European Medieval Architecture

Introduction

This paper has been based on medieval art and has been focused more particularly on Gothic architecture. The paper discusses the concept of monastery which covers the concept of city life compared to the country Medieval Europe. Much focus has been laid on content of art history especially Romanesque to Gothic religious architecture.

Discussion & Analyses

Romanesque

It was during the eleventh and the twelfth centuries that Romanesque prevailed in medieval Europe. Since Roman Imperial Architecture, this was the first pan-European style, examples of which can be found from various places worldwide. Romanesque was not contemporary but with it came modern scholarship that was invented and was similar to Roman architecture with regards to forms and materials. The characteristics of Romanesque can be described by pointed arches, barrel vaults and cruciform piers. Emergence of Gothic architecture took place in the eleventh and twelfth centuries with regards to the projects that were built more particularly in France. However, they were combined after which they formed Gothic style in the form of church of Saint-Denis at the end of the twelfth century. The church has been built on the basis of Gothic architecture and the structure of the church is like skeletal stone with the usage of glass, wall surfaces have been covered with external flying buttresses. Moreover, the arches are pointed, columns are clusters and there are pinnacles and spires that are pointed sharply (Macdonald, pp.10).

Gothic Art

Gothic art is defines as “the painting, sculpture, and architecture characteristics of the second of two great international eras that flourished in western and central Europe during the Middle Ages.” Gothic art materialized around the middle of the 12th century around Paris and it spread throughout Western Europe. The term “gothic” was first used by Italians in the 15th and 16th century referring to the Germanic invaders (Goths) who had destroyed the classical civilization of the Roman Empire. Gothic architecture expressed the aspiration for divinity through the quest for height and luminosity. The style was adapted to all types of structures including meeting houses, market buildings, synagogues, palaces, residences, and town halls. As for the many types of structures that were changed, the Gothic styles in England, Germany, and Italy were all illustrating differences and similarities (Keen, pp. 60).

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a vast historical period spanning more than a millennium. Although sometimes there is no full agreement on the dates that start and end of this stage, normally, and as a matter of the convention, is between the fall of Western Roman Empire in 476 and the discovery of America in 1492. These dates have enough historical significance to narrow conceptually the Middle Ages but of course nothing more than simple references, because history is multidimensional. The very name of the Middle Ages, like many others that are used to describe artistic movements of this period, there is nothing more than a pejorative term disqualifying men who invented the "Renaissance" to describe what they considered a dark stage and transition between the great ...