Preview

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Art and Culture of the Middle Ages

• Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• Visual Arts
• Literature
• Thinking and Learning
• Faces of History Thomas Aquinas

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Art and Culture of the Middle Ages
Main Idea During the Middle Ages, great
achievements were made in the visual arts,
literature, and thinking and learning.

• Reading Focus
• What were the major achievements of the visual
  arts during the Middle Ages?
• What were the great literary works of the Middle
  Ages?
• What new developments were made in medieval
  thinking and learning?

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Visual Arts
Many art historians consider the Cathedral of
Notre Dame in Paris to be one of the finest
artistic achievements of the Middle Ages. Like
most art in the Middle Ages, it was created as a
symbol of God.
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• Decorations
• Cathedrals lavishly decorated
• Statues of saints, kings, figures from Old
  Testament
• Exterior had gargoyles, spouts to drain rainwater
  from roof
• Many gargoyles carved into likenesses of hideous
  beasts

• Adornments
• Walls painted with elaborate murals of religious
  scenes
• Candleholders, crosses, statues intricate works
  of art
• Many decorated with gold, precious stones
• Clothes of priests heavily embroidered, woven
  with gold threads

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Visual Arts
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Find the Main Idea What were three forms of
medieval art?
Answer(s) architecture, illumination, and
tapestries
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Literature
Writers from the Middle Ages produced works that
covered a wide spectrum, including religion,
romance and epic adventures.
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Literature

• Literature included epics, romances
• Long poems, stories of heroes, villains, written
  in language people spoke every day
• Epic Poems
• Tell tales related to war, heroes
• The Song of Roland, Charlemagnes fight against
  Muslims in Spain
• Romances
• Tell tales of true love, chivalry
• Many tell stories of King Arthur and knights of
  Round Table
• Epics, romances often performed by troubadours

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Major Works

• Canterbury Tales
• Geoffrey Chaucers collection of stories
• Group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury each
  tells story to entertain others
• Characters give insight into what life was like
  in the Middle Ages

• The Divine Comedy
• Dante Alighieris story of his imaginary trip
  through the afterlife
• Composed in three parts, or cantos
• On journey, met people from own life, as well as
  figures from history

• Contributions
• Chaucer helped increase use of written English
  language in England, where many had been speaking
  French
• Dantes writing shaped development of Italian
  language for centuries

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Summarize What subjects did medieval authors
write about?
Answer(s) religious subjects heroes, villains,
love chivalry
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Thinking and Learning

• New Ideas
• Religious writers of Middle Ages spread new ideas
  throughout Europe
• New ideas gave rise to new ways of thinking and
  learning

• Alchemy
• People in Middle Ages curious about how world
  worked
• Began to conduct scientific experiments in
  alchemy, early form of chemistry

• Constrictions
• Experiments constricted by reliance on authority
  of Greek writers
• Also by teaching of the Catholic Church

• Great Secrets
• Alchemists convinced they could find way to turn
  base metals into gold, but could not
• Work in alchemy influenced later growth of science

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• Universities
• Growth of European universities influenced by
  Islamic scholarship
• Blending of European, Islamic cultures led to
  translation of Aristotle, other Greek scholars,
  from Arabic into Latin
• European scholars exposed to new ideas
• Universities taught mainly religious courses
  first, but later broadened scope to include
  medicine, law

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Analyze How did thinking and learning change in
the Middle Ages?
Answer(s) experiments in alchemy universities
appeared Aquinas's development of Scholasticism