What is art?

Art is all around us. It is a form of expression. It can be seen in sculptures, architecture, and paintings. Art is something that is aesthetically appealing to not only to our eyes, but our senses as well. It should have color, texture, patterns, unity, balance and focus. Buildings, particularly churches, should have exquisite architectural feats. Most importantly, art should serve a purpose and have a function. The Gothic period truly defines what art is and demonstrates all the characteristics of what makes something a work of art, from the creations of life-like sculptures, to the use of polychromatic mosaics to create stained glass windows, and most significantly would be the use of flyting buttresses.
During the years 1100-1400, also known as the Gothic period, there was a separation of church and state. However, “it was in the service of the church, the most prolific builder of the Middle ages, that the new architecture evolved and attained its fullest realization” (Gothic Art and Architecture). Most churches are English Gothic in style and are considered to be plain, even though they contain very ornate carvings. Sculpted figures no longer had to be symbolic. While the figures were still thin and elongated, artists of the Gothic era, now separated the sculptures from columns and used techniques like cloth or draping, to suggest depth, movement, and life. Sculptures during this era had begun to “assume a feeling of grace, sinuosity, and freedom of movement” (Gothic Art and Architecture). The Apostles which is in Amiens Cathedral in France has all the characteristics of what makes something a true piece of art. It has texture, drapery to suggest depth and movement, and the facial structures, as well as the positioning ...

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...which served to let light in, as decoration, and to teach biblical stories. These churches are also adorned with magnificent flying buttresses. The art from this era is simply breathtaking. It has both a purpose and a function. It’s not something that will ever go out of style. It is sure to leave its mark for many more generations to come.

Works Cited

“Gothic Architecture and Art.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press, Sept. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
“Gothic Art and Architecture.” Funk and Wagnails New England Encyclopedia. World Almanac Group, Inc. 2009. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.
Sheppard, Laurel. “Stained Glass.” How Products Are Made. 1996. Enclclopedia.com. 10 Apr. 2014. http://www.encyclopedia.com.
“Stained Glass.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2013. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Arp. 2014. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-stainedg.html.