Byzantine and Early Medieval Art

            During the decline of the Roman Empire and the upsweep of Byzantine and Early Medieval Art, society started becoming more reliant on religion, especially Christianity. Much of the art from this time depicts scenes from the Testaments and moves away from naturalism, like the Greeks and Romans had nearly perfected. Art from the Byzantine Era becomes more stylized than past art, which is unusual, because one would think that the beautiful naturalism of the earlier Greek and Romans would only progress. Two pieces in particular show this sort of stylization: “Presentation Page with Abbess Hitda and St. Walpurga” on page 450 and “Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples, Aachen Gospels of Otto III“ on page 451.

            These works are very similar in their styles and unique in the way that they do not represent the human figure directly. Proportions are off and even the buildings in the background do not follow a specific structure. In the piece “Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples,” we see elongated fingers, arms, and other appendages; the robes that drape over their bodies do not fold in a way that would be normal in the real world; and we don’t see anyone walking around with a halo. Also, I noticed that the man in the bottom left that is lifting his leg over the washbowl has a bend in his thigh that is unnatural. Even the colors in the sky are not relative to that of reality. The building on the background that is on a tower of some sort appears to be a kind of linear perspective, but it appears to be more toward the foreground than it should, making it seem small in relation to the characters in the piece. In all, the style has somewhat of a geometric feel to it, especially the buildings. The forms of the figures are less organic than that of a real human. However, there are many long, smooth, curvy lines used as well.

            In the piece “Presentation Page with Abbess Hitda and St. Walpurga,” the forms seem to have a lot more freedom. The buildings in the background follow no perspective, but are also quite geometrical. However, many organic shapes and designs are shown inside of these, as well as throughout the piece (such as the pedestal on which St. Walpurga stands). The figures appear to have more accurate proportions than that of the other piece, yet there are still minor cases where they are off. For instance, the feet of the characters are way too small for the rest of their bodies. So much that it hardly looks like they could support themselves. Another element of this piece that gives it its style is the use of bold lines. They are used throughout: on the buildings, the backdrop behind the characters, the saint’s halo, and the border especially. Also, the small details throughout are very uniform and bring the whole piece together nicely. These would be the designs around the border, in the buildings, on the pedestal, the robes of the figures, and even the writing around the saint can be seen as an addition to these forms.