Gothic art sculpture and painting
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Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that lasted about 300 years.
It began in France out of the Romanesque period in the mid-12th
century concurrent with Gothic architecture in Cathedrals; by the
late 14th century it had evolved towards a more secular and natural
style known as International Gothic, which continued until the late
15th century evolving into the Renaissance. The primary Gothic art
mediums were sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, frescos and
illuminated manuscripts.
Gothic art told a narrative story through pictures, both Christian
and secular. The earliest Gothic art was Christian sculpture, born
on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian art was often
typological in nature, showing the stories of the New Testament and
the Old Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often depicted.
Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to
a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying
from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born
aristocratic court lady. |
Secular art came in to its own during this period with the rise of
cities, foundation of universities, increasing trade, a money-based
economy and a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts
and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and
illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of
secular vernacular literature encouraged the representation of
secular themes in art. With the growth of cities, trade guilds were
formed and artists were often required to be members of a guild—as a
result, because of better record keeping, more artists are known to
us by name in this period than any previous, some artists were even
so bold as to sign their names.Gothic sculptureGothic sculpture was born on the wall, in the middle of the 12th
century in Île-de-France, when Abbot Suger built the abbey at St.
Denis (ca. 1140), considered the first Gothic building, and soon
after the Chartres Cathedral (ca. 1145). Prior to this there had
been no sculpture tradition in Ile-de-France—so sculptors were
brought in from Burgundy, who created the revolutionary figures
acting as columns in the Western (Royal) Portal of Chartres
Cathedral, it was an entirely new invention, and would provide the
model for a generation of sculptors.
The French ideas spread. In Germany, from 1225 at the Cathedral in
Bamberg onward, the impact can be found everywhere. The Bamberg
Cathedral had the largest assemblage of 13th century sculpture,
culminating in 1240 with the Bamberg Rider, the first equestrian
statue in Western art since the 6th century. In England the
sculpture was more confined to tombs and non-figurine decorations
(which can in part be blamed on Cistercian iconoclasm). In Italy
there was still a Classical influence, but Gothic made inroads in
the sculptures of pulpits such as the Pisa Baptistery pulpit (1269)
and the Siena pulpit.
Gothic sculpture evolved from the early stiff and elongated style,
still partly Romanesque, into a spatial and naturalistic feel in the
late 12th and early 13th century. Influences from surviving ancient
Greek and Roman sculptures were incorporated into the treatment of
drapery, facial expression and pose.
Dutch-Burgundian sculptor Claus Sluter and the taste for naturalism
signaled the beginning of the end of Gothic sculpture, evolving into
the classicistic Renaissance style by the end of the 15th century.Gothic paintingPainting in a style that can be called "Gothic" did not appear until
about 1200, or nearly 50 years after the start of Gothic
architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic
is very imprecise and not at all a clear break, but we can see the
beginnings of a style that is more somber, dark and emotional than
the previous period. This transition occurs first in England and
France around 1200, in Germany around 1220 and Italy around 1300.
Painting (the representation of images on a surface) during the
Gothic period was practiced in 4 primary crafts: frescos, panel
paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass. Frescoes
continued to be used as the main pictorial narrative craft on church
walls in southern Europe as a continuation of early Christian and
Romanesque traditions. In the north stained glass was the art of
choice until the 15th century. Panel paintings began in Italy in the
13th century and spread throughout Europe, so by the 15th century
they had become the dominate form supplanting even stained glass.
Illuminated manuscripts represent the most complete record of Gothic
painting, providing a record of styles in places where no monumental
works have otherwise survived. Painting with oil on canvas does not
become popular until the 15th and 16th centuries and was a hallmark
of Renaissance art. |
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