AP Art History Chapter 11 Notes PDF

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Gardner's Art through the Ages Chapter 11 Lecture, Patricia Morchel...

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Chapter Intro - The greatest early medieval Irish book is the Book of Kells, which one commentator described in the Annals of Ulster for 1003 as “the chief relic of the western world.” - Chi-rho-iota (XPI) Page - Folio 34 Recto of the Book of Kells - Tempera on Vellum - The illuminator transformed the holy words into extraordinarily intricate, abstract designs recalling metalwork - In the early Middle Ages, the monasteries of northern Europe were both the repositories of knowledge in the midst of an almost wholly illiterate population and the greatest centers of art production Art of the Warrior Lords - Early medieval art in western Europe was the result of a unique tripartite fusion of the classical heritage of Rome’s northwestern provinces, the cultures of the non-Roman peoples north of the Alps, and Christianity - Art historians do not know the full range of art and architecture these non-Roman cultures produced. What has survived is probably not fully representative and consists almost exclusively of small portable “status symbols” Merovingian Fibulae - Fibula - A crowning ornament - a decorative pin the Romans wore (and Etruscans before them) - Pair of Merovingian Looped Fibulae - Silver Gilt Worked in Filigree, with Inlays of Garnets and Other Stones - Jeweled fibulae were status symbols among early medieval warlords - This pair, probably owned by a Merovingian woman, features eagle heads and fish integrated into a highly decorative design Sutton Hoo Ship Burial - The Beowulf saga also recounts the funeral of the warrior lord Scyld, whom his comrades laid to rest in a ship overflowing with arms and armor and costly adornments set adrift in the North Sea - Purse Cover - from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial in Suffolk, England - Gold, Glass, and Cloisonné garnets - This purse cover comes from a treasure-laden royal burial ship - The combination of abstract interlace ornamentation with animal figures is the hallmark of the art of the early Middle Ages in western Europe - Cloisonne: French, “partition.” A cell made of metal wire or a narrow metal strip soldered edge-up to a metal base to hold enamel, semi precious stones, pieces of colored glass, or glass paste fired to resemble sparkling jewels

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The cloisonné technique, a favorite of the early medieval “treasure givers,” dates at least as early as the New Kingdom in Egypt Vikings - In 793, the pre-Christian traders and pirates of Scandinavia known as Vikings (named after the viks—coves or “trading places”—of the Norwegian shoreline) landed in the British Isles - The Vikings were intent not merely on a hit-and-run strategy of destruction but also on colonizing the lands they occupied by conquest - Their exceptional talent for organization and administration, as well as for war, enabled them to conquer and govern large territories in Ireland, England, and France, as well as in the Baltic regions and Russia - When Vikings settled in northern France in the early 10th century, their territory came to be called Normandy—home of the Norsemen who became Normans Oseberg Ship Burial - Much of the preserved art of the Viking sea-rovers consists of decoration of their great wooden ships - The ship, discovered beneath an earthen mound as was the earlier Sutton Hoo burial, is more than 70 feet long - Animal-head Post - from the Viking Ship Burial, Oseberg, Norway - Wood - The Vikings were master wood-carvers - This Viking ship post combines in one composition the head of a roaring beast with surface ornamentation in the form of tightly interwoven writhing animals - An animal-head post is characteristic of the masterfully carved decoration of the Oseberg ship - It combines in one composition the image of a roaring beast with protruding eyes and flaring nostrils and the complex, controlled pattern of tightly interwoven animals that writhe, gripping and snapping, in serpentine fashion - The Oseberg animal head is a powerfully expressive example of the union of two fundamental motifs of the warrior lords’ art—the animal form and the interlace pattern Stave Church, Urnes - Stave: A wedge-shaped timber; vertically placed staves embellish the architectural features of a building - The effect of natural growth is astonishing, yet the designer subjected the organic forms to a highly refined abstract sensibility - This intricate Urnes style was the culmination of three centuries of Viking inventiveness - Wooden Portal of the Stave Church at Urnes - By the 11th century, Scandinavia had become mostly Christian, but Viking artistic

traditions persisted, as in the intertwining animal-and-plant decoration of this Norwegian church portal Hiberno-Saxon Art - The early medieval art of these monasteries, however, differs dramatically from contemporaneous works produced in Italy and the Byzantine Empire - These Christian artworks are among the most distinctive ever created and testify to the fruitful fusion of native and imported artistic traditions - Hiberno-Saxon: An art style that flourished in the monasteries of the British Isles in the early Middle Ages. Also called Insular - The most distinctive products of the Hiberno-Saxon monasteries were illuminated Christian books - Scriptoria: The writing studio of a monastery - Illuminated books are the most important extant monuments of the brilliant artistic culture that flourished in Ireland and Northumbria during the seventh and eighth centuries Book of Durrow - Among the earliest Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts is the Book of Durrow, a Gospel book that may have been written and decorated in the monastic scriptorium at Iona, although it has no documented provenance - Carpet Page: In early medieval manuscripts, a decorative page resembling a textile - The Book of Durrow also contains pages where the illuminator enormously enlarged the initial letters of an important passage of sacred text and transformed those letters into elaborate decorative patterns - The primary sacred text came to be called the Bible (“the Book”), consisting of the Hebrew scriptures (the “Old Testament”) and the Christian “New Testament” - Pentateuch: The first five books of the Old Testament - Gospels: The four New Testament books that relate the life and teachings of Jesus - Canon Tables: A concordance, or matching, of the corresponding passages of the four Gospels as compiled by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century - Psalters: A book containing the Psalms - Lectionary: A book containing passages from the Gospels, arranged in the sequence that they are to be read during the celebration of religious services, including the Mass, throughout the year - Breviaries: A Christian religious book of selected daily prayers and Psalms. - Sacramentaries: A Christian religious book incorporating the prayers priests recite during Mass - Benedictionals: A Christian religious book containing bishops’ blessings - Book of Hours: A Christian religious book for private devotion containing prayers to be read at specified times of the day - Passionals: A Christian book containing the lives of saints - Man (Symbol of Saint Matthew)

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Folio 21 Verso of the Book of Durrow, Possibly from Iona Ink and Tempera on Parchment This early Hiberno-Saxon Gospel book has four pages devoted to the symbols of the four evangelists - The cloak of Saint Matthew’s man resembles a cloisonné brooch filled with abstract ornamentation Lindisfarne Gospels - The marriage between Christian imagery and the animal-interlace style of the northern warlords is evident in the cross-inscribed carpet page of the Lindisfarne Gospels - Colophon: An inscription, usually on the last page, giving information about a book’s manufacture. In Chinese painting, written texts on attached pieces of paper or silk - Cross-inscribed Carpet Page - Folio 26 Verso of the Lindisfarne Gospels, from Northumbria, England - Tempera on Vellum - The cross-inscribed carpet page of the Lindisfarne Gospels exemplifies the way Hiberno-Saxon illuminators married Christian imagery and the animal-interlace style of the early medieval warlords - The patterning and detail of this Lindisfarne ornamental page are much more intricate than the Book of Durrow pages - Like most Hiberno-Saxon artworks, the Lindisfarne cross page displays the artist’s preference for small, infinitely complex, and painstaking designs - Saint Matthew - Folio 25 Verso of the Lindisfarne Gospels - Portraits of the four evangelists frequently appeared in Gospel books - A Mediterranean book probably inspired this Hiberno-Saxon depiction of Saint Matthew with his symbol, a winged man - Evangelist: One of the four authors (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) of the New Testament Gospels High Crosses - The High Cross of Muiredach at Monasterboice and the South Cross at Ahenny are two of the largest and finest early medieval high crosses - High Cross of Muiredach - Sandstone - Early medieval Irish high crosses are exceptional in size - The cross marking Muiredach’s grave bears reliefs depicting the Crucifixion and Last Judgment, themes suited to a Christian burial Visigothic and Mozarabic Art - The Romans never ruled Ireland, but Spain was a province of the Roman Empire for hundreds of years Baños De Cerrato

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The Visigothic churches are basilican in form but often have multiple square apses San Juan Bautista - This three-aisled basilican church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist is typical of Visigothic architecture in Spain - It features three square apses and an entrance portal crowned by a horseshoe arch

Tábara - Mozarabic: Referring to the Christian culture of northern Spain during the time Islamic caliphs ruled southern Spain - EMETERIUS - the Tower and Scriptorium of San Salvador de Tábara - Colophon (Folio 168) of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus - In this earliest known depiction of a medieval scriptorium, the painter carefully recorded the tower’s Islamic-style glazed-tile walls and elegant windows with horseshoe arches, a Visigothic legacy - Caroline minuscule: The alphabet that Carolingian scribes perfected, from which the modern English alphabet was developed Carolingian Art - Carolingian: Pertaining to the empire of Charlemagne (Latin, “Carolus Magnus”) and his successors - The “Carolingian Renaissance” was a remarkable historical phenomenon, an energetic, brilliant emulation of the art, culture, and political ideals of Early Christian Rome - Charlemagne’s (Holy) Roman Empire, waxing and waning for a thousand years and with many hiatuses, existed in central Europe until Napoleon destroyed it in 1806 Sculpture and Painting - Renovatio: Latin, “renewal.” During the Carolingian period, Charlemagne sought to revive the culture of ancient Rome - Equestrian Portrait of Charlemagne or Charles the Bald - Originally Gilt - The Carolingian emperors sought to revive the glory and imagery of the Roman Empire - This equestrian portrait depicts a crowned emperor holding a globe, the symbol of world dominion - the medieval sculptors portrayed their emperor as overly large so that the ruler, not the horse, is the center of attention - Coronation Gospels - has a text written in handsome gold letters. - purple vellum - The major full-page illuminations, which show the four Gospel authors at work, reveal that Carolingian manuscript painters brought a radically different stylistic sensibility to their work compared with their Hiberno-Saxon counterpart

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Saint Matthew - Folio 15 Recto of the Coronation Gospels - Ink and Tempera on Vellum - The books produced for Charlemagne’s court reveal the legacy of classical art - The Carolingian painter used light, shade, and perspective to create the illusion of three-dimensional form - Saint Matthew - Folio 18 Verso of the Ebbo Gospels (Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims) - Ink and Tempera on Vellum - Saint Matthew writes frantically, and the folds of his drapery writhe and vibrate - Even the landscape rears up alive - The painter merged classical illusionism with the northern European linear tradition - Psalm 44 - Detail of Folio 25 Recto of the Utrecht Psalter - Ink on Vellum - The drawings in the Utrecht Psalter are rich in anecdotal detail and show figures acting out—literally—King David’s psalms - The vivid animation resembles that of the Ebbo Gospels Matthew - The painter of the Utrecht Psalter displayed a genius for anecdotal detail throughout the manuscript - Repoussé: Formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face. The metal sheet is hammered into a hollow mold of wood or other pliable material and finished with a graver - Crucifixion - Front Cover of the Lindau Gospels - Gold, Precious Stones, and Pearls - This sumptuous Carolingian book cover revives the Early Christian imagery of the youthful Christ - The statuesque, crucified Christ, heedless of pain, is classical in conception and execution Architecture - In his eagerness to reestablish the imperial past, Charlemagne also encouraged the use of Roman building techniques - Interior of the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne - Charlemagne’s chapel is the first vaulted medieval structure north of the Alps - The architect transformed the complex, glittering interior of San Vitale into simple, massive geometric form - Abbey: A religious community under the direction of an abbot (for monks) or an abbess (for nuns) - Cloister: A monastery courtyard, usually with covered walks or ambulatories along its

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sides Schematic Plan for a Monastery - from Saint Gall, Switzerland - Red Ink on Parchment - The purpose of this plan for an ideal, self-sufficient Benedictine monastery was to separate the monks from the laity - Near the center is the church with its cloister, the monks’ earthly paradise Module: A basic unit of which the dimensions of the major parts of a work are multiples. The principle is used in sculpture and other art forms, but it is most often employed in architecture, where the module may be the dimensions of an important part of a building, such as the diameter of a column Crossing: The space in a cruciform church formed by the intersection of the nave and the transept Crossing square: The area in a church formed by the intersection (crossing) of a nave and transept of equal width, often used as a standard module of interior proportion Westwork: German, “western entrance structure.” The facade and towers at the western end of a medieval church, principally in Germany. In contemporaneous documents the westwork is called a castellum (Latin, “castle” or “fortress”) or turris (“tower”) Castellum: castle or fortress Turris: tower Westwork of the Abbey Church - An important new feature of Carolingian church architecture was the westwork, a monumental western facade incorporating two towers - The sole surviving example is the abbey church at Corvey

Ottonian Art - Ottonians: Pertaining to the empire of Otto I and his successors - The pope crowned the first Otto (r. 936-973) in Rome in 962, and Otto assumed the title “Emperor of Rome” that Charlemagne’s weak successors held during most of the previous century Architecture - The best-preserved 10th-century Ottonian basilica is Saint Cyriakus at Gernrode, begun in 961 and completed in 973 - Alternate-support system: In church architecture, the use of alternating wall supports in the nave, usually piers and columns or compound piers of alternating form - Nave of the Church of Saint Cyriakus - Ottonian builders modified the interior elevation of Early Christian basilicas - The Gernrode designer added a gallery above the nave arcade and adopted an alternate-support system of piers and columns - Saint Michael’s - Built by Bishop Bernward, a great art patron, Saint Michael’s is a masterpiece of

Ottonian basilica design - The church’s two apses, two transepts, and multiple towers give it a distinctive profile - Saint Michael’s entrances are on the side. Alternating piers and columns divide the space in the nave into vertical units - These features transformed the tunnel-like horizontality of Early Christian basilicas Sculpture and Painting - Doors with Relief Panels - Genesis, Left Door; Life of Christ, Right Door - Commissioned by Bishop Bernward for Saint Michael’s - Bernward’s doors tell the story of original sin and redemption, and draw parallels between the Old and New Testaments, as in the expulsion from Paradise and the infancy and suffering of Christ - more than 15 feet tall - They are technological marvels, because the Ottonian metalworkers cast each giant door in a single piece with the figural sculpture - God Accusing Adam and Eve - Detail of the Left Door of Saint Michael’s - The Hildesheim bronze-caster recounted the story of original sin with a flair for anecdote - With vivid gestures, God accuses Adam, who passes the blame to Eve, who points in turn to the serpent - Otto I Presenting Magdeburg Cathedral to Christ - from an Altar or Pulpit in Magdeburg Cathedral - This ivory panel from an altar or pulpit Otto I dedicated in Magdeburg Cathedral shows Saint Mauritius introducing the emperor to Christ, whom Otto presents with the new church - Christ Blessing Otto II and Theophanu - Commemorating the marriage of Otto II and Theophanu, this ivory plaque is Byzantine in style and iconography - The princess promoted Byzantine art and culture at the Ottonian court - Reliquary: A container for holding relics - Crucifix Commissioned by Archbishop Gero for Cologne Cathedral - Painted Wood - In this early example of the revival of monumental sculpture in the Middle Ages, an Ottonian sculpture depicted with unprecedented emotional power the intense agony of Christ’s ordeal on the cross - Otto III Enthroned - Folio 24 Recto of the Gospel Book of Otto III - Emperor Otto III, descended from both German and Byzantine imperial lines,

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appears in this Gospel book enthroned and holding the scepter and cross-inscribed orb signifying his universal authority Annunciation to the Shepherds - Folio in the Lectionary of Henry II, from Reichenau - The full-page illuminations in the Lectionary of Henry II fuse elements of Late Antique landscapes, the Carolingian-Ottonian anecdotal narrative tradition, and the golden background of Byzantine art Abbess Uta Dedicating her Codex to the Virgin - Folio 2 Recto of the Uta Codex - The Uta Codex illustrates the important role women played both in religious life and as patrons of the arts - The dedicatory page shows Abbess Uta presenting her codex to the Virgin Mary...