PART FIVE
Chapter 15: Christianity and
the Formation of Europe
Time Periods for this chapter include:
• Early Christian: Byzantium
• Middle Ages: Carolingian, Romanesque,
and Gothic
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Key Terms for this chapter include:
• basilica: nave, apse, aisles, clerestory,
transcept, narthex
• central and cross church plans
• icon
• illumination
• ambulatory
• embroidery and tapestry
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
The Rise of Christianity
This chapter focuses on the rise in
Christianity in western Europe and the
arts of Byzantium.
• Very little early Christian art survives.
Some was preserved in underground
burial chambers.
• Early Christians borrowed iconography
from Greek and Roman art.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
The Rise of Christianity
Early Christian churches were
constructed in the style of a Roman
building called a basilica. It consists
of an apse, nave, aisles, and
clerestory.
• Apse: Altar
• Nave: Open central space
• Aisles: Passageways
• Clerestory: Upward extension pierced with
windows.
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Plan of Old St. Peter’s Basilica
The Rise of Christianity
A transcept and a narthex were also
added to Christian architecture to form
the basic vocabulary of a church.
• Transcept: Lengthwise extensions
perpendicular to the nave. Together they
form a cross plan for a church.
• Narthex: An entry porch into a church.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
*Left – Constantine the Great, height of head 8’6”, 325-6
*Right – San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 527-47
Byzantium
Byzantine rulers viewed themselves
as the legitimate continuation of the
Roman Empire. Byzantine artwork
combines images of earthly power
and splendor with ones based in
Christian iconography.
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Byzantium
A central church plan design was
favored over the cross plan design. It
usually consists of square with a
central dome. The major axis is
vertical, symbolizing earth and heaven.
• Artwork is more flattened and abstracted.
• Subjects express religious doctrines and beliefs.
• Icon: A specific kind of image, either a portrait of
a sacred person or a portrayal of a sacred event.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
*Left - Emperoress Theodora and Retinue, San Vitale, mosaic, 547
*Right - Mosaic depicting Christ as Pantokrator, Cicily, 1183
Early Middle Ages
The kingdoms of the early Middle Ages in
Europe were occupied by descendants of
migratory tribes that had traveled southward
and westward across the continent during the
4th and 5th centuries.
• Animal Style: Motifs based in animal forms used as
a part of delicately made designs.
• Interlace: Patterns formed by intricately woven
ribbons and bands.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
15.11 purse cover, from Sutton Hoo
15.12 Lion, from the Gospel Book of Durrow
Left - purse cover, from Sutton Hoo, 7th century
Right - Lion, from the Gospel Book of Durrow, proably made
by Irish monk in Scotland, beginning of book of Mark
Early Middle Ages
In France, another style of art was
emerging, called Carolingian after the
emperor Charlemagne or Charles the
Great. His military conquests eventually
gave him control over most of western
Europe. In the year 800 on Christmas
Day, the Pope crowned Charlemagne as
the first Holy Roman Emperor.
• Carolingian Art: A combination of Christian and
Roman imagery and architecture.
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Early Middle Ages
Among the most important artistic
products of the early Middle Ages were
copies of Christian scriptures. In the days
before the printing press, each book had to
be copied by hand. This was completed by
monks working in monasteries.
• Illumination: Monks also illuminated books by
furnishing them with illustrations and
decorations.
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High Middle Ages
Most of the great cathedrals were
built during the Middle Ages. A
majority of the art associated with this
time period comes from monasteries,
churches, and cathedrals.
• Historians divide this time into 2 periods:
Romanesque and Gothic
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
High Middle Ages
Romanesque (1050 to 1200)
• Based on southern styles from the old Roman
Empire.
• Characterized by massiveness, thick stonewalls,
round arches, and barrel-vaulted ceilings.
• Marked by a building boom caused by the
popularity of religious pilgrimages.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestion: 15.15 Plan of Sainte-Foy
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*Sainte-Foy, France, 1050-1120
Earliest Romanesque church still standing. Cross-form plan.
Transformed to accommodate large crowds.
Reliquary statue of Sainte Foy, Late 10thearly 11th century
• Used to store remains of
Sainte Foy.
High Middle Ages
Romanesque (1050 to 1200)
• Ambulatory: Latin for walkway; an aisle
around the apse.
• *Embroidery: A technique in which colored
yarns are sewn to an existing woven
background.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Detail of Bayeaux Tapestry, 107388, embroidery on linen
High Middle Ages
Gothic (ca. 1200 into the 15th century)
• Inspired by early Christian writings, a
powerful French abbot named Suger
started the Gothic architectural style.
• He believed that an ideal church should
have certain characteristics:
It should appear to reach up to heaven.
It should have harmonious proportions.
It should be filled with light.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
High Middle Ages
Gothic (ca. 1200 into the 15th century)
• To fulfill those goals, Sugers’ architects
responded with pointed arches, ribbed vaulting,
flying buttresses, and stained glass windows.
• Sculpture in the Middle Ages was often created
to embellish architecture.
• Tapestries were more valued than paintings
during the Middle Ages.
Insert visual(s).
Suggestions:
15.19 West façade, Chartres Cathedral
15.21 door jamb statues, west façade
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West facade, *Chartres Cathedral
Door jamb statues, west façade
Left – Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral, 13th century
Right – The Lady and the Unicorn, late 15th century.
Towards the Renaissance
• Contemporaries, Duccio and Giotto
represent a transition from the Middle
Ages style of art to the Renaissance.
• Both artists sought a new direction for
painting--a more naturalistic and
representational depiction of the
physical world.
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
*Left – Christ Entering Jerusalem, Duccio, 1308-11
*Right – The Lamentation, Giotto, fresco, 1305-6
Christianity and the Formation of Europe:
SUMMARY
Time Periods and Key Terms covered:
• Early Christian (Byzantium):
Basilica, Nave, Apse, Aisles, Clerestory,
Transcept, Narthex, Central and Cross Church
plans, Icon
• Middle Ages (Carolingian, Romanesque,
Gothic): Illumination, Ambulatory, Embroidery,
Tapestry
© 2013, McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
DARK AGES VIDEO LINKS
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DARK AGES – PART 1 – SACKING OF ROME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpHMPzk6uI4
DARK AGES – PART 2 – WANING EMPIRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1yIhX9Jzu8
DARK AGES – PART 3 – COMMON THREAD OF CHRISTIANITY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEcQ_Kzxgfg
DARK AGES – PART 4 – AN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOM1uY1RF7A
DARK AGES – PART 5 – THE PLAGUE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCujvYZ3oRE
DARK AGES – PART 6 –MEN OF CLOTH MEN OF LETTERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-mFcbc0M8E
DARK AGES – PART 7 - A HOLY WAR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC94Fel5-jI
DARK AGES – PART 8 – THE GREATEST KING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGkUNK8kmDw
DARK AGES – PART 9 – THE VIKINGS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fc83VvUeE8
DARK AGES – PART 10 – THE CRUSADES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-niTeTY7pw
DARK AGES – PART 11 – THE CONCLUSION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMCa4HAVwM0
BUBONIC PLAGUE
http://www.history.com/topics/renaissance-art/videos#the-renaissance
Compare and contrast the cathedrals below. Discuss periods,
characteristics, and reasons for specific cathedral design
changes between periods.