ESSAY

ESSAY

Art during the medieval period was largely concerned with how to tell stories from the bible and glorify Christianity. Despite this, there was wide debate over how to properly achieve this goal. While some communities built increasingly grand cathedrals with rich decorations, others saw beauty and art as a distraction. Discuss the following quotes below in the context of medieval art. Who do you believe makes the stronger case? If you were the architect of a medieval cathedral, in which style would you build? Use Gombrichs example of the church of St. Trophime in Arles France for full credit (pp. 176-7).

Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis (1081-1151)

I delighted in the beauty of the house of God, and the diverse color and shapeliness of the gems detached me from my outward cares and, bearing me from the material of the nonmaterial sphere, inclined me to reflect on the diversity of holy virtues; it seemed to me then that I was in some wondrous region placed neither in the mire of this earth nor in the purity of heaven, and that, by the grace of God, I could in like manner be transferred from the lower to the higher world.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

What are these fantastic monsters doing in the cloisters under the very eyes of the brothers as they read? What is the meaning of these unclean monkeys, strange savage lions and monsters? To what purpose are here placed these creatures, half beast, half man? I see several bodies with one head and several heads with one body. Here is a quadruped with a serpent’s head, there a fish with a quadruped’s head, then again an animal half horse, half goat … Surely if we do not blush for such absurdities we should at least regret what we have spent on them.

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