Art History Test

Freestanding baptisteries are unusual --> reflect the great significance the Florentines and Pisans attached to baptismal rites. On the day of a newborn child's anointment the citizenry gathered in the baptistery to welcome a new member into their community. Baptisteries therefore were important civic, as well as religious structures.

Baptistery of San Giovanni. 1000.

Literally "ruler of all" in Greek but usually applied to Christ in his role as last judge of mankind. Climax of an elaborate hierarchical mosaic program including several New Testament episodes below. Like a gigantic icon hovering dramatically in space. Image serves to connect the awestruck worshiper in the church bellower with Heaven through Christ.

Christ as Pantokrator, dome mosaic in the Church of the Dormition. 1000.

Muslims had taken the city from the Byzantines --> an architectural tribute to the triumph of Islam. Marked the coming of the new religion to the city that had been and still is sacred to jews and Christians. Structure rises from a huge platform known as the Noble Enclosure, where in ancient times the Hebrews built the Temple of Solomon that the Roman Empire destroyed. Later gained significance as the reputed location of Adam's grave and the spot where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac

Aerial view of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. 600.

Hypostyle design. Most closely reflects the mosque's supposed precursor, Muhammad's house in Medina. Built of stone, its walls have sturdy buttresses, square in profile. Lateral entrances on the east and west lead to an arcaded forecourt resembling a Roman forum, oriented north-south on axis with the mosque's impressive minaret and the two domes of the hypostyle prayer hall. The first dome is over the entrance bay, the second over the bay that fronts the mihrab set into the qibla wall. A raised nave connects the domed spaces and prolongs the north-south axis of the minaret and courtyard. 7 columned aisles flank the nave on either side, providing space for a large congregations. 1. Qibla wall 2. Mihrab 3. Mihrab dome 4. Hypostyle prayer hall 5. Nave 6. Entrance dome 7. Forecourt 8. Minaret

Aerial view and plan of the Great Mosque. 800.

Capital moved from Mecca to Damascus. Purchased a Byzantine church and build an imposing new mosque for the expanding Muslim population. Umayyads demolished the church but used the Roman precinct walls as a foundation for their construction. Owes much to Roman and Early Christiana architecture. Islamic builder incorporated some blocks, columns, and capitals, salvaged from the earlier structures. The minarets, two at the southern corners and one at the northern side of the enclosure are modifications of the preexisting Roman square towers. The halls's facade with its pediment and arches recalls Roman and Byzantine models and faces into the courtyard. Synthesizes elements received from other cultures into a novel architectural unity, which includes the distinctive Islamic elements of mihrab mihrab dome minbar and minaret

Aerial view of the Great Mosque. 600.

Abbot Suger's remodeling of Saint-Denis marked the beginning of Gothic Architecture. Rib vaults with pointed arches spring from slender columns. The lightness of the vaults enabled the builders to eliminate the walls between the chapels and open up the outer walls and fill them with stained-glass windows --> admit lux nova "new light"

Ambulatory and radiating chapels. 1200.

Medical manual. Gift from the people of Honoratai to Anicia Juliana daughter of the emperor of the west Anicias. 498 illustrations almost all of plants. Dedication page features a portrait of Anicia Juliana in an 8 pointed star and circle frame. Shows her enthroned between personifications of Magnanimity and Prudence with a kneeling figure labeled Gratitude of the Arts at her feet. The shading and modeling of the figures, the heads seen at oblique angles, the rendering of the throne's footstool in perspective, and the use of personifications establish that the painter still worked in the classical tradition most other Byzantine artists had by then rejected.

Anicia Juliana between Magnanimity and Prudence. 600.

It combines in one composition the image of a roaring beast with protruding eyes and flaring nostrils and the complex, controlled pattern of tightly woven animals that writhe, gripping and snapping, in serpentine fashion. Powerfully expressive example of the union of two fundamental motifs of the warrior lords art- the animal form and the interlace pattern.

Animal head post, from Viking ship burial. 800.

Battle of Hasting in progress --> Norman cavalry cuts down the English defenders. Filling the lower border are the dead and wounded. Used some motifs characteristic of Greco-Roman battle scenes ---> horses with twisted necks and contorted bodies but rendered the figures in the Romanesque manner. Stands apart from all other Romanesque artworks in depicting in full detail an event at a time shortly after it occurred, recalling the historical narratives of ancient Roman art.

Battle of Hastings, detail of the Bayeux Tapestry. 1000.

Reliefs could have once formed part of a shrine dedicated to Saint Saturninus that stood in the crypt (a vaulted underground chamber) of the church. This is the centerpiece of the group. Christ sits in a mandorla, his right hand raised in blessing, his left hand resting on an open book. The signs of the four evangelists occupy the corners of the slab.

Bernardus Gelduinus, Christ in Majesty. 1000

During this time large numbers of Christians traveled to Islamic lands, especially to Jerusalem and Bethlehem either as pilgrims or as crusaders. Some wealthy individuals commissioned local muslim artist to produce custom pieces using costly materials--> as souvenir for journey. Brass cantina inlaid with silver and decorated with scenes of the life of Jesus. Luxurious version of the "pilgrim flasks" Christian visitors to the Holy Land often carried back to Europe. Four inscriptions in Arabic promise eternal glory, secure life, perfect prosperity, and increasing good luck to the canteen's unnamed owner, who must have been a Christian, not only because of the object but bc of the choice of scenes engraved. The madonna and christ child appear enthroned in the central medallion, and three panels depicting New Testament events fill most of the band around the medallion. Narrative unfolds in a counterclockwise sequence beginning with the Nativity, and continuing with the presentation in the temple, and Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. The scenes may have been chosen because the patron and visited their locales. Most believe the artist used Syrian Christian manuscripts as the source for the canteen's Christian iconography. However many of the decorative details are common in contemporaneous Islamic metalwork. Canteen testifies to the fruitful artistic interaction between Christians and Muslims in 13th century Syria.

Canteen with episode from the life of Jesus. 1400.

A cross-vaulted choir preceding the apse interrupts the ambulatory and gives the plan some axial stability. Weakening this effect however is the off-axis placement of the narthex, whose odd angle never has been explained fully. Christ sits atop the world and holds a scroll. Christ extends the golden martyr's wreath to Vitalis, the patron saint of the church whom an angel introduces. At christ's left another angel presents Bishop Ecclesius who offers a model of San Vitale to Christ. Images and symbols covering the entire sanctuary express the single idea of Christ's redemption of humanity and the reenactment of it in the Eucharist. For example, the lunette mosaic over the two columns on the northern side of the choir depicts the story of Abraham and the three angels.

Choir and apse of San Vitale with mosaic of Christ between two angels. 600.

The formality, symmetry, and placement of the figures are Byzantine but the spanish artist rejected Byzantine mosaic in favor of direct painting on plaster-coated walls. The iconographic scheme in the semidome of the apse echoes the themes of the sculpted tympana of contemporaneous French and Spanish Romanesque church portals. The signs of the four evangelists flank Christ in a star strewn mandorla. Seven lamps between Christ and the evangelists' signs symbolize the seven Christian communities where Saint John addressed his revelation at the beginning of his book. Below stand apostles paired off in formal frontally as in the Monreale Cathedral apse. Harsh bright color appropriate for a powerful icon

Christ in Majesty

Marriage between Christian imagery and the animal-interlace style of the northern warlords. Patterning and detail much more intricate than the Book of Durrow pages. Serpentine interlacements of animals devour each other, curling over and returning on their writhing, elastic shapes. The rhythm of expanding and contracting forms produces a vivid effect of motion and change, but the painter held it in check with the dominating motif of the inscribed cross. Motifs are in detailed symmetries, with inversions, reversals, and repetitions. The zoomorphic forms intermingle with clusters and knots of line, and the whole design vibrates with energy. The color is rich yet cool. Display's the artist's preference for small, infinitely complex, and painstaking designs.

Cross-inscribed carpet page, folio 26 verso of the Lindisfarne Gospels. 600.

Pictorial style characteristic of the post iconoclastic Middle Byzantine period. Like the Pantokrator, subtle blend of the painterly naturalistic style of Late Antiquity and the later more abstract and formalistic Byzantine style. Artist assimilated classicism's simplicity, dignity, and grace into a perfect synthesis with Byzantine piety and pathos. In quiet sorrow and resignation, the Virgin and Saint John flank the crucified Christ. A skull at the foot of the cross indicates Golgotha, the "place of skulls". Symmetry and closed space combine to produce an effect of the motionless and unchanging aspect of the deepest mystery of the Christian religion. Not a narrative of the historical event of the execution, nor is Christ a triumphant beardless youth oblivious to pain and defiant in the laws of gravity. Instead he has a tilted head and staffing body and although he is not overtly in pain, blood and water spurt from the wound. The Virgin and John point to the figure on the cross as if to a devotional object. They act as intercessors between the viewer below and Christ.

Crucifixion, mosaic in the north arm of the eat wall of the Church of the Dormition. 1000.

Conch-shell niche "supports" an arcaded pavilion with a flowering rooftop flanked by structures show in perspective. Own much to Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine art. Temples, clusters of houses, trees, and rivers compose the pictorial fields bounded by stylized vegetal designs also found in Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine ornamentation. No zoomorphic forms, human or animal appear either in the pictorial or ornamental spaces. Although there is no prohibition against figural art in the Koran, Islamic tradition, based on the Hadith, shuns the representation of fauna of any kind in scare places. Accompanying inscriptions explained the world shown in the Damascus mosaics suspended mirage like in a featureless field of gold as an image of Paradise. The imagery is consistent with many passages from the Koran describing the gorgeous places of Paradise awaiting the faithful garden, groves of trees, flowing streams and lofty chambers.

Detail of a mosaic in the courtyard arcade of the Great Mosque. 600.

Al-Hakam II becomes caliph and made renovations to the mosque. Builder's expanded the prayer hall, added a series of domes, and con structured monumental gates on the east and western facades. The gates are noteworthy for their colorful masonry and intricate surface patterns, especially in the uppermost zone, with its series of overlapping horseshoe shaped arches stinging from delicate colonnettes.

Detail of the upper zones of the east gate of the Mezquita (Great Mosque). 800.

Pointed arches channel the weight of the rib vaults more directly downward than do semicircular arches, requiring less buttressing. Pointed arches also make the vaults appear taller than they are.

Diagram (a) and drawings of rib vaults with semicircular (b) and pointed arches (c)

Same desire for decorative effect. One of the four domes built to emphasize the axis leading to the mihrab. The dome rests on an octagonal base of arcuated squinches. Crisscrossing ribs form an intricate pattern centered on two squares set at 45 degree angles to each other.

Dome in front of the mihrab of the Mezquita (Great Mosque). 800.

More than 15 feet tall. Technological marvels bc the Ottonian metalworkers cast each giant door in a single piece with the figural sculpture. 16 individual panels stem from tradition of Carolingian sculpture being small-scale. Doors placed in the portal to Saint Michael's from the cloister where the monks would see them each time they entered the church. The panels of the left door show highlights from Genesis --> beginning with the creation of eve (top left) and ending with the murder of Adam and Eve's son Abel by his brother Cain (bottom). The right door recounts the life of Jesus reading from the bottom up starting with the Annunciation and terminating with the appearance to Mary Magdalene of Christ after the resurrection. Together, the doors tell the story of original sin and ultimate redemption, showing the expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the path back to Paradise through the Church.

Doors with relief panels. 1000.

Earliest known depiction of a medieval scriptorium. Because the artist provided a composite of exterior and interior views of the building, it is especially informative. At the left is a great bell tower with a monk on the ground floor ringing the bells. The painter carefully recorded the Islamic-style glazed-tile walls of the tower, its interior ladders and its elegant windows with their horseshoe arches, the legacy of the Visigoths. To the right, three monks perform their respective specialized duties. The colophon identifies the two monks in the main room as the scribe senior and the painter E. To the right a third monk uses shears to cut sheets of parchment. The colophon also pays tribute to Magius "The wroth master painter... may he deserve to be crowned with Christ, who died before he could complete his work on the book. His pupil E took his place and brought the project to fruition. He probably was the painter of the colophon.

Emeterius, The tower and scriptorium of San Salvador de Tabara. 1000.

Charlemagne becomes emperor of Rome. Came to be seen as the first Holy Roman Emperor. When C returned home from his coronation in Rome, he ordered the transfer of an equestrian statue of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric from Ravenna to the Carolingian palace --> reminder of ancient Rome's glory and of the pretensions and aspirations of the medieval successors of Rome's Christian emperor's. Portrait of T could have been inspiration for this statue. Either Charlemagne or his grand son C the bald. Some mistook statue for Constantine --> Both the Roman and medieval sculptors portrayed their emperor as overly large so that the ruler not the horse is the center of attention. On a parade, wears imperial robes rather than a general's cloak, although his sheathed sword is visible. On his head is a crown, and in his outstretched left hand he holds a glove, symbol of world dominion.

Equestrian portrait of Charlemagne or Charles the Bald

An embroidered fabric. Borders contain real and imaginary animals. Continuous, frieze like, pictorial narrative of a crucial moment in England's history and of events leading up to it. The Norman defeat of the Anglo-Saxons brought England under the control of the Normans uniting all of England and much of France under one rule. Edward the Anglo- Saxon king of England died --> Normans believed E had recognized William of Normandy as rightful heir but crown wen to King's brother-in-law Harold. Betrayed Normans crushed Harold's forces. King Edward's funeral procession. The hand of God points the way to the church in London where he was buried.

Funeral procession to Westminster Abbey, detail of the Bayeux Tapestry. 1000.

Architecturally expressed the seclusion of the spiritual life. At Moissac, as elsewhere, the cloister provided the monks and nuns with a foretaste of Paradise. In its garden or the timber roofed columnar walkway framing the garden, they could read their devotions, pray, and meditate. Pier reliefs portray the 12 apostles and the monastery's first cluniac abbot, whom the monks buried in the cloister. Abbot holding his staff in his left hand and raising his right in a gesture of blessing. The carving is very shallow an exercise in two dimensional design. The feet for example do not rest on the ground and cannot support the abbot's weight. The 76 capitals crown single and paired column shafts. They are variously decorated --> collections of illustrations of real and imaginary animals became very popular in the Romanesque age. The monstrous forms were reminders of the chaos and deformity of a world without God's order.

General view of the cloister and detail of the pier with the relief of Abbot Durandus. 1200.

The composition of many of the scenes on the doors derives from Carolingian manuscript illumination. God portrayed as a man, accuses Adam and Eve after their fall from grace. He jabs his finger at them with the force of his whole body. The force is concentrated in the gesture which becomes the focus of the entire composition. The frightened pair crouch, not only to hide their shame but also to escape the lightning bolt of divine wrath. Each passes the blame Adam pointing backward to Eve and Eve pointing downward to the deceitful serpent. Simplicity with great emotional impact, as well as a fair anecdotal detail. Adam and Eve both struggle to point with one arm while attempting to shield their bodies from view with the other --> newfound embarrassment at their nakedness and their unconvincing denials of wrongdoing.

God accusing Adam and Eve, detail of the left door. 1000.

Major romanesque scriptorium. An example of Cistercian illumination before Bernard's opposition to monastic figural art which led to a Cistercian ban on elaborate paintings in manuscripts as well as sculptural ornamentation in monasteries. Later Cistercian order prohibited full page illustrations and even initial letters had to be nonfigurative and of a single color. This was painted prior to prohibitions. A knight, his squire, and two roaring dragons form the letter R, the initial letter of the salutation Reverentissimo. The knight is a slender, regal figure who raises his shield and sword against the dragons, while the squire crouching beneath him runs a lance through one of the monsters. Although the clergy viewed the dual between knight and dragons as an allegory of the spiritual struggle of monks against the devil for the salvation of souls, Bernard opposed this kind of illumination. The partitioning here accentuates the knight's verticality and elegance and the thrusting action of his servant. The flowing sleeves add a spiritual flourish to the swordsman's gesture. The knight, handsomely garbed, cavalierly wears no armor and calmly aims a single stroke, unmoved by the ferocious dragons lunging at him.

Initial R with knight fighting dragons, folio 4 verso of the Moralia in Job. 1200.

Some features still Romanesque --> nave bays with their large sexpartite rib vaults flanked by two small groin vaulted squares in each aisle. The vaulting system (except for the pointed arches) as well as the vaulted gallery above the aisles= romanesque same with the alternate support system in the nave arcade. New feature is the triforium- the band of arcades below the clerestory. Triforium occupies the space corresponding to the exterior strip of wall covered by the sloping timber roof above the galleries. The insertion of the T into the Romanesque three story nave elevation reflected a growing desire to break up all continuous wall surfaces. The new horizontal zone produced the characteristic four story early gothic interior elevation- nave arcade, vaulted gallery, triforium, and clerestory with single lancets.

Interior of Laon Cathedral. 1200.

Sexpartite vault. The vaults rise high enough to provide room for clerestory windows. The resulting three story elevation with its large arched openings allows light to reach the interior. It also makes the nave appear taller than it is. Has rib vaults --> the diagonal and transverse ribs form a structural skeleton that partially supports the still fairly massive paneling between them. Large windows and reduced interior wall surface give nave a light and airy quality unusual in the Romanesque period.

Interior of Saint- Etienne. 1200.

Builders increased the length of the nave, doubled the side aisles and added a transept, ambulatory, and radiating chapels to provide additional space for pilgrims and the clergy. Insertion of tribunes opening onto the nave over the inner aisles. These galleries housed overflow crowds on special occasions and also played an important role in buttressing the nave's continuous semicircular cut-stone barrel vault. The nave elevation which features engaged columns embellishing the piers fully reflects the church's geometric plan. Engaged columns rise from the bottom of the compound piers to the vault's springing (lowest stone of an arch) and continue across the nave as transverse arches --> nave gives the impression of being numerous identical vertical volumes of space placed one behind the other.

Interior of Saint-Sernin. 1000.

In honor of Saint Vitalis who died a martyr at the hands of the Romans. Centrally planed, two concentric octagons. Dome-covered inner octagon rise above the surrounding octagon to provide the interior with clerestory lighting. Arches looping over arches, curving and flattened spaces and wall and vault shapes all seem to change constantly with the viewer's position. Holy ratification of the emperor Justinian's right to rule. The laws of the church and the laws of the state, united in the laws of God, manifest themselves in the person of the emperor whose right to rule was God-given. Mosaics are proxies for the absent sovereigns. Justinian is present because he was the head of the Byzantine state, and his appearance in the mosaic underscores that his ability extends over his territories in Italy. Left mosaic- Byzantine empress holds the golden cup of wine for the Eucharist as her husband carries the platter of bread. Middle- the apse mosaics celebrate Justinian's right to rule on earth. Christ, dressed in the purple robe worn by Byzantine emperors, sits on the orb of the world at the time of his second coming. Right- Emperor J and Maximianus, the bishop who dedicated the church appear in the apse --> emperor's dual political and religious roles.

Interior of San Vitale. 600.

Burial place of the Holy Roman emperors until beginning of 12th century. Funding came from imperial patrons, not traveling pilgrims and local landowners. Seat of the powerful local bishop. Earliest form church was a timber roofed structure. Later nave covered with stone groin vaults. The large clerestory windows above the nave arcade provided ample light to the interior. The large groin vaults covering the nave represent one of the most daring and successful engineering experiments of the time. Alternate support system in the nave.

Interior of Speyer Cathedral. 1200.

In the Islamic world, the art of calligraphy- ornamental writing- held a place of honor. The faithful wanted to reproduce the Koran's sacred words in a script as beautiful as human hands could contrive. The practice of calligraphy was itself a holy task and required long training. The scribe had to possess exceptional spiritual refinement. Arabic script predates Islam. Koron pages were either bound into books or stored as loose sheets in boxes. Most of the early examples feature texts written in the script form called Kufic, after the city of Kufa, one of the renowned centers of Arabic calligraphy. Usual practice was to write in consonants only. But to facilitate recitation of the Koran, scribes often indicated vowels by red or yellow symbols or below the line. Carries heading an opening lines of surah 18 of the Koran. The five text lines are in black ink with red vowels below a decorative band incorporating the chapter title in gold and ending in a palm-tree finial (a crowning ornament). Parallels the early medieval manuscripts of Britain and Ireland, where text and ornamentation are similarly united.

Koron page with beginning of surah 18. 1000.

When emperors lifted the ban against religious images and again encouraged religious painting at constantinople impact was felt far and wide. Renewed enthusiasm for picturing the key New Testament figures and events was universal. Image of passionate grief over the dead Christ. Artist captured Christ's followers in attitudes, expressions, and gestures of guite human bereavement. Joseph of Arimathea and the disciple Nicodemus kneel at his feet. Marry presses her cheek against her dead son's face. Saint John clings to Christ's left hand. In the gospels, neither Mary or John were present, their inclusion here and elsewhere in Middle Byzantine art intensified the emotional of Christ's death for the viewer. Hilly landscape below a blue sky, a contrast to the abstract golden world of the mosaics favored for church walls elsewhere in the Byzantine Empire.

Lemntation, wall painting, Saint Pantaleimon. 1200.

Central role books played in the medieval church led to the development of a large number of specialized types for priests, monks and nuns, and laypersons. Primary sacred text --> the Bible "The Book" composed of the Hebrew scriptures "The Old Testament" and the Christian "New Testament". Bibles were major undertakings and few early medieval monasteries possessed a complete bible, instead scribes usually produced separate volumes containing several biblical books. Among the earliest Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts is the Book of Durrow. The Durrow Gospels already display one of the most characteristic features of Insular book illumination--> full pages devoted neither to text nor to illustration but to pure embellishment. Painters must have felt beautiful decoration lent prestige to books just as ornamental jewelry lent status to those who wore it. Carpet pages resembling textiles made up of decorative patterns. Such manuscript pages have no precedents in Greco-Roman books. In the Book of Durrow, each of the four Gospel books has a carpet page facing a page dedicated to the symbol of the evangelist who wrote that Gospel. These pages served to highlight the major divisions of the text. The symbol of Saint Matthew is a man but the only human parts the artist chose to render are a frontal head and two profile feet. A clock of yellow red and green squares resembling cloisonné filled with intricate abstract designs and outline in black envelops the rest of the "body". Blends the abstraction of northern European early medieval personal adornment with the Christian pictorial imagery of Italy and Byzantium.

Man (symbol of Saint Matthew), folio 21 verso of the Book of Durrow. 600.

Carpet comes from funerary mosque of Shaykh Safi al-Din, the founder of the Safavid line, but date to 1540 during the reign of Shah Tahmasp. Tahmasp elevated carpet weaving to a national industry and set up royal factories. The name Maqsud of Kashan appears as part of the design of the carpet- M must have been the artist who supplied the master pattern to teams of royal weavers. Design consists of a central sunburst medallion, representing the inside of a dome, surrounded by 16 pendants. Mosque lamps (appropriate motifs for the Ardabil funerary mosqeu) hang from two pendants along the long axis of the carpet. The lamps are different sizes --> may be optical device to make the two appear equal in size when viewed from the end of the carpet and the room's threshold. Covering the dark blue background are leaves and flowers attached to delicate stems that spread over the whole field. Entire composition presents the illusion of a heavenly dome with lamps reflected in a pool of water full of floating lotus blossoms. No human or animal figures appear, as befits a carpet intended for a mosque.

Maqsud of Kashan, carpet from the funerary mosque of Shaykh Safi al-Din. 1400.

Area reserved for the caliph and connected to his palace by a corridor in the qibla wall. Prime example of Islamic experimentation with highly decorative multi lobed arches. The muslim builders created rich and varied abstract patterns and further enhanced the magnificent effect of the complex arches by sheathing the walls with marbles and mosaics. Al-Hakam II wished to imitate the great mosaic-clad monuments his Umayyad predecessors had constructed in Jerusalem and Damascus and he brought the mosaicists and even the tesserae (cubical pieces) to Cordoba from Constantinople.

Maqsura of the Mezquita (Great Mosque). 800.

The Palace of the Lions is noteworthy for its elaborate stucco ceilings. The dome rests on an octagonal drum supported by squinches and pierced by 8 pairs of windows, but its structure is difficult to discern because of the intricate carved stucco decoration. Some 5,000 muqarnas tier after tier of stalactite-like prismatic forms that seem aimed at denying the structure's solidity cover the ceiling. The muqarnas catch and reflect sunlight as well as form beautiful abstract patters. The lofty vault in this hall and others in the palace symbolize the dome of Heaven. The flickering light and shadows create the effect of a starry sky as the sun's rays glide from windows to window during the day. To underscore the symbolism, the palace walls bear inscriptions with verses by the court poet Ibn Zamrak who compared the lace like muqarnas ceilings to the heavenly spheres whose orbits revolve.

Muqarnas dome, Hall of the Abencerrajes, Palace of the Lions. 1400.

Royal ancestors of Christ and both figuratively and literally support the New Testament figures above the doorways. Figures stand rigidly upright with their elbows held close against their hips. The linear folds of their garments inherited from Romanesque style along with the elongated proportions echo the vertical lines of the columns behind them.New naturalism --> kindly human faces replace the mask like features of most Romanesque figures --> initiated an era of artistic concern with personality and individuality.

Old Testament kings and queen, jamb statues. 1200

Six roaring interlaced lions on the front of the trumeau greet worshipers as they enter the church. People often associated the fiercest beasts with kings and barons. Lions were the church's ideal protectors --> in the middle ages people believed lions slept with their eyes open. On the trumeau's right face is a prophet (Jeremiah or Isaiah?) who displays a scroll bearing his prophetic vision. His position below the apparition of Christ as the apocalyptic judge is yet another instance of the pairing of Old and New Testament themes. Prophet's figure is very tall and thin, cross-legged step --> animation of the body reveals the passionate nature of the soul within. The flowing lines of the drapery folds derive from manuscript illumination. The long serpentine locks of hair and beard frame an arresting image of the dreaming mystic. The prophet seems entranced by his vision of what is to come, the light of ordinary day unseen by his wide eyes.

Old Testament prophet, right side of the trumeau of the south portal of Saint-Pierre. 1200.

972 --> Otto II marries Byzantine princess--> politica alliance between the Ottonian and Byzantine empires. Otto II son of Otto II and Theophanu enthroned and holding the scepter and cross inscribed orb that signify his universal authority, conforming to a Christian imperial iconographic tradition that began with Constantine. At the emperor's sides are the clergy and the barons (church and state), both aligned in his support. Of the three Ottos the last most dreamed of a revived Christian Roman Empire. It was his life's obsession. Boy-emperor was aware of his descent from both German and Byzantine imperial lines, but he was prouder of his Constantinopolitan then his German roots. He moved his court, with its Byzantine rituals to Rome and there set up theatrically the symbols and trappings of Roman imperialism.

Otto III enthroned,folio 24 recto of the Gospel Book of Otto III. 1000.

1. Nave 2. Aisles 3. Choir 4. Ambulatory 5. Radiating chapels. Ambulatory around the choir and radiating chapels that probably housed the church's relics which the faithful could view without having to enter the choir where the main alter stood. Groin vaults (indicated by X's) absorbed the pressure exerted by the barrel vault along the entire length of the nave and transferred the main thrust to the thick outer walls.

Plan of Saint-Etienne. 1000

Pilgrims along with wealthy landowners were important sources of funding for those monasteries that possessed the relics of venerated saints. The monks of Sainte-Foy used pilgrim's donations to pay for this cameo and jewel encrusted gold and silver reliquary to house the skull of Saint Faith. Found justification for their lavish expenditures on building and furnishings in the bible. Traveling pilgrims fostered the growth of towns as well as monasteries. Pilgrimages were a major economic as well as conceptual catalyst for the art and architecture of the Romanesque period.

Reliquary statue of Sainte-Foy. 1000.

In his eagerness to reestablish the imperial past, Charlemagne encouraged the use of Roman building techniques. For his models, he looked to Rome and Ravenna. Imported purple marble columns from Ravenna to adorn his Palatine Chapel. The plan of the Aachen chapel resembles that of San Vitale. Architect omitted San Vital's apse like extensions reaching from the central octagon into the ambulatory. At Aachen, the two main units stand in greater independence of each other --> geometric clarity.

Restored plan (left), and west facade (right) of the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne. 800.

Named bc of kings and queens flanking its three doorways. The archivolts of the right portal depict the seven female personifications of the liberal arts with the learned men of antiquity at their feet --> symbolize human knowledge. The sculptures of the Royal Portal proclaim the majesty and power of Christ. To unite the three doorways the sculptors carved episodes from the lives of the Virgin and Christ on the capitals which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to the next. Christ's ascension into heaven appears in the tympanum of the left portal. The second coming is the subject of the central tympanum. The signs of the four evangelists, the 24 elders, and 12 apostles appear around Christ or on the lintel. In the tympanum of the right portal, Christ appears in the lap of the Virgin Mary. Scenes of the Savior's childhood fill the lintel below, where Jesus appears on an alter connecting the sculptures at the entrance to the church with the symbolic sacrifice of the Eucharist within.

Royal Portal, west facade, Chartres Cathedral. 1200.

Charlemagne placed high value on books, both sacred and secular, importing and producing many. The major full page illuminations of the Coronation Gospels show the four Gospel author's at work, revealing that Carolingian manuscript painters brought a radically different stylistic sensibility to their work compared with their Hiberno-Saxon counterparts. In contrast to the Saint Matthew in the Lindisfarne Gospels, this painter used color and modulation of light and shade, not line, to create shapes, and deft, illusionistic brushwork to define the massive drapery folds wrapped around M's body. The cross-legged chair, the lectern, and the saint's toga are familiar roman accessories. Closely follows the format and style of Greco-Roman author portraits --> landscape background has many parallels in Roman painting and the farm consists of the kind of leaves found in Roman temple capitals and friezes.

Saint Matthew, folio 15 recto of the Coronation Gospels. 800.

Replaced the classical calm and solidity of the Coronations Gospels evangelist with an energy approaching frenzy. M (the winged man in the upper right corner identifies him) writes franticly. His hair stands on end, his eye open wide, the folds of his drapery writhe and vibrate, and the landscape behind him rears up alive. The page's leaf border is also in motion. M' s face, hand, inkhorn, pen and book are the focus of the composition. This presentation contrasts strongly with the settled pose of the Saint M of the Coronation Gospels with its even stress so that no part of the composition jumps out at viewers to seize their attention. Merged classical illusionism with the northern linear tradition.

Saint Matthew, folio 18 verso of the Ebbo Gospels. 800.

Cistercians split from the Cluniac order --> changed color habit from cluniac black to unbleached white, emphasized manual labor and their systematic farming techniques stimulated the agricultural transformation of Europe. Rejected figural sculpture as a distraction from their devotions. But at Moissac the most extensive sculptural ensembles adorned those parts of the church open to the laity, especially the facade. A vision of the second coming of Christ on judgment day greets worshipers entering Saint-Pierre at Moissac. The sculptural program reflects the belief that Christ is the door to salvation. Enthroned Christ is at the center, reflecting a compositional rule followed since Early Christian times. Flanking him are the signs of the four evangelists and attendant angels holding scrolls to record human deeds for judgment. The figures of crowned musicians are the 24 elders who accompany Christ as the kings of this world and make music in his praise. Each turns to face the enthroned judge, much as would the courtiers of a Romanesque monarch in attendance on their lord. Two courses of wavy lines symbolizing the clouds of Heaven divide the elders into three tiers.

South portal of Saint-Pierre. 1200.

Example of early Islamic metal work. Cast brass ewer in the form of a bird signed by Sulayman. Some 15 inches tall. Nothing less than a freestanding statuette, although the holes between the eyes and beak function as a spout and betray its utilitarian purpose. The decoration on the body bears traces of silver and copper inlay. Incised lines seem to suggest natural feathers, but the rosettes on the neck, the large medallions on the breast and the inscribed collar have no basis in anatomy. Similar motifs appear in Islamic textiles, pottery, and architectural tiles --> flexibility of Islamic design and its relative independence from its carrier.

Sulayman, ewer in the form of a bird.

Revival of monumental sculpture in stone. Large scale carved biblical figures began to appear again. Tympanum --> the prominent semicircular lunette above the doorway proper. Voussoirs --> the wedge- shaped blocks that together form the archivolts of the arch framing the tympanum. Lintel --> the horizontal beam above the doorway. Trumeau --> the center post supporting the lintel in the middle of the doorway. Jambs --> the side posts of the doorway. The clergy considered the church doorway the beginning of the path to salvation through Christ --> reliefs above and beside the entrance portals.

The Romanesque church portal

Same stylistic traits as those in the Justinian mosaic, but the artist represented the women within a definite architecture perhaps the atrium of San Vitale. Empress stands in state beneath an imperial canopy, waiting to follow the emperor's procession. An attendant beckons her to pass through the curtained doorway. In ceremonial protocol her rank was not equal to her consort's --> she is outside the sanctuary and only about to enter.But the very presence of T at San Vitale is significant --> she had enormous influence in the Byzantine state. The artist underscored T's elevated rank by decorating the border of her garment with a representation of the three magi, suggesting the empress belongs in the company of the three monarchs bearing gifts who approached the newborn Jesus.

Theodora, and attendants, mosaic on the south wall of the apse, San Vitale. 600.

More than 70 feet long, contained the remains of two women. Size of vessel and the lavishly carved wooden ornamentation of the sleek ship attest to the importance of those laid to rest there.

Viking ship burial. 800.

Encaustic on wood, continuing a tradition of panel painting in Egypt that, like so much else in the Byzantine worlds dates to the Roman Empire. The two guardian saints intercede with the Virgin on the viewer's behalf. Behind them, two angels gaze upward to a shaft of light where the hand of God appears. The foreground figures are strictly frontal and have a solemn demeanor. Background details are few and suppressed.Traces of the Greco-Roman illusionism noted in the Anicia Juliana portrait remain in the Virgin's rather personalized features, in her sideways glance, and in the posing of the angel's heads. But the painter rendered the saint's bodies in the new Byzantine manner. Preservation of this is ironic, for opposition to icon worship was especially prominent in the Monophysite provinces of Syria and Egypt.

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George

The avoidance of anything that might be construed as an idol was still the rule. The veneration of relics brought with it a demand for small scale images of the holy family and saints to be placed on the chapel altars of the churches along the pilgrimage roads. Reliquaries began to be produced in great numbers. Western European freestanding version of the Byzantine Theotokos theme popular in icons and mosaics. Christ holds a bible in his left hand and raises his right arm in blessing (both broken off). He is the embodiment of the divine wisdom contained in the holy scriptures. His mother seated on a wooden chair is in turn the throne of wisdom bc her lap is the Christ child's throne. As in Byzantine art, both mother and child sit rigidly upright and are strictly frontal emotionless figures. But the intimate scale, gesture of benediction, the once-bright coloring of the garments, and the soft modeling of the Virgin's face make the group seem much less remote than its Byzantine counterparts.

Virgin and Child. 1200.

Rejection of the iconoclastic viewpoint --> painted icon's return to prominence. Reveals the stylized abstraction resulting from centuries of working and reworking the conventional image. Displays all characteristic traits of the Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child: the Virgin's long straight nose and small mouth; the golden rays in the infant's drapery; the decorative sweep of the unbroken contour that encloses the two figures; and the flat silhouette against the golden ground. Tender and personalized. Here, Mary is the virgin of compassion who presses her cheek against her son's in an intimate portrayal of mother and child. A deep pathos infuses the image as Mary contemplates the future sacrifice of her son

Virgin of Compassion icon (Vladimir Virgin)

The huge central rose window, the deep porches in front of the doorways, and the open structure of the towers distinguish this from Romanesque churches and rib vault resting on pointed arches.

West facade of Laon Cathedral. 1200.

Rooted in tradition of Carolingian and Ottonian west works, but reveals a new unified organizational scheme. Four large buttresses divide the facade into three bays corresponding to the nave and aisles. Above the buttresses, the towers also display a triple division and a progressively greater piercing of their walls from lower to upper stages. The tripartite division extends throughout the facade, both vertically and horizontally, organizing it into a close-knit composition consistent with the careful planning of the entire structure

West facade of Saint Etienne. 1000.

Towers incorporated in the fabric of the west end of the building thereby creating a unified monumental facade greeting those who entered the church --> west work. Stairs in each tower provided access to the upper stories of the west work. On the second floor was a two story chapel with an aisle and a gallery on three sides. Chapel opened onto the nave, and from it the visiting emperor and his entourage could watch and participate in the service below. Not all Carolingian west works served as seats reserved for the emperor. They also functioned as churched within churches, housing a second alter for special celebrations on major feast days.

Westwork of the abbey church. 800.

By the 11th century, much of Scandinavia had become Christian, but viking artistic traditions persisted. Gracefully elongated animal forms intertwine with flexible plant stalks and tendrils in spiraling rhythm. Effect of natural growth.

Wooden portal of the stave church. 1000.