Medieval Architecture

Art in the Middle Ages was unseparated from religion. It was made with spiritual symbolism and meaning. The purpose was to awe the spectator with the grandeur of God. It also showed what people believed.

“Painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who read.” -Pope Gregory

Church Sculptures

The mission of a sculptor was to educate as well as decorate. He usually put Biblical tales and moral lessons into the stone. Not always religious. Pre-christian as well; animals, everyday life, and the pagan “Green Man” peering from wrought leaves and vines of stone. Sculpture was also glorious in the Romanesque period.

Romanesque Period

Beginning of the Norman era, the style of architecture that was vogue was known as Romanesque, because it copied patterns and proportion of the Roman Empire. Chief characteristics - barrel vaults, round arches, thick piers, and few windows. Easiest thing to spot - the rounded arches, in the tops of doors and windows. Romanesque churches were heavy and solid; the air filled with solemnity and gloom. Not always though. In their heyday, the church walls were hung with tapestries or painted richly. Service books were inlaid with gold, jewels, and ivory.

The Gothic Style

Beginning in 12th century France. At the time, it was simply called “The French Style”, but later Renaissance critics, who thought it was an abandonment of classic lines and proportion, called it “Gothic”. It was a reference to the imagined lack of culture of the barbaric tribes, including the Goths, which had ransacked Rome. Gothic architecture is light, spacious, and graceful. Advances in architecture from the Arab during the Crusades led to innovations such as - the pointed arches, ribbed vault, and the buttress. Heavy Romanesque piers were replaced with rows of slender columns. Window sizes were enlarged greatly. Sculpture became free standing. The windows were filled with stained glass. The easiest thing to spot were the pointed arches, again in the doors and windows. Later Gothic churches had elaborate decor such as “tracery” - stonework supporting the stain glass windows. 

Article by Carlie Throndson