AP Art History-Chapter 17 (Romanesque), 18 (Gothic), 19 (14th century italian)
Romanesque > The age of pilgrimages > 1050-1200
-1050-1200 -Named for style, not emperor or region -Barrel vaults, round arches, like those of ancient Rome -Distinguished from timber roofs of earlier medieval structures and from later Gothic structures with vaults resting on pointed arches -Rise of trade and thus towns and cities, independent of and displacing feudalism (manors, lords) -Construction of many churches and monasteries -Resurgence of stone sculpting -Increase in pilgrimage traffic, display of relics, attract funding -CULT OF RELICS: body parts and objects connected with holy family and saints -PILGRIMAGES to Rome, Jerusalem, and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. hardship, austerity, seek salvation -Travel guides for pilgrims with info about relics, roads, food, etc - CRUSADES: Armed knights seek to regain control of Holy Land shrines and relics, protect pilgrims, Knight Templar (Monty Python) > Diversity across regions, diverse influences
Gothic Periods
> General: >> Rib vaults: allowed interior supports to be removed. Lighter, airier, taller spaces than ever before. >>Flying buttresses: allowed outside walls to become thinner and replaced with glass >>Pointed arches: Not only aesthetic but functional, as they allowed all arches to be the same height, regardless of width. >>Stained glass: Lancet windows (narrow pointed) windows, rose windows (large round), oculi (small round windows). Interiors filled with mystical filtered light. >>3-story elevation: nave, triforium, clerestory. (Romanesque had 3 story, early Gothic 4 story with addition of triforium arcade, then high and late gothic had tall 3 story). >>Statue lined portals (entries): Increasingly more separate from architectural background, increasingly more natural, classical, personalized, emotional Defined by time: > Early Gothic: >>Example: Royal Portal Chartres Cathedral (before Chartres was rebuilt as high gothic). 3 doors, decorated tympanum, trumeau, jambs, and archivolt. Sculpted relief, but very integrated in the architectural background. Called Early Style in England and had more horizontal emphasis than in France. > High Gothic: >> Example: Amiens Cathedral. Has all of the components of gothic architecture, including the 3-story elevation, but focus on extreme height more than previous cathedrals. Called Rayonnant Gothic in France (radiant) and Decorative Style in England (highly ornamented) Late Gothic: >>Example: Chapel of Henry VII, London. Called Flamboyant Gothic (flamelike tracery) in France and Perpendicular Style in England (vertical emphasis).
14th Century Italian Art >From Gothic to Renaissance >1300s
> In Renaissance, the religious view of world declined. More emphasis on natural world, individual, and humanity's worldly existence >Renaissance means "rebirth" (of art and culture) >Last roughly 14th through 16th centuries >New interest in reason and secular life rooted in Greek and Roman models >Revered classical antiquity, hence seeing MIddle Ages as the time in between classical antiquity and the Renaissance >Transition was not abrupt >Scholars refer to this time as the "early modern" era >14th century Italy: many city-states with separate governments and economies, thriving international trade >Guilds (like modern day labor unions) protected the welfare of members and dominated city governments >Black death in late 1340s threw the balance into chaos, killed 25-50% of population, especially high in Italy, led to hospital construction >GREAT SCHISM: Conflict between French and Italians regarding where the pope should live (France vs Rome). Pope was in France (away form Italy) during much of the 14th century, so monastic orders (groups of monks) became especially popular in Italy (MENDICANTS: "begging friars" Franciscans and Dominicans renounced worldly goods and did good deeds) >Development of vernacular literature (everyday language instead of Latin), expanded the audience for philosophical and intellectual concepts. Dante is one example. >Revival of classical value of humanism: human values and interests as distinct from but not opposed to religion's otherworldly values. Examples: self sacrificing service to the state, participation in government, duty >Names were less standardized, so "last names" were often towns (like Leonardo da Vinci was from Vinci)
GOTHIC PERIOD > Age of great Cathedrals > 1140-1500 > Centered on France
> Later Renaissance artists and writers, who revered classical art, saw the Middle ages, including the Gothic period, as monstrous and barbarous, invented by the uncouth Goths. > Goths were a Germanic group that came from southern Scandinavia and were partly responsible for the fall of the Roman empire--thus resented by those who revered classical art and culture > Gothic style in 13th and 14th centuries (1200s and 1300s) > But in the Gothic time itself the towering cathedrals were seen as exciting and new > Style originated in France > Gothic style first appeared in northern France (ILE-DE_FRANCE = centered around Paris) in 1140 but elsewhere Romanesque still flourished > A regional style--east and south was still dominated by Byzantine style > Distinct regional gothic style within western europe > This period had great prosperity as well as great tumoil: Hundred Years War between France and England, the Black Death (killed 1/4 of population), Great Schism, rapidly expanding secular cities and shift away from pilgrimage churches and monasteries, beginning of universities, chivalry
Pietro Cavellini, Seated Apostles, Detail of Last Judgment >14th CENTURY ITALY > Rome, Italy > 1291 > Sculptural rendering of form > Solidity and strength conveyed in painting, 3D drapery
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