Medieval ArtCirca 500-1400 CE

DARK AGES

• Also called the Dark Ages or Middle Ages

• Nearly all art was religious and was used to instruct the people who were mostly illiterate.

• The churches and monasteries in Europe were the centers of learning and controlled all knowledge.

Illuminated Manuscripts

Monks spent their lives copying

manuscripts and books.

These manuscripts preserved much

ancient knowledge for the future.

The Book of Kells• A famous 9th C. manuscript in Ireland

Cathedrals• It was the Age of theCathedral in Europe• Many castles and cathedrals were built out

of stone.• They were decorated with stained glass

windows, stone carvings and gargoyles.

Notre-Dame, Paris France

• This famous

cathedral took

2 centuries to be

built. 1163-1345

Gargoyles• Gargoyles were fantasy creatures carved out of stone and attached to the

roofs of churches.• They were usually

ugly and frightening to scare away evil

spirits.

Some were part animal and part human or a combination of animals

• Gargoyles also had a practical function.

• They worked as gutters and directed the rain water away from the sides of the buildings.

• In fact, gargoyle comes from the French word for “throat”, like the English “gargle”.