What Is Gothic Art?
A wide range of art forms were influenced by the Gothic religious art movement, which began with the construction of churches and cathedrals. In addition to these major arts, there were numerous minor ones, such as paintings, sculptures, stained glass windows, illuminated manuscripts, and more.
What does gothic mean in art?
Art in the Gothic style, which flourished in western and central Europe during the medieval period, is a combination of painting, sculpture, and architecture that was inspired by religious artwork. In some areas, Gothic art lasted into the 16th century, while in others it lasted into the 12th century.
What distinguishes a work of art as gothic?
A formal and structured appearance of classiness and uniqueness of detail, and an idealized quality define International Gothic painting from the 14th century onwards.
When did gothic art begin?
In the 12th century CE, during the Medieval Ages, Gothic art as a whole, including painting, architecture, sculpture, and other decorative minor arts, began in northern France. It lasted until the 16th century CE, at which point it was discontinued. After the Romanesque and even before the Renaissance, the European art world experienced the Gothic period.
What is the difference between gothic and renaissance art?
It was a shift from the devotional and religious nature of Gothic art to the more worldly nature of Renaissance art, which focused on issues like science and exploration.
Gothic origins
Monumental sculpture adorning the cathedral and abbey walls was the earliest form of Gothic art. The stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament were often juxtaposed in Christian art (see Medieval allegory).
Images of saints' lives abound. Over time, the Byzantine icon of Mary evolved into a more human and loving mother cuddling her child and swinging from her hip, with the refined demeanor of an aristocratic well-bred.
The gothic era
The Romanesque and Early Renaissance periods were sandwiched together by the Gothic era. As previously stated, "black" was never used to describe the Gothic era. As in Gothic architecture, the primary goal was to allow more light in.
The gothic style of art
As with sculpture, the Gothic painting evolved from stiff, clear hieratic forms to more relaxed and instinctive ones. It wasn't until the early 14th century until it began to be used to decorate retables, that its scale increased dramatically (ornamental panel behind an altar).
Paintings depicting scenes and characters from the New Testament, such as Christ's Passion and the Virgin Mary, were common. Gold was frequently used as a background color on these paintings because of their focus on flowing, contorted lines, fine details, and refined adornment.
Compilations evolved, and artists searched for ways to depict spatial depth in their works, which ultimately led to the mastery of perspective during the initial periods of the Italian Renaissance. They became more intricate, secular topics like hunting, chivalry, and historical accounts also appeared in late Gothic painting during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Gothic architecture
During the Gothic era, architecture was perhaps the most significant and innovative form of art. In the Middle Ages, medieval masons were faced with the challenge of required for the implementation of masonry ceiling vaults over long distances, which led to the development of Gothic architecture.
Problem: The massive stonework of the arching barrel and groin vaults put enormous downward and outward pressure on the walls by which the vault rested. This caused the walls upon which it was resting to collapse. It was therefore necessary to construct the building's vertical support walls to be remarkably thick and heavy to prevent the barrel vault from expanding outward.
The architecture of the high gothic style
First came Rayonnant (1200–80) and Decorated Gothic (1300–75) on the Continent and England, respectively, as a subset of each other. In this style, the geometrical decoration was applied to the architectural forms that had been established in the previous century.
Gothic architecture underwent a major shift during the Rayonnant style. Achieving great heights was a primary concern for Gothic architects up until around 1250 when they began to focus more on the rich visual effects that could be achieved through the creative application of ornamentation.
For example, pinnacles (stout upright members that stood on top of piers or buttresses), inlays, and particularly window tracery were used as examples of this type of decoration. The Rayonnant style's most recognizable feature is the enormous circular rose window that adorns the west facades of many French cathedrals.
Sculpture influenced by the gothic style
Because it was chiefly used to adorn the facades of cathedrals and other religious structures, the gothic sculpture was inextricably linked to architecture. Stone statues of saints and the Holy Family adorned cathedral doorways and portals all over Europe in the early days of Gothic sculpture.
Stiff, directly, simple, enlarged, and hieratic, the statues on the Royal Portal of Chartres Cathedral's Royal Portico (c. 1145–55) were little shifted from their Romanesque predecessors. It was only in the late 12th century and early 13th century that sculpture became more relaxed and naturalistic in its treatment of subjects (c. 1240).
At the same time that they maintain their majesty and monumentality from the past, these statues display individuality and poise that suggests a knowledge of antique Roman models among their designers while maintaining the dignity and architectonic of their forebears.
Plants were also taken more seriously by the early Gothic masonry, as evidenced by the realistically carved clusters of leaves that decorate column capitals.
Italian gothic painting
It is safe to say that the Byzantine Empire had a profound impact on the artistic traditions of Rome and Tuscany in the 13th century. Style shifts in Italy, as in the rest of Europe's Gothic decorative arts, tended toward realism. To model their figures, Italian painters began using light by the 13th century.
Additionally, they made significant strides in manipulating the linear perspective to enhance the sense of space in their artwork. In addition to this, the best painters honed their skills to produce figures that appeared to be exchanging messages with one another through gestures or facial expressions.
Gothic Artists
- Andrea Pisano
- Tino di Camaino
- Duccio di Buoninsegna
- Giotto di Bondone
- Simone Martini
- Filippo Calendario
