Class 2 Gothic and Early Renaissance Art in Europe WESTERN AND EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE 500 BCE 500 CE Eastern empire also known as Byzantium Medieval Period 500 1400 CE Gothic Period c 1200 1400 CE The period after the fall of the Roman empire and before the Renaissance is called the Medieval period or the Middle Ages Prior to the 20 th century it was often called the Dark Ages because it was seen as a dark period between the glories of ancient Greece and Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance around 1400 The Gothic is a style that comes at the very end of the Medieval period but before the Renaissance Gothic is a term of insult applied by Renaissance scholars to the style of art that preceded their own The Goths Ostrogoths Visigoths etc were some of the barbarian groups that invaded Rome and to people of the Renaissance the Gothic style looked barbaric Now Gothic is used as a neutral term The Gothic was an architectural style that originated in the powerful monasteries around Paris and then spread to the rest of Europe It is now applied to arts besides architecture Advances in building technology allowed for larger windows higher vaults ceilings and thinner walls Contact with Islamic cultures primarily through the Crusades encouraged the adoption of the pointed arch which channels weight down to the ground more effectively During the Medieval period in general and the Gothic period in particular people were overwhelmingly concerned with sin and damnation or salvation and often took lengthy and expensive pilgrimages on foot to venerate churches containing the relic of an important saint or martyr These relics were believed to have wonder working powers There are two types of relics Map of Major Pilgrimage Routes in Europe leading to Santiago de Compostela housing the relic of St James one of Jesus twelve apostles Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres c 12001250 France Gothic period Parts of a Christian Church Nave the large central portion of the Church where the congregation would gather Flanked by aisles for the circulation of the congregation during Mass Apse rounded end with the altar This is where the Eucharist would be held when the wine and bread is transformed into the blood and flesh of Christ at Mass Transept wider section near the apse to accommodate the people moving forward to receive the Eucharist Cathedral of Notre Dame of Chartres c 1200 1250 France Gothic style key term relic houses the tunic supposedly worn by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Jesus dimensions 430 ft long 105 ft wide 121 ft high shorter tower 349 ft larger tower 377 ft 176 stained glass windows ROUNDED ARCH earlier styles VS POINTED ARCH Gothic Nave Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres c 1200 1250 France Gothic Nave is 121 ft high Ribbed Groin Vault Flying Buttress Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres c 12001250 France Gothic flying buttresses create a very complex surface Rose Window with Mary Enthroned Cathedral of NotreDame in Chartres c 1200 1250 France Gothic The Rose Window is 42 feet in diameter West Portal Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres c 1200 1250 France Gothic Prophets and Kings and Queens of Judea West Portal Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres c 1200 1250 France Gothic There are 4 500 almost freestanding figural sculptures at Chartres Prophets and Kings and Queens of Judea West Fa ade Chartres Cathedral France 12th 13th c Gothic period key term stylized simplified and abstracted MAP OF ITALY DURING RENAISSANCE Renaissance rebirth i e rebirth of ancient GrecoRoman culture but also birth of the modern world starts around 1300 Begins in Italy where so much of ancient Greco Roman past also called the Classical past had survived Artists and intellectuals begin to question certain Medieval Christian beliefs and begin to investigate things themselves Humanism Renaissance figures see people as essentially good and rational capable of making their own decisions Cathedral of Notre Dame of Chartres 12001250 France Gothic period Palazzo della Signoria e 14th Florence late Medieval early Renaissance Loggia dei Lanzi Florence Italy l 14th early Renaissance Pont du Gard 1st c CE France Ancient Rome key term aqueduct Western and Eastern Roman Empire Eastern empire also known as Byzantium Anonymous Christ in Majesty 12th c Byzantine Key term Stylized simplified enough of the key features are depicted to recognize it but it does not look like anything found in nature generally very flattened with no illusion of depth Anonymous Christ in Majesty 12 c Byzantine Cimabue Virgin and Child Enthroned late 13th c Florence early Renaissance key terms hieratic scale tempera please see video about tempera on MyArtsLab Cimabue Virgin and Child Enthroned late 13th c 12 tall Giotto Virgin and Child Enthroned early 14th c about 11 tall both from Florence early Renaissance tempera on wooden panel Giotto Scrovegni or Arena Chapel 1305 e Renaissance key terms usury fresco Giotto Scrovegni or Arena Chapel 1305 Enrico Scrovegni Offering Chapel to Mary e Renaissance Giotto Lamentation 1305 fresco 6 5 x 6 Scrovegni Arena Chapel e Renaissance fresco layer of rough plaster preparatory charcoal sketch final smooth coat of plaster to which waterbased pigments are applied while the plaster is still wet Problems with fresco had to finish your painting before the plaster dried so painted in piecemeal fashion section by section Rather restrictive couldn t change your mind once you started