Art from the Medieval Era

Madonna Enthroned (Front of the Maest... Buy From Art.com

The Last Supper, from the Passion Alt... Buy From Art.com

Crucifixion Buy From Art.com

In Medieval times, people concentrated mainly on the church, God, and the eternal life. They lived short, difficult lives that  centered around hard work and family. The average peasant was overcome with devotion and wonderment upon entering the local church and seeing a magnificent altarpiece or statue.

 

In a society of almost complete illiteracy, constant outbreaks of plague, smallpox, leprosy, and the ever present threat of starvation, the beauty of art and architecture was a true haven.  Paintings were darkly mystical, infused with an ethereal emotional intensity. The mysticism of the Medieval period imparts a sense of uniqueness and wonder to art. Painters from this time period had a taste for the supernatural and their use of symbols are mysterious hints and glances into the shadowy religious world that lay behind the grinding reality of the times.  The style is distinct and clearly different from the heavy Renaissance art produced in in later generation.  According to Medieval historian, Julia De Wolf Addison, "Many of the great art schools of the Middle Ages were established in connection with the numerous monasteries scattered through all the European countries and in England. The Rule of St. Benedict rings true concerning the proper consecration of an artist: "If there be artists in the monastery, let them exercise their crafts with all humility and reverence, provided the abbot shall have ordered them. But if any of them be proud of the skill he hath in his craft, because he thereby seemeth to gain something for the monastery, let him be removed from it and not exercise it again, unless, after humbling himself, the abbot shall permit him." Craft without graft was the keynote of mediæval art.."

 

 

Medieval  painters imparted to their pictures an orderly and elegant element and a splendor of color and gilding that recall art of the Carolingian period.  Medieval paintings are incredibly mystical, and completely enchanting. Artists were innovative and  produced works of great beauty and wonder.  As time went on the  style of painting was a reflection of the transformation that was taking place in Europe, the change from the unjust feudal system to a more enlightened, just society.

 

 

St. Peter, Panel from a P... Buy From Art.com

Major Medieval Artists

 Duccio di Buoninsegna 
Coppo di Marcovaldo
 Barna da Siena
 Pietro Lorenzetti
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Giotto di Bondone
Lippo Memmi
Segna di Buonaventure
Simone Martini
Taddeo di Bartolo
Bartolo di Fredi
Spinello Aretino
Andrea Vanni
 

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