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not as strong and sure during the Gothic. In the earlier period, people

believed that the world was a God - inspired mystery that could be

expressed in simple, direct art. In the Renaissance that followed the

Middle Ages, people believed , as did the Greeks, in cultivating

rationalism and humanism. This change to a more secular age came

about through the subtle influences of a variety of trends and events.

When the year 1000 passed into history without the predicted end of

the world, people began to think in terms of a more pleasurable life.

Salvation through the remission of sins was still paramount in their

thinking, but they reduced it to a formula. Scholasticism was the

product of the medieval university, which had evolved from the earlier

monastic schools. The medieval curriculum was divided into the so -

called quadrivium and trivium. The quadrivium included arithmetic,

geometry, astronomy, and music all under the heading of

"Mathematics." While scholastic philosophy systematized salvation, it

did not bring forth the deep and abiding faith that many believed it

would. Worship tended toward an empty formalism, with th

. . .
The love for Mary was perhaps

both cause and effect in the development of the ideals of "courtly

love. Early English, Decorated, and

Perpendicular. The Gothic style came into being in

France. The same tradition

of symbolism prevails in painted art and in mjsic, especially music with

texts.

PAINTING

During the Gothic period, the art of painting, except for the

illumination of manuscripts, was a minor art in the north. The elongation of the body, which

has the tendency to endow it with lightness and immateriality, was still

used with striking success. The English Gothic evolved from its French counterpart and

falls into three major style periods. Naturalism was not

confined to human personality but also was present in the decorative

details carved on the moldings and capitals of the pillars. Men like Dante

were conscious of the inconsistency that existed between the Christian

ideal and Christian practice.

The spiritual and temporal power of the Church, its authority to save

or damn, its teaching of hell, its doctrine of an avenging God att these

awed and frightened medieval people. Romanesque art was mainly monastic, but the

Gothic cathedral of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries was the

creation of the towns and bishops. The sculpture of the cathedral at Amiens

reveals the Gothic spirit in stone. " These ideals were rather rigidly defined, written as a set of

rules, then articulated practically in thepoetry written and sung by the

troubadours. The east windows of

King's College Chapel serve the same instructive purpose.

This limitation hampered the Gothic builders, who sought in their

buildings to reach great heights.

Common topics in this essay:
Middle Ages, ARCHITECTURE Gothic, Land Moslems, Europe Romanesque, Christianity Dante, Unlike Romanesque, Holy Trinity, , College Chapel, Perpendicular Gothic, stained glass, gothic cathedral, middle ages, life christ, architecture gothic, northern europe, people believed, gothic period, lamentation christ, music gothic,

Approximate Word count = 1292
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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