#ART IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND FULL#

But we do not know what input the artist had, or how influential he or she may have been. The concept of patronage relates to issues such as gender, social and economic history, as well as the world of politics, and the many possible roles of the patron can range from paying for the work to designing it to using it. As the essays in this volume demonstrate, the key to understanding patronage is to realize that a variety of contexts and situations may exist that prevent one definition from being imposed.

#ART IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND FULL#

In many cases this has prevented a full understanding of the work. In order to identify the person or institution responsible for the work, scholars have attempted to impose principles across a broad range of works to which they may or may not apply. In theory, then, the east end of an English church could face west.Īlso see ' Medieval London' in our ' London History' section.Patronage, Power, and Agency in Medieval Art Edited by Colum Hourihane Although the concept of patronage has long been central to medieval studies, it is still not well understood.

Even if the altar end of the church is not literally in the east, that end is still referred to as the east end. Speaking of orientation, churches are nearly always oriented so that the main altar is at the east end of the church, facing Jerusalem and, not coincidentally, the rising sun. Worship was carried on in the same place, just with a Christian orientation. Often people would volunteer their labour to the construction, though much of the work was carried on by skilled workmen under the watchful eye of the head mason and the architect.Ĭhurches were often sited on pre-Christian sites of spiritual importance, taking advantage of peoples' existing devotion to a particular place. Many times a guild would pay for a stained glass window depicting their trade. Money for the church was raised by the sale of indulgences, fundraising caravans of relics, parish contributions, and donations from nobles. Also, the later Gothic churches had very elaborate decoration, especially the 'tracery', or stonework supporting the stained glass windows.Ĭhurches were a point of civic pride, and towns vied to outdo each other in the glory of their churches. The easiest point of reference to look for in a Gothic church is the pointed arch, seen in window openings and doors. The new expanse of window space was filled with gloriously rich coloured glass. Sculpture became free-standing rather than being incorporated in columns. Window sizes grew enormously, as did the height of vaults and spires. Heavy Romanesque piers were replaced by slender clusters of columns. Advances in architectural technique learned from contacts with the Arab world during the Crusades led to innovations such as the pointed arch, ribbed vault, and the buttress. Gothic architecture is light, spacious, and graceful. This was a reference to the imagined lack of culture of the barbarian tribes, including the Goths, which had ransacked Rome in the twilight of the Roman Empire.

At the time it was called simply 'The French Style', but later Renaissance critics, appalled at the abandonment of classical line and proportion, derisively called it 'Gothic'. Sculpture burst forth gloriously in the Romanesque era, with little regard for classical conventions of the proportion of figures.īeginning in 12th century France a new style of architecture and decoration emerged. Everywhere you look there is evidence of pre-Christian symbology in church sculpture animals real and fanciful, scenes of everyday life, and the pagan 'Green man' peering out from amongst carefully wrought leaves and vines of stone. Carvings were not just religious, however. He brought Biblical tales and moral lessons to life in stone. The mission of the sculptor, whose work was seen almost exclusively adorning church buildings, was to educate as well as decorate. Pope Gregory the Great, he of the Gregorian chants, said, 'painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who read.' He might have added that sculpture could serve the same purpose. It also served to symbolize what people believed. The purpose of art was to awe and inspire the viewer with the grandeur of God. It was infused with spiritual symbolism and meaning. Art in the Middle ages was inseparable from religion.

Art in medieval england