Medieval Art

Art and the Bible is an interesting approach at looking at art in all of its forms. It also answers the question what is the place of art in the Christian life? Along with the question it tries to put a general perspective on art. The different types of art that are mentioned are writing, painting, poetry, drama and music. The question is answered by looking in the Bible and finding specific example regarding art in all of its forms. The general perspectives on art are looked at in eleven points. I will also critique this book and give my personal opinion.

Art is able to evoke different feelings and emotions to each person that sets their eyes on it. The act of ‘looking’ is simple, but a lot comes from it. Where the eyes are first drawn to, the duration that the eyes are focused on a specific detail, and the thoughts that flood one’s brain when viewing art is all significant. These actions say more than the piece itself, it reveals emotions of both the artist and the audience. Art can be expressed through infinite forms, but the underlying importance is not with the art itself. It represents a place in time, displaying what was noteworthy to an individual in their own life. It serves as a lasting creation representative of human imagination with the ability to bring out a multitude of emotions from whoever views it. When art is created it represents the creativity of the human mind compacted into a physical object. Art has little usage aside from pure observation, yet it has prevailed throughout time, showing its importance to humanity. Art provides a lens into humanity, showcasing the human ability over time. When studied through history, art is a view into the development of humans and their interests. Through something as basic as commonly using symmetry to transitioning to asymmetry, the European’s perspective following the Renaissance is revealed. The making of art is solely up to one individual and their creativity. It is the pinnacle of

Art is a conversation between the artist and the audience, and through which the artwork is the medium between both. The artist, as the author of the piece, generates the message, plans the piece, and executes it to the best of his abilities. The audience, on their part, uses past experiences and knowledge of the artist and artwork to interpret the work,(which interestedly can lead to multiple conclusions of the work that are far distant from the artist's original understanding). Then there is the artwork itself: it is the passive participant whose influences beyond that of the artist and the audience is time. Throughout history, this has been the case—Raphael and his Galatea, and Leonardo da Vinci and his Last Supper—but in more recent times,

Artwork can be produced with the intention of telling a narrative, impressing an audience, or demonstrating wealth. Sometimes, a piece can do all three. A prime example of this, a member of the collection of the Lindau Gospels, is the “Crucifixion with Angels and Mourning Figures” binding (Stokstad and Cothren 451). This gospel cover was crafted around the late ninth century, 870-880, under the Carolingian Dynasty. Specifically, the binding was likely produced at “one of the monastic workshops of Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles the Bald” (Stokstad and Cothren 450). Today, the piece resides at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City, New York (Stokstad and Cothren 451). Aside from possessing an unparalleled visual presence, the “Crucifixion with Angels and Mourning Figures” cover is also notable for it’s

The Cleveland Museum of Art has many different collections on view ranging from African Art, Greek and Roman Art, Contemporary Art, and Medieval Art. The work I chose is The Good Shepard, which can be found in the Medieval collection in gallery 104. This work caught my eye because of the medium that was used to make it, the formal elements within the work, the meaning behind it, and the similar qualities to The Good Shepherd, Ornats, and the Story of Jonah. In today's world everything is so fast paced that we don't take the time or advantage of learning about the art that surrounds us.

The final piece of artwork is called the Adoration of the Magi, it is also stained glass and was created circa 1390. It is from the Schlosskapelle, Ebreichsdorf, Austria and is made from pot metal and colorless glass with silver stain

The Holy Trinity was painted between 1425 and 1427 (Lane 1999). In the work Mary and Joseph look at Jesus on the cross and are themselves gazed at by two unidentifiable individuals who stand in positions of prayer. Additionally, a third person inhabits the inner altar where the trio stands. The Mèrode Altarpiece was painted in the earlier portion of the fifteenth century, in approximately 1425 to 1428; therefore the two works were created at the same point during the Renaissance (Haber 2010). In the paintings three panels, two

Looking back on the past, art, music, and literature played an important role in society. Compared to today, it still has that same effect. It’s inspiring and changing society in many different ways. Art has a power of expressing what we humans can’t explain. It brings out a feeling in all of us that’s unimaginable and unexplainable. Religion has served as a primary subject matter of art. However, there are many views when it comes to the relationship between humans and God. Three artists from three different time periods explore the comparisons between art and religion. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Hieronymus Bosch, and Christopher Wren have explored the idea that art has influenced religion and that it’s meaning is one we cannot fully explain. All three

The Renaissance time period was home to many new ideas in art. This includes new artists bringing forth ideas that had yet to be discovered and made popular. New themes and types of art were also being brought forward during this period.

In Rome, the inception of Christianity was not embraced with open arms to say the least. This was mainly due to Rome’s emperors feeling threatened by the newly founded religion. “Meetings between Christians were prohibited, and the clergy were persecuted with much vigor. [Christians were] considered to be a danger to the state….”(Shlosser 179) Since the religious practice of Christianity was deemed illegal by officials, the use of symbols was essential when it came to not only signaling a meeting place but also for the continuation of the religion. A fish is an example of one of the various symbols adopted by Christians.

Emotion has always been a vital part of art and design, and “human responses to the everyday things of the world are complex, determined by a wide variety of factors” (Norman, 2007). Knowing this makes using emotion to make communication more effective, and moving the intended messages past just rational, and on to rational and emotional to make it more memorable. The intent of this paper is: to show how graphic designers and artists of the Romanesque period use emotions to promote their message and intent; and how they approached problems and thought of creative solutions.

Question Two The artwork The Conversion of St. Paul (on the way to Damascus) was painted in 1601 by

Romanesque art happened to be "crude and unpolished," but they really were trying to become something new and different, many artists before had a lot of the same aspects, and the Romanesque period was the in between stage of Early Christian and Gothic periods. They wanted to make a change in art and many people did not like the fact that someone was going out of the "normal" art so it was considered vulgar. In the beginning, the rooms were made out of wood, this looked very nice but structurally did not work very well. The architects were not fully capable of understanding what could go wrong when they did not use concrete, as many did before. The Romanesque period was such a big aspect because it allowed a transition to have art transformed.

Throughout the centuries artists create styles and elements that are greatly iconic and symbolic, they are later adopted by the artists of future generations. Architecture is certainly no exception, as past architectural techniques, styles, and elements are evident in many aspects of modern architecture. This is evident even around the Denver Metro area, where architectural influences date back to Medieval Europe, where the traditional art and sculpture was dramatic, detailed, and religiously symbolic in it’s visual nature. There are buildings around the Denver Downtown area that specifically resemble that of the romanesque art style, an art style that was prevalent. As noted by the course textbook, the term “romanesque” is utilized to describe medieval European architecture. Romanesque art is distinctive and memorable due to the nature of its technique and its style varied based on the region of the church. Romanesque architecture consists of a symmetrical floor plan, with the podium usually in the back of the church surrounded by a circular walls or rectangular walls going in a circular motion around the podium area. Other common elements of romanesque art includes that of stainless windows, buttresses, and decorated domes. Since Gothic art evolved from the romanesque art technique, there are few differences, however, Gothic Art often differs in scale and includes flying buttresses. In Denver, the same art styles can be seen in various buildings around the downtown area.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and that art is an expression of a human’s creativity sometimes relating to a specific theme or event. Within pictures it is easy to recognize the story going on most of the time because it is usually a direct unobscured scene, however art is more difficult due to human creativity. Looking back at art history, various painters and sculptors created images inspired within their life that reflected some type of teaching or value, and telling stories without saying a single word. Pablo Picasso is one example of these painters as one looks at one of his most famous paintings which is Guernica. An average person would look at the painting and just see random figures and odd shapes, but when taking more time to evaluate the art work one sees the true meaning of the pain and suffering during the bombing of Guernica. The women and children were depicted as defenseless and innocent and presented by Picasso as the perfection to mankind. By portraying them as such, Pablo Picasso sent the message that the assault on the women and children was an assault on the core of mankind. But how does the meaning of art and pictures relate to our church that stand at Sacred Heart University? Well, not only does the church contain mosaics and artwork inside, but the whole church itself is a big piece of art that sends a message about our school and community. Walking by the church someone may not recognize the meaning behind the church but like any