Architecture is a frequent setting for biblical stories, and in some cases buildings themselves play key roles in the narratives. Many of the manuscripts that survive from the Middle Ages contain texts drawn from the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible.
Initial I : The Rebuilding of the Temple (detail) in the Marquette Bible, Franco-Flemish, about 1270ĭiscover why the artist recast this scene in contemporary terms. Notice the tall lancet windows, which are common features of Gothic churches. Saint Hedwig is shown in blue, directing the building project where workers apply mortar and lay down bricks. This scene commemorates the patron's dedication of a new convent at Trebnitz. The foundation of a new church was one of the most common types of building recorded in medieval texts and images. Manuscripts sometimes depicted buildings associated with a book's owner, making a kind of visual inventory of architectural possessions. The dedication or renovation of a church, an important event, was often represented in books created to celebrate the occasion. Illuminated manuscripts often served as historical documents of medieval architecture. Listen to a curator discuss details of a medieval building that still stands today. Saint Hedwig and the New Convent (detail) in Life of the Blessed Hedwig, Silesian, 1353 Painted entirely in soft shades of gray, a technique known as grisaille, the scene features buildings and figures notable for their precision and sculptural qualities. The artist sets this story in a prosperous medieval Flemish city of the fifteenth century, offering an evocative view of its tall, stately houses and paved streets. Beyond the castles and cathedrals that spark our imagination, manuscripts often present the landscapes of the time filled with a variety of other domestic and sacred structures. Medieval buildings often seem far removed from our own modern architecture, but they are sometimes direct ancestors of structures we build today. Miracle of the Adulterous Woman's Repentance (detail), Lieven van Lathem, about 1460ĭiscover how the artist created a sense of three-dimensional space.
Details suggest medieval working methods, such as the planks of a wooden scaffold which support several men who receive stones hauled upward by a pulley system. The Old Testament figure Nimrod, king of Babylonia, oversees the construction of a tower. This exhibition explores how medieval artists incorporated architecture into scenes from scripture, literature, and history, manipulated the forms of buildings to convey symbolic meaning, and used architectural elements as decorative motifs to fill the landscape of the painted page. While many of these spectacular buildings no longer survive, vivid records can be found in manuscript illumination. The architectural wonders of soaring cathedrals and majestic castles are some of the greatest achievements of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Learn where the word "babble" originates. The Construction of the Tower of Babel (detail), in World Chronicle, German, about 1400-1410
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