Art Appreciation Topic III: Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
1. Art Appreciation
Topic III:
Late Antiquity
and the
Middle Ages
300-1450
2. In the West, early Christian art appeared before the
religion was officially established in 313. Some of the earliest
examples can be found in the Catacombs—the subterranean vaults
just outside Rome. Persecution by the Roman authorities, which
reached a peak during the reign of Diocletian (284-305), ensured
that art works were either portable or hidden away from public
view.
The situation improved in 313, when Emperor
Constantine granted Christians full religious freedom. In early
Christian art, images of the Crucifixion were considered
abhorrent, since it was a degrading form of execution reserved for
slaves and criminals. Instead, early Christian artists borrowed ideas
from classical depictions of Roman gods. A favorite theme was the
Good Shepherd, which was frequently depicted in paintings,
mosaics and carvings.
53. In 330, Emperor Constantine moved his capital to
Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople. Here, Christian
artists were exposed to very different influences. The city
was Greek, but affected by cultures of the Near East.
Byzantine artists created their first religious
masterpieces in mosaic. In 395, following the death of
Theodosius the Great, the empire was divided and the
artistic traditions of its two halves began to diverge. After
the fall of Rome in 476, the city of Ravenna played a key
role, as the Emperor Justinian made it his capital in the
West.
Constant warfare in the West led to an era of
diminished artistic production, while in Byzantium
religious icons and imperial images were venerated.
75. The veneration of holy images led to problems in the
8th century, when the practice was deemed idolatrous.
During the Iconoclastic crisis (c.725-83), thousands of
religious works were destroyed.
In later Byzantine art, wall paintings and icons
played a growing role. Religious icons were venerated, and
their appearance was strictly controlled. Their forms were
symbolic and stylized, and any artistic individuality was
frowned upon.
Religious icons transmitted Byzantine influences far
beyond the empire’s borders, with the greatest icons being
produced in Russia.
107. The Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture and
art dominated western Europe after 1000.
Romanesque architecture revived certain features of
ancient Roman art, especially its sheer ambition, expressing a new
confidence following a period when Western Christendom had
been threatened with destruction. Large-scale sculpture was
revived and painting flourished.
Whereas Romanesque architecture is massive and often
overpoweringly austere, Gothic architecture is, characteristically,
soaring and graceful. Painting and sculpture of the Gothic period
is typically refined, with figures often having elongated proportions
and a sense of flowing elegance. Gothic art was used primarily in
the service of the Christian Church, although it also had secular
expressions, particularly when it developed into the courtly style
known as International Gothic.
161. Italian art of the late 13th and 14th centuries differs
fundamentally from that produced elsewhere in Europe at the time.
Various currents flowed through Italian art in the early 14th century,
including influences from the Gothic style and from Byzantine culture.
In the later 14th century, however, the austere otherworldliness
of Byzantine art began to be softened by a new naturalism and
humanity, looking forward to the Renaissance.
Religion was a major inspiration to artists at this time:
altarpieces and church frescoes were the dominant forms in painting,
and sculptural types included pulpits and statues of saints. Italian
painters of the day established standard techniques for tempera and
fresco that endured for centuries. In sculpture, the materials for the
most prestigious works were marble and bronze, sometimes gilded
with a thin layer of gold.
