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Medieval Period
Art produced during the middle ages
Compare and contrast medieval artwork and Renaissance artwork
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Recommended: Medieval Period
Middle Ages Art and Music Pertinence to Literature
Medieval Times directly follow the period of the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages are recalled as unwieldy times. After the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages raised themselves up against odds to be a time of elegance and class. Not only was the sophistication of the age can be seen being altered in the specific expressions of music and art. The art and music within the Middle Ages brought sophistication, elegance, refinement, and new ideas into the world through beauty, love, and warriors, which all are applied in Sir Thomas Mallory’s novel of Le Morte D’Arthur through the sacred and secular world.
The music within the era begins by mirroring the religious outlook on the medieval world. The prime example comes through Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant are notes strung together that are performed in unison and are usually the same length. Monks or religious orders of men are meant to perform this monophony texture. Monophony texture is a simple notation is to be sung without the accompaniment of harmony. Polyphony texture, which is the accompani...
In terms of the technical differences between the art music of early times and that of the modern period (i.e., after 1600) we can identify five specific features that make post-1600 styles in music sound more or less "familiar."
“For over one thousand years the official music of the Roman Catholic church had been Gregorian Chant, which consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment” (Kamien 67). The credit for developing Gregorian chant music, also known as plain...
Leeming, David Adams. “The Middle Ages.” Element of Literature, Sixth Course. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1997. 72-88. Print.
By the end of eleventh century, Western Europe had experienced a powerful cultural revival. The flourish of New towns provided a place for exchange of commerce and flow of knowledge and ideas. Universities, which replaced monasteries as centers of learning, poured urbanized knowledge into society. New technological advances and economics transformations provided the means for building magnificent architectures. These developments were representative of the mental and behavioral transformations that the medieval world underwent and the new relationships that were brought about between men, women and society in the twelfth century. As in technology, science, and scholasticism, Literature was also reborn with a new theme.3
This course dove into medieval history and touched on all of the most critical elements of the period giving a well-rounded look into the lives and cultures of the middle ages. As the class moved forward it became evident that religion is central to understanding the people, advances, and set backs of this period. We learned how inseparable the middle ages and religion are due to how completely it consumed the people, affected the art, and furthered academics. Since, there is a tendency to teach about history and literature separately from religion and since religion possessed a dominant position in every aspect of a medieval person’s life, while many of us had already looked into the period we missed some crucial cultural context allowing
...ugh many people considered the Middle Ages as an era where nothing happened, my paper conveys that point that lots of territorial, demographical, cultural, economic, and scientific developments took place in the Middle Age. I hope that people could abandon their stereotype of the Middle Ages and could come to learn this colorful time period.
This piece communicates what was valued most at this point in time. Christianity was at the center of life in fourteenth century Europe. So much so that these artist were commissioned to create these highly valued religious pieces most for private purposes ,so the people could have a relic or icon to worship in their homes. Specific artistic conventions had o be followed when creating these pieces. The monarchies ruled through the church. There was huge emphasis on the man and afterlife, To ensure eternal salvation man devoted their lives to spreading and commemorating the word of Christ.
Within popular discourse, the historical period of the Middle Ages is synonymous with the term “Dark Ages”: how did this particular equation come about? The immediate connotations of the Dark Ages are clearly negative: they suggest oppression, ignorance and a period of motionless in human development. The reason behind this description of the Middle Ages is arguably the result of a contrast to the subsequent periods of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment: the Renaissance itself signals a “new birth”, whereas the Enlightenment clearly evokes images of a new insight and vision wielded by humanity. Accordingly, the negative values ascribed to the Middle Ages are the result of this historical period’s difference to the Renaissance. Such an account, namely, judges the Middle Ages from an entirely different world-view.
words that help capture what is medieval art. The artists behind these pieces of artwork
The word renaissance means rebirth in French. Later historians would claim and label era of the renaissance by the rebirth of approach and standards based on in traditional antiquity. The renaissance was from 1420 to 1600 and it was both historical and cultural. Some of the most notable events that occurred during this period was the end of the hundred-year war between England and France, Christopher Columbus heads for the new world, Ottaviano Petrucci publishes the Odhecaton which is the first book of music printed, Henry VIII breaks with Rome, declares himself the head of the church of England, and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. However, there are other countless events that took place this time period.
Music throughout the ages has changed dramatically. Starting in the Medieval period, from 400-1475, music was in the form of what is called the Gregorian chant. Instruments were very rarely used at this time. Since songs during this period were either troubadour or trouvere these chants had no real harmony. One example of this type of medieval composition is “Viderunt Omnes” by Leoninus. Like most Gregorian chants the texture of this piece is monophonic and polyphonic. “Viderunt Omnes” is a typical Gregorian chant in that it uses diatonic, not chromatic notes of the scale. Musical compositions during the Medieval period was made mostly by members of the church for the church. It was and is a very slow and steady movement that was meant to create a feeling of peace for worship purposes.
Music in the Renaissance differed from medieval music because Renaissance music tended to be more complex and polyphonic, while medieval music was often monophonic with one melody. Most music in the medieval era was written for religious services because the catholic church prohibited any other music. With the rise of the renaissance era, music was used for many other reasons. Composers created complex music by using notation and musical forms. During the medieval era, music often contained one tone and one or no instruments. Instruments were more widely accepted in music during the Renaissance.
K., Alchin . "Medieval Musical Instruments." Medieval Musical Instruments. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2014. .
The Medieval time period was an important era for the growth of culture throughout the entire world. We owe many innovations used in design, architecture and overall style to the works of the many artists that flourished in the middle ages. Each of the four periods of development were unique to one another, yet followed an overlying religious theme that defined the medieval times. The advancements made during that time were able to influence to the 800 years of art that lead up to present day, and still remain visually and architecturally beautiful.
‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, written by J.K. Rowling, is an excellent example of a modern novel that uses medieval influences extensively. Many of the novel’s characters are based on medieval ideas and superstitions. The settings in the book resemble old medieval towns as well as castles. The book is also full of medieval imagery such as knights in armour, carriages etc. Whilst there is no time travel involved in the novel, the medieval period is used to such an effect that the reader is encouraged to ignore the fact that the book is set in the present.