MEDIEVAL ART

:''This article is about art. See also medieval architecture.''

'Medieval art' covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artists crafts, and the artists themselves.
Art historians classify Medieval art into major periods and movements. They are Early Christian art, Migration Period art, Celtic art, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art, Gothic art, Byzantine art and Islamic art. In addition each "nation" or culture in the Middle Ages had its own distinct artistic style and these are looked at individually, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Viking art. Medieval art includes many mediums, and was especially strong in sculpture, Illuminated manuscripts and mosaics. There were many unique genres of art, such as Crusade art or animal style.

Contents

Overview

Major art movements

Medieval art by region, type and genre

See also

Overview

Medieval art in Europe grew out of the artistic heritage of the Roman Empire and the legacy of the early Christian church. These sources were mixed with the vigorous "Barbarian" artistic culture of Northern Europe to produce a remarkable artistic legacy. Indeed the history of medieval art can be seen as the history of the interplay between the elements of classical, early Christian and "pagan" art.

Major art movements

Art in the Middle Ages is a broad subject and art historians traditionally look at it based on about eight large-scale movements, or periods.

★ 'Early Christian art' covers the period from about 200 (before which no distinct Christian form survives), until onset of a fully Byzantine style in about 500. During this period Christian artists adopted the Roman crafts of painting, mosaic, carving and metalwork.

★ 'Byzantine art' emerges from what we call Early Christian art in about 500. During the Byzantine iconoclasm period of 730-843 when the vast majority of icons (artwork with figures) was destroyed; so little remains that today any discovery sheds new understanding. After the resumption of icon production in 843 until 1453 the Byzantine art tradition continued with relatively few changes, despite, or because of, the slow decline of the Empire. It is often the finest art of the Middle Ages in terms of quality of material and workmanship, with production centered on Constantinople. Byzantine art's crowning achievement were the monumental frescos and mosaics inside domed churches, most of which have not survived due to natural disasters and the appropriation of churches to mosques.

★ 'Celtic art' in the Middle Ages describes the art of native Celtic speaking peoples of Ireland and Britain from about the 5th century, with the Roman withdrawal, to about the 12th century establishment of Romanesque art. The 5th to 7th centuries were mainly a continutation of the late Iron Age La Tène art with some Roman modifications, while in the 7th and 8th centuries saw a fusion with Germanic traditions through contact with the Anglo-Saxons creating what is called the Hiberno-Saxon style or Insular art, and then finally late in the period some Viking inspirations are seen in Ireland.

★ 'Migration Period art' describes the art of Germanic and Eastern-European peoples on the move during the Migration Period from about 300-900, also including the early Hiberno-Saxon period in Britain and Ireland. These influence interacted with Christian art, as well as the Animal style and Polychrome style.

★ 'Pre-Romanesque art' is the period from the crowning of Charlemagne in 800 to the start of the Romanesque period in the 11th century. It includes Carolingian art, Ottonian art (Germany), Anglo-Saxon art (England), as well as the art of France, Italy and Spain. During this period Roman classical influences are actively absorbed and Carolingian art becomes the seed from which would later emerge Romanesque and Gothic art.

★ 'Romanesque art' refers to the period from about 1000 to the rise of Gothic art in the 12th century, which developed in conjunction with the rise of monasticism in Western Europe and particularly France, but also included Christian Spain, England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere. Its architecture is dominated by thick walls, short, squat structures, and round-headed windows and arches. The name comes from 19th century art historians, as it was the first time since ancient Rome that Roman architectural forms were clearly used.

★ 'Gothic art' is a variable term depending on the craft, place and time. The term originated with Gothic architecture in 1140, but Gothic painting did not appear until around 1200 (this date has many qualifications), when it diverged from Romanesque style. Gothic sculpture was born in France in 1144 with the renovation of the Abbey Church of S. Denis and spread throughout Europe, by the 13th century it had become the international style, replacing Romanesque. International Gothic describes Gothic art from about 1360 to 1430, after which Gothic art merges into Renaissance art at different times in different places. During this period forms such as painting, in fresco and on panel, become newly important, and the end of the period includes new media such as prints.

★ 'Islamic art' during the Middle Ages covers a wide variety of crafts including illustrated manuscripts, textiles, ceramics, metalwork and glass. It refers to the art of Muslim peoples in the Near East, Islamic Spain, and Northern Africa. There was an early formative stage from 600-900 and the development of regional styles from 900 onwards.

Medieval art by region, type and genre

★ 'Medieval art by region or culture'

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★ 'Eastern European'

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★ Armenian art (Armenia)

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★ Bosnian art (Bosnia)

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★ Bulgarian art (Bulgaria)

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★ Constantinople art (Constantinople)

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★ Coptic art (Coptic)

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★ Croatian art (Croatia)

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★ Crusader art (Crusader states)

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★ Cypriot art (Cyprus)

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★ Kiev Rus art (Kiev Rus)

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★ Comnenan art (Byzantine art / Comnenus)

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★ Macedonian art (Macedonian Renaissance)

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★ Mesopotamia art (Iraq)

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★ Old Russian art (Kievan Rus and successor states)

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★ Novgorod art (Novgorod)

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★ Palaeologan art (Byzantine art / Palaeologus)

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★ Romanian art ((Byzantine art / Borzesti)

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★ Russian art (Russia)

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★ Sassanid art (Sassanid Empire)

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★ Serbian art (Serbia)

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★ 'Islamic'

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★ Abbasid art (Abbasid)

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★ Andalusian art (Andalusia)

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★ Almoravid art (Almoravid)

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★ Andalusia art (Andalusia)

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★ Ayyubid art (Ayyubid)

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★ Baghdad art (Baghdad)

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★ Fatimid art (Fatimid)

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★ Ghaznavid art (Ghaznavid)

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★ Hafsid art (Hafsid)

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★ Hispano-Mauresque art (Hispano-Mauresque)

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★ Mamluk art (Mamluk)

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★ Marinids art (Marinids)

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★ Mecca art (Mecca)

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★ Mozarabic art (Mozarabic)

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★ Mudéjar art (Mudéjar)

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★ Persian art (Persia)

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★ Samanid art (Samanid)

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★ Seljuk art (Seljuk Turks)

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★ Timurid art (Timurid Empire)

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★ Umayyad art (Umayyad)

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★ 'Other'

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★ Jewish art (Jewish culture)

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★ 'Western European'

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★ Anglo-Norman art (Anglo-Norman)

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★ Anglo-Saxon art

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★ Asturian art (Asturias)

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★ Carolingian art (Pre-Romanesque art)

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★ Dugento art and Trecento art (Italian art)

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★ English art (English culture)

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★ Flemish art (Dutch)

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★ Hiberno-Saxon art (see also Celtic art)

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★ Lombard art (Lombards)

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★ Merovingian art (Migration Period art / Merovingian)

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★ Mosan art (French art / Belgian art)

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★ Ottonian art (Pre-Romanesque art)

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★ Italo-Norman art (Palermo / Italian art)

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★ Pictish art (Picts)

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★ Culture of Poland

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★ Roman art (Rome)

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★ Spanish art (Spanish culture)

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★ Viking art (Viking / Norse art)

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★ Visigothic art (Visigoths)

★ 'Medieval art by type'

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★ Ceramic

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★ Mosaic

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★ Tessera

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★ Pottery

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★ Lusterware

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★ Glass art

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★ Stained glass

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★ Heraldry

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★ Manuscript

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★ Book binding

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★ Calligraphy

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★ Illuminated manuscript

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★ Prints

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★ Engraving

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★ Metalcut

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★ Woodcut

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★ Metalwork

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★ Sculpture

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★ Silversmith and Goldsmith

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★ Niello

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★ Jewelry

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★ Relics

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★ Painting

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★ Iconography or Icon

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★ Fresco

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★ Panel painting

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★ Sculpture

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★ Ivory

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★ Statue

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★ Sigillography and Seals

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★ Textiles

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★ Carpet

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★ Dye

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★ Medieval clothing

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★ Chaperon

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★ Silk

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★ Weaving

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★ Tapestry

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★ Woodwork

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★ Furniture

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★ Sculpture

★ 'Medieval art by genre'

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★ Animal style

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★ Medieval antiquarian (Antiquarian / Archaeology) (collected Classical art)

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★ Spolia (plundered Classical art)

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★ Apocalypse art (Apocalypse)

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★ English Apocalypse Manuscripts

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★ Allegory art

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★ Dancing in the Middle Ages (Dance)

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★ Death art (Memento mori, Death)

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★ Koran art (Koran)

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★ Plateresque style

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★ Synagogue art (Synagogue)

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★ Unicorn

★ 'Medieval art lists'

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★ List of illuminated manuscripts

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★ List of Late Antique, Early and Medieval Christian art monuments

See also

★ Spolia (plundered Classical art)

★ English Apocalypse Manuscripts

★ Allegory art

★ Plateresque style

★ List of illuminated manuscripts

★ List of Late Antique, Early and Medieval Christian art monuments

★ European art history

★ Medieval literature

★ Medieval poetry

★ Medieval music

★ Paleography

★ Medieval theatre

★ History of painting

★ Western painting