St. Matthew from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims, 816-835, ink and colors on vellum, 10¼” x 8¾”, Municipal Library, Épernay, France, Pulbic Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The ninth-century French emperor, Charlemagne the Great, promoted learning and culture by supporting several monasteries throughout his empire that collected and produced manuscripts. These monks in their scriptoria became the cultural army for the emperor. One of the most unique … Continue reading
Madinat al-Zahara workshop, Al-Mughira’s pyxis, 968 CE, ivory, 5.9” high, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The Musée du Louvre recently opened the doors to their new 32,000 square foot gallery space filled with Islamic art. It is the first big addition to the building since I. M. Pei’s glass pyramids were finished in 1993. Nearly … Continue reading
Wang Ximeng, Detail of A Thousand Li of River, 1113, ink on silk, 2’ x 39’ (full scroll size), Palace Museum, Palace Museum, The Forbidden City, Beijing, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Wang Ximeng was a prodigy artist working in China during the Northern Song Dynasty during the early twelfth century. He painted his masterpiece, A Thousand Li of River, a long landscape scroll painting, when he was only eighteen years old in … Continue reading
Dikka in the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, 1356 CE, marble, photo by Mbenoist, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation License.
Dikka (noun) An elevated platform upon which a cantor stands in a mosque.
Flying buttresses at Amiens Cathedral, France, c. 1220-1270, Photo by Holly Hayes, Creative Commons Attribution license via Flickr.
Flying Buttress (noun) A segmented (partial) arch on the exterior of a building that supports the walls. Architects and builders first used flying buttresses in the Gothic era which allowed them to keep the interior open and pierce the walls … Continue reading
Wenbi Pagoda in Changzou, 10th century, wood, Changzou, China, Photo by Jakub Hałun, Creative Commons Attribution License via Wikimedia Commons.
Pagoda (noun) A pagoda is a tiered building with multiple eaves found most commonly in the Far East. More often than not, a pagoda is a religious building used for the practice of Buddhism. The Wenbi Pagoda in Changzhou, built … Continue reading
Purse Lid from the Sutton Hoo Burial Ship, c. 700, gold, enamel, garnets, The British Museum, London, Photo by profzucker, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.
In an eighty-six foot ship, an Anglo-Saxon tribe from the seventh century buried their king with a plethora of treasures that he could use as he navigated the afterworld. During this period, as the Byzantine Empire was thriving in the … Continue reading
Limbourg Brothers, "The Procession of the Flagellants" from the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry, c. 1405-1408/9, ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum, 9⅜" x 6⅝”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Book of Hours (noun) A book used for private prayer, popular from the tenth through the sixteenth century in Europe, that has devotions to the Virgin Mary that are performed at specific hours of the day. These books were bestsellers … Continue reading
Crowds Gaze in Awe at a Comet, detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, wool embroidery on linen, 20” high, Centre Guillaume le Conquérant, Bayeux, France, Image on website of Ulrich Harsh, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The Bayeux Tapestry – which is not actually a tapestry, but an embroidered cloth – is not the first continuous narrative in Western art history. The Romans created them about 1000 years earlier (see, for example, the sculptural decoration on … Continue reading
Salisbury Cathedral, 1220-1258, Salisbury, England, photo by Gaius Cornelius, Creative Commons attribution license via Wikimedia Commons
Nave (noun) The central part of the interior of a church. The term derives from the medieval Latin word for “ship,” which is navis. The horizontal divisions in the nave of the Salisbury Cathedral dominate the vertical ones and are … Continue reading
West portal, tympanum with Last Judgment by Gislebertus, Cathedral of Saint-Lazare, c. 1120-1135, Atun France. Photo by Henri Moreau, Creative Commons license, via Wikimedia Commons.
This is not a threat. This is a promise. The reason the photograph above of this tympanum over a portal (sculpture in the space over the doorway) is so good is because it shows how ominous this sculpture appears to … Continue reading
Chi Rho Iota page, The Book of Kells, c. 800, ink and pigments on vellum, 13” x 91/2”, Trinity College Library, Dublin. Attribution: By Meister des Book of Kells. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
The ninth century in early medieval western Europe was an age of monasticism, and this is arguably the most beautiful product from the era. It is the crowning achievement of Hiberno-Saxon art, which really means Irish-English art. Another word for … Continue reading