Gothic Art In The Middle Ages

1823 Words4 Pages

The Middle Ages, also known as the Dark Ages or Medieval period, is a period in history after the fall of the Roman Empire that lasted from the late 4th century to the late 14th century, to the beginning of the Renaissance period. The characteristics of the style of art in the Middle Ages was dark and revolved around religious symbolism. The sole purpose of displaying the symbols was an illustration for the people unable to read, to understand about the higher power, and the centering of the Church, to glorify God. The two styles of art throughout Europe which rose from the Middle Ages are Romanesque Art, from the 10th century to the middle of the 12th century, and Gothic Art, from the Romanesque period to the middle of the 12th century (MindEdge, …show more content…

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe had little or no government; instead, the King became the hierarchy over the individual Lords or Barans. They controlled their own territory, currency, collected taxes and attained their own military protection. These territories were safeguarded by the vassals, but run by the peasant working on the land of the Lords, in exchange for their protection. Nobility, as well as the peasants of the village, were expected to give one tenth of their wages to support the local church. The monetary contributions transformed the church to become more powerful than feudalism. It also provided opportunity for the church to build grand scale Cathedrals to house the Monks and contribute to the artistry of the Middle Ages. Also, in this time period, the discovery of iron ore and the blasting furnace, the spinning wheel, the wheelbarrow, the clock, mills, the printing press, spectacles, bestowed the materials, directly and indirectly, affecting the artist. The Middle Ages did not see great advancements in science or technology, for the center of the era, religion, provided the basic need of the period. (MindEdge, (2014, 3.12), (History.com Staff, …show more content…

The Renaissance period consisted of three eras the Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, in the South, and Northern Renaissance. (HumanitiesWeb.org, (2012). The characteristic of the style of art in the Renaissances revolved around, individualism, realism, mythology, physiology, science and secular humanism, with the ability of each person to pursue their personal physical interest, artistic ability. A strong sense of education, lead to the study of the Humanities, to create a better society. The Early Renaissance started in Italy with a hunger for knowledge of the arts and philosophy. The Pagan past of ancient Rome became their aspiration for further learning. High Renaissance of the South, dwelled on the art of antiquity. Learning and focusing on the past, helped bring the realism in the art of this era. The Northern Renaissance painters were moving from the religious painting to portraitures, brought in painting with oils, stretched canvas along with 3-dimensional, colors and chiaroscuro, with perspective and realism. Other Renaissance arts, were decorative art, literature, architecture, and sculpture, from this time period. (Grendler, Paul F. (2004), (MindEdge, 2014,

Open Document