Gothic

The Annunciation and Visitation, jamb statues of central doorway, west facade, Reims Cathedral, Reims, France.

The Reims Cathedral is a prime example of the High Gothic style in sculpture. The statues and reliefs of the west facade celebrate the Virgin Mary. Within this area is located a piece called the Annunciation and Visitation. It is also the place I would like to put most of my focus. The Visitation piece on the right contains both Mary and Saint Elizabeth. Both statues have a resemblance of Roman portriats. The reasons as to why Saint Elizabeth would be a part of Mary's story, would be because of her role during this time period as well. Having received the miracle of conceiving a baby at her old age, she was meant to bare John the Baptist. He is important due to his role of preparing the way of Christ. To the left, the Annuciation contains the angle Gabriel, bringing the news to Mary that she has been chosen to bare the Son of God. The Gothic statues are astonishing approximations of the Classical naturalistic style and incorporate contrapposto postures. There is a great rhythm of movement felt when looking upon these statues as there is the swaying of hips, knees are bent, and arms are set in motion. These jamb statues are actors in a biblical narrative. The storys that are being told are ones that influenced greatly the christian church. The stories narrated are ones that speak of miraculous accounts, consistent and necessary for the building up of the church. The roles played by the Virgin Mary, along with Saint Elizabeth, and the angle Gabriel are clearly illustrated, and beautifully rendered. Religiously there is a connection needing to be made by the viewer, in that they recognize the importance of these particular figures, and remember why it was they they should be honored and looked upon with great respect.

Romanesque

Sant'Ambrogio, Milan

The Church, erected in honor of Saint Ambrose, Milan's first bishop, is the central monument of Lombard Romanesque architecture. It has a nave and two aisles but no trasept. The main vaults are slightly domical, rising higher than the transverse arches. The windows in the octagonal dome over the lsat bay, provide the major light source, playing reference to the Dome of Heaven. The Milanese building does not aspire to the soaring height of the French and German churches. Despite the differences, the purpose and use of the church are comparable to the greatest structures. With high, groin-vaulted ceilings, there is the implication of reaching towards the heavens. The light source, however small it may be, directs the eye to the most imporant area of the church. As the light is coming from the dome, it is located just before the apse in which the most holy performances are conducted and most often contains an important relic of sorts, in order to remind the viewers/worshipers of more important matters.

Early Midieval

Doors with relief panels, commissioned by Bishop Bernward for Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, Germany.

Bernward placed the bronze doors at hte entrance to Saint Michael's fromt he cloister, where the monks would see them each time they walked into the church. The panels of the left door illustrate highlights from the biblical book of Genesis, beginning with the creation of Eve and ending with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, moving from top to bottom. The right door recounts the life of Christ, reading from bottom up. Together, the doors tell the story of Original Sin and ultimate redemption, showing the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the path back to Paradise through the Christian Church. The reliefs on the left correspond with the reliefs on the right, prefiguring the Old Testament with the new.

Upon entering the doors to Saint Michael's , all who come across them are meant to be drawn in to the stories and the events that took place for the coming forth of the church. If I were one to come across these doors, the examination thereof would be quite the experience. With the added intrest in comparing stories, and seeking out similarites, I feel that it encourages thought. With these thoughts, it is hoped that the viewer might be reminded of the accounts recorded, to be encouraged enough to enter in and take upon themselves the salvation provided to them within the wall of the Church.

Islamic

Detail of a mosaic in the courtyard arcade of the Great Mosque, Damascus, Syria.

Beilieved to possibly be the work fo Byzantine artists and include elements common in Late Antique art, mosaics have been greatly influenced upon. Once having extensively covered the walls of the Great Mosque, a conch shell niche "supports" an arcaded pavilion with a flowering rooftop flaked by trutures showin in classical perspective. The Mosaics owe much to Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine art. This is where the idea that the artists were possibly Byzantine mosaicists. Temples, cluseters of houses, trees, and rivers are the most dominating forms that take place in the mosaics; stylized designs that also are found to appear in Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine ornament. "Zoomorphic" forms, human or animal, do not appear in either the pictorial or ornamental spces, as it true of all mosaics int he Great Mosque. Islamic tradition shuns the representation of fauna or any kind in sacred places. Many passages from the Koran describe the gorgeous places of Paradise awaiting the faithful.

Religiously mosaics are often found within the walls of the Mosques. All are made intricately, and often writing in arabic can be found within the images. Other than being pleasing to the eye, I do not feel that it plays quite the role that the images of Christ play within the Christian churches. But despite this, it still has an effect. Beautiful things have reason to cause contemplation. When looking into the designs created by mosaics, I feel a deep appreciation for the art of design.

Byzantine

Lamentation over the dead Christ, wall painting, Saint Pantaleimon, Nerezi, Macedonia, 1164.

Created with great emotional power, the lamentation of Christ is one of passionate grief. The artist captured Christ followers in attitudes, expressions, and gestures that clearly display the human emotions. Joseph of Arimathea and the disciple Nicodedmus kneel at his feet, while Mary presses her cheek against her dead son's face and Saint John clings to Christs's left hand. In the four gospels neither Joseph or Mary were present in the entombment of Christ. There inclusion here, as wlesewhere in Middle Byzantine art, intsnsified for the view the emotional impact of Christ's death.

Now to back away from the history, i would like to write a little more on the stylistic approach to this piece. I feel a very close connection with the sorrows shown upon the faces of Christ's followers. As such, it is necessary to entertain the idea that this piece has a similar connection with many, if not all of its viewers. The piece is beautiful, with its use of color and design. The angles lamenting above, the positions of the bodies surrounding Christ, all are done with a purpose it would seem, to draw the viewers eye to the main subject matter; Christ. The role of Christianity within the Byzantine time took on a great role, and became easliy recognizable. More and more artwork was produced, all having something or other to do with the life that Christ led. It is important to understand that as theses works of art began to appear within the walls of the churches, the viewers were provided the opportunty to asthetically connect with the ideals that they worshiped. To look upon pieces such as the Lamentation of Christ, they are able to see and connect with the emotions of those who were mourning among Christ, those who hand loved and charished Christ with all of their hearts. It causes the mind to think, to be drawn to a more spiritual rhelm, where thoughts are encouraged to remember what was given to them, in order that they might acheive salvation.

Late Antiquity

Suicide of Judas and Crucifixion of Christ, plaque from a box. British museum, London.

Either anRoman or northern Italian scupltor produced a series of ivory plaques for a small box that recounts the suffereing and triumph of Christ. The narrative beings with Pilate washing his hands, Jesus carrying the cross ont he road to Calvary, and Peter denying Jesus. The second sequence, and the one I would like to place my focus on shows Judas hanging from a tree with a bag of silver spilled open at his feet. The Crucifixion takes place to the right of this scene, and to the left stands Joseph of Arimathea and the Virgin Mary. On the other side, Longinus thrusts a spear into the side of Christ. The series is said to be one of the oldest cycles of Passion scenes preserved today. Presented as a beardless youth, Christ is shown to have a "superhuman imperviousness" to pain. Unrealistically his body, rather than hanging, is displayed with little weight shown. This could be considered an implication of a divine being who as conquered death. Whereas, to the left, Judas's body hangs limp.

The religious sense of this work is profound. The subject matter is nothing but religious, and it speaks powerfully to its viewers. The particular scenes that were chosen, all partiaining to the Passion of Christ, the story is a sad, but beautiful story. The style of sculpture is a strong piece of work, having been carved out of ivory.

Roman

Pantheon, Rome, Italy,118-125 CE.

Labeled the temple of all the gods, the Pantheon is recognized as one of the best-preserved buildings and most influential designes in architectural history. Hadrian and his engineers took advanced steps in architecture, there was an exploration of concrete structures, as they building layer upon layer to produce the dome, requiring great expertise precision and approach. The building up of the Pantheon was nothing but revolutionary. The interior of the structure containes still the original marble veneer of the walls, niches, and floors. It is said that upon entering the Pantheon the thing that is noticed the most is the use of space. Considering the thickness of the walls, the space within could easily bue seen as a place with little space. Rather, upon entering you become overwhelmed byt he amount of space that can be found, being broken up very little, with the opening of the Oculus 30 ft. above. As the sky shines through the top of the dome, that being the only light source, there is a great sense of space.

Moving on to symbolism, the Pantheon had been made for all gods. It has the ability, with the use of space alone with the open sky to invite, or draw closer to earth the heavens. Portraying the idea that they would like all gods to be a part of their lives. Hadrian was their emperor, as he had build the Pantheon, it represented to his people his views on allowing the gods to play a role in his dicatorship. Whether or not the people saw it as such, I cannot say. But it would be easy to think that by builidng the Pantheon, so monumental as it was, it had a great influence on the way his people looked upon him as their leader.