Honors World History

Mr. Rauer

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Mall Entrance to

the National

Gallery of Art

https://www.nga.gov/research/online-editions/italian-paintings-of-the-thirteenth-and-fourteenth-centuries.html

Religious Art in the Middle Ages

Pope (St.) Gregory the Great

Encouraged Religious Works

6th – 12th Centuries

Byzantine Style – Eastern Roman

Wall Painting

Churches

Monasteries

Lack “Depth” / “Perspective”

No Shadow / Light Source

Icons flooded into Italy after 1204

(Sack of Constantinople)

Icons were taken for protection, miracles

and prestige

In Rome most important icons came under

the control of the Pope

Greek artists came to Italy

Italian artists spurred to make panel

paintings

Became a new fusion of Eastern and Western

art at the end of the Medieval period

“His work spelled an end to the

stylization of Byzantine art.”

“He introduced naturalism in art in

the representation of people and

objects with real depth, and this

opened the way for the

Renaissance.”

Giotto

Note the Changes in the

Depiction of the Human

Form

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)

The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine

Learn How to

“Read” the Painting!

Everything in the Painting is there to help “tell the story”

SymbolismColors

Posture

Position of Arms / Legs / Feet

Clothing

Scenery

Facial Expressions

Other People

Other Things

Blue = Heaven – very costly

White = Innocence & purity

Gold = Halo or ring of gold to

signify holiness

Hans Holbein the Younger

“The Ambassadors” (1533)

National Gallery London

Identify the

“hidden”

symbolism

Reminding us of

our mortality?

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NGA.GOV