Middle Ages 500-1400
A time period with artwork used greatly to tell stories. Realistic depictions are replaced with elaborate decorative styles. Animals are often depicted exaggerated in books, jewelry, and armor.
LIterature
Beowulf
Canterbury Tales or (Abridged Version) LeMonte De Arthur (King Arthur Tales) Divine Comedy Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Bible-Most published Supplemental Guided Reading handout (fill in)
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Catholic Monks and clerks were the printing company for books of the time. Because very few could read it was important to use artwork to tell stories. This can even be seen in elaborate stained glass windows. They served a greater importance than simply appearance.
Arts and Sciences
Calligraphy-- ornamental handwriting. Heraldry-- science of creating, recording, and reading Coats of Arms which identified members of the nobility. Humors-- four body fluids which were believed to govern an individual’s health and personality: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. Illumination-- illustration and colorful ornamentation appearing on manuscript pages. Maquillage-- makeup, based on medieval ideals of beauty, could be poisonous, e.g: some ladies used white lead to make their skin look pale. Plague--Wide Spread Illness that effects a large population such as bubonic plague (black death) Hieroglyphics – writing using pictures to represent events or sounds, had a more highly developed phonetic element than earlier written communications Mosaic--Technique of applying small pieces together on a surface to create a larger image. |
Art Work to know:
Romanesque
Byzantine (Antique and Iconoclasm)
Lamentation (Pieta) by the Master of Nerezi, 1164. Lamentation by Giotto di Bondone, 1304-06
Peaked between 330 AD and 726. Art was centered around the Roman Orthodox Catholic church. It was an honorable occupation to be an artist. There was very little recognition for your work and artists were dictated what their subject matter was to be. One artist had to master several types of medium. The Iconoclasm Controversy shifted the philosophies around 726 when there came a strong belief (interpretation of Moses' second commandment) saying that you were not permitted to make pictures/representations of religious figures such as Jesus. Byzantine was named from the capitol of the Roman Empire: Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople. An Artist to know: Giotto di Bondone.
Characteristics of artwork:
Flat 2-D images
Very few sculptures were made in this time period.
Facing forward
No Shadows
Characteristics of artwork:
Flat 2-D images
Very few sculptures were made in this time period.
Facing forward
No Shadows
Gothic
External Links for additional reference
References:
History for Kids
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/art/byzantine.htm
http://www.ducksters.com/
Giotto di Bondone Images: http://www.giottodibondone.org/
History for Kids
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/art/byzantine.htm
http://www.ducksters.com/
Giotto di Bondone Images: http://www.giottodibondone.org/