RENAI

and-point, for we may truly say that, comparing it with the Greek art which had preceded it, or with the Italian art which followed it, that of the Middle Ages had no claim to the beautiful. On the other hand, it is full of i

f miniatures, or the illustration and illumination of MSS., which were the books of that time, and were almost without exception religiou

f art and letters, was in its A B Cs, or very smallest beginnings. The period between 950 and 1250 is often called the Central or Romanesque Period

Middle Ages, and this has some very interesting features

ARLY

sides of these passages, and there are some larger rooms or chambers into which the narrow passages run. There are about sixty of the catacombs in and near Rome; they are generally called by the name of some saint who is buried in them. The paintings are in the chambers, of which t

or by these paintings the early Christians desired to express their belief in the religion of Christ, and especially in the immortality of

of them: you will know what I mean when I say that not only was this picture of Moses striking the rock intended to represent

a painting in the C

ecoration

of S. D

have the effect of decorated apartments, just as was done in the pagan tombs,

f the border are the following Christian subjects: 1, David with the Sling; 2, Moses Striking the Rock; 3, Daniel in the Lion's Den; 4, The Raisi

express themselves without fear, the doctrines of the church and the stories of the life of Christ and the histories of the saints, as well as many other instructive religious

o true that at Ravenna the works of art have not suffered from devastation and restoration as have those of Rome. After the invasion of the Visigoths in A.D. 404, Honorius transferred the imperial cou

entation of Christ enthroned; below Him are the sacred rivers of Paradise; near Him are two angels and S. Vitalis, to whom the Saviour

from one of these, and shows the emperor and empress in magnificent costumes, each followed by a train of attendants. This e

and Attendants. From a mosaic

se of the later time degenerated, as did everything else during the Middle or Dark Ag

in ordinary conversation; it means the pictures executed by the hand of an illuminator or miniat

ed a high degree of perfection. Some manuscripts have simple borders and colored initial letters only; sometimes but a single color is used, and is generally red, from which comes our word rubric, which means any writing or printing in red ink, and is derived from the Latin rubrum, or red. This was the orig

one of the numberless designs that are used in them has its own symbolic meaning. The most ancient, artistic miniatures of which we know are those on a manuscript of a part of the book of Gen

ture from it represents Dioskorides dressed in white robes and seated in a chair of gold; before him stands a woman in a gold tunic and scarlet mantle, who represents the genius of discovery; she presents the legendary mandrake root, or mandragora, to the learned man, while between

e Herb Mandragora. From a MS

churches, convents, and schools. Thus the medi?val arts were practised in Gaul, Spain, Germany, and Great Britain. No wall-paintings or mosaics remain from the early German or Celtic

for the great emperor to introduce the arts into the Frankish portion of his empire. All sorts of beautiful objects were carried from Italy by the Franks, and great workshops were established at Aix-la-Chapelle, the capital, and were placed under the care of Eginhard, w

the work of the Italian miniators; and, indeed, gradually everything connected with art was declining in all parts of the world; and as we study its history, we can

, OR ROMANE

tion as entitled it to the rank of a noble art. But this was not true of painting, which was then but little more than the painting of the Egyptians had been, that is, a sort of picture

d so on, were the principal patrons of art, and they suggested to the artists the subjects to be painted, and then the pictures were used for the decoration of churches and other buildings used by the religious orders. The mo

personages often employed artists to decorate chapels and to paint altar-pieces for churches at their expense, for during the Romanesque period there was some painting on panels. At first these panel-pictures were placed on the front of the altar wher

. From a window in

g together bits of colored glass, and arranging them in simple, set and ornamental patterns. Such mosaics date from the earliest days of Christianity, and were in use as soon as g

honor to France. Remains of glass-painting of the eleventh century have been found in both these countries; but it is probable that five windows in the Cathedral of Augsburg

From the Cathed

nto England, together with the Gothic style of architecture. Very soon a highly decorative effect was given to glass-painting, and the designs upon many windows were very much like those used in the miniatures of the same time. The stained glass in the Cathedral of St. Denis, near Paris, is very important. It dates from about 1140-1151, and was executed under the care of the famous Abbot Suger. He employed both French and German

he three upper ones have simply ornamental designs upon them, and the six lower ones have pictures of sacred subjects. The one given here is an Annunc

when this front was begun; there are three windows, and their color is far superior to the glass of a later period, which is in the same cathedral. Th

of the Romanesque period, although they were much injured by the bombardment

e more elaborate Gothic manner had arisen; the quiet regularity of the

anything which denoted pomp or splendor in the decoration of the house of God. For these reasons they invented what is called the grisaille glass: it is painted in regular patterns in gray tones of color. Sometimes these windows are varied by a leaf pattern in shades

, OR GOTH

pment. France was now the leading country of the world, and Paris came to be the most important of all cities: it was the centre from which went forth edicts as to the customs of society, the laws of dress and conduct, and even of the art

ry I. in West Window o

smen who were engaged in the trade which was connected with their art. That is, the glass-painters painted glass only, and were associated with the glass-blowers; those who decorated shields, with the shield or scutcheon makers, and so on; while the painters, pure and simple, worked at wall-painting, and a little later at panel-painting also. From this association of artists and tradesmen there grew up brotherhoods which supp

ects were still painted more frequently than others, and the decoration of religious edifices was the chief employment of the artists; but they worked with more independence of thought and spirit. The painters studied more from nature, and

rgin. From the Grandes H

s as they represented far more exactly than they had done before, and to put them in just relations to surrounding places and

pts were made in France and Germany, and they are now the cho

he Duke de Berry and called the Great Book of the Hours. The wealth of ornament in the border is a characteristic of

d the whole teaching of the doctrines of the church. It was at this time that the custom arose of donating memorial windows to religious edifices. Sometimes they were the gift of a person or a family, and the portraits of the donors were painted in the lo

. From the Mariale of Arc

ectural effects upon colored windows. Our cut is from a windo

out this time glass-painting became less satisfactory than before, from the fact that it had mor

ted Window at

s was almost entirely confined to borders and decorative patterns scattered here and there and used with great effect. In Germany and England wall-painting was more us

re executed in France and Flanders; but I shall pass over what is often called the Transitional Period, by which we mean the time in which new influences were beginning to act, and hereafter I will tell

Portrait

at art to any degree of the beauty to which it had attained before the Dark Ages. The Cimabui were a noble family, and Giovanni was allowed to follow his own taste, and became a painter; h

hich is very interesting. It is now in the Rucellai Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, and it is only just in me to say that if one of my readers walked through that church and did not know about this picture, it is doubt

. Among other places they took him to the studio of Cimabue, who uncovered his picture for the first time. Many persons then flocked to see it, and were so loud i

airs; the magistrates of Florence honored the occasion with their presence; and the picture was borne in triumph to the chu

a of the Church of

he Academy of Florence, and one attrib

l of Florence. Above his tomb these words were inscribed: "Cimabue thought himself master of th

of Arezzo, Guido of Siena, and of the same city Duccio, the son of Buoninsegna. This last painter flourished from 1282 to 1320; his

to Giotto, who proved to be so great an artist that from his time painting made a rapid advance. The story is that one day when Cimabue rode in the valley of Vespignano he saw a shepherd-boy who was drawing a portrait of one of his sheep on a flat rock, by means of a pointed bit of slate for a pencil. The

Portrait

d by G

was painted on a wall of the Podestà at Florence, and when Dante was exiled from that city his portrait was covered with whitewash; in 1841 it was restored to the light, hav

Cimabue fai

eld; now Giott

er's fame in sh

tto is now most fully shown. He worked at Rimini also, and about 1330 was employed by King Robert of Naples, who conferred many honors upon him, and made him a member of his own household. In 1334 Giotto was made the c

f the sculptures and reliefs upon it prove that he was skilled in modelling and carving. He worked in mosaics also, and the famous "Navicella," in the vestibule

Campanile and th

be discussed in our limits; but his advance in painting was so great that he deserved the great compli

ike than it had ever been. Before his time every effort had been made to picture physical agony alone. Giotto gave a gentle face, full of sufferi

praise him while he lived, and since his death his fame has been cherished by all who have written of him. There are many anecdotes told of Giotto. One is that on a v

re a crown and sceptre, while at the feet of the ass there was a new saddle with a shining new crown and sceptre, at which the ass

th it that he wished to have it for his own chapel; then Giotto confessed what he had done, and showed the body of the dead man. The Pope was so angry that he threatened the painter with the same death, upon which Giotto brushed the picture over so that it seemed to be destroyed. Then the Pope so regretted the lo

ch had made him so famous. Giotto, with a pencil, by a single motion drew so perfect a circle that it was thought to be a mira

n the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore. Lorenzo de Medici erected a monument to his memory. The pupils and followers of Giotto were very numerous, and were called G

o 1344, and is often called Simone Memmi because he married a sister of another painter, Lippo Memmi. The most important works of Simone which remain are at Siena in the Palazzo Pubblico an

to that city. Here he became the friend of Petrarch and of L

he was also an architect, sculptor, mosaist, and poet, as well as a painter. He made an advance in color and in the painting of atmosphere that gives him high rank as a painter; as a sculptor, his tabernacle in the Church of Or San Michele speaks his praise. Mr. C. C. Perkins thus describes it: "Built of white marble in the Gothic style, enriched with every kind of ornament, and storied with bas-reliefs illustrative of the Madonna'

weather; it received its name on account of its nearness to the German guard-house which was called that of the Landsknechts (in German), or Lanzi, as it was given in Italian. Orcagna probably died before the Loggia was completed, and his broth

a; but we know so little of them in detail that I shall not attempt to give any account of them h