Illumination in the Dark Age: An Introduction to Medieval Art and Architecture

Mar 30
8 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

From the Byzantine churches of Constantinople and Greece to the thirteenth century Gothic Cathedrals, the medieval period has a lot to offer! Delve into the frescoes and mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, tapestries and golden chalices of the dark ages in this quick introduction to Europe’s medieval art and architecture. Part one in our Introduction to Art series.

*Folio from the eighth century Lindisfarne Gospels*

Introducing the Medieval Period

The Medieval Period is usually dated from between the fall of Rome in 476 A.D. and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century, although it is common to date the end of the period at 1347, the year the Black Death came to Europe.

The Medieval period is sometimes divided into three periods. The Early Middle Ages are most commonly called “the Dark Ages,” associated with the fall of Rome, the Anglo-Saxon settlement in England, Viking raids and the spread of Christianity. Its dates vary, but in England it makes sense to think of 1066 as an end-point for this, as it is the year of the Norman conquest.

The High Middle Ages are associated with the establishment of feudalism, in which the king granted fiefs (large pieces of land) to noblemen and bishops. Serfs (peasants with no land of their own) worked on these fiefs in exchange for protection and a place to live. At the same time, we see foundation of the idea of rights, with the signing of the Magna Carta (click the link to read about the Magna Carta’s role in the UK Constitution). This period was one of castle-building, the religious Crusades and the intellectual “flowering of medieval society,” with the establishment of Paris, Oxford, and Bologna Universities.

The Late Middle Ages are difficult to date, with some scholars naming 1300 as the beginning. Dates for the end of the period range from the Black Death in the 1340s; in England, 1485 is a common end-date as it marks the Battle of Bosworth and the end of the Wars of the Roses (click the link to read about Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth). Others date the end of the period as 1453, the end of the Hundred Years’ War, a series of battles between France and England that shifted power away from feudal lords to monarchs and common people.

*Pietro Lorenzetti’s Nativity of the Virgin (1335-42)*

You’ll notice that people sometimes use the phrase “Middle Ages” or “Dark Ages” interchangeably with “the Medieval Period.” In some ways, it is accurate to say that parts of the medieval period are “dark” to the historian because of lack of evidence (click the link to read about the problems of evidence for Anglo-Saxon paganism). Having said this, sometimes these terms give the impression that nothing important happened in the period between the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations and that of Renaissance Europe.

That wouldn’t be a fair assertion—it was the medieval period in which Dante wrote his Divine Comedy, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) and Thomas Malory wrote The Death of Arthur. Boethius, Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham were producing some of history’s most profound religious philosophy. Medieval society was governed by the moral code of chivalry, in which (especially knights) cultivated virtues such as courage and honour.

In art and architecture, the medieval period is known for the Byzantine churches of Constantinople and Greece, thirteenth century Gothic Cathedrals, frescoes and mosaics. Material culture included illuminated manuscripts, the Bayeux Tapestry, golden chalices and gem-encrusted reliquaries. You’ll notice a strong religious theme in a lot of medieval art. After the fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the most powerful institution across Europe.

Medieval Architecture

Because the Catholic Church was so important, there was an incentive to build cathedrals and monasteries. Between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries, most European Cathedrals were built in the Romanesque style, with rounded masonry arches and barrel vaults of, thick stone walls and not any windows. Examples of this style can be seen in Porto Cathedral in Portugal and Speyer Cathedral in Germany.

Gothic architecture became popular in the thirteenth century, producing buildings with enormous stained-glass windows, pointed vaults and arches, spires and flying buttresses. You can see this in the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in France (associated with Abbot Suger, who popularised the style). Other French examples are Notre-Dame and Chartres cathedrals. Beautiful examples in England include Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster and Westminster Abbey.

England also has gothic-style Cotswold wool churches, which were built or renovated with the money from the wool trade in the Cotswolds. Examples are the Church of St. John the Baptist in Cirencester, St. James’ Church in Chipping Campden, and the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Northleach.

Church interiors were decorated with frescos, mosaics devotional images of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the saints. You can see medieval mosaics in the Byzantine churches of Constantinople and Greece and in our own Westminster Cathedral. Look out for the Cosmati Pavement, which was laid in 1268.

Medieval Art

Illuminated manuscripts (books with coloured illustrations and gold and silver lettering) were important in the medieval period, because the printing press was not invented until the fifteenth century, so monasteries and convents (and later universities) were responsible for creating books. One of my favourites is the Lindisfarne Gospels, a late seventh/early eighth century Northumbrian manuscript linked to the cult of St. Cuthbert. From the twelfth century, it was more common for wealthy people to have smaller illuminated manuscripts like books of hours (personal prayer books) and psalters (book of psalms).

Other important works of medieval art include the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. There is also opus anglicanum (luxury gold embroidery from medieval England), the Suger Chalice, (a 12th-century golden vessel embellished with precious gems) and the eleventh-century Lothair Cross of Aachen (an oak cross covered in gold, silver and gems).

*Purse lid from the ship burial at Sutton Hoo*

Don’t miss out on some of the most illuminating finds related to the “Dark Ages”—the intricately decorated artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo.

Art of Medieval Siena

Siena is the perfect city to visit if you’re interested in medieval art and architecture and the perfect place to start is the early thirteenth century Madonna of the Big Eyes. It’s in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and it is a Byzantine-style icon of the Virgin Mary.

You’ll recognise Byzantine art—associated with the eastern strand of the Roman Empire—by its devotional, Christian subjects, lavish use of gold and flattened, elongated figures. Icons were often painted onto wooden panels using encaustic painting (coloured pigments mixed in with wax and burned into the wood).

While classical Roman art aimed at more realistic forms, the Byzantine style rejected this. The point was not to imitate reality, but to engage people with the divine, which is why many of the holy figures in Byzantine-style art are seen face-on, directly staring at the viewer. The Madonna of the Big Eyes is an excellent example of this: it depicts the Virgin Mary and Child, with flat figures, painted without perspective and unrealistic dimensions. Click the link to read about the art history of Siena and the importance of the icon to the city!

After 1250, Sienese art fused the Byzantine style with Western European gothic art. You can see this in Simone Martini’s Maestà (1315) in the Palazzo Pubblico. You can also see the gothic style in Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s (1338-9) allegorical frescos at the Palazzo Pubblico—unusual for the time as they present secular, rather than religious, subjects—and his brother Pietro’s Nativity of the Virgin (1342; now in Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). Both brothers experimented with some naturalistic techniques and crude geometrical perspective that anticipated later Renaissance techniques.

A Bridge to the Renaissance

A good way to understand the broad differences between Medieval and Renaissance painting is to look at the work of Duccio di Buoninsegna, whose Maestà altarpiece replaced the Madonna of the Big Eyes in Siena Cathedral in 1311. Duccio created the Maestà using tempera (pigment mixed with egg yolk) and gold on wood. The front panels show the Madonna and Child with saints and angels, and there is a predella (horizontal strip at the base) showing scenes from the Christ’s childhood and prophets. On the reverse, there are scenes of the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ.

This has since been cut apart and dispersed (although most of it is in Museo dell'Opera del Duomo), but the Maestà is important because it was a move away from otherworldly, sacred Byzantine-style icons towards more human-oriented representations of reality of the early Renaissance. The depictions on the back are more Byzantine and Duccio reproduced landscapes and depicted robes with gold lines without using chiaroscuro (a technique using light and dark that was used in the Renaissance).

Duccio’s Rucellai Madona is another good example of the transition from medieval to Renaissance art. It bridges the Byzantine style of medieval Siena with that of Florence because it combines iconic Byzantine style with a suggestion of volume in the Virgin’s head and body, and depth in her robe.

Duccio also used perspective on the right side of the throne, which is angled realistically backward. The angels are depicted with individual emotion, which wouldn’t have been the case in older medieval icons.

Duccio also creates spatial depth by partially hiding the halos of the lower angel behind the throne while their hands touch the sides. The way that the Virgin Mary supports Christ on her knee gives makes her seem part of the material world—a step closer to the art we see in the Renaissance.

Find out more about the Renaissance in our next post in the series!

Find out more

Our History and Art History blog has a series on Art History! Dr. Orton has written posts on the botanical illustrations of Enlightenment entomologist Maria Sybilla Merian, Joris Hoefnagel’s botanical illuminations, Ingres’ portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin and the Art History of Siena! She also has a post on the philosophy of Wittgenstein and more philosophical topics on our Philosophy blog.

If you’re interested in tutorials with Dr. Orton, she offers online, one-on-one tutorials that are based around your learning or research needs. This ranges from ad hoc tutorials to gain an understanding of the academic literature, research proposal feedback and development, or regular, ongoing support. For those wanting to know more about Renaissance art and culture, take a look at our Intellectual and Art History courses on the Renaissance or the Medieval Period.

These courses are templates of possible routes of study and can be combined, adapted, or designed from scratch to suit your interests and goals. Dr. Orton will work with you to design a course of private tutorials tailored to your needs, ability and schedule – whether you are undertaking your own research for an independent project, writing a book or simply have a personal interest. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with Dr. Orton.