Italy (Byzantine...East & Moorish...South):

east Italy in 1000AD: the Exarchate of Ravenna (the Byzantine emperor's representative in the Italian Peninsula) was a dominating force from 584 until the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards in 751.  However Venice (also NE. Italy) retained some allegiance to Byzantium until the 11th century-long after becoming de facto independent.

southern Italy in 1000AD: In 827 Muslim raiders took Mazara in Sicily & established the first Muslim settlement.  Islamic control of Sicily began in 902; the Emirate of Sicily lasted from 965 until 1061.  It was the primary Muslim stronghold in Italy, though temporary footholds were established on the peninsula, especially in S. Italy, the most substantial being the port city of Bari (occupied from 847 until 871).

 

Stabat Mater:

13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III. The title comes from its first line, Stabat Mater dolorosa, which means "the sorrowful mother was standing".

 

Dies Irae:

Latin for "Day of Wrath"; Medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress & rhymed lines; attributed to either Franciscans Thomas of Celano (1200-65) or to Latino Malabranca Orsini (d. 1294).  The metre is trochaic.  It describes the Last Judgment, trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the saved will be delivered, the unsaved cast into eternal flames.

 

Catherine of Siena:

1347-80, a tertiary of the Dominican Order & a Scholastic philosopher and theologian who had  great influence on the Church.  She is behind the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome, and then carried out many missions entrusted by the pope, something quite rare for a simple nun in the Middle Ages.  Born in Siena, she grew up there & as a young girl joined the Sisters of the Penance of St. Dominic & took vows.  She was marked by mystical phenomena such as stigmata & the mystical marriage.  As ambassador of Florence (then at war against the pope) she accompanied the chaplain of the Dominicans to the pope in Avignon.  She was an influence on Pope Gregory XI in his decision to leave Avignon for Rome; she was then sent by him to negotiate peace with Florence.  After Gregory XI's death & when peace was concluded, she returned to Siena.  She dictated to secretaries her set of spiritual treatises The Dialogue of Divine Providence.  The Great Schism of the West led Catherine of Siena to go to Rome with the pope.  She sent numerous letters to princes & cardinals to promote obedience to Pope Urban VI and defended what she calls the "vessel of the Church." On her death Urban VI celebrated her funeral and she was burial in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.

 

Giotto:

above page 221

 

Simone Martini:

1284-1344, Italian painter born in Siena, a major figure in the development of early Italian painting, influenced the development of the International Gothic style.  Apprenticed at an early age; Vasari claimed he was a pupil of Giotto, with whom he went to Rome to paint at Old St. Peter's Basilica, Giotto also executing a mosaic there.  Among his first documented works is the Maestà (1315) in the Palazzo Pubblico (Siena).  A copy of this by Lippo Memmi in San Gimignano reflects his influence.  Simone's works influenced many others throughout the 14th century.  Perpetuating the Sienese tradition, his style is noted for soft, stylized, decorative features, sinuosity of line & courtly elegance.  He was influenced by French manuscript illumination & ivory carvings which would have arrived in Siena in the 14th century thru pilgrims using the Via Francigena (the main pilgrimage & trade route from N. Europe to Rome).  His style contrasted the sobriety & monumentality of Florentine art.

 

Byzantine cum Saracen:

Saracen is a generic term used to describe Muslims

 

Ravenna (buildings- Byzantine cum Saracen): * see Endnote<A>

In 402 AD Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna, in part for defensive purposes as the city was surrounded by swamps & marshes & deemed easily defended.  It also had a port & had sea-borne connections to the Eastern Empire.  At that time it was home to 50,000 people.  In the 5th century Ravenna enjoyed peace, during which time the imperial court favoured the Christian religion.  Many famous monuments were built at this time including the Orthodox Baptistery (430), the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia & San Giovanni Evangelista (5th century).  From 540 to 600, Ravenna's bishops embarked on a 2nd building program; surviving monuments include the Basilica of San Vitale (548), the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare (549, Classe) & San Michele (Africisco).  Following the conquests of Belisarius for Justinian I in the 6th century, Ravenna became the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy, the Exarch, the Exarchate of Ravenna.  Four other early Christian monuments are listed below:

• Arian Baptistery (500)

• Archiepiscopal Chapel ( 500)

• Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (500)

• Mausoleum of Theoderic (520)

 

Venice (buildings Byzantine cum Saracen): * see Endnote<B>

The Gothic Period swept into Venice during an age of great affluence, the upper class were financing the building of new churches & opulent homes for themselves.  The monks from mainland Italy were bringing the Gothic style to Venice's churches.  Venetian Gothic is an architectural style combining the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine & Moorish influences; it originated in the 14th century.  Venice was where Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Moorish influences from Al-Andalus, & early Gothic forms from mainland Italy mixed.  The best examples of the style are the Doge's Palace and the Ca' d'Oro in Venice.  This style lasted well into the 15th century because of the city's love of ornate decoration and pointed arches

 

Sturm und Drang:

German for "storm and drive", though conventionally translated as "storm and stress"; a proto-Romantic movement in German literature & music between the late 1760s & early 1780s; named for Klinger's play of the same name (1777).  It gave expression to individual subjectivity & extremes of emotion; it was a reaction to the constraints of Enlightenment rationalism & the associated aesthetic movements.  The main advocate of the movement was Johann Georg Hamann; early in their lives Goethe & Schiller were also proponents although they ended their period of association with it by initiating Weimar Classicism.  

 

Sun-temple of Baalbek:

see VI page 210

 

Court of the Lions (Alhambra): * see endnote<C>

palace & fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain, originally a small fortress (889 AD) on the remains of Roman fortifications; rebuilt mid-13th century by the Nasrid emir Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar of the Emirate of Granada; converted into a royal palace in 1333 by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada.  Its last flowering was built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain during the decline of the Nasrids who were increasingly subject to the Christian Kings of Castile.  After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista (1492), it became the Royal Court of Ferdinand & Isabella & the palaces were partially altered in the Renaissance style.  In 1526 Charles V commissioned a new Renaissance palace in the revolutionary Mannerist style influenced by humanist philosophy & in direct juxtaposition with the Nasrid Andalusian architecture.  It was never completed due to Morisco rebellions in Granada. 

 

Poseidon temple (Paestum):

see Chapter I page 30

 

niche:

ornamental recess in a wall  usually semicircular in plan & arched, as for a statue or other decorative object; in Gothic architecture, a clearly defined narrow space. The backings for the altars in churches ("reredos") can be embedded with niches for statues. Though a niche in either Classical or Gothic contexts may be empty and merely provide articulation & variety to a section of wall, the cult origins of the niche suggested that it be filled with a statue.  One of the earliest buildings which uses external niches containing statues is the Church of Orsanmichele in Florence (1380-1404.)

 

Kings'heads" (Chartres): * see Endndote<D>

The West portal of Charters cathedral, the Royal Portal was carved in 1150 & modelled on the west portal of St Denis.  We see elongated elegant statues of the kings & queens of the Old Testament, very expressive gazing down on the visitor, a transition, their elongation is Romanesque while their realistic & emotive faces reflect the coming Gothic spirit.

and see page 223 above

 

Bamberg cathedral (George choir): * see Endnote<E>

Bamberg cathedral has a choir at each end. The eastern choir, the George choir, is the oldest part of the cathedral, still in pure Romanesque style. The western choir is early Gothic and its vault was built from 1232.

and see page 223 above

 

Giovanni Pisano:

In 1255 he received a commission for the pulpit in the baptistery of Pisa. He finished this work in 1260 aided by several assistants.  This pulpit, his masterworks, succeeded in making a synthesis of the French Gothic style with the Classical style of ancient Rome, which he had seen on the sarcophagi of the Camposanto in Pisa.

and see Chapter VI page 212

 

Ghiberti: * see Endnote<F>

1378-1455, born near Florence in Pelago, early Italian Renaissance sculptor whose Gates of Paradise doors for the Baptistery of Florence cathedral are considered masterpieces of Italian art in the Quattrocento. Other notable works include the bronze doors north side, Baptistery Florence cathedral), 3 bronze statues for Orsanmichele (1416–25) & reliefs for the cathedral in Siena (1417–27).   He also wrote I Commentarii, 3 treatises on art history and theory from antiquity to his time.

 

Verrocchio:

above page 224