1. Presentation by: Alexandra Kulik

2.  Originated in Paris
 Lasted 400 years
 Emerged initially through impressive architectural techniques—(pointed arch,
ribbed vault, flying buttress)
 Abbot Suger and St. Denis cathedral
 Usually described in terms of 4 phases:
Early Gothic, High Gothic, Rayonnant, and Flamboyant.
 Devotio Moderna

3.  New institution emerged in the opening years of the 13th
century: the University.
 Christian Humanism
 Rapidly increasing population throughout Europe
 Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas redevelop
Aristotle’s theories.
 Reign of Louis IX
 Increasing demand for scholarship
 Materialism into spirituality
 Production of books
 The Black Death
 Mendicants

4. • Geometric golden lines
of light
“My mouth
shall speak
• Aristotle and truth and
Plato on each side
wickedness is
an
• Laymen and clerics, abomination
bathed in the rays of
learning
to my lips.”

5.  Primary medias for painting:
panel, stained glass, fresco, illuminated manuscripts.
 Was often typological- illustrating the stories of the new and old testament
side by side.
 Depictions often included the lives of saints—but the images of the virgin and
the crucifix proliferated more than any other.
 Interested in describing the appearance of the natural and spiritual world.
 Glowing manifestations of Christian doctrine, encouraging worshippers to
follow in the footsteps of saints.
 “The Heavenly Jerusalem” –glorious jeweled houses of God. Crystalline
appearance, new visions of space, celestial light.
 Most figures were set within an architectural enclosure.

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7.  From the St. Louis Psalter
 Illumination on parchment
 B initial begins the first psalm
 In the top half, King David stares down
upon the bathing Bathsheba. In the lower half,
King David kneels in repentance before God.
 Enthroned by a fiery mandorla or almond-shaped
halo.
 Indicates that God is an object of higher vision.
 Abstract shapes and wavy lines were the
means of distinguishing different levels of reality
within a picture.

8.  From the Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden
 Illumination on parchment
 Inspired by St. Bridget’s vision of the Eucharist
 Direct line of sight to God, joining into
one single stream before entering the eyes
(vision) of the seated saint.
 Images like this allowed ordinary Christians
access to things beyond their own powers
of sight.
 Intromission

9.  Time had a purpose and plan, organized by God who existed outside of time
 Visual forms were often seen in an eschatological framework—past, present,
and future were often combined
 The future meant the end: The Last Judgment
 Visions of God were stimulated most profoundly by his absence
 People felt a more direct relationship with God
 The fragmentation of Christ’s life (and the Passion)
 Mystical Visions
• Plant life represented new importance given to perception and sensation
• Was not seen as “decorative” or as simple observations, devoid of meaning.
• Nature was not just a thing, but a force.
• A mixture of natural and supernatural elements

10.  God the geometer, architect of
all things.
 Construction of the cosmos with
His compass.
 Represents chaotic matter, from
which He shaped the universe.
 Unlike earlier medieval scenes of
creation, here God has to bend
his back in the hard work of
world-making.

11.  Wood with traces of paint
 Virgin Mary cradling the
dead body of Jesus
 The Lamentation of Christ
 Women’s spirituality focused
on Christ as the object of his
mother’s gaze
 Sense of heavy weight,
maternal love, tactile pain

12. • Tempera on panel
• Petalled roses set in the frame—signs of blood
and death
• Made for the purpose of empathy
• Eliminates the sense of vision while engrossed in
the sense of touch
• Angels hold up Christ with delicate fingers
• Christ is limp like a stuffed-toy and the
instruments of the passion are reduced to the
size of playthings.
• Tears were meant to be shed before images such
as this (as suggested by the black winged angel
with swollen red eyes)

13. Man outstretched in a
burial ground
transformed into a
symbolic Golgotha.
Devil represented
according to God bears a sword
medieval and orb of dominion
convention as a
naked babe
Man seized by
archangel at the
command of God