Blog #11 "Free Choice"

      
        My free choice topic will be on the  Medieval Arts of the Western world. A vast scope of time and place, there are over 1000 of art in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa. Art historians classify medieval arts into major periods and styles. Each region, mostly during the period of process of becoming  nations or cultures, no matter what you went for it had its own distinct artistic style such as Anglo-Saxon art or Norse Art. Anglo Saxon Art covers art produced with in the Anglo-Saxon period of English history. Norse Art is also known as Viking Art, which is a term accepted for the art of Scandinavia and viking settlements.

      Medieval Art classify periods and styles, with some difficulty. An accepted scheme includes phases of Early Christian art, Migration Period art, Byzantine art, Insular art, Pre- Romanesque, Romanesque art, and Gothic art. Early Christian art is the art produced under Christian patronage from the earliest period of Christianity. Migration art denotes the artwork of the Germanic people during (ca. 300-900). Byzantine art is just the name for the artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire. Insular art is the style of art produced in the Post-Roman History of the British Isles and is also known as Hiberno- Saxon art. Pre- Romanesque is the period in European art from either the emergence of kingdoms or from the Renaissance. Romanesque art is almost the same as Pre- Romanesque just that it happened from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style. Gothic art developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century.

    Now and days the type of art we see is a little different but the advances of art during these times are due to the changes in more liberal religious beliefs and the efforts. Three of the most important and famous artists and sculptors of the Middle Ages are Donatello, Giotto and Cimabue. Donatello contributed to the Medieval art forms of the Middle Ages dating from 1066-1485 and was famous for his Medieval Florentine paintings. On the other hand, Giotto began painting when him and others worked at the Basilica of San Francisco at Assisi, painting a fresco cycle with scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Cimabue was known as the " Father of Italian painting ", he made mosaics and paintings, which included the Frescoes of New Testament seen in the upper church of St. Francis of Assisi. He was the last great painters who worked in the Byzantine tradition but also a founder of the movement towards greater realism which culminated in the Renaissance.

                                          http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-art/