In medieval European culture, the influence of Christianity was dominant, which determined the social life style and social ideology at that time. Art inevitably has a strong religious color and acts as a spokesman for God and the church. So some people call European medieval art Christian art.
Medieval art is still rich and colorful, which is the synthesis of various cultural origins and laid the foundation for the development of modern European culture and art.
Christianity originated in the Middle East. When it was established as a cultural form in Europe, it also brought some cultural characteristics of the East. At the same time, the cultural traditions of ancient Rome, especially in architecture, sculpture and painting, have a long process of integration and transformation. Finally, after Christianity was established on the Mediterranean coast, it absorbed local cultural elements, the so-called "barbarian art", and produced some new styles in the process of expanding to Western Europe. It was not until the 10 century or so that a relatively unified Christian artistic style was formed.
Therefore, European medieval art can't be simply understood as religious art, but as Christian art based on the fusion of oriental culture, ancient Greek and Roman cultural traditions and barbarian culture.
Characteristics and Development of European Medieval Art
The Middle Ages was a period when Christianity prevailed and the Roman Catholic Church ruled the society. Christian views on marriage and sexuality dominated all sexual activities in Europe at that time. Religious asceticism is used by the ruling class, because denying sexual desire and the pursuit of happiness in this world will not make the people rise up against oppression and exploitation, and the position of the ruling class will be consolidated. Under the guidance of this thought, the church used its power to force priests to be celibate and ascetic, Christians prohibited sexual behavior, and Christian opposition even developed into opposition to marriage.
Section 1 Early Christian Art (2nd century-5th century AD)
In 3 13 AD, the Roman emperor Constantine issued the decree of Milan, which recognized the legal status of Christianity and declared this new religion, which had been suppressed by the Roman Empire for a long time, as the state religion. At this time, the Roman Empire was on the eve of disintegration. Christianity, as the belief and consciousness of the lower class, contributed to the end of the Millennium Empire in ancient Rome. After gaining legal status, it was used by the rulers as a tool to control people's thoughts. Early Christian art reflects some typical characteristics of this transitional period.
In 1 century, Christianity began to spread secretly in the Roman Empire. Because of their illegal status, believers can only hold religious ceremonies in private houses. This early secret religious place was called "folk ancient church".
Later, in order to escape the official search, the ceremony was moved to a public catacombs to bury Christians together. The ceiling and walls of the mausoleum are covered with murals of various biblical themes, so it has become a treasure house of early Christian art, which is mainly popular in the urban areas of Rome, such as the catacombs of Priscilla in Rome built in the 3rd century. It is famous for its zenith mural The Good Shepherd.
After the legalization of Christianity, its assemblies and ceremonies returned to the ground, and formal Christian churches began to be built. But Christianity has no architectural tradition of its own, so it has to borrow the ready-made architectural forms of Rome. There is a common public building in Rome, which is rectangular in plan, with a wide corridor in the middle and columns on both sides to separate it from the veranda. It is usually used for public meetings and is called "basilica". Christians moved it directly, added an altar at one end and decorated it with religious paintings, which set the tone for the style of western Christian churches in the future. St Peter's Church, built around 320 AD, is one of the largest churches in Brazil.
Christianity was forced to suffer for more than 200 years, and many believers died for it. The worship of "martyrs" is a part of the spiritual life of believers. Christians carve religious carvings on the sarcophagus of their dead relatives, pinning their faith and praying for the dead, but there is not much difference in expression style from the ancient Roman sarcophagus.
Byzantine art in the second quarter (5th century-65438+5th century)
Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of Byzantine Empire, was originally a Hellenistic city. In 330, Constantine the Great moved here, gradually replacing the status of Rome and becoming an important city in the political, economic and cultural center and trade exchange center of the East and the West in the Middle Ages. Byzantine Empire not only inherited the classical cultural traditions of ancient Greece and Rome, but also was influenced by oriental culture. The Christian culture of Byzantine Empire is the product of the political system of the integration of politics and religion, serving religion and kingship.
Byzantine architecture mainly inherited Roman style, and early church architecture mainly followed the circular or polygonal plane structure of Roman mausoleum and pantheon dome. The existing Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul is the representative of Byzantine architecture. It has a complex and well-organized structural system. The large dome, with a height of 60 meters and a diameter of 33 meters, stands high in the center, covers the main space, is integrated with the space covered by the front and rear domes and the smaller domes on both sides, and is connected with the side porch through columns. At the bottom of the main dome, there are 40 carefully arranged lighting windows. Whenever the sun shines, the vault of the church seems to rise in the air, giving people a mysterious feeling. /kloc-After Turkey invaded Constantinople in the 5th century, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque.
Mosaic occupies a particularly important position in Byzantine art, among which the mosaic of "Saint Vital Church" in Lavaine is the most famous.
Section 3 Romanesque Art (10th Century-12nd Century)
/kloc-after the 0/0 century, the economic level of western Europe improved and the feudal system was stable. Crusades and large-scale missionary activities expanded the power and influence of the church. With the development of economy and religious fanaticism, new churches and monasteries emerge one after another. In order to pursue more spectacular effects, these buildings generally adopt a system similar to the combination of vaults and beams in ancient Rome, and a large number of "commemorative" sculptures in Greek and Roman times are used to decorate churches. So the style of this era is called "Romanesque".
Romanesque art is still dominated by church architecture.
The rise of Romanesque churches is in a feudal state, so it has the characteristics of feudal castles. The stone wall is thick, the window is small, and it is high from the ground. Towers like bunkers are usually built in front of and behind churches to resist foreign attacks. The towering tower makes the Romanesque church stand out in general buildings and strengthens its effect as a memorial building. Later, the tower was gradually fixed on both sides of the west main entrance and became a symbol of Romanesque architecture. The famous heritage of Roman architecture is the Pisa church complex.
Section 4 Gothic Art (12nd century-15th century)
Italian Renaissance scholars called the art from 12 and 13 centuries to their time "Gothic".
Gothic art is a kind of architectural form, which first started in France at the end of 12, and then became popular all over Europe. Gothic architecture represents the most brilliant and greatest achievement in the feudal Middle Ages, which has extraordinary value from content to form, and has reached an amazing height from engineering technology to artistic techniques. It is the crystallization of people's wisdom at that time.
The architects of Gothic churches made use of the sagittal vouchers in Romanesque buildings and improved all the arches in the past, and made arc rib arches as skeletons, which extended upward. With a pointed arch, its span can be free. There are almost no walls in the whole building, and there are tall windows between the skeletons, which makes the interior tall and bright. Coupled with the colorful light from the stained glass painting in the window, people have a feeling of being on cloud nine. The most typical representatives are Notre Dame de Paris in France, Chatel Cathedral in France, Cologne Cathedral in Germany and Milan Cathedral in Italy.
Features of Gothic architecture:
1, the plane is cross-shaped.
2, the external use of spires.
There is enough light in the room and no one is there.
4. Most windows are inlaid with colored glass.
From the split of the Roman Empire to the bourgeois revolution, it is a period of medieval politics, and it can also be said to be a period of social history.
Literary division is the rise of Roman Catholic Church from secularization to Renaissance.
Militarily, the Huns' 80-year influence on Europe was the beginning of the Middle Ages, which led to the national turmoil in Europe. After the demise of the Eastern Gothic Kingdom, the rest went to France to establish the Frankish Kingdom, and the Visigoth Kingdom was forced to establish the Visigoth Kingdom in Spain. Vandals living in Spain were forced to establish the kingdom of Vandals in North Africa. The beginning of the Great Navigation Era, the primitive accumulation of capital, and the beginning of colonial activities in Western Europe are the end of the Middle Ages.