Medieval Art: Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic and Islamic
Medieval art covers Early Christian and Byzantine art, the Islamic tradition, Romanesque and Gothic. The exam tests plan types, structural systems, iconography and, above all, how building form answers liturgy, relic pilgrimage and monastic life.
Core rules and vocabulary
- Early Christian. The basilica plan (atrium, narthex, nave, aisles, apse, transept, timber roof) serves the congregation; central plans serve baptisteries and martyria. Ravenna mosaics (San Vitale, Justinian and Theodora, c. 547) present imperial sacred power.
- Byzantine. Hagia Sophia (Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, 532-537) rests its dome on pendentives; Greek-cross plans with domes follow. Gold-ground Pantocrator and Theotokos images; iconoclasm 726-843 shapes later icon theology.
- Romanesque. Barrel and groin vaults, thick walls, small windows. The pilgrimage church adds tribune, ambulatory and radiating chapels, so pilgrims reach the relics without crossing the choir. Sculpture concentrates in the tympanum (Moissac, Autun).
- Gothic. Pointed arch, rib vault and flying buttress shift thrust outward, letting walls become stained glass. Three-portal west facade, rose window, verticality: Chartres, Reims, Sainte-Chapelle; in Spain, Leon, Burgos, Toledo.
- Islamic. Hypostyle prayer hall oriented to the qibla wall, with mihrab, minbar and minaret. Horseshoe arches, ribbed domes over the maqsura (Cordoba, from 786; al-Hakam II extension 961-976), muqarnas, and aniconic decoration: arabesque, geometry, Kufic epigraphy.
Worked example
Prompt: explain the interior of a Romanesque pilgrimage church. Reasoning: massive piers and barrel vault demand thick walls, so windows shrink and painting fills the surface; the tribune stabilises the vault; the ambulatory with radiating chapels creates a circulation loop for crowds around the shrine; the tympanum teaches doctrine to the illiterate pilgrim. Form follows function and devotion together.
Traps that cost marks
Calling the mihrab a chapel or the minaret a bell tower; confusing pendentive with squinch; describing Romanesque versus Gothic only as round versus pointed arch without structural consequences; treating Cordoba as a basilica; mixing patron (Justinian) with (Theodora) as builder.