Medieval Art Study Guide

Canterbury cathedral, shrine to St. Thomas Becket, Becket reliquaries depict his murder at the altar, building chronology: NW tower, early 19th c. / SW tower, early 15th c. / Nave, ca. 1378- ca. 1405 Crossing tower, c. 1433-1503 / Western transepts, 15th c. /Liturgical choir, remodeled 1174/1175-1177 / Eastern transepts, remodeled 1177-1179 / Trinity Chapel 1179-1184 / Corona chapel (ca. 1180), first Gothic cathedral in England, has two transepts, inside has simple columns, built on Romanesque foundation and then extended, six part rib vaults, stained glass in clerestory has the genealogy of Christ, glass in Trinity chapel has scenes of Becket miracles

Notre Dame in Paris, begun in 1163, five aisled, transept doesn’t stick out, interior is 108’ floor to ceiling, has flying buttresses, simple columns, six part vaults, has a gallery, three bays were restored and have a four part elevation, extra elevation is round windows called occuli (in the picture below, left), façade has gallery of OT kings (possibly first cathedral to do so), right tympanum has virgin and child enthroned surrounded by a scribe, a bishop, angels, and a king, underneath tympanum on the lentel are scenes from the life of Mary, carved very early in the building process and didn’t fit by the time it was put in, left doorway tympanum depicts different stages of the Assumption, at the top Mary being crowned next to Christ, middle Mary being laid to rest or being lifted into heaven, at the very bottom are OT people (maybe prophets?) on the left and kings on the right, both are holding scrolls which signify OT Chartres Cathedral (France 12th and 13th centuries), claimed to have part of the veil of Mary, west façade is a mix of 12th and 13th , stained glass is 12th century, rebuilt cathedral after a fire in 1194, rose

window 13th century, most of the cathedral is 13th century, flying buttresses are over built, three aisled, double ambulatory, most of building constructed around 1200-1225, basic three story elevation: ground level, triforium, clerestory, all vaulting is four part, south entry center door has last judgment tympanum, north side center door has stages of the Assumption/death of Mary: bottom left is the death, bottom right is the angels at the tomb, tympanum is Mary in heaven with Christ, both doors are about interface between heaven and earth, basic iconography at both entrances, column statues begin to interact, look more real, not necessarily OT Northern Rose Window is probably 30 ft. across, has vertical windows underneath, complicated ensemble of glass, themes: royalty, celebration of Mary. Lots of OT figures, fleur-de-lis and heraldry imagery (one of the earliest examples of heraldry in art), representations of good kings and bad kings, possibly to warn the rulers of France and give them examples (see handout for break down of each window)

Bourges Cathedral, started around 1195, five aisled plan, streamlined, double ambulatory with chapels,

no real transept, five aisles are at different heights, outermost shortest, middle aisles are medium, and the central is the tallest, ground level, triforium, clerestory, triforium, clerestory, referred to as a five story elevation, flying buttresses are lighter than at Chartres Ingeborg Psalter (France c. 1200), very historical book,, luxury book made especially for a lay person, Jesse Tree, Pentecost, Last Judgment pages style: emphasis on light, modeling, realism of figures, linear attention to modeling of the body, very strong colors, blue emphasizes the luxury, very liberal use of gold, possible influenced by cathedrals (Jesse tree in Saint-Denis), classically inspired drapery Notebook of Villard de Honnecourt (France c. 1230s), collection of drawings (very unusual for Middle Ages), contains figures as well as architecture , it is believed he visited the places he drew, figures may be something he saw and sketched (like a statue), he possibly was an artist of some sort or a member of the clergy

Psalter of Louis IX (Paris 1260s) destruction of Jericho, figures similar to drawings in Villard’s notebook (he did NOT make the Psalter), it’s possible every artist had a sketchbook, border of page contains fighting animals (like old British Isles art), tails turn into leaf forms, blending of animal and plant forms Saint-Chapelle was consecrated in 1248, built by Louis IX (later St. Louis), he bought various relics from the passion and then built chapel, relics cost more than the building, upper chapel (left) and lower chapel (upper right), lower has lots of masonry, upper is characterized by stained glass, no buttresses, represents end of development in Gothic period

Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, foundation laid in 1228, consecrated in 1253, Gothic elements: rib vaults, stained glass, wall articulation. Has two “churches,” upper (top center) and lower (top left), bulk of wall space is fresco painting, 13th and 14th centuries, famous artists came to paint frescoes, Cimabue did Virgin and Child (lower right) 1280s, Byzantine influence, Life of St. Francis frescoes (left) painted in 1290s, setting is walled-off sanctuary, bodies look more real, artist doing things in a new way

Pisa baptistery renovated in 13th century, top sections have Gothic quality

Nicola Pisano did the pulpit for the Pisa Baptistery (c. 1260), hexagonal with picture panels, very classical hair, drapery, ad veiling. Panel 1 (top middle): Nativity scene with Mary reclining and Christ in crib, Annunciation in top left corner, shephards top right corner, Christ’s first bath bottom left with Joseph and midwives. Panel 2 (top right): adoration of the Magi, faces and hair very classical. Panel 3: (left) presentation in the Temple, Simeon and Anna Giovanni Pisano did pulpit in Pistoia, Italy c. 1300,

Annunciation at the Nativity (bottom left), general composition parallels to Nicola, basic idea very similar, yet Giovanni’s scales are different, more consistent, more natural-looking, individualized faces, Massacre of Innocents (bottom right), Herod ordering massacre, soldiers, mothers,

babies fill up the space, multiple ground lines Siena Palzzo Pubblico, frescoes in council chambers painted c. 1340, 1. The Allegory of Good Government (uppermost left) 2. The Effects of Good Government on Town and Country (top center) 3. The Allegory of Bad Government & its Effects on Town and Country (top right), allegory has personification of Siena (man, unusual for Middle Ages) surrounded by virtues identifiable by items (wisdom has a book, justice has scales), second fresco is happy, people dancing, possible wedding, third has tyranny with justice tied up The Moralia in Job, Cistercian manuscript from the early 12th century, two men slaying dragon (1 is a knight, noticeable by dress) slaying dragon holds religious meaning that monks would recognize Romanesque and Gothic corbels are images of people baring rear ends and smiling at viewer

Luttrell Psalter (England c. 1330), first page has Latin excerpt, “Lord Geoffrey Luttrell had me made,” page on right has boat in margin because passage talks about the sea and the Lord strengthening our arms and hands

Various other

margin decorations suggest the theme of the world upside down

Excrement and rear ends are also shown a lot in margins, possible themes: feeding (excrement into mouths), apes (almost like debased humans), world upside down (excrement treated like something important), and music (horns in rear ends), man defecating into basket and bringing to a woman could represent lust and the flesh, also production, man is producing something the woman wants (world upside down). Kissing the rear end was thought to be done in demonic worship, also could have just been funny. Bosch uses rear ends a lot in the hell scene of the Garden of Earthly delights (1510), possibly influenced by medieval margins