Medieval Painting.

Medieval Painting

Big Handed Madonna! Front View Back View Detail 1 Detail 2
IM Hours Leaf w/miniature of Virgin Mary - Obsecro te prayer Country of Origin: France (Probably Paris) Time Period: c Price: $2500 Matted: 14x11'' IM-4706 (185x122mm) Original leaf from a manuscript Book of Hours. 29 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink, in lettre bâtarde script on animal vellum. One two-line illuminated initial in blue and white on a red ground with delicate liquid gold tracery. The highly illuminated panel border displays multi-colored flowers and acanthus with painted gold. France, probably Paris, c The miniature painting depicts the Virgin Mary, hands clasped in prayer. The text begins the Obsecro Te – a favorite prayer of the late 15th century – stressing the joys and sorrows of Christ’s mother. The illuminated “O” begins “Obsecro te…” (I beseech thee Lady Holy Mary, Mother of God, most full of piety, daughter of the Most High King, Mother most glorious, Mother of orphans… I beseech thee through those most holy fifteen joys that thou didst have in thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ…through the sorrow thou didst have when thou didst see Him wounded, through the fountains of His blood, through all His passion, through all the sorrow of thy heart, and through the fountains of thy tears…)Books of Hours are personal prayer books of a devout and status-conscious society and are not only works of art, but cultural documents of their time. They reveal a unique combination of sacred and secular imagery - made of the finest materials, by the best craftsmen, for a small audience, which could both appreciate and afford them.

Altar Frontal with Man of Sorrows and Saints Tapestry c. 1465
Altar Frontal with Man of Sorrows and Saints, ca German; Made in Nuremberg Wool, linen, and metallic thread (gilt membrane on silk) on linen; 35 1/4 x 65 1/2 in. (89.5 x cm) The Cloisters Collection, 1991 ( ) Description Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description This altar frontal depicts Christ as the Man of Sorrows displaying the wounds from his Crucifixion. He wears the Crown of Thorns as well as the cloak in which he was dressed by Roman soldiers prior to his execution. A popular devotional image in the late Middle Ages, the Man of Sorrows incites the viewer's empathy with Christ's suffering. Here, Christ is accompanied by Saint John the Baptist and the Virgin on the left, and by saints John the Evangelist and Jerome on the right. The arms of the Nuremberg citizen Martin Pessler (died 1463) and his wife, Margarete Toppler (died 1469), appear at the bottom. This tapestry may well be one of the seven altar frontals Margarete is known to have given to the Lorenzkirche in Nuremberg, a parish church that was richly endowed by the city's merchant class in the late Middle Ages. Altar Frontal with Man of Sorrows and Saints Tapestry c. 1465

Adoration of the Shepherds Tempera on Wood 14th Century
The Adoration of the Shepherds, 14th century Bartolo di Fredi (Italian [Sienese], active 1353, died 1410) Italian; Made in Siena Tempera on wood, gold ground, arched top ; Overall: 69 1/8 x 45 1/8 in. (175.6 x cm); Painted surface: 63 1/4 x 45 1/8 in. (160.7 x cm) The Cloisters Collection, 1925 ( ) Description Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description Once the central panel of an altarpiece, this painting simultaneously depicts the Adoration of the Christ Child and the Annunciation to the Shepherds, shown in the upper right. To create clear spatial relationships, the artist employed overlapping planes and daring, if naive, perspective—most evident in the projecting roof of the stable. The setting of the narrative combines the Byzantine tradition of representing the Adoration in a cave with the Western iconography of a stable. This panel may have been flanked by single panels depicting standing saints.

The Pentacost Enamel on Copper Gilt c. 1150
The Pentecost, ca. 1150–1175 Mosan Champlevé enamel on copper gilt; 4 1/16 x 4 1/16 in. (10.3 x 10.3 cm) The Cloisters Collection, 1965 (65.105) Description Signature, Marks, and Inscriptions Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description Traditionally renowned for their production of outstandingly beautiful works in champlevé enamel, artists of the Meuse valley (in modern-day France and Belgium) created this plaque illustrating the Pentecost. According to the Book of Acts 2:2–4, Christ's apostles had gathered together fifty days after Easter, when "suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." This depiction of that miraculous event shows the hand of God appearing to the disciples; Peter, holding keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, is seated in the center of the architectural setting, with only five other apostles beside him. (The other six are suggested by partially visible halos.) Each face is individually characterized—an unusual and forward-looking way of heightening the sacred drama. A rich and varied spectrum of colors—more than twelve hues—further enlivens the delicate, animated style of engraving. The play of light upon such colorful imagery gives the plaque the aura of a sparkling jewel. The crowning piece of a number of Mosan enamels in the Museum's collection, this work was part of an extensive series of plaques that once decorated a single large object, perhaps an altarpiece or pulpit.

Illuminated Manuscript
Christ in Majesty Illuminated Manuscript c. 1180 Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: Christ in Majesty with Angels and the Angel of God Directs Saint John to Write the Book of Revelation, ca. 1180; Romanesque Spanish; Made in Burgos, Castile-León Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, metal leaf; 17 1/2 x 11 13/16 in. (44.4 x 30 cm) Purchase, The Cloisters Collection, Rogers and Harris Brisbane Dick Funds, and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1991 ( ) Description Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description "Beatus" manuscripts are illustrated commentaries on the Apocalypse, the biblical revelation to Saint John the Evangelist. A compilation of visionary texts, made in about 776 by the Asturian monk Beatus of Lièbana, it consists of passages from the Book of Revelation accompanied by interpretations cast as Christian allegories. This leaf comes from a Beatus manuscript disassembled in the 1870s. Other parts of the manuscript are divided among museums and libraries in Madrid and Girona. The pictorial style of these manuscript pages is notable for the vibrant, dramatic color contrasts and the refined linear treatment of the figures and draperies. The illustrations, occasionally quite literal interpretations of the texts, partially reflect the earlier Mozarabic tradition of manuscript illumination. The banded backgrounds and certain architectural details also reflect this style.

The Annunciation Stained Glass c. 1290
The Annunciation, ca. 1290–1300 German; Made in Altenberg-an-der-Lahn, Hesse Pot-metal glass, vitreous paint; : 29 1/8 x 28 3/4 in. (74 x 73 cm); : 29 3/8 x 29 in. (74.6 x 73.7 cm) The Cloisters Collection, 1993 ( , .2) Description Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description These panels once initiated a glazing cycle dedicated to the Life of Christ installed in the axial bay of the Altenberg convent church choir. The angel Gabriel holds a scroll inscribed "AVE• [MARIA] GR•A[TIA] • P LENA" ("Hail [Mary], full of grace"), and behind the dove of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin an inscription reads "ECCE• ANC •ILLA• I[ESU] • N[OSTRI]• D[OMINUS]" ("Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"). The angular linearity of the painting style, with its bold slashing strokes, combined with the strong junctures of color, make these panels exceptional examples of German glass painting of the period.

Theodoseus Arrives at Ephesus Stained Glass c. 1200
Theodosius Arrives at Ephesus (Scene from the Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus), 1200–1205 French; Made in Rouen Pot-metal glass, vitreous paint; 25 x 28 1/8 in. (63.5 x 71.5 cm) The Cloisters Collection, 1980 ( ) Description Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description According to their legend, seven noble retainers of the Roman emperor Decius were converted to Christianity and refused to perform pagan rites. To escape persecution, the seven hid in a cave and prayed for deliverance. God answered their prayers by putting them into a deep sleep just as imperial soldiers discovered the hiding place and sealed the cave with a huge stone. Two centuries later, during the reign of Theodosius II, a shepherd removed the stone to use it as building material, and one of the sleepers, Malchus, ventured forth to buy bread. After he tried to pay the baker with an ancient coin, he was brought before the prefect and the bishop, who, although skeptical at first, realized when they arrived at the cave that they were witnessing a miraculous resurrection. Hearing the news, Theodosius traveled to the cave to venerate the seven, but after talking to the emperor, they once again fell into a deep sleep. Despite the popularity of the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus during the Middle Ages, its appearance as a theme in French stained glass is highly unusual; no other extensive cycles predate the glass from the nave of the Cathedral of Rouen. The attribution of the Seven Sleepers series to the Cathedral of Rouen is based on its similarity to a window devoted to Saint John the Evangelist still found in the cathedral's nave. Both share a light, bright palette of unusual colors. The expressive, boldly silhouetted figures and the dramatic narrative make these windows among the finest of the period, rivaling the stained glass at the cathedrals of Chartres and Bourges. Theodoseus Arrives at Ephesus Stained Glass c. 1200

Illuminated Manuscript c. 1325

Leaf from a Missal, ca. 1270–1290 French; Made in Paris Tempera and gold leaf on parchment; 8 3/4 x 5 7/8 in. (22.2 x 14.9 cm) Purchase, Bequest of Thomas W. Lamont, by exchange, 1981 ( ) Description Provenance/Ownership History Printing Instructions Description An exquisite example "of that art which, at Paris, they call illumination," this painting on parchment was once set into a missal, containing the liturgical texts for the celebration of the Mass. Here, as Jesus hangs on the cross, flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John, the diminutive figure of Adam rises from a sarcophagus at the foot of the cross and collects the sacrificial blood that spills from the wound in Christ's foot in a chalice of the type used in contemporary services. Two angels bearing symbols of the sun and the moon emerge from clouds at each of the upper corners. The figures are dramatically isolated against alternating panels of diapered and tesselated backgrounds. The pigment used for flesh tones has flaked away in several areas, exposing the refined pen-work underdrawing; the head of Saint John is the best preserved. The miniature is closely related to a missal and epistolary for Franciscan use made for Jean Cholet of Nointel when he was cardinal from 1290 to These deluxe Parisian missals were ornamented with a series of historiated initials that incorporated illustrations of the principal feasts of the Church year. Full-page illuminations representing the Crucifixion and Christ in Majesty preceded the Canon of the Mass (that part of the service when bread and wine are consecrated as the body and blood of Christ).

Virgin & Child with Saints Tempera on Wood c. 1230
Virgin and Child with Saints Berlinghiero (Italian) Medium: triptych (tabernacle); tempera and gold on poplar panel Measurements: Overall: 42.6cm x 51.5cm, Center: 42.8cm x 27.cm, Left: 42.5cm x 12.5cm, Right: 42.4cm x 12.cm Date: c. 1230s Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust Location: Gallery 213 Inscription: Inscribed on central panel flanking Virgin: MP OV. On back of panel: XC IC HS NI This small altarpiece, intended for a domestic interior or private chapel, consists of three panels, allowing it to be folded and easily transported. Surrounding the Virgin and Child in the center are various saints. On the left is Saint Andrew crucified, with St. Francis and St. Paul below; on the right, Christ with the instruments of the Passion, and St. Stephen and St. Lawrence below. The long expressive lines that define the clothing and hands of the figures are typical of Byzantine painting, which spread from Constantinople to Italy in the Middle Ages. Berlinghiero is one of the earliest Italian painters known by name. He lived in Lucca, the most important artistic center in Tuscany before the rise of Siena and Florence. Berlinghiero headed a large, influential workshop that included his sons. Virgin & Child with Saints Tempera on Wood c. 1230

Virgin & Child Enthroned
Tempera & Gold on Wood c. 1350 PaintingsNext | Previous Virgin and Child Enthroned Master of San Lucchese (Italian) Medium: tempera and gold on wood Measurements: Framed: 122.5cm x 61.cm x 7.5cm, Unframed: 113.7cm x 54.cm Date: c. 1350 Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund Location: Gallery 213 Seated on an elaborate throne, the Virgin's weighty majesty emphasizes her role as the Queen of Heaven. At the same time, she holds the infant Christ tenderly and looks down warmly to the side. To the right flutters a goldfinch, which has just flown from Christ's upraised hand. Legend holds that a goldfinch, a bird that nests in thorny trees, removed a painful spine from Christ's crown of thorns. A drop of Christ's blood fell on the goldfinch, forever giving the bird it's red markings. The artist's name is not known, although he was a highly trained professional. The painter is named after an altarpiece in the church of San Lucchese in Poggibonsi, near Siena. Because Cleveland's picture is identical in style, it is also attributed to that master.

Virgin and Child Tempera & Gold on Wood c. 1350 Virgin and Child
Lippo Memmi (Italian) Medium: tempera and gold on wood Measurements: Unframed: 71.3cm x 44.cm Date: c. 1350 Gift of the Hanna Fund Location: Gallery 213 Like any small child, the infant Christ clings to his mother's clothing. He also holds a scroll that proclaims (in Latin) his special destiny, "I am the way, the truth, and the light." Likewise, the star-shaped ornament on the Virgin Mary's cloak emphasizes her importance. Called the Star of the Sea, the symbol represents her guiding role for humanity, as navigational stars do for mariners. Lippo Memmi was the brother-in-law of Simone Martini, an extremely influential Sienese painter. The two artists worked closely together, and this Virgin and Child reflects Simone's cool, aristocratic style. This small panel was probably a private devotional object displayed in a noble home. The raised decoration and elegant five-arched molding are original to the painting. To acheive these effects, the artist sculpted the wet plaster of the ground layer before covering it with gold leaf; in a few places this gold leaf has worn off, revealing the white plaster underneath.

Coronation of Virgin with Trinity
Oil on Panel c. 1400 The Coronation of the Virgin with the Trinity Rubielos Master (Spanish) Medium: oil on panel Measurements: Framed: 158.cm x 101.5cm x 10.cm, Overall: 144.6cm x 91.4cm Date: c. 1400 Gift of the Hanna Fund Location: Gallery 214 The Coronation of the Virgin celebrates Mary's ascent into heaven after her death. Surrounded by a flurry of music-making angels, the Virgin kneels to accept her crown from God the Father and Christ. Completing the Trinity is the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, touching its wings to their mouths. The painter takes his name from an altarpiece in the church at Rubielos-de-Mora, Spain. The piercing eyes and protruding mouths of the figures are characteristic of Valencian art of the time. The long thin fingers of the figures typify the International Style prevalent throughout Europe around 1400.

Christ & Life of St. Martin Tempera on Panel & Stucco 1250
Altar Frontal with the Life of St. Martin Spanish, Catalonia 1250 Tempera on panel and stucco 41 1/8 x 62 1/16 in. Acquired by Henry Walters, Surrounding the central figure of Christ in Majesty are scenes from the Life of St. Martin, which read (clockwise from upper left): St. Martin cutting his cloak in half to share with a beggar; St. Martin's vision of Christ clothed in the cloak; the soul of St. Martin carried to heaven by angels; St. Martin ordained Bishop of Tours. The panel, dated 1250 by the fragmentary inscription at the lower left, once served as an antependium, or altar frontal, in a Catalan church in northeastern Spain. Christ & Life of St. Martin Tempera on Panel & Stucco

The Destruction of Jerusalem
Tempera on Parchment c. 1415 Unknown French, Paris, about 1415 Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment 16 9/16 x 11 11/16 in MS. 63, FOL. 237 In the miniature depicting the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the Roman Emperor Titus, who directed the battle, sits enthroned in a tent while his soldiers storm the city. As is typical for the art of this period, the scene is anachronistic: the figures wear armor of the 1400s, and the city of Jerusalem is a medieval walled city with battlements, wood-and-plaster houses, and even a Gothic church. To give the illusion of recessed space, the artist used an intuitive rather than a mathematical perspective, stacking the farther buildings on top of those in the front. Despite this innovative method for representing space, he also used an un-naturalistic background of checkered squares for the sky, instead of blue paint. This miniature complements the only other full-page miniature in the manuscript, “Adam and Eve,” implying a parallel between The Fall and the eventual destruction of Jerusalem. Just as Adam and Eve were punished for disobeying God, medieval Christians believed that the destruction of Jerusalem resulted from the Jews’ failure to accept Jesus as the Messiah.

Letter “B” from Monk’s Breviary
Tempera & Gold on Parchment 1153

Tempera, Gold, Silver & Ink
Canon Table Page (Index to Gospels) Tempera, Gold, Silver & Ink c. 1120 Unknown German, Helmarshausen, about Tempera colors, gold, silver, and ink on parchment MS. LUDWIG II 3, FOL. 7V This German Gospel book opens with sixteen pages of canon tables, which function as an index to the Gospels, indicating by numbers where in each Gospel a particular event is described. Eusebius of Caesarea developed this concordance system in the 300s, and canon tables quickly became a common feature of medieval Gospel books and Bibles. As was traditional in medieval manuscripts, the canon tables in this book were arranged in architectural frames. On the last four pages of the tables, large arches enclose bust-length figures of the evangelist symbols. On this page, Saint Matthew’s symbol, the winged man, holds the gospel with his hands covered as a sign of reverence. Above the ornamented columns, a band announces the beginning of the tenth canon: Incipit canon X (Here begins canon ten). The artist used pattern in different ways to create a variety of effects. The sinuous shapes on the columns, for example, contrast with the angular forms that define the symbol’s drapery.

Ingeborg Psalter (Devotional Book) Tempera on Parchment Before 1210
before 1210 Illumination on parchment, 30,5 x 20,5 cm Musée Condé, Chantilly The picture shows a page from the Ingeborg Psalter representing the Pentecost. Beside the Bibles, the psalter was a popular type of manuscript in the twelfth century. The psalter was a private devotional book, often owned by people in some religious vocation. The psalters are expensive picture books with long series of illustrations prefaced to the main text. The Ingeborg Psalter was owned by the French queen Ingeborg, wife of Philip Augustus. It is an example of this type of devotional manual.

Psalter of Blanche of Castille
Illuminated Manuscript c. 1235 Psalter of Blanche of Castile c Illumination on parchment, 28 x 20 cm Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris This is a page from the so-called Psalter of Blanche of Castile representing the Crucifixion and Deposition. This psalter - according to a fourteenth-century tradition - belonged to Blanche of Castile (died 1252), the mother of Louis IX. It is a richly decorated book with illustrations arranged in roundels. This idea almost certainly derives from stained glass. Since the glazier was a specialized sort of painter, it is not surprising to find the two professions overlapping. Stained glass frequently mirrors the style of manuscript painting; and here the illuminator seems to be adapting to a page layout an idea taken over from the glazier.

Westminster Psalter Illuminated Manuscript c. 1200 Westminster Psalter c Illumination on parchment, 23 x 16 cm British Museum, London This page representing Christ in Glory is from the Westminster Psalter, executed for the Westminster Abbey. The painting of this psalter is remarkable for the fullness and softness of the style of the drapery. It is not known whether the Psalter was executed by a man trained in London.

Amesbury Psalter Illuminated Manuscript 1240 Amesbury Psalter Illumination on parchment, 30,3 x 21,6 cm All Souls College, Oxford This is a page from the Amesbury Psalter depicting the Virgin and Child with Donor. The graceful looping folds into which the drapery is caught was very popular in England. This psalter represents well the English illumination around 1250.

St. John the Evangelist Illuminated Manuscript c. 1150
2 Gospels Gospels. Meuse Valley, second half of the twelfth century. Vellum, 131 leaves, 314 x 212 mm. 76 E 17, fol. 100v-101r The Koninklijke Bibliotheek owes a large number of its Southern Netherlandish and French manuscripts to the brief period between 1815 and 1830 when the Netherlands and Belgium formed one kingdom. In those days King William I bought some large collections of manuscripts and early printed books from private owners, which he alternately placed in the Royal Libraries of Brussels and The Hague. One of his acquisitions was the library of the Belgian historian G.J. Gérard in 1818, which, besides containing mostly writings on Belgian history, included also a number of magnificent Southern Netherlandish illuminated codices. The collection was originally placed in the General Archives of the Netherlands and partly transferred to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in 1832. Thus this Gospelbook, which must have been executed in the Meuse Valley in the second half of the twelfth century, entered the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. It contains the text of the four gospels and is illuminated with ten canon tables (tables indicating the concordance between the parallel passages in the gospels) and portraits of the four evangelists. In three cases the portrait is put on the left-hand page, while the gospel text starts on the opposite page, with a conspicuous decoration of initials and coloured bands. This creates an attractive beginning of the gospel, as can be seen here, with to the left St. John the Evangelist with his symbol, the eagle, and to the right the initial words of his gospel ‘[In] principio erat verbum ...’ ([In] the beginning was the Word). The letters I and N of the first word have been worked into the background of the miniature. The bright red, blue and green colours and the division of the background into geometric areas are characteristic of Romanesque miniatures. The austere and imposing way in which the evangelists have been portrayed indicates that the painter, who had a somewhat archaic working method, may have used an Ottonian model of around the year He must have derived the postures of the evangelists and the motif of intertwined initials in the background from this model. So far it has not been possible to locate the actual centre or monastery where he must have lived. St. John the Evangelist Illuminated Manuscript c. 1150

Page from Bible 1443 11 History Bible
History Bible. Utrecht, Vellum, 248 leaves, 395 x 295 mm. Provenance: H. Wolff's antiquarian bookshop, The Hague, B 10, fol. 8r This exceptionally beautiful part of a History Bible contains the New Testament with The Destruction of Jerusalem, preceded by the Book of Psalms. The text was copied in 1443 by Gerard Wesselszoon from Deventer, a professional scribe, who must have been living in Utrecht at the time. The Utrecht provenance is also corroborated by the shape of the painted foliage in the margin, and by the typical Utrecht pen-flourishes adorning the smaller initials. The illumination consists of a column-wide miniature and a historiated initial at the beginning of each major section; 23 other historiated initials have been incorporated in the text. The first illuminated page of the book strikes us by its somewhat unusual lay-out. The text begins at the top of the left column with the prologue to the Psalms, which led to the rather peculiar position of the introductory miniature - David fighting Goliath - at the bottom of the page. The actual text of the psalm begins at the top of the right column with a historiated initial in which David, the author of the psalms, is shown playing the harp. Between the foliage round the text are six curious figures, the size of which is out of proportion to the rest of the illumination. The lower margin has to the left a musician with pipe and drum, in the middle a monkey tied to a block, and to the right a fool with a bauble. The right margin shows three dancers, two men with bells on their legs, and a woman with a kind of ring in her hand. This dance has recently been recognized as a morris dance, a folk dance in which several men court the favour of one woman. This dance, with strong elements of the dumb show and usually featuring a drumming piper and a fool, was rather popular in Western Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. It remains as yet an open question whether the figures have any connection with the beginning of the Book of Psalms, or have to be considered mere drolleries.

Locusts Come Upon the Earth
Tempera, Gold & Ink on Parchment 1180 Locusts Come upon the Earth c Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, 44,5 x 30 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The picture shows a leaf from a copy of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. It was produced in the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, Burgos.

Scenes From the Life of Jesus Painted Wood 12th Century
- Wood, 105 x 175 cm Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona The picture represents one of the most characteristic themes of Spanish Romanesque painting: the Virgin with scenes from the life of Jesus on either side of the central group; it was painted by the Master of Aviá, the master responsible for the altar in the church of Aviá. These scenes are well known even today to those who appreciate early European painting: represented from left to right are the Annunciation, then the Visitation (Mary's visit to Elizabeth, the mother of St John the Baptist); the upper right scene depicts the ox and the ass bending over the Child in the manger; the bottom left scene shows the three Magi guided by the star, while the lower right scene depicts Jesus being presented in the temple. The central figure of the Child on Mary's knee is not the small adult seen in earlier paintings: the artist has portrayed a lively child who seems to be leaping out of the architectonic frame, as if to acknowledge the welcoming gesture of Melchior. This panel reveals a much more 'modern' approach than that of the Master of Seo de Urgell who executed the rigid representation of the twelve apostles in Christ and the Twelve Apostles. The colours are brighter, the contrasts sharper, the figures more animated and the drapery less schematic; but because of the emphatic red of the cheeks, the lack of perspective and the stereotyped representation of the eyes, this picture is also a characteristic example of Romanesque painting. Scenes From the Life of Jesus Painted Wood 12th Century

UNKNOWN MASTER, Spanish (active 1100-1150 in Catalonia)
The Fight Between David and Goliath Fresco (mural) 1123 UNKNOWN MASTER, Spanish (active in Catalonia) The Fight between David and Goliath 1123 Mural, 82 x 75 cm Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona This mural, removed from the wall of the church of Santa Maria at Tahull, is one of the most famous surviving examples of Catalonian Romanesque painting. The artist of this painting is referred to as the Master of Tahull. The rigid hieratic saints or Christs enthroned seen in earlier works are here replaced by a vivid and expressive representation of the fight between young David and the champion Goliath, who is depicted in chain armour and armed with a spear and shield. When the fresco was first made it included a scene in which David and Goliath were depicted side by side, David using his sling and Goliath slain by the stone. These details have been damaged beyond restoration and there remains only this scene in which David beheads Goliath. Here too the colours have faded in the course of centuries. In the Romanesque fresco we see the decorative manner of representation characteristic of the Mozarabic miniatures, that is to say, the fight is not shown as taking place in any particular landscape setting, but is depicted against a background divided horizontally by lines similar to the fesses of a heraldic escutcheon. There is also some of the crudeness seen in miniatures, for example, the exaggerated size of the hands. But the fresco represents a conscientious effort to depict the story with great accuracy, for these murals served not only to decorate the church but also to instruct the people in Biblical history. The artist clearly attempted to give the faces of David and Goliath certain individual features, introducing also such realistic details as the carrion bird beside the body, the lively drapery of the cloak and the Jewish cap on David's head. The fresco dates from a period when the fight between David and Goliath was thought of as an Old Testament manifestation of the struggle between Christ and Satan.

UNKNOWN MASTER, Spanish (active beginning of 12th century)
Christ and the Twelve Apostles c Wood, 103 x 130 cm Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona The earliest surviving examples of Spanish panel paintings are the altar panels produced by painters active in the workshops attached to religious houses. These panels were intended for the decoration of altars and the choice of theme was confined to the symbolic representation of figures from the New Testament. Scenes from the lives of saints were but rarely depicted. In practically every one of these panels we find centrally placed in the composition the figure of the Virgin or of Christ, surrounded by a round or oval halo. Round the central figure are narrative scenes or a hieratic arrangement of the apostles. This panel, now in Barcelona, is a typical example of such a retable. Its painter is referred to as the Master of Seo de Urgell. There are innumerable contemporary miniatures in which the faces and the drapery of the garments have been painted in a similarly stereotyped manner. Every single figure is schematic: the apostles stand stiffly upright, each one holding some object by which he can be identified - and yet the artist has breathed life into these figures. Christ, judging the world, places his hand on a book with the very gesture that might be used by a student of the law as he closes the codex in which he has sought guidance in reaching a fair judgement. At the same time there is in the iconography all the naivete of folk-art: the detail and ornamental elements convey the painter's delight in unrestricted decoration. Christ and the Twelve Apostles Painted Wood c. 1100

Nativity Painted Wood c. 1200

Scenes From the Life of St. Benedict Tempera on Wood 1300
UNKNOWN MASTER, Spanish (active in the beginning of14th century in Aragon) Scenes from the Life of St Dominic Tempera on wood Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona This is the front panel of the altarpiece from Tamarite de Litera (Huesca province). This province was under strong influence of Castile and Aragon, this explains the early appearence of an altarpiece dedicated to St Dominic who was of Castilian origin. Scenes From the Life of St. Benedict Tempera on Wood

UNKNOWN MASTER, Spanish (active mid 14th century)
The Life of St Eulalia c Tempera on wood Cathedral, Palma de Mallorca The altarpiece has a composition characteristic of 13th-14th century Sienese painting. The figures and the scenes show the strong influence of Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The master of the altarpiece is referred to as the Master of the Privileges after he had illustrated the famous Majorcan Book of Privilegies of about 1334. The Life of St. Eulalia Tempera on Wood c. 1350

BERLINGHIERI, Bonaventura (active in mid-13th century)
Madonna and Child with Saints and Crucifixion Tempera on wood, 103 x 122 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence From the beginning of the 13th century the Berlinghieri, a family of painters (Berlinghiero and his sons Barone, Marco and Bonaventura), were working in Lucca. They were influenced by the new wave of Byzantinism which reached the peninsula after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders. The painting represents one of the earliest surviving examples of the 'Eleusa' Virgin, the 'Affectionate Mother', an iconographic model that was first used for portable household altars although it subsequently became increasingly po[ular and widespread until the end of the fourteenth century, being well suited to the emotional tendency expressed by Gothic art. Bonaventura Berlinghieri instils a liveliness into the figures and objects with a refined, almost miniaturist technique. There is, however, a clear reference to Byzantine models which allow the artist to express his lyrical mysticism. The painting comes probably from the workshop of Berlinghieri and it is dated variously to the second half of the 13th century. Madonna & Child With Saints & Crucifixion Tempera on Wood

CAVALLINI, Pietro (b. ca. 1250, Roma, d. 1330, Roma)
Annunciation 1291 Mosaic Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome There are seven representations decorating the triumphal arc and the wall of the apsis. The scenes are the Nativity of the Virgin, Annunciation, Nativity of Christ, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation at the Temple, Death of the Virgin, Donor in Adoration of the Virgin. These mosaics clearly demonstrate the transition from the Byzantine immobility to the style of the 14th century. The Annunciation with its architectural elements and plasticity is a good example of the stylistic changes gradually taking place in the last decades of the 13th century. Annunciation Mosaic

Nativity of the Virgin Mosaic 1291

The Deposition Tempera, Gold, Silver & Ink on Parchment 1469

Tempera, Gold, Silver & Ink on Parchment
St. Margaret Tempera, Gold, Silver & Ink on Parchment 1469 Detail views Dragon and eagle Lieven van Lathem Flemish, Ghent, 1469 Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, silver paint, and ink on parchment MS. 37, FOL. 49V According to medieval legend, Saint Margaret was an early Christian convert who was tortured and put in jail when she refused to renounce her Christian beliefs. While in jail, she prayed to God to show her the enemy who was fighting her, and a great dragon appeared and swallowed her whole. While inside the beast, Margaret made the sign of the cross, at which point the dragon's belly burst open, and she emerged unscathed. This image of Margaret rising unharmed from the belly of the dragon accompanies the suffrage of Saint Margaret. A golden cross appears above Margaret's clasped hands, a symbol of her faith and a physical representation of the sign she made while inside the dragon. Saint Margaret was a popular saint in the Middle Ages, often invoked by women in childbirth. According to her legend, just before her death by beheading, she prayed that any woman faced with a difficult labor who invoked her aid would give birth to a healthy child, just as she herself was safely delivered from the belly of the dragon.

St. Margaret detail: Dragon and Eagle

Okay, What Have We Seen? Religious Subject Matter & Symbolism

Lack of Individualization
Cookie Cutter Faces

Lack of Emotion: “Zombie” Look

Lack of Anatomical Realism
Check the Size of Mary’s Hand

Multi-Directional Feet

The Famous Mr. Sideways Head

Big Kid!

How old is this “baby” Jesus?

No Sense of a Real Body Under the Clothing
Pin the Hand on Goliath!

Composition: Lack of Single, Coherent Scene

Two Dimensional: No Depth

Why Do They Look Like This?
Monks, not Professional Artists Served Purpose: teach illiterates about Christianity Focus on Afterlife, not Secular world

Medieval Painting.

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Medieval Painting.

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Presentation on theme: "Medieval Painting."— Presentation transcript:

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About project

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