Introduction to Medieval Art

The Middle Ages spanned about 1,000 years. As you might imagine, during this time great amounts and varieties of art were created in Europe as well as throughout the world. This art is divided into “movements.” In this chapter, we will discuss some of the types of art that were created during these movements.

Icons — Early Christian Art
Icons are images of Christ, the Virgin Mary or saints that were used as objects of worship in both churches and private homes. Even though we see them as works of art, they really were created more for religious purposes than for art.

Illuminated Manuscripts
Illuminated manuscripts are books that were written by hand and decorated or painted. The decorations included small pictures incorporated into the text, decorative initial letters and fancy borders. They usually were done on parchment paper. The earliest manuscripts were produced at about 400 to 600 and still were being created until the 15th century.

Celtic Art
The people of Ireland and Britain created Celtic art from about the 5th century to the 8th century. The art consisted of manuscript work, stone sculptures, metalworking and motifs, which are repeated patterns or images. The best-known manuscript is the Book of Kells, which is a lavishly illustrated illuminated manuscript that contains the four books of the Bible in Latin. The familiar Celtic cross also originated during this era.

Architecture
Various styles of buildings were introduced during the Middle Ages. They included these two designs:

• Romanesque style was used mostly for churches. Huge doors, sculptures such as baptismal fonts in bronze, frescoes (wall-sized paintings), objects in gold and silver and textiles were featured in this era. These all were used to explain and to spread the Christian faith. The Romans introduced three architectural elements: the dome and arch, baked bricks and the use of cement.

• Gothic style had pointed arches rather than rounded ones. Churches were larger and had more windows, so they seemed lighter inside.