Student led discussion: Student Choice
For this discussion, post any general comments, questions, reactions or opinions about content you are learning about from this module. Focus your questions
and comments on the stylistic significance and cultural significance of the pieces discussed, and post images of the artwork you are talking about. Post links to
scholarly sources to support your observations and comments.
The Book of Kells
I found the Book of Kells to be one of my favorite topics. Over the past 15 years I have dabbled in book making, and do illustrations in a Journaling Bible. I
have always been drawn to illuminated texts, as my Mother was and gave me several Collections of volumed children's books containing such.
Dubbed with the name Light of the Dark ages, the book's purpose was to honor the Christ and to tell His story, and has a strong connection to the time of the
death of Columba, an Irish saint. The Kells book has an interesting story in that it is assumed that three artists worked the book, and three to four scribes
copied the textual passages. Quill pens were used for writing, and black ink was created by boiling iron, tree bark, and nuts.
One of the artists is said to have been greatly gifted and could be compared to a goldsmith due to the delicacy and beauty of his work, particularly when it
came to the gold inking. Other colors were also used:
"Red came from red lead or from organic sources which are difficult at present to identify. A copper green, reacting with damp, was responsible for perforating
the vellum on a number of folios. The artists employed a technique of adding as many as three pigments on top of a base layer"("Book Of Kells - The Library
Of Trinity College Dublin - Trinity College Dublin").
The scrollwork, "knot work" is so intricate. The cover once had gold and jewels but those have disappeared, presumably due to vandals or thieves.
The books imagery was then called miniuature work; derived from miniare, which means 'to colour in red'. Minium is the latin name for cinnabar or mercuric
sulphide which was widely used in codices for the coloring of first letters, etc. What I found even more interesting was that the preparation of the vellum
allowed for erasure of mistakes with bread!
Citations
"Book Of Kells - The Library of Trinity College Dublin - Trinity College Dublin". Tcd.le, 2018, https://www.tcd.ie/library/manuscripts/book-of-kells.php. Accessed
6 Nov 2018.
Mark, Joshua, and Joshua Mark. "Book Of Kells". Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2018, https://www.ancient.eu/Book_of_Kells/. Accessed 6 Nov 2018.
TUDO
Medieval Art
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Purse cover, from the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk, England, ca. 625. Gold,
glass, and cloisonné garnets, 7 1/2" long. British Museum, London.
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The term "medieval art" refers to art produced after the fall of Roman Empire until the
beginning of the Renaissance. For Renaissance scholars, the term "medieval" had negative
connotations. These scholars believed art of this period was inferior or unsophisticated. For
the Renaissance scholar, "barbarian" art was inferior because it didn't reference the classical
traditions of Greece and Rome. Romans often used the term "barbarian" to refer to any non-
Roman person
Medieval Art (continued)
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as
Cross-inscribed carpet page, folio 26 verso of the Lindisfarne Gospels, from
Northumbria England, ca. 698-721. Tempera on Vellum, 1' 1 1/2" x 9 1/4". British
Library, London
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Medieval Art (continued)
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Chi-tho-iota (XPI) page, folio 34 recto of The Book of Kells, probably from lonia,
Scotland late eighth or early ninth century. Tempera on vellum, 1'1" x 9 1/2". Trinity
College Library, Dublin.
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Carolingian Art: Charlemagne and the Carolingian
Renaissance
Charlemagne.
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arted to Catholicism once they entered and
Saint Matthew, folio 18 verso of the Ebbo Gospels (Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo
of Reims), from Hautvillers (near Reims), France, ca. 816-835. Ink and tempera on
vellum, 10 1/4" x 8 3/4". Bibliotheque Municipale, Epernay.
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Detail of Saint Matthew, folio 18 verso of the Ebbo Gospels.
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One art historian has described this portrait as 'a man seized with the frenzy of divine
The wind frenzy antly describes the agitated brushstrokes that characterize the
Crucifixion, front cover of the Lindau Gospels, from Saint Gall, Switzerland, ca. 870.
Gold, precious stones, and pearls, 1' 1 3/8" x 10 3/8". Pierpont Morgan Library, New
York.
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WEN
Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne, Odo of Metz.
Aachen, Germany. 792-805, interior view.
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Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne.
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Palatine Chapel, plan.
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Perhaps the most important of Charlemagne's artistic projects was his palace chapel in
Aachen, Germany. Odo of Metz created the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne between 792-
805 It was meant to rival (at least visually) the pope's Lateran Palace in Rome, the Byzantine
Dome of the Rock
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Dome of the Rock, interior,
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Church of Hagia Sofia, Constantinople (Istanbul), 532-537
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Church of San Vitale, 526-547, Ravenna
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The chapel is based on a central plan, like the churches of Byzantium. Inside the chapel, a
circular ambulatory is characterized by sweeping arcades and large piers. The use Roman
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Plan for a monastery at Sain. Gall, Switzerland, ca. 819. Red ink on parchment, '4" X
3' 8 1/8". Stiftsbibliothek, Saint Gall.
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This plan for a monastery at Saint Gall, which dates to roughly 819 CE, was probably never
realized. This plan gives us a sense of an ideal monastery. Monasteries transformed the
shape of the West after the fall of Rome, and also helped give rise to medieval cities. Monks
were Christian men who wanted to live their lives according to the Gospels. They lived
together in a community and took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They lived a life
dedicated to prayer, learning, and manual labor. In addition, they gave up all of their
possessions, held everything in common, and lived in a self-sustaining community. These
men adopted the Rule of St. Benedict, which outlined every aspect of the monastic life,
especially pertaining to the attainment of virtue and holiness.
This plan gives you the sense that the monastery is actually a miniature town, including barns,
Reconstruction of the Monastery at Saint Gall.
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Learn more
• Excerpts from The Rule of St. Benedict:
fordham.edu/halsall/source/rul-benedict-excerp.html
• St. Gall Monastery Plan:
stgaltplan.org
an Art
Interior of the Abbey Church of Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, Germany. 1001-1073
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The
nian kingdom encompassed the eastern part Charlemagne's for pire and was
named after three kings who were Charlemagne's descendents (Otto 1, 11,
The
Doors with relief panels (Genesis, left door; life of Christ, right door), commissioned
by Bishop Bernward for Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, Germany, 1015. Bronze, 16' 6"
high. Dom-Museum, Hildesheim.
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You can also see influence from Bernward's trip to Rome in these massive bronze doors
which measure 16 feet, 6 inches tall. Created between the years of 1011 to 1015, they were
cast in one piece. That fact is impressive considering it was more common during this time to
vanlam.ee to them
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Crucifix commissioned by Archbishop Gero for Cologne Cathedra (Gero crucifix),
Cologne, Germany, ca. 970. Painted wood, height of figure 6' 2". Cathedral, Cologne.
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Ottonian sculpture was capable of displaying profound emotion, as seen in the Gero Crucifix,
dated between 975 and 1000. The Gero Crucifix is carved out of oak, and is 6 feet 2 inches
high. It is one of the oldest monumental, life-sized wooden sculpture have survived from
the Middle Ages.
(Exterior view) Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.
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ome of the Rock in Jerusalem, built between 687-692, is the oldest extanti
ng in the world. An Islamic prayer house that remains one of the best-know landmar
usalem, it has been called one of the first great achievements of Islamic architecture,
ite has significance for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. According to Isrc tradition, the
Interior of Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.
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Muslims took this area from the Byzantines in the year 638. The swiftness of Istinio adva
is among the wonders of world history. By 711, Muslims had conquered southern Spain and
this opened up Europe for Muslim control. By 732, Muslims had advanced to itiers, in
France. Here, Charlemagne's grandfather, Charles Martel ("Charles the Ham"), opposed
them. Although Muslim raids continued in France, they could never really extend beyond the
Duenenneth Cronoh noninh border in the West Museet
Islamic Art (continued)
The Prayer Hall of the Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain
Nga
Construction for the Prayer Hall of the Great Mosque, in Cordoba, Spain, began in 784, and
continued for the next 200 years. Enlarged in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Great Mosque
eventually became the largest mosque in the Islamic West. The city of Cordoba aw into a
brilliant cultural center that rivaled Baghdad in the East Cordoba wbich.
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The maqsura of the Great Mosque at Cordoba
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maqsura of the Great Mosque at Cordoba is an area reserved for the call or Islas
ader. This area reveals the designer's experimentation with multi-lobed arches. Here we can
ee rich, varied, abstract patterns and combinations of marble and mosaiche tessarae
Dieces of a mosaic) used for the mosaics were brought fronr. Constantinop and emulate the
nosaics of the Great Mosques of Damascus and Jerusalem. It's important notice three
stylistic principles that characterize Islamic art. They are:
(Exterior view) Muqarnas Dome, Hall of the Abencerrajes, Alhambra Palace, Granada,
Spain.
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Cordoba eventually fell to the Christians around 1236, but the Muslim influence in Europe
continued with the Nasrid Dynasty, which ruled in Granada, Spain.
The Alhambra Palace, a huge palace fortress located in Granada, was the ast significant
bastion of Muslim power in Europe until 1492, when King Ferdinand andeueen Isabell
(Interior view) Muqarnas Dome, Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain.
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ambra's name is apt. "Alhambra" means "red" in Arabic, reflecting the rose color of the
5 and its 23 towers. This complex had 40,000 people and at least a half dozen royal
ces, presenting a vivid picture of the opulent lifestyle of its inhabitants.
muqarnas Dome rests on octagonal drum and is pierced by eight pairs of wind ws. The
ately carved stucco decoration disguises the dome. The dome containe 5,000 walactite
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