The Medieval Period 450 – 1450 A.D.. Also Known As: o “The Middle Ages” o “The Dark Ages”...
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The Medieval Period 450 – 1450 A.D.
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Transcript of The Medieval Period 450 – 1450 A.D.. Also Known As: o “The Middle Ages” o “The Dark Ages”...
The Medieval Period450 – 1450 A.D.
Also Known As:o“The
Middle Ages”
o“The Dark Ages”
o This was because of a lack of central government, poverty and ignorance
Characteristicso Society was
made up of 3 orders: clergy, nobility & serfs
o Once in an order, a person was pretty much locked into it
o This included their ancestors to follow them
The Clergyo Subject to their
own lawso Observed their
own levels of social class
o Administered “divine justice”
o Were looked to for blessings
o Were the guardians of society
The Nobilityo Upper nobility
were the kings followed by large land owners with titles like “Duke” or “Count”
o Lower nobility were smaller land owners – the “Knight” class
The Serfso These people
worked land owned by others
o They paid a share to the land owner and kept the rest
o Serfs were free but still beholden to the land owners they served
What This Means:o Power &
Money were held by the few
o The majority of people were uneducated and concerned with survival
o The church held great power over all
The Rise of the Christian Church
o This setting promoted the rise of a religion that promised happiness in the afterlife: Christianity
o Serfs saw their lives as a penance to be paid in order to gain eternal salvation
More About the Rise:o This attitude
helped the nobility to maintain control
o It also gave great power to the church as it was viewed as the over riding power in Europe during this time
Impact on the Arts:o The majority
of art was produced and controlled by the church and wealthy
o Enjoyment of the arts was limited to the few with the exception of social fads
Characteristics of Medieval Fine Art
o The arts appeal to the emotions and stress the importance of religion in all aspects of life
o The purpose is to instruct the populace in the Christian faith
Types of Medieval Fine Arto Illuminated
Manuscriptso Celtic Arto Byzantine,
Romanesque & Gothic Architecture
o Dance Macabreo Gregorian
Chanto Morality Playso The Tarantellao Minstrels
Illuminated Manuscripto This is artwork
that is used to decorate text
o Drawings are 2-dimentional and use primary colors mostly
o Ornamentation is used freely
o No other form captures the Medieval spirit as well
Examples:
The Book of Kellso The most
famous collection of illuminated manuscript
o An Irish manuscript that contained the four gospels
o The detail in the knot designs shows great care
Examples:
Byzantine Architectureo Heavy Roman
influence: vaults, arches, domes, columns
o Mixture of brick, stone & mortar
o Monumental in size
o Decorated with gold & mosaics
o Middle Eastern
Mosaicso Works created
by gluing little, colorful pieces of stone together
o Used by the Byzantines as a major source of artistic expression
o Most works are religious
Romanesque Architectureo The style of
the traditional Medieval castle
o Geometric shapes
o Round archeso Decorated with
Relief Sculptures to teach the Christian faith
o Shelter & protection
Relief Sculpture
Gothic Architectureo “Gothic” was
a term used for designs against the classical form
o It was against the Greek & Roman styles
o Tried to create a new Christian style of design
More Gothic:o Since the design
was religious in nature, the most impressive examples are Cathedrals
o The most famous of which is the Notre Dame in the center of Paris, France
Innovations in Design
Innovations in Design
Dance Macabreo Art that depicts
skeletons dancing
o Influenced by the Black Death
o Shows societies infatuation with death
o Still used in modern art (Halloween)
Examples
Gregorian Chanto When Pope
Gregory I decided to reorganize the church, he wanted uniform service music
o This required that a form of notation be created so that everyone would be playing the same songs
Gregorian Chanto This was the
first music ever written in a universal style
o Made up of a single melody and nothing else
o Words are biblical text
o Was the official music of the church for 1000 years
Polyphonyo Developed
after Gregorian Chant
o Combines two chant melodies to produce harmony
o Comes from Greek “poly” (many) & “phones” (voice)
Secular Musico Unlike chant &
polyphony that was for the church (sacred)
o Topics of words were “wine, women & song”
o Not writteno Learned by roteo Sung with lute
accompaniment
Morality Playso Drama of the
Medieval Periodo Taught moral
lessons from the church
o 1st dealt with the lives of saints & was performed in church
o Classic tales of good vs. evil
“Everyman”o Best example of
a morality playo Protagonist is a
symbol for all human kind
o It tells the story of his life & acts
o Characters are “love”, “greed”, “death”, etc
o Only “good deeds” is with him at the end
Tarantellao Popular dance
of the late Medieval
o Native dance of south Italy
o 1st move is a jump as if bitten by a spider
o Dancers play tambourines & castanets while dancing
o Named for the tarantula spider
Dance Maniao Known as “St.
Vitus’s Danceo Frantic dance
to exhaustion that sometimes ended in death
o Believed to combat the plague
o A combination of dance marathons & mosh pits
Thus Endth:
