This document provides an overview of medieval art in Europe between 450-1400 CE. It discusses the major types of art that survived from this period, including sculpture, painting, stained glass, tapestry and other decorative arts. Many artworks were commissioned by the Catholic Church and other religious institutions for churches and monasteries. The document outlines some of the most important artistic periods and regions in medieval Europe, including Byzantine art, Carolingian art, Ottonian art, Romanesque art and Gothic art. It provides examples of key medieval artists from these periods and locations.

1. Introduction
Although the history of Medieval art covers almost ten centuries
between the Sack of Rome (c.450 CE) and the Early Italian Renaissance
(1400), Western Medieval art is limited to Byzantine culture (Eastern
Roman Empire), Hiberno-Saxon Insular art, artworks from the royal
courts of Charlemagne and his Ottonian successors, and finally - from
roughly 1000 onwards - the European-wide movements of Christian art,
known as Romanesque and Gothic. It was only during the final 400
years that the individual names of painters, sculptors and other
decorative artists began to be recorded with any regularity. Thus most
of our artists date from this period.
Types of Medieval Art
Apart from architectural works, the largest category of medieval
artworks to have survived is sculpture, notably the statues and reliefs
created for the great Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals such as
Chartres Cathedral (1194-1250), Notre-Dame Cathedral (1163-1345),
Cologne Cathedral (1248-1880), Reims (1211-75), and others. Medieval
painting, too, was popular - notably miniature portrait painting on
vellum - as was ornamental metalwork, stained glass art (Chartres
Cathedral) mosaic art (the amazing Chora Church in Constantinople),

2. tapestry (Cloth of Saint Gereon, 1020), and embroidery (Bayeux
Tapestry, 1080).
Materials Used in Medieval Art
Although artist-monks received little money or even formal
acknowledgement of their efforts, the Church (as well as secular
patrons) had no compunction in lavishing money on the works of art
themselves. Types of valuable materials in regular use included: gold
dust, foil or leaf; silver and other precious metals (see also, the art of
goldsmithing); expensive natural colour pigments such as ultramarine,
made from the rare Afghanistan ore lapis lazuli; rare types of ivory; calf-
skin for vellum - one bible manuscript required the skins of up to 500
animals; and many other expensive materials.
History of Medieval Art
European art during the Middle Ages developed out of the artistic
heritage of classical antiquity, the Roman Empire, as well as Christian
iconography. To this mixture, must be added the influence of the
Middle East in the forms and ideals of Byzantine culture. Interestingly,
at the start of the Medieval period, nearly all works of art were
commissioned by religious authorities (for churches/monasteries) or

3. secular leaders (for public edification), and most were actually created
by monks. By the end of the period, the arts industry had broadened
considerably from its original monastic base: not only were most artists
laymen, but a number of artworks were commissioned by wealthy
bourgeois patrons for personal enjoyment.
Even so, for 600 years (c.400-1000 CE) Europe was a cultural backwater.
Only one institution survived: the Christian Church - centred in Rome,
and Constantinople. Not surprisingly, therefore, the church became the
main sponsor of architecture, and other types of art, during the
medieval era.
Early Christian Artists (650-900 CE)
One of the finest examples of early Christian painting were the Irish and
Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts dating from the mid-sixth century
CE. These beautifully illustrated books (eg. Book of Kells, Book of
Durrow), combining Celtic art with Anglo-Saxon and Celtic metalwork
art, were produced by scribes and artist-monks in the scriptoriums of
abbeys and monasteries across Ireland and Northern England. They
were succeeded by Carolingan, Ottonian and Byzantine illuminated
texts, as well as a host of Persian Islamic illuminations.
Medieval Artists on the Continent

4. The first signs of a Continental cultural renaissance appeared about 775
at the royal court of the Christian King Charlemagne. This period -
known as Carolingian Art - was influenced by Late Antiquity and
Byzantine traditions. Charlemagne's artists and calligraphers - including
some of the Continent's best miniaturists - produced a number of
outstanding illuminated texts, like the Godscalc Evangelistary, the
Lorsch Gospels and the Gospels of St Medard of Soissons. For more, see:
German Medieval Art (c.800-1250), Medieval Christian Art and
Medieval Sculpture.
Romanesque Designers (c.950-1140)
By the mid-10th century, the Rome-based Christian Church had begun
to establish a network of Bishops and lesser clergy in most areas of
Western Europe. (See also: Ottonian Art.) As its wealth increased, the
church turned to monumental architecture, using a new design
language known as Romanesque art, to promote its divine message.
Romanesque designers and architects erected hundreds of new
churches and monasteries across the Continent. Famous examples
included: the Cathedral of Pisa with its famous leaning bell tower, the
Florence Baptistery, Laon Cathedral, Augsburg and Worms Cathedrals,
the abbeys of Cluny, Aux Dames (Caen) and Les Hommes (Mont Saint-
Michel). In England, 26 out of 27 ancient Cathedrals were started
during the Romanesque period. For more, see Architecture History. See
also: Romanesque Sculpture. For more about mural painting during the

5. 11th and 12th centuries, see: Romanesque Painting. For regional
differences of style, see: Romanesque Painting in Italy; also France; and
Spain. For medieval book painting and gospel illuminations, see:
Romanesque Illuminated Manuscripts.
Gothic Architects (c.1140-1300)
Romanesque architecture was impressive but boring. Also, the interiors
of most churches were dimly lit because of their small windows. All this
was changed by the new Gothic architecture, whose soaring arches,
vaulted ceilings, and massive stained glass windows inspired and
informed the Church's illiterate congregations. Gothic art first appeared
(c.1140) in the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, near Paris, before being
applied most famously to the cathedrals of Northern France, which
were richly decorated with Gothic sculpture. Among the most famous
examples of the French Gothic style are Notre Dame Cathedral Paris
(1163-1345), Chartres Cathedral (1194-1250), as well as the cathedrals
of Strasbourg (1015-1439), Laon (1160-1235), Tours (1170-1547),
Bourges (1195-1230), Reims (1211-1275) and Amiens (1220-1270).
Outside France, famous medieval examples include Cologne Cathedral
(1248-1880); Florence Cathedral, begun in the Gothic style in 1296
under Arnolfo di Cambio, and completed in the Renaissance style in
1436, under Brunelleschi; the 14th century St Stephen's Cathedral,
Vienna; the massive Milan Cathedral begun in 1386; and Seville
Cathedral (1401-1528), the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. In
England, examples of Gothic design include Westminster Abbey, York
Minster and the cathedrals of Salisbury, Canterbury and Lincoln. See

6. also: English Gothic Sculpture and German Gothic Sculpture. For more
about architectural design in Germany, during this period, please see:
German Gothic Art (c.1200-1450).
Byzantine Artists (c.500-1400)
By the time Rome was sacked in 450 CE, thousands of Roman and
Greek painters, craftsmen and other artists had moved to
Constantinople (Byzantium) where they proceeded to create a new set
of Eastern Christian images and icons - based on a combination of
Greek, Persian and Egyptian culture - known as Byzantine Art.
Almost exclusively devoted to religious expression, its architecture and
painting (little sculpture was produced by Byzantine artists) developed
within a rigid tradition. This led to a sophistication of style rarely
equalled in Western art. Major types of medieval Byzantine art included
public mosaics, private icons made with encaustic wax paint on
portable wooden panels, illuminated manuscripts such as the famous
Rabula Gospel (586), fresco painting, as well as decorative art including
ivory diptychs and exquisite metalwork. Unlike medieval religious art in
Western Europe, Byzantine artworks hardly ever had a didactic or
narrative function: they remained essentially impersonal, ceremonial
and symbolic.

7. Byzantine architects built numerous outstanding churches and religious
buildings, including: the Hagia Irene (c.360) and the Hagia Sophia (532-
37), both in Constantinople (now Istanbul); and the Church of St. Sophia
in Sofia in Bulgaria (527-65) - all richly decorated with gilding, mosaic
art, murals and relief sculpture. In time, medieval Byzantine architects
became more influenced by eastern traditions of design and decoration,
and exerted a deep influence on early Islamic art and architecture, as
exemplified by the Umayyad Great Mosque of Damascus.
Byzantine art spread to Ravenna as well as Kiev, Novgorod, Tver, Pskov
and Moscow, where it became a major type of Russian medieval
painting, and stimulated the emergence of numerous centres of artistic
excellence such as the Novgorod school of icon painting, and later the
Moscow school of painting.
List of Medieval Artists
Among the identified masters of painting, sculpture, architecture and
other visual arts of the Late Middle Ages, were the following:
Romanesque Artists
Medieval visual art came about as part of the massive building program
staged by the Christian Church authorities. Thus most Romanesque

8. visual artists were sculptors and other craftsmen employed in building
the early cathedrals of Europe.
Gislebertus (active early 12th century)
French sculptor, renowned for his works at the Cathedral of Saint
Lazare.
Godefroid de Claire (c.1100-73)
Member of the school of Mosan art, may have done the Stavelot
Triptych.
Nicholas of Verdun (c.1156–1232)
Mosan goldsmith responsible for the Shrine of the Three Kings at
Cologne.
Master of Cabestany (active late 12th century)
Anonymous artist who made the Romanesque-style tympanum, at
Cabestany.
Master Mateo (active 2nd half 12th century)
Spanish sculptor renowned for his Portico de la Gloria.
Benedetto Antelami (active 1178-1196)
One of the finest Italian sculptors before the Gothic artist Nicola
Pisano
Russian Medieval Icon Painters

9. Eastern Orthodox Christian art depended heavily on Byzantine forms,
such as religious icons, typically executed in tempera on wood panels.
Other media included fresco murals and mosaics.
Theophanes the Greek (c.1340-1410)
Byzantine artist, founder of Novgorod and Muscovite schools of icon
painting.
Andrei Rublev (c.1360-1430)
Russia's most famous iconographer, famous for Holy Trinity icon
painting.
Dionysius (Dionisius the Wise, Dionisii or Dionisy) (c.1440-1502)
Icon painter noted for his icons for the Iosifo-Volokolamsky monastery.