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Medieval Arts. Early Medieval--Romanesque: Symbolic, rather than realistic No use of perspective, no use of relative sizes to indicate depth Detail decorative, rather than to indicate realism or richness: stressed the spiritual
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Early Medieval--Romanesque: • Symbolic, rather than realistic • No use of perspective, no use of relative sizes to indicate depth • Detail decorative, rather than to indicate realism or richness: stressed the spiritual • Haloes, disproportionate size of head to body, lack of realistic proportions of hands, feet, legs, etc: spiritual reality, NOT individuals—faces often interchangeable, even man/woman • Little attention to background
Romanesque art: notice haloes, “flatness” and lack of perspective; lack of realistic detail=“drawing” style (fresco in church)
Gothic • Moving towards realism • Some layering and beginnings of perspective to create depth • Detail to show realism • Beginning to portray individual features in faces, realistic proportions of bodies • Some realistic portrayals of backgrounds and settings
Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry An example of a Medieval book of hours, this gave a text for each liturgical hour of the day - hence the name. (Calendars, prayers, psalms and masses for certain holy days were commonly included.) The picture is from the calendar section, painted some time between 1412 and 1416 for the Duc du Berry by the Limbourg brothers. It shows the pinnacle of the art of manuscript illumination.
The Mourning of Christ by Giotto
Sculpture: Same Contrasts • Romanesque: • No individualization • Symbolic • Gothic: • Beginnings of portrayal of individuals; difference in faces; emotion • More attention to details: draperies, proportions more realistic, though still more emphasis on spiritual meaning, not naturalism
Architecture • Romanesque: Gothic:
Squattier buildings; lower and heavier Columns thick Arches rounded Windows small Tall buildings reaching to heaven Columns thin: reliance on flying buttresses to take weight Arches pointed to heaven Windows large, everywhere Stained glass windows as teaching device Rose windows Romanesque vs Gothic
Both: Church to Cathedral • Cruciform • Ambulatory around high altar and choir • Gothic: more chapels around outside • Transept (E to W) • Symbolic • E=Mary/Christ/NT • W=OT • Crossing: altar for special feasts • Nave (N to S) • Gothic: aisles and side chapels at outside