location • Windows dominate and walls are eliminated to the extent they can be- an example of this with all the stained glass windows |
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Salisbury Cathedral, England
• Gothic, England 1220-1520 • ***A LOT OF TIME SPENT ON THIS*** • 1220 was the same year that Amiens was begun (an example of French Gothic) • The plan is very rectilinear- no curves on any component at all- a feature of an English Cathedral • 130+ meters long- a long building • There is a pair of trinceps • French cathedrals are in developed cities, but English cathedrals have green space around it- a significant difference • There is a Chapter house- where there would have been official meetings- the activity is given a separate building • Three-part nave elevation- characteristically gothic • There is not the verticality of the French system • The capitals colors make a strong dark accent- so there is a horizontality that is at odds with the verticality • Shows that Gothic architecture is not the same in every single location • Windows dominate and walls are eliminated to the extent they can be- an example of this with all the stained glass windows |
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Gloucester Cathedral, England
• Gothic, England 1220-1520 • The emphasis on horizontality shifted and they became more interested in the vertical • An example of vertical emphasis- it’s called the perpendicular style, because it is perpendicular to the previous style • There is an interest in the decorative use of the ribs in the vaulting- they don’t just follow the structure but they create a web of decoration in their own right that sets apart from the structure- they emphasize it |
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Westminister Abbey, London
• Gothic, England 1220-1520 • Epitomizes the decorative and structure-distinguishing qualities of the Perpendicular style in the use of fan vaults with lacelike trajectory and hanging pendants resembling stalactites |
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Tomb of Edward II, Gloucester Cathedral
• Gothic, England 1220-1520 • Resembles a miniature Perpendicular English Gothic chapel with its forest of gables, ogee arches, and pinnacles • The shrinelike form suggests that the deceased is worthy of veneration • Elaborate example of a freestanding tomb |
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Cologne Cathedral, Germany
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • Cologne Cathedral is the largest church in northern Europe • Not completed for 600 years after it was begun- making it one of the longest building projects on record • The 150 foot high choir |
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Cologne Cathedral, Germany
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • Cologne Cathedral is the largest church in northern Europe • Not completed for 600 years after it was begun- making it one of the longest building projects on record • The 150 foot high choir |
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Saint Elizabeth, Marburg, Germany
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • An early example of Hallenkirche, in which the aisles are the same height as the nave • Because of the tall windows in the aisle walls, sunlight brightly illuminates the interior • Te façade has two spire-capped towers in the French manner but no tracery arches or portal sculpture |
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Death of the Virgin, Stasbourg Cathedral, Strasbourg, France
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • The figures express profound sorrow through dramatic poses and gestures • The German master had studied the recently installed French jamb statues- Mary Reims Visitation group- very similar • The sculptor adjusted the heights of the figures to fit the available space |
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Ekkehard and Uta, statues at Naumburg Cathedral, Naumburg, Germany
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • Uta is dressed in an appropriately northern way- because it’s cold in Germany • She pulls one part of her cloak to her face and holds the other part close to her as she gathers it in • Uta has a certain aloofness • The period costumes and individualized features of these donor portraits give the impression that Ekkehard and Uta posed for their statues- but they lived long before the sculptor’s time |
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Bamberg Rider, Bamberg Cathedral, Bamberg, Germany
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • The hose isn’t worked out in as great Equestrian detail as the horse statue of Marcus Aurelius- it’s more simple • There is an interesting saddle that the artist uses- it’s more like a chair with a high back- also there is no girth strap around the horse- maybe that’s how they used to ride horses • The riders is also using stirrups- if you look at ancient horse and rider representations, the ancients didn’t have stirrups, and stirrups come into use in the middle ages • Revives the image of the Carolingian empire- the French-style architectural canopy cannot contain the entire statue |
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Klosterneuburg Altar, Nicholas of Verdun
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • Nicholas of Verdun was the leading artist of the Meuse valley region, renowned for its metal and enamlwork • His emotionally charged gold figures stand out vividly from the blue enamel background • the Old Testament counterpart of Christ's crucifixion is Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac- a parallel that was already established in Early Christian times in both art and literature |
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Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Cathedral, Nicholas of Verdun
• Gothic, Germany 1180-1280 • Huge reliquary in the shape of a basilican church to house relics of the three magi- the basilica shows cultural borrowings • The figures are sculpted versions of those on the Klosterneuburg Altar • Possession of the magi’s relics gave the Cologne archbishops the right to crown German kings |
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Orvieto Cathedral, Italy
• Gothic: Italy, Architecture 14th Century • The façade and flanks are very interesting • There are a lot of coloristic play on the compound piers with a lot of slender colonnettes with a lot of different kinds of carving and stone • There are pointed arches but the central one is rounded very much like a roman arch • Stone vaults and ribbing are not employed here, nor is there an attempt to achieve the absolute great height of a French cathedral or the vertical connection like a French cathedral too • The pointed gables over the doorways, the rose window, and the large pinnacles derive from French architecture but the façade of Orvieto is merely a Gothic overlay masking a timber-roofed basilica |
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Santa Croce, Florence
• Gothic: Italy, Architecture 14th Century • It looks Gothic in some ways- some of the Gothic features are pointed arches, nave arcade, Gothic windows with pointed arches • One thing about the wooden roof as opposed to the vaulting is that it’s easier to build it- if your goal is to erect the church as quickly as possible, then it’s much more efficient to build a roof with wooden timbers as the main construction components |
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Florence Cathedral, Duomo
• Gothic: Italy, Architecture 14th Century • Stands out because of it’s scale and clearly articulated components- the nave, the dome is almost like a centrally planned structure • Four large groin vaulted bays, and four large groin vaulted bays in the side bays- very carefully worked out proportions • The nave brings out an octagon that then opens up into the chapels |
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Florence Cathedral, Duomo
• Gothic: Italy, Architecture 14th Century • Stands out because of it’s scale and clearly articulated components- the nave, the dome is almost like a centrally planned structure • Four large groin vaulted bays, and four large groin vaulted bays in the side bays- very carefully worked out proportions • The nave brings out an octagon that then opens up into the chapels |
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Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace), Venice
• Gothic: Italy, Architecture 14th Century • The duke’s palace • Right next to the Grand Canal • There is a colonnade • Visually, a very light building because the colonnade is very open and easily accessed • There are widely spaced columns and big arches create a big opening which lightens the building- it’s like the upper part is supported on almost nothing- light, air and space are important parts of the design |
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Piazza del Campo, Siena
• Gothic: Italy, Architecture 14th Century • Has a slightly concave façade and a gigantic tower visible from miles around • The tower served both as a defensive lookout over the countryside and a symbol of the city-state’s power |
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Pulpit of the baptistery of Pisa, Nicola Pisano
• Gothic: Italy, Sculpture and Painting 14th Century • Retains may medieval design elements- the trefoil arches and the lions supporting columns but the panels draw on ancient Roman sarcophagus reliefs |
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Adoration of the Shepherds, Nicola Pisano
• Gothic: Italy, Sculpture and Painting 14th Century • Classical sculpture inspired the face types, beards, coiffures and draperies, as well as the bulk and weight of Nicola’s figures • The Madonna of the Nativity resembles lid figures on Roman sarcophagi |
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Adoration of the Shepherds, Giovanni Pisano
• Gothic: Italy, Sculpture and Painting 14th Century • The French Gothic style had a greater influence on Giovanni Pisano (Nicola’s son) • Giovanni arranged his figures loosely and dynamically • The figures display a nervous agitation, as if moved by spiritual passion |
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Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned
• Gothic: Italy, Sculpture and Painting 14th Century • Large altar piece • Tempora on wood • About 12.5 feet tall and designed to be behind the main altar in a church in Florence • Moves from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance • Emerges into a treatment of 3-D space that had been abandoned for a long time • There are a lot of lingering Byzantine style components- “italo-byzantine” • Mary gesturing with her hand- presenting the baby jesus to the audience in front of them • The core of the composition is very Greek and very Byzantine, icon-like • The gold background is byzantine as well • Mary is sitting on a throne • The figures are stacked on top of one another rather than lined up next to each other • The throne looks non-substantial- it looks tlike they’re holding it up • The treatment of light overall- look for a light source and there is none- there is no external light source illuminating the composition • The flickering garment of Mary makes it look like the light is emanating from within • Cimabue is interested in putting ins omething of the third dimension- the angels are receding and they are party covered by the throne’s arms, and the throne recedes a little bit- she seems to an extent to be within it • Mary’s feet are resting on a recessed curve- almost on a plane in front of the curve |
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Madonna and Child Enthroned, Giotto
• The Renaissance Begins: Giotto • This is where we can definitively say we crossed the line and the renaissance has begun • Giotto was doing something very different than other artists at the time • Angels are in front of the throne- there is a spatial relationship with Cimabue • Light, weight, inward extension • Light is an element of our world, weight/volume, inward extension- the creation of the third dimension- overlapping and other elements to create the projection • Where is the light source? Coming from the right side • Giotto aimed before all else, to construct a figure that has substance, dimensionality and bulk- qualities suppressed in favor of qualities dominant in Byzantine art |
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Arena Chapel fresco cycle, Padua
• The Renaissance Begins: Giotto • True fresco- the pigments penetrate into the damp plaster, which means they won’t flake off- one of the great advantages of fresco- the color will go into the plaster instead of sitting on the surface |
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Arena Chapel, Padua, Lamentation
• The Renaissance Begins: Giotto • True fresco- the pigments penetrate into the damp plaster, which means they won’t flake off- one of the great advantages of fresco- the color will go into the plaster instead of sitting on the surface |
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Madonna Enthroned, center of the Maesta Altarpiece, Siena
• The Renaissance Begins: Duccio • Duccio derived the formality and symmetry of his composition from Byzantine tradition, but relaxed the rigidity and frontality of the figures, softened the drapery and individualized the faces |
