Architecture, Artwork, and the Four Books



Architecture, Artwork, and the Four Books

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures related to the architecture, artwork, and the four books that we have read thus far in the course. In this paper, we will determine the mindset and context of the period in which each was written, built or painted. We will also relate the material of the books with the middle-ages, and also examine the impact of these themes on the period. Following are the books that will be analyzed in this paper,

1.Confessions

2.El Cid

3.Yvain

4.Dante's Inferno

Discussion & Analysis

Literature in the Middle Ages

In medieval Spanish literature begins with lyrical works: the jarchas, from Arab culture and its literature. This was until the eleventh century. After starting with Germanic and French influences, Epic Literature: Songs and Romances of Deeds.

El Cid

The Poem of the Cid is the oldest epic poems, has almost completely preserved. Menéndez Pidal provides a set of data and arguments for locating and identifying the author: It was written around 1140, forty years after the death of the Cid. The text is now preserved a copy signed by Per Abat in 1304. The original authors must have been two, whose names are unknown. The first must have been a minstrel of San Esteban de Gormaz, which would establish the general plan of the work. The second, of Medina, reformed the work of the first passages and introduced fictional elements which were missing in the first version.

The most famous medieval work about El Cid is Cantar de mío Cid, also known as Poema de mío Cid. It is the only complete epic poem in Spanish surviving from the Middle Ages. Early scholar Ramón Menéndez Pidal believed it had its origins, like the French chansons de geste, in the song of a minstrel and that it was written down before 1140. Most scholars now believe the poem is a purely literary work, written around 1207, the date found in the only surviving manuscript from a nunnery in Vivar

The details of the Poema (poem) show that the author had an interest in genealogical and legal matters. He knew the Song of Roland and possibly other 12th-century French epics. He also may have had access to documents about El Cid contained in Spanish archives in Salamanca, which enabled him to fill the poem with the names of people who appear in historical records of the time

As most notable characters of the poem often noted:

His realism and historicity in the characters, places cited and the battles that occur.

The sobriety and movement due to his direct style.

The reflection of the contemporary society of the Castilian hero.

His great linguistic value.

His characters are of great psychological value.

The pejorative term "Gothic" was invented by Renaissance scholars with a sense of contempt for an art considered barbarian (the "art of the Goths"). With the Gothic produces one of the most radical stylistic ruptures ...