9/1/07 - History of Art - The Visual Imagination in the Later Middle Ages

The middle ages were a time when abstract concepts were still difficult to grasp and literacy levels were low, so it is interesting to see how such concepts were represented in the art world.

Personification

The Middle Ages adopted the methods of classical times, as demonstrated by the ancient statue of Victory of Samothrace, c. 220-190 BC. Victory is personified as a female figure. Also, more recently, in the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, completed 1886 and designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Again, liberty is represented in female form. Her torch is known as an 'attribute.'

Attributes

The attributes of figures in medieval art let the illiterate know what the personified figure represented. For example, in La somme le roi, the figure with the scales and sword is justice. And in Hans Memling's Last Judgement altarpiece at Gdansk (Netherlands), we also see St Michael weighing up souls with a pair of balances, clearly a symbol of justice. However, such personifications are predominantly female, due to their female root in Latin.

Abstract Concepts

In René of Anjou's Livre du Coeur d'Amour Espris (French c. 1470), which is attributed to Barthélémy d’Eyck, we see that the figure of love is represented in white, riding a white horse. Also, we can tell good characters from bad characters by their beautified or ugly appearances. Abstract concepts such as 'good' and 'evil' were therefore conveyed by their physiognomies: ugly meant evil and beautiful meant good.

Representing God: The Trinity

There was immense confusion over how the Trinity should appear in artwork of the middle ages. Some represent three identical men, such as Jean Fouquet in The Trinity in Heaven (French 1450s). Others show a man with three heads, such as in the Old Testament illustration from a Psalter (English, 13th century). Others represent the Trinity through mnemonics, such as the illustration to St John's Gospel from an Ars Memoriae published in Pforzheim, Germany, in 1503.

Heraldry: Coats of Arms

Emphasis was placed on visual literacy, in a world where literacy was uncommon. Coats of arms were used to represent certain noble families and royal families. Catalogues of such coats of arms have been found, attirbuted to Matthew Paris. In illuminated manuscripts, the coats of arms hidden within the illustrations help us to name the patron of the manuscript, and to date it. For example, the fleurs-de-lis is a common symbol found in manuscripts, and yet it changes over time. This can be put down to copying methods, by which the design would be changed in compliance with artists' individual styles, and passed down generations until the end result is far different from the original.

Meaning in Abstract Forms

Symbolism can be found in calendars and horoscopes of the time. In the Très Riches Heures page for 'January', by one of the Limbourg Brothers, we can see the god Janus with two heads: one facing back to the previous year, and one facing forwards to the year to come. Also, we can see from the page of the 'Zodiacal Man' that each zodiacal sign represented a part of the body.

Artists such as the Limbourg brothers moved closer towards naturalism but did not abandon abstract concepts.

Cartography: Medieval Mapping Instincts

Artists such as Matthew Paris began looking to nature and geography in their work, as we can see from his attempted map of Britain of the mid-13th century. His Madonna and Child of the same period also shows naturalistic qualities, such as an obvious motherly affection in the Virgin's posture and expression. This kind of naturalism was not very common until much later, such as the Isenheim altarpiece (German, completed 1515), which also depicts the touching motherly affection of the Virgin. Note also the precise imitation of roses in the altarpiece.