The Comparison of the Different Artistic Skills in the Early Ages - Essay Example

Comparative Essays Affiliation Comparative Essays Introduction The history of art is very important to scholars as it gives thedevelopment of the artistic skills from the earliest periods in history. There are various critical periods such as the development from the scroll to the use of bound books in Europe in the early middle ages. There were various projects such as the Charlemagne’s projects to create an art culture in Rome leading to accomplishments of several monastery designs especially by the Carolingians. The other materials used for decoration were metals, ribbon, and animal interlace in religious decorations. The comparison of the different artistic skills in the early ages is of great importance. 1. Comparison between The Bayeux Tapestry and The column of Trajan The Bayeux Tapestry is a cloth embroidered, which is 70 meters long and 50 centimeters tall denoting the events that led to the conquest of England. The embroidery concerns William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex and later the king of England. The Bayeux is an achievement of Norman Romanesque and has lived for nine centuries (Foys, 2006). The cloth has an exceptional length and its colors are very fresh, which makes it quite fascinating. The tapestry has fifty scenes embroidered with woolen yarns of several colors. There is a belief that its commissioning was by Bishop Odo and was made in England in the 1070s. The cloth is on display every year in Bayeux Cathedra and in 1729; scholars discovered it at the time of its display. Currently, the display of the tapestry is at the Musee de la Tapissserie de Bayeux, Normandy in France. The column of Trajan is a 28-foot tall victory column that stands on top of a large pedestal carving using the relief of the spoils of war (Packer, 1997). Trajan was the first emperor to be buried inside the Pomerium after his death. The column is wrapped in a spiral relief from its top to its bottom, which is 625 feet depicting Trajan’s two military campaigns against the Dacians. There are more than 2,500 figures in over 150 episodes of the Roman army preparing for war and the emperor addressing the troops among others as Packer (1997) notes. Many of the scenes are for preparation of the troops and only a quarter depicts actual battles. The Column of Trajan and the Bayeux Tapestry have a similarity in their sizes as shown by their lengths. The Tapestry is 230 feet while the Trajan is 28 feet. The Trajan column is shorter that the tapestry and carved. Both represents artistic skills and have lived for a very long period. The Tapestry was done in 1070s while the Trajan was built in 112 CE and both were very significant for the emperors of the kingdoms. The two historical embroideries relate to the Roman Empire indicating the importance of Romans and its emperors. The biggest ideas depicted by the two pieces of arts are the significance of the Roman Empire, its leadership, and battles fought to retain it in the early medieval era. 2. The Barberini Ivory and The Equestrian Portrait The Barberini ivory represents the emperor as the triumph victor inform of Byzantine Ivory leaf from an imperial diptych. The ivory leaf dates from Late Antiquity, which is in the Louvre in Paris, France and dated in the early 6th Century in which the emperors identity is Justinian according to Rupley (2009). The historical document is linked to queen Brunhilda of Austrasia and on the back, there is a list of the kings of Frank and the Brunhilda. The position of the queens of the Frank royal families and the emperor accompany the conquered barbarian trousers. The crouching allegorical figure represents a territory conquered or reconquered holding the foot in submission or thanks giving. There is a soldier carrying a statuette of victory and above Christ is being flanked by two angels showing that he reigns above and the emperor below. The Equestrian portrait of Charlemagne or Charles the Bald was built in the 19th century with bronze. The statue is from Metz France and done by the Carolingian art. The portrait belongs to the Carolingian emperor riding a horse and putting on emperor clothes. He is also holding a robe on his left hand, which is outstretched symbolizing domination and Roman Empire’s power. The other notable details of the equestrian are the large eyes, gartered leggings, Frankish mustache, and a sheath sword (Frankish, 2006). The portrait is similar to the Barberini ivory as they all represent emperor’s powers in the early medieval era. The Barberini was built in the 6th Century while the equestrian was built in the 19th century with bronze to represent the emperors. Both portraits are from France representing a common origin and culture. In both the horse is very important and represent the royal families since the emperors commonly use it. The portraits are of great importance as they denote the power of the emperors, especially in the early period. The ideas portrayed by the portraits are the significance of the emperor to the people and the respect he gets from his subjects. The portraits were made to preserve the culture of the France in the earlier times by Carolinian art. There is a big difference in the two portraits as shown by the artists with the Barberini portrait denoting Christ reigning above and the emperor reigning below or the earth. The equestrian portrait shows only the emperor ruling the earth. 3. The Dome of the Church of the Dormition and The Dome in Front of the Mihrab The dome of the church of the Dormition in Greece between 1090 and 1100 represents the ascension of Virgin Mary after her death (Kleiner, 2012). The portrait creates a mystery out of space and is located in the Byzantine monastery and octagonal in shape. The Kotholicon Church houses mosaics from the early Komnenian period with a representation of the Christ Pantocrator image, which is inside the dome. The Dome in Front of the Mihrab, great Mosque was build between 961 and 965 in Cordoba, Spain is highly decorated and celebrated. The mosque has the private space for the ruler and is the first Islamic dynasty in Spain (Fuentes, 2012). The dome as an octagonal base and has arcuated squinches built by Byzantine Craftsmen. The dome Mosque is one of the greatest medieval buildings by Christians and Muslims. The main similarity of the dome Mosque and the dome of the church of the Dormition is that both were built by the Byzantine Craftsmen and highly decorated with precious metals. Both were worship places, octagonal in shape and had a dome shape making them unique. The main difference is that the dome of the church of Dormition belonged to Christians while the dome Mosque belonged to Muslims. The two domes were in different periods such that the dome of the church was between 1090 and 1100 while the dome Mosque was built between 961 and 965. The church was in Greece while the Mosque was in Spain, but the similarities between the two are of Great importance as they represent the earliest artistic skills by the Byzantine artisans. The big issues illustrated by the comparison of the two domes are the artistic skills and the religious significance of the two buildings. 4. The Lindau Gospels and The Reliquary of Saint Foy The Lindau Gospels are manuscripts with a crucifixion in the front cover in Saint Gall, Switzerland in 870. The book has illuminated text and has metalwork cover by Carolingian work and the text of the gospel book was written and decorated by Abbey (Schutz, 2004). The back cover of the book is older that the text and the assumption is that it was added from another book. The design has a cross with a figure of Christ and four evangelists with their symbols in the corners. The upper cover has a cross with a crucifixion scene carrying a figure of Jesus on the cross. The two are also smaller ones for the Virgin Mary and John the evangelist below the arms of the cross. The personification of the sun and the moon, Sola and Luna are on the top of the cross. The border has hems held in Carolingian Plant motif settings bringing a fine execution. The reliquary of Saint Foy is a container that holds the remains of a holy person in Europe. The container’s original situation was in a monastery in Agen and had the remains of Saint Foy condemned to death at 12 years on her refusal to offer sacrifice to pagan gods. The relic of Saint Foy brought many pilgrims and wealth to the town of Conques. The statue is beautiful with the date of reliquary estimated as between the 10th and 11th century (Kopirovsky, 2013). The statue is a representation of the Romanesque art and architecture made of gold, silver, jewels, and cameos. The main similarity between the Lindau Gospels and the reliquary of Saint Foy is that they all represent the early religious beliefs. The two were made of precious metals as the Lindau Gospels cover was made of metals decorated with gold and silver. Similarly, the reliquary of Saint Foy contained gold and silver among others. The two were in different periods with the Landaus Gospels (870), being earlier than the Reliquary (10th to 11th) Century. They were very important in the medieval period, as many believers trusted that they were holy and spiritually powerful. The Lindau gospels and the reliquary were objects of Christian worship and were highly decorated with precious metals, which makes them very significant for the faithful. The big issue illustrated by the comparison is the manner in which the faithful trusted the Lindau gospels and the reliquary of Saint Foy, as they believed that they were holy. 5. God as the architect of the world and The Pantheon Rome God as the architect of the world depicts God creating the world using the tools of Gothic builders. The portrait was from the moralized bible, in Paris, France between 1220 and 1230 in which God shapes the universe using a compass (Ralls, 2015). He makes a spherical sun and moon inside the spherical circle and unformed matter that will become the earth later. Gothic cathedrals had features such as pointed arches, flying buttresses, brilliant colored glass windows, and masonry rib vaults. There were also manuscripts illuminations that had Christian themes. The Pantheon Rome, Italy was a high empire between 118 to 125 CE with the Hadrian’s temple of all gods (MacDonald, 2002). The building had concrete innovations, which had a hemispherical dome. The Roman architects constructed the building with units of space shaped by enclosures. The interior of the Pantheon has an ocular opening to let in light in a dome shape as the sun moves across the sky. The thickness of the dome reduces towards the oculus as the interior symbolizes the earth’s orbit and the of heaven’s vault. The similarity between the pantheon Rome and God as the architect of the world is that the decoration of the interior was very important. The buildings were also for worship by the earliest believers and built of unique designs. The buildings belong to different eras and regions with the Pantheon in Rome and God as the architect in France. The buildings belonged to different periods in history illustrating the big ideas and creativity that the early architects had. Conclusion The medieval arts and creativity are very important today as they portray the development of arts through the ages. The comparison of the portraits, decorations, and monasteries demonstrates a step development from the use of scrolls, to books and from ribbon decorations to the use of metals and carvings. The development of arts and creativity in different periods demonstrates the importance of art in various places in the world. References Foys, M. (2006). The Bayeux Tapestry. Fuentes González, P. (2012). The Islamic Crossed-Arch Domes in Cordoba: Geometry and Structural Analysis of the “Capilla de Villaviciosa”. Frankish, L. (2006). Equestrian statuette of Charlemagne or Charles the Bald. 102078. Kleiner, F. (2012). Gardners Art Through the Ages. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning Custom Publishing. Kopirovsky, A. (2013). Christ: King and High Priest The Subject of Seniority and Hierarchy in the Christian Fine Art. Revista Teologica, 23(2). MacDonald, W. L. (2002). The Pantheon: design, meaning, and progeny. Harvard University Press. Packer, J. E. (1997). The Forum of Trajan in Rome: a study of the monuments (Vol. 31). University of California Press. Ralls, K. (2015). Gothic Cathedrals: A Guide to the History, Places, Art, and Symbolism. Nicolas-Hays, Inc.. Rupley, Z. S. (2009). Augustus, Justinian, and the Artistic Transformation of the Roman Emperor. Schutz, H. (2004). The Carolingians in Central Europe, Their History, Arts, and Architecture: A Cultural History of Central Europe, 750-900 (Vol. 18). Brill. Read More