Ancient Through Medieval 2D Art - AP Art History

St. Stephen is sometimes referred to as "the Protomartyr," as he was the first martyr recounted in the Bible, as his testimony of a vision of Christ to the Jewish leadership caused him to be stoned. This story made him immensely popular from the rise of Christianity through the Middle Ages, and St. Stephen became a common depiction in icons, paintings, and stained glass. St. Stephen is recognizable through having a stone implanted in his skull.

The Greek cross has four equal-sized arms. The Latin cross has a longer vertical section with shorter arms on the sides.

The image of Christ Pantocrater suggests that Christ is the all-powerful ruler and judge of humanity. It is a popular depiction in many Byzantine churches.

A nimbus is a halo that appears painted around the head of a holy figure to symbolize his or her divinity.

Vellum is a calfskin surface prepared for painting. It is often used for manuscripts (handwritten documents or scrolls).

Although there are an unfortunate few surviving examples of Romanesque stained glass, the first examples of stained glass are remnants from the beginning of the Romanesque era. The larger quantities of stained glass from the Romanesque period have been dated to its later years.

St. Stephen is sometimes referred to as "the Protomartyr," as he was the first martyr recounted in the Bible, as his testimony of a vision of Christ to the Jewish leadership caused him to be stoned. This story made him immensely popular from the rise of Christianity through the Middle Ages, and St. Stephen became a common depiction in icons, paintings, and stained glass. St. Stephen is recognizable through having a stone implanted in his skull.

The Greek cross has four equal-sized arms. The Latin cross has a longer vertical section with shorter arms on the sides.

The image of Christ Pantocrater suggests that Christ is the all-powerful ruler and judge of humanity. It is a popular depiction in many Byzantine churches.

A nimbus is a halo that appears painted around the head of a holy figure to symbolize his or her divinity.

Vellum is a calfskin surface prepared for painting. It is often used for manuscripts (handwritten documents or scrolls).

Although there are an unfortunate few surviving examples of Romanesque stained glass, the first examples of stained glass are remnants from the beginning of the Romanesque era. The larger quantities of stained glass from the Romanesque period have been dated to its later years.

In the Christian tradition, Jesus is said to have given Peter the keys to his Kingdom, which the Roman Catholic church interpreted as making Peter the first Pope. In the highly symbolic and representative religious art of the middle ages, illiterate viewers could recognize St. Peter in painting by seeing him holding a set of keys.

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most famous and well preserved Medieval tapestries, a common artistic form of the time period that served as a pictorial chronicle. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the conquest of England by William II, Duke of Normandy, in 1066, and his defeat of the English King Harold Godwinson. The tapestry represents a certain kind of Romanesque art on a grand scale that has not survived in large numbers, while also serving as a historical record of William's conquest.

Iconoclasm refers to the destruction of religious images. A government-led iconoclasm occurred in the Byzantine era after the reign of Roman Emperor Justinian saw an increase in the creation of icons.

John the Baptist is one of the most significant figures in Christian history, and was a frequent figure in Medieval art. He is easily identified with his cloak of camel hair, a description taken from the Gospel of Mark. John the Baptist is also usually depicted with a dove, as both were seen as signals of the coming Messiah in Jesus Christ.

Key words identifying Byzantine art are flat, floating, frontal, and gold. Rather than the realism and naturalism of Greco-Roman art, Byzantine art is focused on the spiritual or other-worldly. Therefore, it is less realistic, and shows its figures as more floating and unconnected with this world.

The Bayeux Tapestry was notable as one of the first large scale pieces of art to celebrate and record a massive military victory in Europe since the Romans. As painting and sculpture had significantly faded in scale since the fall of the Roman Empire, tapestry was one of the few artistic mediums that was available to the Norman leaders who created it. With William the Conqueror being a foreign King in England, it also was created to glorify William and show the failings of the defeated English armies.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Odo\_bayeux\_tapestry.png

This work of art is known as "The Justinian Panel," precisely because it depicts the Emperor Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire. Justinian reconquered the fallen Western portion of the Roman Empire, which included the Italian Peninsula, where this mosaic is located in Ravenna's Basilica of San Vitale, and he is appropriately represented in honor and glory. While surrounded by bishops and officials, Justinian is the only figure in the traditional "Tyrian purple" of Royalty in the Roman Empire and Medieval Europe, as well as being shown with a posthumous halo, showing his status as a Christian saint.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emperor\_Justinian\_%26\_entourage\_in\_St\_Vitale,\_Ravenna.JPG

The Wilton diptych is a piece of medieval art for remarkable for being a surviving example of the traveling altarpiece. Made for and featuring King Richard II of England, who ruled between 1377 and 1399, the Wilton diptych is a two-paneled piece with one side featuring the Madonna and Child surrounded by angels, facing Richard with three saints, John the Baptist, and the English Kings Edmund the Martyr and Edward the Confessor. Richard was an avid patron of the arts and collector of paintings.