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The EARLY MIDDLE AGES GENERALLY refers to culture in Western Europe, that is the second half of the millennium. The period referred to as the “Dark Ages” stretched only from the sixth to the eight century, and can be considered “dark” only in that so few documents survive to shed light on this era.
“Rebirth” was only possible because of what took place in the thousand years that preceded it.
The beginning of this period was marked by the collision of two different cultural forces; the Christian Church and the Germanic tribes and other barbarian groups. Their mutual assimilation would come to shape early medieval life.
The Animal Style Burial ship of an East Anglian king at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England.
Among the artifacts discovered was a purse cover made of gold, garnet, and enamel, with a clasp made of enamel on gold. This animal style pattern consists of distorted creatures, their bodies twisted and stretched.
some are made up of parts from different animals. • the symmetrical compositions are meticulously compiled of smaller units that are, in themselves, symmetrical.
Symbols in Medieval Christian Art: Animals Ape/ Monkey Symbol of sin, lust, and the devil. Monkeys are known for their ability to ape human behavior.
Bee Symbol of industry as in “busy as a bee”
Cat symbol of laziness and lust.
Centaur A composite creature invented in antiquity, having the head of a man and a body of a horse, thus combining the human’s intelligence with the horse’s strength and lust; fond of wine and women.
Dog Symbol of fidelity
Dragon In western art the dragon symbolizes the evil; in eastern art the dragon has positive connotation.
Fish Because the initial letter of Jesus Christ, God’s son, savior” in Greek spell “fish” the fish is a symbol of Jesus.
Lamb A sacrificial animal and therefore a symbol of Jesus
Lion Usually a symbol of Jesus, long regarded as “King of the Beasts”
Unicorn A composite creature invented in antiquity, unicorns are white, with the form of a small horse and a single horn in the middle of the forehead. The unicorn can be caught only by a virgin woman and thus a symbol of both Jesus and of Purity.
Charlemagne and the Carolingian Era • Romanesque Culture • The Gothic Era
The convergence of Christian and Germanic cultures, which occurred long before the eighth century, culminates in the rule of Charles the great or CHARLEMAGNE [SHAR-lu-main](742-841), king of franks. His rule is generally considered to have inaugurated a period of cultural reawakening in Western Europe. Accordingly, this period is known as the Carolingian era. Often credited with the major achievements of the so-called Carolingian renaissance, Charlemagne saw himself as a successor to the great roman emperors, and his court at Aachen was a focal point for the promotion of literacy.
Architecture • To match his imperial ambitions, Charlemagne created, at Aachen in Germany, a sumptuous palace and a magnificent royal chapel, designed by ODO OF METZ. Apart from this chapel, little Carolingian architecture has survived. Carolingian ideas influenced later medieval style.
Odo of Metz, Palatine Chapel, Aachen, Germany Charlemagne was determined to make his chapel worthy of his piety, and so had materials brought from Rome and Ravenna to enrich it. The massive proportions and semicircular arches recall the architecture of ancient Rome.
Monasticism • During the middle ages, monasticism developed rapidly resulting in an increasing number of monasteries and religious orders of monks and nuns. • Their lives were based on 4 vows: They were to possess nothing (poverty) Live in one place their entire life (stability) Follow the abbot’s direction (obedience) Remain unmarried (chastity)
Church of Saint- Riquier, Abbeville • consecreted 799, now destroyed, engraving made in 1612 from an eleventh century manuscript illumination, BibliothequeNationale, Paris. Although this church no longer exists, certain features here became standard in church architecture: a massive entry way, two transepts, multiple towers with staircases, and a choir.
Manuscript Illumination LINDAU GOSPELS BOOK COVER -made in about 870, out of gold, pearls, and semi precious stones. In the middle ages gemstones were smoothed and rounded into what are known as cobochons.
Romanesque • After Charlemagne’s death in 814, the personal bonds that held the holy roman empire together weakened. After two centuries of political fragmentation, however, around the year 1000, a few powerful feudal families began to extend their influence, conquering weaker feudal rulers and cementing their gains by intermarriage. These families soon developed into full-fledge monarchies. Two in particular—in France and in England—rose to real and lasting prominence.
Paris became the political and intellectual center of Europe.
Pilgrimages and the Church • Pilgrimages were a social phenomenon of medieval life. Their chief purpose was to worship RELICS(objects believe to be associated with saints and especially with Jesus and Mary, parts of their bodies), especially relics that were an important expression of religious faith, but they also represented a social opportunities to meet people from different cultures, having different cultures, having different customs.
Churches visited in this way by medieval pilgrims are referred to as “pilgrimage churches” All have the same basic plan and certain similarities of construction. Their style is called Romanesque, and indeed the architectures relies in the basic roman elements of basilica plan, employing rounded arches, vaulted ceilings, piers and columns for support, and thick, sturdy walls. However, the style is not called Romanesque for this reason but because it was associated with the romance languages. All pilgrimage churches had large naves with flaking aisles, a transept (the transversal part of a church which crosses at right angles to the greatest length, and between the nave and choir), choir, ambulatory, and radiating chapels on the east end.
Basilica Interior Basilica Exterior
St. Sernin, Taulouse • Among the most important buildings constructed in the eleventh century is Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, the best known of the great pilgrimage churches. Saint-Sernin was started ca.1070 or 1077 but never finished. The west façade, which underwent restoration in 1885, has been generously described as an “awkward bulk” The builders ‘originally intent (and the Romanesque norm) was to have two façade towers, but they were never completed. The apse end was completed by about 1098, with many different roof levels that reflect the interior plan, each chapel is seen as separated bulge from the outside; above the ambulatory, the apse protrudes; and the levels build up to the crossing tower. Each space is separate, as is typical of Romanesque architecture. • Saint-sernin, Toulose, have looking towards altar. Romanesque masons experimented with various vaulting methods, using most frequently the barrel (tunnel) vault based in the semicircular arch. Advantages of this stone vault, compared to the wooden ceiling of early Christian basilica, include superb acoustics and minimized risk of fire; disadvantages include lack of direct light into the nave.
Sculpture • The vast majority of people living in Western Europe during the middle ages were illiterate—a portion of clergy included. Sermons were therefore, literally, carved in stone, with sculptors creating the equivalent of picture books for those who could not read.
Mission of the apostles. This tympanum(the semicircle above the entry) contains relief sculpture that is simultaneously decorative and didactic. The message is that Jesus’ ideas, shown to travel from his fingertips to the heads of apostles, are to be conveyed to all parts of the world at all times of the year, as represented symbolically around the tympanum.
Decorative Arts • Reliquary coffer, enamel, French, Limoges, twelfth century, now in Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. Elaborate coffers such as this were used to house precious relics (something old kept for sentimental reasons/a part of the body of the saint or an ancient religious object kept for respect) such as a piece of Jesus’s cross, a piece of silk worn by his mother Mary , a drop of her milk, or strand of silk worn by his mother Mary, or a strand of saint’s hair . some relics were thought to be endowed with magical powers.
Gothic Era • NO CITY THE LATER MIDDLE AGES more than Paris. Home to a revival in learning at the newly founded university, Paris was also the seat of the French government, overseen by King Louis IX (later St. Louis)
Gothic Architecture • The term Gothic refers to the style of visual arts and culture that first developed, beginning about 1140, in the Ilede- France, and reached its zenith in the thirteenth century. From the mid- 13th through the mid- 14th century, Paris was an important source of artistic inspiration for the rest of France, Germany, and England. • What is now called “Gothic art” was originally called the “French style” and referred to architecture. Architecture, in fact, dominates the era for this is the age of the great cathedrals of northern Europe.
The Gothic style developed out of the Romanesque. Romanesque buildings are broad and massive,characterizedby semi- circular arches, thick walls, and closely spaced supports that create a feeling of security. Solid and heavy, Romanesque buildings seem to be bound to the earth. • In contrast, Gothic buildings have a soaring quality, for the vertical is constantly emphasized and the walls are thin. Small Romanesquewindows are way in Gothic architecture to vast windows of stained glass.
Gothic architecture was confident and daring. The tremendous height of the building was a reflection of religious ideals and enthusiasm, of inspiration and aspiration. The vast naves of the Gothic cathedrals create an extra ordinary atmosphere of spirituality. The chants sung here reverberated from the high vaults. • The structural innovations that characterized this new style include the following: • 1. Pointed arches and vaults, which exert less lateral thrust than the semicircular Romanesque arches and vaults. The pointed rib vault can be constructed in a variety of floor plans and, in theory built to any heights. • 2. Ribs, which serve to concentrate the weight of the vault at certain points, making it possible to eliminate the wall between this points. • 3. Flying buttresses, which were introduced in response to the problem created by the lateral thrust exerted by a true vault. The idea of a buttress, a solid mass of masonry used to reinforce a wall, was an old one. But the “flying” part, the exterior arch, was an invention of the Gothic era. Flying buttress project outward on the exterior of the building and cannot be seen from the inside through the stained glass windows.
Pinnacle Finial
Royal Abbey of Saint Denis, France, Ambulatory. • The eccentric and egocentric Abbot Sugerinitiated the Gothic Style of Architecture, characterized by a new lightness and proportion and sense of flowing space. The pointed Gothic arches exert less lateral thrust than the Romanesque semicircular arches, and the ribs reinforced the vaults.
Cathedral of Notre- Dame, Paris, France • ,Flying buttresses added in the 1180s. Exterior wall buttresses, used especially on large multistoried building to absorb the lateral thrust exerted by the vaulting. The solid walls of Romanesque architecture were replaced by the characteristically Gothic flying buttresses. • In Romanesque architecture, horizontals dominated; here horizontals and verticals balance; soon the vertical will dominate.
