H.

W JANS

OF ART

VOLUME
ONE

FOURTH EDITION REVISED AND

EXPANDED BY ANTHONY
IANSON

F.

HISTORY OF ART

MONUMENTS

KEY

1X1

\i

GALLERY, MS( H
i.000 luooo B.<
l

Wis.

(figure

51

RANCE
|

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

QUEEN NOFRETETE, FROM EGYPT

c.

1360

B.C. (figure

101)

1,

HAM AND TREE, FROM UR

c. 2fi()()

IN

M O N U M

SUMER

lie (figure 112)

NTS

IN

THE HISTORY OF

CYCLADIC STATUE. FROM AMORGOS IN THE CYCLADES

2500-1100 B.C (figure 137)

\RCHAIC GREEK KORE

I0B.<

(figure 171

KEY

///"

'BASILICA." A IX)RIC
c.

550

CREEK TEMPLE
B.C. (figure

184)

MONUMENTS

IN PAESTUM, ITALY

IN

THE HIS

T O

NIKEOFSAMOTHRACE,
c.

200-190

HELLENISTH Sdll'll RF

B.C

fiunrc 229)

KEY

WOMAN WITH

A VEIL.

FROM
c.

MONUMENTS

ROMAN WALL PAINTING

50 B.C (figure

:*ll)

IN POMPEII, ITALY

IN

THE

MADONNA ENTHRONED
Late

ith

BYZANTINl PANEl PAINTING

century

figure <58)

KEY

////.

\.S(

ys/oy Of wo//

[MM

D,

FROM

MONUMENTS

PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT

1539 43 (figure 383)

IN

THE HISTOR

C)

CROSS PAGE. FROM THE

MBERNOSAXON INMSFARN1 GOSPI

I

c.

700(fiuuri' 387

PISA

CATHEDRAL

1053-1272

(figure 430)

ONUMENTS

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL, PARIS

1163-C. 1250 (figure 455)

KEY

LORENZO GHIBERTl. THE SACRIFICE

I

lol

02 (liumc 516)

MONUMENTS

Of ISAAC

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

THELMBOURG BROTHERS

FEBRUARY, FROM
I

115

IS 1KI-S RICHES

16 (figure

III

RES

Dl

Dl

Dl

BERR\

\\

M O N

VAN EYCk WEDDING PORTRAIT

l

HI

[figure

LI

N T

IN

HE HIS

C)

C)

VllCHELANGELO DAVID
1501

hi

figure

O N U M

NTS

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

MATTHIAS GRUNEWALD. ISENHEIM ALTARPIECE. SECOND

c.

1510-15

(figure 711

IEW

KEY

RAPHAEL. GALATEA
1513 (figure 673)

MONUMENTS

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

PARMIGIANINO. THE
c.

MADONNA WITH THE

1535 (figure 684)

LO\(.

NECK

KEY

/'/

/ /

R I'M

7.

HI 'HESS

MONUMENTS

MARIE DEMEDICl, QUEEN OF FRANCE, LANDING IN MARSEILLES

1622-23 (figure 774)

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

//

IN

ANTOINE WATTEAU,

C.ILLES

C)

LI

AND FOUR OTHER CHARACTERS FROM THECOMMEDIA DELL'ARTE

c.

L719 (figure 819)

NFS

IN

THE

II

T O

C)

rHOMAS GAINSBOROUGH MRS S/DDONS

1785 (figure 834)

ANTOINE JEAN GROS NAPOLEON

1796 (figure 859)

AI

\li<

01

()

Li

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

EDOUARD MANET THE F1FER

1866 (figure 912)

IDVAIU)

MUNCH. THE SCREAM

1893 (figure 958)

C)

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

PABLDPICASSO GIRL BEFORE

1932 (figure

MIRROK

KKY

WIL.LEM DE K(X)NINC.

WOMAN

1952 (figure 1037)

MONUMENTS

II

IN

THE

T O H

ELIZABETH MURRAi \40Rl

MAN YOU KNOW

1983 (figure 10

MONUMENTS

IN

BERNARD ISCIIUMI ARCHITECTS.

EOI.IE

J>6.

HISTORY

PARC DE LA VILLETTE, PARIS

Designed 1983 (figure 1118)

OF

1!

VOLUME ONE

HISTORYOFART

FOURTH EDITION

H. W.

jANSON

H STO RY
I

HARRY

N.

ABRAMS.

INC..

NEW YORK

REVISED AND EXPANDED BY

ANTHONY

F.

jANSON

OF ART
PRENTICE HALL.

INC..

ENCLEWOOD

CLIFFS.

VOLUME
ONE

NEW JERSEY

Moore

Project Managers: Sheila Franklin Lieber, Julia

Moore

Editor: Julia

McKee

Designer: Bob
Flights

and Reproductions/

Picture Researcher: Jennifer Bright

On

the front cover: Poseidon (Zeus?),

On

the back cover: Pylon of

Amun-Mut-Khonsu,

460-450

c.

Museum, Athens

National Archeological

Ramesses

Luxor,

1260

c.

II,

B.C.

206)

(fig.

Temple of
96)

B.C. (fig.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Janson, H. W. (Horst Woldemar), 1913History of art

by H. W. Janson.

4th ed.

by Anthony

revised and

expanded

Janson.

F.

cm.

p.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-13-388448-1

(Prentice-Hall

0-13-388455-4 (Prentice-Hall
1.

Art

History.

pbk.
:

v.

pbk.

Janson, Anthony F

I.

N5300.J3

ISBN

1).

v. 2).
II.

Title.

1991

709 dc20

90-7405

CIP
Copyright

1991 Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Published in 1991 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated,

New

York

A Times Mirror Company

No

All rights reserved.

part of the contents of this

may be reproduced without

book

the written permission

of the publisher

Picture reproduction rights copyright

where

applicable, by

ARS N.Y/ADAGP; VAGA,

Printed and

1991,

ARS N.Y/SPADEM;

bound

in

NY

Japan

Note on the Picture Captions

Each

illustration is placed as close as possible to its first

discussion in the

except

text.

for objects that are

Measurements

are given throughout,

inherently large: architecture, architectural

sculpture, interiors, and wall paintings. Height precedes width.

A probable measuring

error of

more than one percent

indicated by "c." Titles of works are those designated by the

owning the works, where

is

museums

applicable, or by custom. Dates are

based on documentary evidem c unless preceded by "c."

First Edition

1962

Revised and Enlarged in 1969

Second Edition 1977

Third Edition 1986

Fourth Edition 1991

CONTENTS
KEY MONUMENTS

IN

THE HISTORY OF ART

PREFACES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

42

52

THE ANCIENT WORLD

PART ONE

MAP

a,a P iero m

PREHISTORIC AND ETHNOGRAPHIC ART

74

The New Stone Age

80
86

Ethnographic Art

Two

EGYPTIAN ART

96

97

The Old Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom

The New Kingdom

chapter Three

70

72

The Old Stone Age

Chapter

40

42

Art and the Artist

Looking at Art

108

110

ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART

Sumerian Art
Assyrian Art
Persian Art

19

127
131

118

74

Chapter Four

AEGEAN ART
Minoan Art

139

Mycenaean Art

Chapter Five

138

139

Cycladic Art

145

GREEK ART

150

Archaic Vase Painting

Archaic Sculpture

154

158

165

Architecture

Classical Sculpture

Classical Painting

180
188

Fourth-Century Sculpture
Hellenistic Sculpture

Coins

chapter

Chapter Seven

203

ETRUSCAN ART

ROMAN ART
Architecture

Sculpture
Painting

Chapter Eight

190

196

204

216

217

229
243

EARLY CHRISTIAN
AND BYZANTINE ART
Early Christian Art

Byzantine Art

255

267

ILLUSTRATED TIME CHART

284

254

PART TWO

THE MIDDLE AGES

MAP

Chapter One

292

ISLAMIC ART
295

Architecture

303

Representation

chapter two

EARLY MEDIEVAL ART

The Dark Ages

Ottoman Art

317

324

ROMANESQUE ART
Architecture

Sculpture

342

GOTHIC ART

349

Painting

354

355

Architecture

Sculpture

330

331

Painting and Metalwork

Chapter Four

376
390

ILLUSTRATED TIME CHART

II

412

BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING

GLOSSARY

421

INDEX 428
LIST

312

313

Carolingian Art

Chapter Three

294

OF CREDITS

437

418

290

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

TO THE FIRST EDITION

The

title

of this book lias a dual

events that make the

meaning: it refers both to the

and to the scholarly disci-

history' of art,

pline that deals with these events. Perhaps

that the record

the

same

and

its

it

is

just as well

interpretation are thus designated by

term. For the two cannot be separated, try as

they will also interest the general reader. In a survey such as

this, the sleeping dogs are indispensable, but 1 have tried to

emphasize
reader a

we

that their condition

fairly close

am under no illusion

or in

ery respect.

The

the history of anything else, for that matter; only degrees of

encompass

all

may. There are no "plain facts" in the history of art

Every statement, no matter

plausibility.

mented,

is

long as nobody questions

for granted,

evidence,

how

docu-

fully

subject to doubt, and remains a "fact" only so

and

is.

to find a

it.

To doubt what has been taken

more

plausible interpretation of the

every scholar's task. Nevertheless, there

is al-

ways a large body of "facts" in any field of study; they are the
sleeping dogs whose very inertness makes them landmarks
on the scholarly terrain. Fortunately, only a minority of them
can be aroused at the same time, otherwise we should lose
our bearings; yet all are kept under surveillance to see
which ones might be stirred into wakefulness and locomotion. It is

these "facts" that fascinate the scholar.

believe

ings of
the

look at

my

many

of

that

history of art
it

is

some

my
is

temporary, and to give the

of the wakeful ones.
account is adequate in ev-

too vast a field for

with equal competence.

book remain within tolerable

friends and colleagues

If

anyone

limits, this is

who have

to

the shortcom-

permitted

due

to

me

to

tax their kindness with inquiries, requests for favors, or disI am particularly indebted to
Bernard Bothmer, Richard Ettinghausen, M. S. Ipiroglu,
Richard Krautheimer, Max Loehr, Wolfgang Lotz, Alexander Marshack, and Meyer Schapiro, who reviewed var-

cussions of doubtful points.

ious aspects of the book and generously helped in securing

photographic material.
the American

me, as
to

Academy

art historian in

must also record my gratitude to

Rome, which made it possible for

in

residence during the spring of 1960,

write the chapters on ancient art under ideal conditions.

H. W.

J.

1962

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

TO THE FOURTH EDITION

This, the fourth edition of H. W. Janson's History oj Art,

es that ohsi.K

preserves most of the text of the previous one. At the

viewing

number

same

art.

le

providing

l>\

some general observations on

without resorting

to

formulaic

major changes and additions

There are now more than 550 illustrations in color three
times the number of the previous edition
and all illustra-

anything

tions are integrated with the text. In addition,

task 10 he undertaken lighdy. \lv primary

time,

it

presents a

of

section.
for

Key Monuments

.1

special eolor

in the History of Art, sets the stage

our survey by presenting thirty-one masterpieces of

In

making these

preserve the

book and

revisions.

humanism

to integrate

thai pro\ ided the

dimension of visual context to the narrative of art history.

There are diagrams and architectural drawings that have
never appeared in History of Art, as well as main improved

as a conveyor of

Less immediately apparent perhaps, hut no less imporcomplete reorganization of Part Four, devoted to

tant, is the

the

modern

The distinction between Neoclassicism

now drawn more clearly. Twentiethnow has a more straightforward chrono-

world.

and Romanticism
century painting

is

A separate chapter is devoted to

sculpture since 1900, which has followed a rather different
path from painting. Modern architecture begins with Frank

logical

organization.

Lloyd Wright, while

its

antecedents, including the Chicago

School and Art Nouveau, have been placed

ters

tunity throughout to

in earlier

chap-

have also taken the oppormake numerous adjustments in the

where they properly belong.

and headings; to bring the record of art history up-todate; and to add a number of artists, including half again as
main women as were in the previous edition. In this connection, it should be noted that the masculine gendei is
used in referring collectively to artists and some oilier
groups of people only to avoid awkward circumlocutions and
text

repetitive language.

The expanded

ovei almost ilmiv years, further.

serting the traditional value

the "new

ol

to

the aesthetic experience runs

it

bodying a distinctly Post-Modernist sensibililv discussed

toward the end of the hook in which the artist and his cre1.

now

includes

.1

brief discus-

traditional

approach

is

based on

basic elements of art appreciation

side the traditional scope of art
first

subject

th.it lies

out-

historyis based on the con-

learn

how

to look at art in

order

to

since the works of art themselves rem. 1111 the

primary document. Most people who read this hook do so to

understand

enhance
looking at

it.

enjoyment of art, but often feel uneasy in

individual works of art. The new material address

their

mv

hook's

belief that ignoring the

v isual and expressive qualities ol a work in order lo make it

conform to a theoretical construct risks depriving us of
much of art's pleasure, purpose, and inherent worth by turning its study into a scholastic even ise

am

greatly indebted to

McDonough

two former colleagues Mk hael

suggestions on modem archi-

for his helpful

tecture and Joseph Jacobs lor his stimulating ideas about

contemporary art. At Harrj N Abrams, Inc., havebeenfortunate to have the collaboration of Senior Editor Julia
Moore, who was responsible for editing and for tra< king the
I

myriad revisions

Project

Manager

Sheila franklin I.icber

provided strong support and made onsistenU) helpful suggestions early in the revision process Bob McKee rede-

book

with

signed

to

one must

The

ation are relegated to secondary considerations.

Jennifer Bright worked mira< les

viction that

has evolved

quite aware that as-

Introduction

intended

riting style as
it

art history,"

help the beginner become more sensitive to visual components of art. The decision to incorporate
is

am

to

ol this

which sees art essentially

meaning determined by social context The
influence of the semiotic approach
an interest of mine thai
can he delected 111 the Inlrogoes back more than a decade
duc nous reference to language and meaning. Nevertheless,
more suited to the written word than lo the
it is arguabl)
visual arts, stemming as it does larger) from Fren< h literary
can he seen as emcriticism and linguistics. Moreover,
ounter

sion of line, color, light, composition, form, and space. Ibis

section

foundation

oj Art as

not a

is

aim has been

mv own approach and w

seamless!) as possible into History

diagrams and plans.

mindful that changing

.1111

book that has become an institution

in a

and architecture that eloquently show

how great artists from the Old Stone Age to the present have
responded to that most human of impulses, the urge to create art. New illustrations show works /// situ, adding a new
painting, sculpture,

guidelines that

loo often get in the wav

the

entire

intelligence
in

(be

aplomb

and

ben ulean

task

ol

se

curing hundreds ol new photographs In finding solutions m

without sacrithe complex problems ol integrating coloi
ficing the high qualitv production lor

known

Shun Vamamoto performed

fessionalism.

am

unfailing support,
is

which

this

especially grateful to Paul Gottlieb

sound advice and good humoi

onlv fitting that ibis edition be dedicated to the

frit/

book

Landshoff whose impact on

is

with (he greatest pro

me was

bis

foi

Lastl)

it

memorv

ol

so profound
\

1990

INTRODUCTION
ART AND THE ARTIST

Imagination

Few questions provoke such heated debate

and provide so few satisfactory answers. If we cannot conic
to any definitive conclusions, there is still a good deal we can
"What

Art

say.

art?"

is

of

is first

a ivord

all

the idea and the fact of

vt

hether

found

is

Without
place.
art

is

also an object, but not just

is

an aesthetic

preciated lor

its

apart, so that

it

object.

It is

meant

any kind of object.

be looked at and ap-

to

intrinsic value. Its special qualities set art

away from everyday

often placed

is

museums, churches,

or caves.

By definition, aesthetic

ic?

both

it. we might well ask

The term, after all, is not
made everywhere. Art,

art.
first

every society. Vet

therefore,
Art

the

art exists in

one that acknowledges

What do we mean
is

"that

life

in

by aesthet-

which concerns the

Of course,

not

all

art

beautiful to our eves, but

is

And no matter how

nonetheless

have

do

to

it

is

art

unsatisfactory, the term

lor lack of a better one.

Aesthetics

strictly

is.

speaking, a branch of philosophy which has occupied thinkers from Plato to the present day.

sophic

,il

Like

all

matters philo-

inheientlv debatable. During the last

is

11

become

aesthetics has also

years

hundred

a field of psychology, a

field which has come to equally little agreement. Win

should this be so.' On the one hand, people the world over

make much

the

same fundamental judgments,

since our

On

the other

brains and nervous systems are the same.

hand

taste

ied thai
i

ii

is

onditioned solely by culture, which

impossible

is

must elude us
the
enl

<

ontexl

How

being

to

reduce

art to

any one

ol

thai

lime and

indeed

reated

we cannot escape viewing works

all

ould

it

around

ii(

umstaiK

e,

whether

understanding

so var-

l\llii>i

t\i>\

art is still

opening our eyes almost

to

in art

ofarl in

pasi or pres-

be otherwise, so long as
us,

new experiences and thus forcing us

42

is

set of prc-

h would seem therefore, th.u absolute qualities

epts

all

dream. That

means simply

Human

to

is

imagination

make an image

daily to

readjust

our

work. To imagine

at

a picture in our minds.

who have imaginaand tail may twitch as

he sleeps, and a sleeping dog may whine and growl and paw
the air. as if he were having a fight. Even when awake, anition.

beings are not the only creatures

Even animals dream. A

cat's ears

mals "see" things. For no apparent reason a cat's fur may

rise on his back as he peers into a dark closet, just as you or
may get goose bumps from phantoms we neither see nor
hear. Clearly, however, there is a profound difference between human and animal imagination. Humans are the only
I

who can tell one another about imagination in stoThe urge to make art is unique to us. No

creatures

ries or pictures.

other animal has ever been observed

beautiful."

will

We

to

draw a recognizable

image spontaneously in the wild. In fact, their only images

have been produced under carefully controlled laboratory
conditions that tell us more about the experimenter than
they do about art. There can be little doubt, on the other
band, that people possess an aesthetic faculty. By the age of
five every normal child has drawn a moon pie-face. The ability to make art is one of our most distinctive features, for it
separates us from all other creatures across an evolutionary
gap that

is

unbridgeable.

Just as an

embryo

retraces

much

ol

the

human

evolution-

budding artist reinvents the first stau.es of

ail Soon, however, he completes that process and begins to
respond to the culture around him. Even children's art is
subject to the t.iste and outlook of the society that shapes his

ary past, so the

or her personality.
ai

<

ording

to

ately simpler

ine Us sin

:<

the

In fact,

same

terms

essne

we tend

to

judge children's

criteria as adult art

and with good reason,

stages,

we

art

only in appropri-

find th.it the

lor

if

we exam-

youngster must

develop

all llie skills

ibat go into adult art: coordination, in-

tellect,

personality,

imagination, creativity, and aesthetic

judgment. Seen

making of a youthful

this way, the

process as fragile as growing up

stunted

at

itself,

and one

artist is

that

<

.1

be

111

any step by the vicissitudes of life No wonder that

so few continue their creative aspirations into adulthood

Given the many factors that feed into

art

it.

must

play a

Sigmund Freud

very special role in the artist's personality.

the founder of modern psychiatry, conceived of art primarily

in

Such

terms of sublimation outside of consciousness

view hardly does justice

simplv a negative force

to artistic creativity, sin< e art is not

at

the mercy of our neuroses but a

positive expression that integrates diverse aspects of personality.

Indeed,

may be
that

when we

struck by

something

its

is

look at the art of the mentallv

vividness; but

we

because

wrong,

ill.

we

instinctively sense

the

expression

is

incomplete.
Artists

tortured by the burden of then

is one of our most mysterious

can be regarded as the connector between the conscious and the subconscious, where most of our brain activity takes place. It is the very glue that holds our personality,

of psychosis. The imagination

and

responds

to all three,

spirituality together.
it

Because the imagination

acts in lawful,

1.

if

unpredictable, ways

HARPIST, so-called Orpheus

in the

Height K

vi

lades

" (21 5

alter

pan

bus even
psyche and the mind
statements can be understood on
oiib an intuitive one
b) the

artistic

some level even

The imagination is important
il

all

kinds

ol possibilities

as

allows us to conceivi

it

om makeup

must have been

evolution

ac

be ni

The

II

the earliest art

beings have been walking the earth

fundamental

,1

art.

lei

contrast

the

in

is lost to

years, but the oldest prehistoric art that

made

is

make

ability to

quired relatively recently

i.id ol

oi

the future and to understand the

past in a wav that has real survival value

part ol

ourse

some two
we know

only about 35,000 years ago, though

it

ol

Human

US.

million
ol

was

undoubt-

w.is

ol a long development no longer tra( e

Even the most "primitive" ethnographic art represents
kite stage ol development within a stable society.

edly the culmination

able

Who were the first artists? In .ill likelihood, thev were shamans. Like the legendary Orpheus, thev were believed to
have div me powers ol inspiration and to be able to enter the
underworld

It

intellect,

determined

the most private

may sometimes be

genius, but they can never be truly creative under the thrall

facets.

that are

of

the subconscious in

.1

deathlike trance, but.

unlike ordinary mortals, thev were then able

realm ol the

living. Just

ed by our Harpist
ago.

such

a figure

seems

to

to

return

to

the

be represent-

from nearly five thousand years

(fig.
A work of unprecedented complexity lor Us time, it was
1

Marble statuette from Amorgos

"l

the 3rd millennium B c

National Vrcheological

Museum

Vthens

imioih

WON* 43

carved

l>\

remarkably gifted

.1

isionar) rapture of

artist-shaman's unique

and

artist

who makes

ability

through

he gained
human beings and nature.
magician whose work can
it

lours hidden in
Even today the artist remains a
im stil\ and move ns an embarrassing

who do

ple,

the

Feel

unknown

penetrate the

to

his rare talent for expressing

ontrol over the

us

bard as he sings Ins legend. With tins

.1

art,

peo-

fact to ci\ ilized

not readily relinquish then veneer of rational

control

sense

In a larger

science and religion,

art, like

fulfills

our

comprehend ourseh es and the universe. This

function makes art especially significant and. hence, worthy
innate urge

to

of our attention.

An

has the power

to

penetrate to the core of

Moreover, Picasso himself would not have

tion

felt

the satis-

of having created something on the basis of his leap

lac tion

Once he had conceived

of the imagination alone.

pun, he could never be sure that

he put

it

would

really

his visual

work unless

into effect.

it

Thus the artist's hands, however modest the task they

may have to perform, play an essential part in the creative
process. Our Bull's Head is, of course, an ideally simplecase, involving only one leap of the imagination and a manual act in response to

it

once the seat

had been properly

our being, which recognizes

itself in

the creative act. For

placed on the handlebars (and then cast in bronze), the job

that reason, art represents

creator's deepest understand-

was done. The leap of the imagination is sometimes experienced as a Hash of inspiration, but only rarely does a new
idea emerge lull-blown like Athena from the head of Zeus.

its

ing and highest aspirations;

at

same

the

time, the artist of-

ten plays an important role as the articulator of our shared

and values, which he expresses through an ongoing

A masterpiece, then, is a work
that contributes to our vision of life and leaves us profoundly
moved. Moreover, it can hear the closest scrutiny and withbeliefs

Instead,

tradition to us. his audience.

which

stand the

Creativity

hands. This debnition

at least

eliminates the confusion of

works of art such natural phenomena as flowers,

seashells, or sunsets. It is a far from sufficient definition, to

human

works of art.
look

Still,

it

beings

will

seems

to consist of

an old bicycle.

make many

things other than

serve as a starting point.

Head by

the striking Bull's

at

Picasso

Now

(fig. 2),

let

us

which

nothing but the seat and handlebars of

How

meaningful

is

our formula here? Of

course the materials used by Picasso are fabricated, but it

would he absurd to insist that Picasso must share the credit
with the manufacturer, since the seat and handlebars in

themselves are not works of art.

While we feel a certain jolt when
ingredients

pun,

this visual

we

we

recognize the

first

also sense that

stroke of genius to put

these unlikelj objects; that,

we

done

be careful not

Clearly, then,

making

of

.1

Some works

involves a leap

hot
real

art

il

ibis

feel,

with manual

only he could have

skill

confuse the
or craftsmanship.
to

may demand a great deal of technical disdo not. And even the most painstaking piece

does not deserve

1. ill

we must

of art

others

ipline;

ol

work of

is

ol

to

be called a work of

art

unless

11

the imagination.

true are

we

malting of the Bull's

not forced to conclude that the

Head

took place in the artist's

mind No that is not so either. Suppose that, instead of actual^ putting the two pieces together and showing them to
us Pii
- merelj told us "You know, todaj
saw
bi< y< le
'

44

l\l

R<

is

done without finding the key

to

the solution to the problem. At the critical point, the imagi-

makes connections between seemingly unrelated

and recombines them.
Ordinarily, artists do not work with ready-made parts but
with materials that have little or no shape of their own; the
nation

imagination and the

artist's

,1

attempts

to give

shaping the material accordingly. The hand

them form by

tries to carry

out

commands of the imagination and hopefully puts down a

brushstroke, but the result may not be quite what had been
expected, partly because all matter resists the human will,
the

because the image

in the artist's mind is constantly

and changing, so that the commands of the imagination cannot be very precise. In fact, the mental image be-

partly

shifting

come

gins to

into focus only as the artist "draws the line

somewhere." That
part

mains

new

line

then becomes part

the only fixed

of the image; the rest of the image, as yet unborn,

fluid.

And each time

leap of the imagination

line into his

re-

the artist adds another line, a

is

needed

to incorporate that

ever-growing mental image.

If

the line cannot

and puts down a new one.

In this way, by a constant flow of impulses back and forth
between his mind and the partly shaped material before
him, he gradually defines more and more of the image, until
at last all of it has been given visible form. Needless to say,
artistic creation is too subtle and intimate an experience to
permit an exact step-by-step description; only the artist himself can observe it fully, but he is so absorbed by it that he
be incorporated, he discards

it was a
them together in this unique way.
and we cannot very well deny that it is a work of art. Yet the
handiwork the mounting of the seat on the handlebars is
"In ulously simple. What is Ear from simple is the leap of the
imagination by which Picasso recognized a bull's head in

ol

the hard work

creative process consists of a long series of leaps of the

treating as

be sure, since

usually preceded by a long gestation period in

is

it

all

parts

test of time.

What do we mean by making? II. in order to simplify our

problem, we concentrate on the visual arts, we might say
ih.it a work of art must be a tangible thing shaped by human

and handlebars that looked just like a bull's head to

me." I'hen there would be no work of art and his remark
would not even strike us as an interesting bit of conversa-

seat

it

has great difficulty explaining

The metaphor
would

of birth

it

comes

to us.

closer to the truth than

a description of the process in

projection of the

image from the

ing of a work of art

is

terms of a transfer or

artist's

mind,

for the

mak-

both joyous and painful, replete with

surprises, and in no sense mechanical. We have, moreover,

ample testimony that the artist himself tends to look upon
Ins creation as a living thing,

was once

concept reserved

Perhaps that
for (Joel, as

material form to an idea. Indeed, the artist's

like the

why creativity
He could give
labors are much

is

only

reation told in the Bible; but this divine ability

not realized until

was

Michelangelo described the anguish and

2.

PABLO PICASSO.

Bronze cast bicycle

BULL'S

parts, height

HEAD
1

1943.

6 '/" (41 cm).

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris

glory of the creative experience

when he spoke of "liberating

it." We may trans

the figure from the marble that imprisons

late this to

mean

ue by trying
block as

it

that

he started the process of carving

to visualize

came

to

a figure in the rough, rectilinear

him from the

quarry. (At times he

even have done so while the marble was

ing" rock;

we know

that

a stat-

he liked

to

go

still

to

may

part of the "liv-

the quarries and

Sometimes he
fused

to

did not guess well

some

give rip

Michelangelo, defeated,
with

Matthew

St.

we may

get

some

bow pressing

marble

a knee or an

el-

against the surface. To get a firmer grip on tins

felt, fluid image, he was in the habit of making numerous drawings, and sometimes small models in wax or clay
before he dared to assault the "marble prison' itself For
that, he knew, was the final contest between himself and bis

dimly

material.

Once he

started carving, every stroke of the chisel

would commit him more and more to a specific conception

of the figure hidden in the block, and the in. able would per
mit him to free the figure whole only if bis guess .is to its
shape was correct.

as

and

he did

al

to re-

the block.

inkling of Michelangelo's difficulties here.

enough

Surely there

isolated "signs of life" within the

the work unfinished

Hut could be not have finished the statue in some fashion?

ably could have, but

fair to

stone re-

whose very gesture seems

(fig. 3),

assume that at first Michelangelo did not

see the figure any more clearly than one can see an unborn
child inside the womb, but we may believe that he could sec
seems

left

cord the vain snuggle lor liberation. Looking

pick out his material on the spot.

It

enough the

essential part of Us prisoner

in

is

material

left

lor that.

be prob-

Well

wanted and
that ease the deleal would have been even more Stinging.
the making of a work ol art lias little m com( learlv then
perhaps not

the wa\ be

mean by "making." It is a
which the maker never quite
knows what he is making until he has actually made it; or. to
is a game ol lind-and-scck m which the
put it .mother way,
seeker is not sure what he is looking for until he has found it.

mon

with what

we

ordinarily

Strange and nsk\ business

in

it

In the case ol ibe Bull's

impresses us most
Ho

in

Head

it

is

the bold "finding"

the St. Matthev

the non-artist,

it

seems hard

tb.it

the strenuous "seek-

to believe that this

un-

certainty tins need-to-take-a-c banco, should be the essoin e

ol

the artist's work

of the craftsman or

We

all tend to think ol "making"

manufac turer who knows exa<

;\ //,"/)/

<

in

terms

tl\

what

ik>\

45

3.

MICHELANGELO.

SI

UATTHEW (foreground).

Marble, height 8']

L"

(2.7 m).

Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

RODl

ll<>\

L506.

he wants

produce from the very outset, picks the tools

and is sure of what he is doing at ever)

to

best fitted to the task,

Such "making" is a two-phase affair:

man makes a plan, then he acts on it. And

step.

the crafts-

firsl

be< ause he
or
customer has made all the important decisions m advance, he has to worry only about the means, rather than the
ends, while he carries out his plan. There is thus compara-

his

but also

tively little risk,

little

adventure,

handiwork

in his

which as a consequence tends to become routine. It m.n

even be replaced by the mechanical labor of a machine.
No machine, on the other hand, can replace the artist, lor
with him conception and execution go hand

hand and

in

arc

do not help us wi\ mu< h and the die lion.uics tell us

.111 original work must not be a cop)
bus
we
want to rate works ol art on an "originalit) m ale out prob
lem docs not lie in deciding whether 01 not
given work is
ness

Only that

,1

most part eas\ enough

acih hou original il is
cannot hope

imaginable.

Who,

head was hidden

would have imagined that bull's

the seat and handlebars of a bicycle until

alter

in

Picasso discovered

it

"make a silk purse out

way 01 working is so

all,

.1

lor us;

did he not. almost

of a sow's ear"?
resistant to

No wonder

any

literally,

the artist's

while the

set rules,

craftsman's encourages standardization and regularity.

acknowledge

this difference

creatine/ instead of merely

when we speak

to

fashion designer

labeled "creative."

to

craftsmen than
miliar

is

death by overuse, and every child and

artists

and expected

among

far

our need

us, since

exceeds our capacity

to

for the fa-

absorb the

we get from
unknown realms, to

artist

apart

is

not so

rious ability to find,

much

the desire to seek, but that myste-

which we

as a "gilt," implying that

it

is

We

call talent.

also speak of

a sort of present from

it

some

higher power; or as "genius," a term which originally meant

One

inhabits the

power a kind of "good demon"

body and acts through him.

that a higher
artist's

thing

we can

say about talent

confused with aptitude. Aptitude

is

is

it

must not be

what the craftsman

means a better-than-average knack fordoing something. An aptitude is fairly constant and specific: it can be
measured with some success by means of tests that permit
needs;

us

it

to predict future

er hand,

seems

performance. Creative

talent,

on the oth-

we can spot it only on

And even past perform. into is

utterly unpredictable:

the basis of past performance.

not enough to ensure that a given artist will continue to procreative peak
duce on the same level: some artists reach
quite early in their careers and then "go dry," while others,
alter a slow and unpromising start, may achieve astonishingly original work in middle age or even later.
.1

Originality

mav

sav, therefore, that

it

is

the yardstick of

ness or importance. Unfortunately,

define; the usual

it

is

rait

artistic

We

great-

also very hard to

synonyms uniqueness,

novelty,

fresh-

and incomplete an

to

here are also likely

be small slipups and mistakes that can be spotted

same way

the

artist

the artist does not really cop)

word, since he does not

cate
it

He does

pinch

it

is

fact that his

111

it

try to

nine h

one great

if

the accepted sense

the

ol

achieve the effect of a dupli-

own instruction. trans( ribing

own inimitable rhythm. In other

for his

accurately yet with his

not the least constrained or intimidated by the

model,

in this instance,

Once we understand
represents

ist

what

as misprints in a text, hut

111

copies another' In using another work as his model,

this,

it

becomes

is

another work

ol art

clear to us that the art-

he does not copy the other work, and that

does not sutler thereby.

his

A relationship as close as this between two works ol art

one might think. Ordinarily, though, the link

is

is

Kdouard Manet's famous painting

Luncheon on the Grass (fig.
seemed so revolutionary a
work when first exhibited more than a century ago that it
caused a scandal, in part because the artist had dared to
show an undressed young woman next to two men in fashionable COntemporar) dress People assumed thai Manet
had intended to represent an actual event. Not until many
not immediately obvious.

art historian disc

oxer the source

ol

these

group of classical deities from an engraving alter

Raphael (fig. 5). The relationship, so strikinu Once it has
figures: a

been pointed out

to us.

had escaped attention,

lor

not copy or represent the Raphael composition

borrowed its main outlines w

modem terms

Manet did
he mereh

bile translating the figures into

Had his contemporaries known ol this, the Luncheon

would have seemed a rather less disreputable kind ol outing
ould be
to them, since now the hallowed shade ol Raphael
1

seen

to

hover nearby as a

meant

ist

the

initial

to lease

the

sort ol

Perhaps the

chaperon.

shoe k had passed, somebodx would

main

Rut does
is

11

effect ol the
oi

comparison

rei

Ognize the

to

to

make

01

the cool

'

Raphael; yet his wa)

ten old composition back to

creative thai he

is

Manet's figures even more conspicuous

our respec lor his originalit)
hue be

(let re.ise

"indebted"

art-

Onservative public, hoping that alter

well-hidden quotation behind his "scandalous' group

formal qualit)
c

tentative

thai

ol

us. the

Originality, then, ultimately distinguishes art from

mean

we

tune with the conception of the work

years later did an

that

lowev

<

not as rare as

sets the real

the execution will strike us as pedestrian and thus out

works of art. The urge to penetrate

achieve something original, may be felt by every one of us
now and then; to that extent, we can all fancy ourselves po-

What

not impossible.

is

artistic originality

mute inglorious Miltons.

that

e\ idence alone. If the copyist is a

ons< lentious
craftsman rather than artist, he will produce a work ol rail,

original but often deeply unsettling experiences

tential artists

do

pnx ess
A straightforward cop) can usuall) be recognized as such

words, he

many more

there have always been

say,

.is

making something, although the

word has been done

Needless

We

of the artist

To

the

foi

but in establishing ex-

we should not try; quite the

contrary. Forwhatevei the outcome of our labors in an) particular case, we shall certain!) learn a great deal about works

on internal

improbable or un-

eliminate

more than

for

fins docs not

swers

of art in the

at least the

to

the difficulties besetting oui task are so great thai

er,

one from the other. Whereas the craftsman attempts onl)

what he knows to be possible, the artist is always driven to

or

and reproductions an-

original (the obvious copies

so completely interdependent that he cannot separate the

attempt the impossible

il

ma) be

life is

ol

bringing (he forgot-

in itsell so original

said to have

and

more than repaid

IMIUiDl

IH>\

his

4;

4.

EDOUARD MANET luncheon on the grass (le dejeuner sur

1863. Oil on canvas, 7' x 8' 10" (2.1 x2.6 m).

Musec

MARCANTONIO KAIMONDI.

above)
////

\u \i oi PARIS (detail)

ix.

//

right)

river CODS

'.mI

~iH

l\l

in

<i

iio\

entury

Detail ol
i>

Villa

<

alter

RAPHAEL

1520. Engraving

Roman sarcophagus
Home

Medici,

d'Orsay, Paris

L'HERBE)

As

matter of fact, Raphael's figures are jusl as "deManet's; they stem from still older sources
which lead us back to ancient Roman art and beyond com-

"traditional"

pare the relief of River Cods

endeavoi

is

ability

materials

debt.

rivative" as

fig.

).

Thus Manet, Raphael, and the Roman

gods form

river

three links in a chain of relationships that arises

somewhere

out of the distant past and continues into the future

for the

Luncheon on the Crass has in turn served .is a source ol

more recent works of art. Nor is this an exceptional case. All
works of art anywhere yes, even such works as Picasso's
Ball's Head
are part of similar chains that link them to

their predecessors. Hit

is

man is an island," the

The sum total of these

these pursuits stand

rail

somewhere between "pure art and

some si ope foi originality to

hev provide

then more ambitious pra< titioners

ol

ramped

bul the

How

ol

reative

such fa< tors as the osl and av.nl

manufacturing processes accepted

In

01

what is useful fitting or desirable; lor the applied

are more deeply enmeshed in our evervdav lives and

notions
arts

ol

thus cater

to a far wider public than do painting and s< ulp

Their purpose as the name suggests is to beautify the
an important and valued end but limited in comuseful
:

ture.

parison to

true that "no

same can be said of works of art.

chains makes a web in which every work of art occupies its
own specific place; we call this tradition. Without tradition
the word means "that which has been handed down

no

All

pure-and-simple

art

we

Nevertheless,

often find

it

difficult to

Unction between fine and applied

instance,

is to

maintain the dis

Medieval painting, for

large extent "applied." 111 the sense that it

art.

embellishes surfaces which serve other, practical purposes

as well
walls, book pages, windows furniture
he same
I

would be possible; it provides, as it

were, the firm platform from which the artist makes a leap ol
the imagination. The place where he lands will then become
part of the web and serve as a point of departure lor further

And

leaps.

since the design of every building, from country cottage to

And for us, too, the web of tradition is equally essential.

Whether we are aware of it or not, tradition is the framework
within which we inevitably form our opinions of works of art
and assess their degree of originality. Let us not forget, however, that such assessments must always remain incomplete

cathedral, reflects external limitations imposed

and subject

major

to

us"

originality

to revision.

For in order

to arrive

.it

a definitive

we should be able to survey the entire length

And that we can never hope to achieve.

view,

of every

mav be

distinguishes

common meeting ground

as the

art.

craft, tradition seives

of the two. Every

budding

he gradually absorbs the artistic tradition

and place until he has gained a firm footing in it.

In this way,

of his time

But only the truly gifted ever leave that stage of traditional

competence and become creators

us, after

taught

how

to

What

own right. None of

we can only be

to create;

go through the motions of creating.

piring artist has talent,

thing.

in their

can be taught how

all,

he

will

If

the as-

eventually achieve the real

the apprentice or art student learns are

and techniques

established

skills

ways of drawing, painting,

carving, designing; established ways of seeing.

great artists

is

their
is

their

work and seek

cility

alone

is

consummate
to

emulate

sufficient.

such a notion

is

technical

recognized by other
it.

Far from

Ibis
it!

not to sav that

Ample warning

fa-

againsl

provided by the academic painters and

sculptors of the nineteenth century,

among

command. This
who admire

artists,
is

who were

-as well as the

command

a requisite of

complete technical

is

masterpieces, which are distinguished by then

superior

execution.
If

the would-be artist senses that his mils are not large

the

by cost lac tors, materials, technology,

site,

practical purpose

the structure

ol

is

ture

almost by definition, an applied

art

called the

"minor

ails

it

is

also a

which are often

<

form a special case

arts

but

art.

as against the other applied arts,

ings are original works of art; that

own hand. With

artist's

upon it by
and by the

only "pure" archi-

lie

altogether,

imaginary, unbuilt architecture.) Thus architec-

tecture
is.

down

breaks

in architecture the distin< tion

prints,

is,

their

ol

own. Draw-

then are entirely bv the

however, the relationship be-

and image is more complex Prints are not

unique images but multiple reproductions made by mechanical means. Perhaps the distinction between original
and copy is not so critical in printmaking after all lhe printmaker must usually copy onto his plate a composition that
was first worked out in a drawing, w nether his own or sometween

one

artist

the beginning,

most prints have been

by craftsmen whose technical

at least in part,

skill is

ensure the outcome Woodcuts and engraving

particular were traditionally dependent on craftsmanship,

necessary
in

from

else's,

made,

to

which mav explain why so lew native geniuses have made

them and have generally been content to let others produc e
prints from their designs.
artist's

intervention

Although

every step

at

ol

it

does not require the

the wav. printmaking

usually involves the artist's supervision and even

ticipation, so th.it

we mav

think

ol

ac live par-

the process as a

ollabora-

tive effort.

Meaning and
Why do we
Urge

to

create

Roth are pail

om image

Surely one reason

is

an

irresistible
US.

remake the world

in

but in recast ourselves and out environment in

ideal form. Art

11

work- illustration, typographic

design, industrial design, and interior design, for example.

derstanding

is

Style

larger desire, not to

ol a

tect,

lor him to succeed as a painter, sculptor, or archihe may take up one of the countless special lields
known collectively as "the applied arts." There he can be

art

'

adorn ourselves and decorate lhe world around

enough

fruitfully active in less risky

.reek

as a <j,roup

the most proficient artists in history

dullest. Still,

although technically pottery were

sometimes decorated by artists ol verv impressive talent.

Nevertheless, one of the attributes that distinguishes

superior talent

and medieval sculpture

shall see

The graphic

out on the level of craft by imitating other works

artist starts

of

from

art

we

vases, as

chain.

If originality

said of nine h ancient

is

however nine h more than decoration

laden with meaning, even

slender or ohsc
in

me

thai content

is

fo]

sometimes

io
ommunu ate mil uncannot be expressed otherwise
or sculpture is worth a thousand words
\i

wavs

Truly a painting

il

enables us

dial

IMIK'IU

//ox

jo

no! only in

descriptive value but also in

its

we

In art, as in language,

nifican< e

moods.

work

poem, the value

n sa\s

meanings through

much more

likewise suggests

ol art

like a

how

s,ns and

it:

ol art lies

than

But what

equally in what

iconography? What

its

suae

the work

mean

is

the statement

itself.

is

would surely be writers instead.)

Fortunately, certain visual symbols and responses occur so
regularly over time and place that they can be regarded as
they

in words, they

specific to

meaning

Nevertheless, their exact

virtually universal.

each particular culture, giving

is

rise to art's in-

The meaning, or content, of art

The word

qualities, its style.

is

inseparable from

style

is

ways of writing

referred to distinctive

used loosely

style

is

in

any

tion,

is

the shape of the

to

the fore

that

it

let-

to mean the distinctive way a thing is

human endeavor. It is simply a term of

"to

have style" means

stand out. But something else

to

comes
we say

field of

most cases:

praise in

originally,

choice of words. Nowadays, however,

ters as well as the

done

its for-

derived from stilus,

Romans;

the writing instrument of the ancient

if

we

have distinc-

to

implied,

is

which

into

something "has no

we do

of a piece.

all

impressing

itself

upon us even

kind of style

ticular

is

To

fitted together.

importance;

and

whom

to

a given

style

we expect

we do

not

we

ad-

has a way of

know what

There

tu ul.

ii

disadvantage

ways bound

its

purposes.

rate

the study of styles

them

artist's

is

of cen-

to find out,

by

when and where

intention

it

also leads

as expressed

depends on
which he lives

This intention

in turn distinguish the stvles of paror,

wherever

it

Even these may need to he subdivided further

vinous phases of an .mist's development. The ex-

not even necessary to

is

that any

which has

reality

image

its

is

a sepa-

own ends and

to its

own

Self-Expression and Audience

Most of us are familiar with the famous Greek myth of the
who carved such a beautiful statue of
the nymph Galatea that he fell in love with it and embraced
her when Venus made his sculpture come to life. The myth
has been given a fresh interpretation by John De Andrea's
The Artist and His Model (fig. 7), which tells us a good deal
sculptor Pygmalion,

about creativity by reversing the

thought,

is still

roles.

Now

it

is

the

artist,

who is oblivious to the statue's gaze. Clearly

woman rather than an ideal conception, the

in the process of

"coming

to life"; the artist

The

not finished painting her white legs.

illusion

is

has

so con-

we wonder which figure is real and which one

dreaming of the other, the artist or the sculpture? De An-

vincing that
is

drea makes us realize that

to the artist, the creative act is a

"labor of love" that brings art to

But can

we

not also say that

it

life

is

through self-expression.

the work of art which gives

birth to the artist?

The birth of a work of art is an intensely private experience (so much so that many artists can work only when
completely alone and refuse
to
lic

anyone), yet

it

must, as a

to

show

their unfinished pieces

final step,

he shared by the pub-

in order for the birth to be successful.

create merely lor his

own

validated by Others, In fact,

pleted until the

debated.

1<>\

We must remember

to his creativity.

mi"

is al-

meaning and appearance of the evto some extent. Actually, realism is

imperatives, for the artist is bound only

Even the most convincing illusion is the
product of the artist's imagination and understanding, so
that we must always ask why he chose this subject and
made it this way rather than some other way. Understanding the role of self-expression may provide some answers.

responds

works of

<

that representational art, like prose,

is

and self-contained

vidual artists.

i<<

realistic

sake. Instead, style

exceptional in the history of art and

model

seems appropriate we differentiate national or local styles

w iihm a period, until we arrive at the personal styles of indi-

50 i\i

its

to the literal

based on a real

phases, such as the Old Kingdom;

iiM

own

need only be
appropriate to the intent of the work. The advantage of realism at face value is that it seems easier to understand. The

way in which
are chosen and

and works Accordingly, we speak of "period styles" if we are

(oih ei iicd with those features which distinguish, let us say,
Egyptian art as a whole from Greek art. And within these

we

art to imi-

premium on

then, no reason to place a

is,

representation for

lost in

the particular

personality and the setting in

broad period styles

we expect

only one vehicle for expressing

are filtered.

par-

work was produced, but

style of his work.

artist's

it

must have an

qualities

for

not only enables

understand the

through the
both the

it

given work of art

art historians
it

put

possess a sense of whole-

oft .ireful analysis and comparison,

l>\

them

means

make up any

the forms that

if

to

involved.

In the visual arts, style

means

it

These are the

things that have style,

in

how

it,

to point in several

that

ness, of being

tral

seems

that has style, then,

inner coherence, or unity, that

mire

to classify

it

not be inconsistent within itself

it

are to un-

we mean when
Such a thing, we feel,

style."

know how

Of a thing

directions at once.
that

not

we

to a naturalistic

ask ourselves what

proper context, because

its

is

learn the style

if

an artist's understanding of reality. Truth, it seems, is indeed relative, for it is a matter not only of what our eyes tell
us but also of the concepts through which our perceptions

not only undistinguished but also undistinguishable; in

other words,

and artist
are so accustomed

But illusionism

tate reality.

eryday world, at least

credible diversity.

mal

We

properly.

it

we

language, requires that

a country, period,

tradition of accurate reproductions that

no clear explanation,
If they could say what

trying to say? Artists often provide

art, like

it

and the

pose, facial expression, allegory,

Thus

and outlook of
derstand

eomiiiunieates partly by implying

it

meaning of art

the

is

dealing with

it

like

it

tent to which we are able to categorize effectively depends

on the degree of internal coherence, and on how much of a
sense of continuity there is in the bodv of material we are

rearrange conventional vocabulary and

to

order to convey new often multiple, meanings and

And

states

We

ways.

not in terms of e\ eryday prose but of poet-

must think of art

ry, which is free
in

sig-

inventors

all

new

of symbols thai convey complex thoughts in

syntax

symbolic

its

are above

art

The

artist does not

wants his work
the creative process is not com-

satisfaction, but

work has found an audience. In the end,

exist in order to be liked rather than to be

7.

JOHN DE ANDREA, the artist and his model

Polyvinyl, poly chromed in

oil; lifesi/.e.

Dallas and San Francisco. Courtesv O. K. Harris.

Perhaps we can resolve this seeming paradox once we unartist means by "public." He is concerned

derstand what the

audience; quality rather than wide approval

is

what matters to him. At a minimum, this audience needs to

consist of no more than one or two people whose opinions he
values. Ordinarily, however, artists also need patrons among
their audience who will purchase their work, thus combining moral and financial support. In contrast to a customer o!
applied

art, for

example,

who knows from

previous experi-

ence what he will get when he buys the products of craftsmanship, the "audience" for art merits such adjectives .is
critical, fickle, receptive, enthusiastic: it is uncommitted,
free to accept or reject, so that anything placed before it is on
trial

nobody

knows

in

advance how

it

will

work. Hence, there is an emotional tension between

and audience that has no counterpart in the relationship of
craftsman and customer. It is this very tension ilns sense ol
uncertainty and challenge, that the artist needs He must
feel that his work is able to overcome the resistance of the

audience, otherwise he cannot be sure that vvhal he has

is

genuine creation,

work

has shown him that his leap

ol art

fact

.is

is

a limited

artists as

kind,
in

common

in
at

one e disc

an

is

rmim-

between the expert and the layman, onlv

a different e

degree

Tastes
Dec iding what is art and rating a work ol art are two separate
we bad an absolute method lor distinguishing
problems:
ll

from non-art. a would not necessaril) enable us to measure quality. People tend to compound the two problems
art

mm

one. quite often

mean. "Wh)

is

is

when

that

good

ask

thev
art

or asked

question asked

it

'"
I

"Uhv

in

an undertone

museums
ol

that

is

low often have

we

or art exhibitions

ait'" thev

we heard

ourselves, perhaps

the Strange, disquieting works that

nowadays

the audience

have

be other

and interested

critics,

ating and enthusiastic that lends particular weight to then

ol

ol

all

in the artist's

members mav

judgments. They are. in a word, experts, people whose authority rests on experience rather than theoretical knowledge. In reality, there is no sharp break, no difference in

find

sense of release alter the response

friends,

fhe one quality thev

beholders,

its

informed love of works of art -an attitude

one

his

the imagination has been

and special one;

well as patrons,

original his

The more ambitious and

ol

fhe audience whose approval looms so large

mind

work, the greater the tension and the more triumphant

well as in intention.

York

receive the
artist

brought forth

New

successful

not with the public as a statistical entity but with his particular public, his

1980.

Collection Foster Goldstrom,

this

in front ol

are likelv to

here usuallv

exasperation, lor the question implies

IMUODI

//OX

">/

we

ih.it

we

don't think

are looking

museum

the experts -the critics,

must suppose

from ours, we are

but that

would

else

tliov put

it

maybe we would loam

on

art."

is

it

man

las

Well.

is

what we

we would know

sec;

Hut the experts do not post exact rules, and

apt to

Tail

back upon his

know anything about

don't

to like

final line of defense:

hut

art.

know what

work of

ail

it

il

takes an expert to appreciate

formidable roadblock, this stock phrase,

is

path

in the

it."

more than the uninformed,

win should we not emulate them? We have seen that the
road to expei tness is clear and wide, and that it invites anyone with an open mind and a capacity to absorb new experiHut

experts appreciate

if

art

we find ourselves liking

main more things than we had thought possible at

ences. As our understanding grows,

a great

the

start.

We

gradually acquire the courage of our

we are
know what we like.

able to say, with

victions, until

like."
It

my view obstructed by a lot of comThere must he something wrong with a

fashion, without having

plicated theories.

understand them and we wish

lear-cut rules to uo by. Then

at a loss to

they'd give us a few simple

the

ol art,

display? Clearly, then- standards are very different

public

"win

why

be one. or

to

it

work

at a

curators, art historians

some

own

con-

justice, that

we

of understanding between expert and layman. Until not so

\er\ long ago, there

was no

great need lor the two to

com-

LOOKING AT ART

each other; the general public had little voice

111 matters of art and therefore could not challenge the judgment of the expert lew. Today both sides are aware ol' the

municate w

ith

between them (the harrier

harrier

nothing new,

itself is

al-

The
We

live in a

modern

though it may hi' greater now than at certain times in the

past and of the need to level it. That is why hooks like this
one are written. Let us examine the roadblock and the var-

ing of

unspoken assumptions that buttress it.

Our puzzled layman might he willing to grant, on the basis of our discussion so far, that art is indeed a complex and
in main ways mysterious human activity about which even
the experts can hope to oiler only tentative and partial con-

In the process,

ious

clusions; hut he

own

also likely to take this as

is

confirming his

know anything about art." Are there

who know nothing about art? If we except

belief that "I don't

people

really

much

this "visual

we have become

in

museums

one object
gasbord.

with equal casualness.

We

we have been

that

We

human living

is

much

so

a part of the

we encounter it

all the time, even

magazine covers, advertising posters, war memorials, television, and the buildings
where we live, work, and worship. Much of this art, to be
sure is pretty shoddv
art at third- and fourth-hand, worn

fabric of

if

our contacts with

it

that

are limited to

out h\ endless repetition, representing the lowest

common

denominator of popular taste. Still, it is art of a sort; and

siik e
is the only art most of us ever experience, it molds
our ideas on art in general. When we say. "1 know what
like." we m. i\ really mean, "1 like what
know (and reject
it

whatever

Such

Tails

match the things

am

familiar with)."

they have been

and culture without any personal choice,
what we know and to distrust what we do not know is

likes are not in truth

imposed
lo like

h\

an age-old
as

to

ours

at all, lor

habit

human

trait.

We

always tend

the good old days," while the future

think of the past

to

seems fraught with

wh> should

made

ing

Iheie

is

many

so

personal choice

of us cherish the illusion of havin art

when

in lac

another unspoken assumption

at

we have

work here

not
that

Uoes something
let

that

like this "Sin< e art is such an 'unruly' subeven the experts keep disagreeing with each other,

m\ opinion is as good as theirs it's all a matter of subjective

preference In fact m\ opinion may be tetter than theirs,
hee

"...'

.mse

.is

layman

.1

IMIHiDl

il<>\

reac

to ait

111

<lii

ct

t.

straightforward

for granted.

at

We

pass rapidly from

it.

it.

Looking

are supposed to admire, then ig-

of equally beautiful and important

will

have seen the

at great art is

but not really

art

not such an easy task, for

While the experience of

we sometimes do
not realize its impact until time has let it filter through the
recesses of our imaginations. It even happens that someart rarely reveals its secrets readily.

work can be immediately

thing that

many

at hist repelled or

created

it.

on many
we will have
to

much

same demands on our

who

confounded us emerges only

years later as one of the most important artistic events

of our lives. Because so

the

electrifying,

it

goes into

faculties as

art,

it

it

makes much

did on the person

we must be able to respond

we are going to get the most out of art,
how to look and think for ourselves in

For that reason,

levels. If
to learn

an intelligent way. which is perhaps the hardest task of all.

Alter all. we will not always have someone at our side to help
us. In the end. the

confrontation of viewer and art remains a

solitary act.

Understanding

work of

art

prec iation of its appearance. Art

preciated lor

its

begins with a sensitive ap-

may he approached and

purely visual elements:

composition, form, and space. These

danger.
But

looked

we

told

works around

it

sampling them like dishes in a smormay pause briefly before a famous masterpiece

for none of us can help knowing

something about it. just as each of us knows something
about politics and economics no matter how indifferent we

the issues of the day. Art

take

to another,

full

to

we

desensitized to art as well.

Anyone can buy cheap paintings and reproductions to decorate a room, where they often hang virtually unnoticed, perhaps deservedly so. It is small wonder that we look at the art

nore the gallery

may he

background noise" has become

a part of our daily lives that

small children and people with certain mental disabilities,

our answer must he no,

Fostered by an unprecedented

civilization.

media explosion,
so

Visual Elements

sea of images conveying the culture and learn-

work of art;

medium

line, color,

ap-

light,

may he shared by any

their effects, however, vary widely according to

the physical materials of which the artwork is

made) and technique, which together help to determine the
possibilities and limitations of what the artist can achieve.
For that reason, our discussion is merged with an introduction lo lour major arts; graphic arts, painting, sculpture, and
The technical aspects of the major media are
architecture.
treated in separate sections within the main body of the text
<

8.

Pen and

and

in the glossary

REMBRANDT

bistre,

wash,

THE STAR OF

8x 12%" (20.3x32.4

toward the end of the book. Just because

does not mean that
)

line is discussed with drawing, however,

it

is

And

not equally important in painting and sculpture

while form
tial to

introduced with sculpture,

is

painting, drawing,

it

just as essen-

is

and architecture.

Visual analysis can help us to appreciate the beauty

masterpiece, but

we must

oi a

be careful not to use a formulaic

approach that would trivialize it. Every aesthetic "law" advanced so far has proven ol dubious value, and usually nets

way of our understanding. Even if a valid "law" were

be found
and none has vet been discovered it would

in the
to

probably be so elementarv as

to

prove useless in the lace of

nil-

KINGS,

c.

cm). British

when

1642.

Museum. London

the artist's creative genius

first

came

be valued and

to

made in quantity. Drawing style can be as

paper began to be

fact, the term "graphi< an

which designates drawings .\\u\ prints, comes from the
Greek word lor writing, graphos. Collectors treasure drawings because they seem to reveal the artist's inspiration with

personal as handwriting. In

unmatched

Their role as

freshness.

records

ol

thought also makes drawings uniquel) valuable

help

historian, lor the)

work from

its

in

inception to the finished

Some

the art

documenting the evolution

themselves commonl)

Artists

note-taking.

artistic

to

treat

ol

pie< e

drawings

form

.is

ol

of these notes are disc aided as fruitless,

We must also bear in mind that art appremore than mere enjoyment of aesthetics. It is
learning to understand the meaning (or iconography) ol a
work of art. And finally, let us remember that no work can be

while others are

understood outside

was highl) expressive \lan\ ol bis sketi lies were done in

pen and ink a medium thai captured bis most intimate
thoughts with admirable directness In The Star oj the kni<is
(fig. Si. one ol bis most elaborate sheets, Rembrandt ren
dered the essen< e ol ea< b pose and expression w nb remarkthe dog, for example consists ol no
able succinctness

art's

complexity.

ciation

is

historical context.

its

LINE. Line may be regarded

ment. A majority of art
tour line;

its

presence

as the most basic visual ele-

is initially
is

actually used to describe form.

out by scribbling, line

is

conceived

often implied even

And because

terms of con-

when

it

is

not

children start

generally considered the most rudi-

mentary component of art although as anyone knows w bo

has watched a youngster struggle to make a stick figure
with pencil or crayon, drawing is b\ no means as eas) as
seems. Line has traditionally been admired lor its des< rip
it

tive value,

looked.

Yet

so that
line

is

its

expressive potential

capable of creating

is

easil)

over-

broad range

ol

effects.

Drawings represent line in its purest form. The apprei u

works ol art dates from the Renaissan< e,

tion of drawings as

,iih1

man who was

life

tuc

ked awa>

siudies lor later use

and

form

to

storehouse

Rembrandt was

constantly jotting

oilier ideas lor further

down

ol

motifs

a prolific

drafts-

observations

ol dailv

development

lis

use

ol line

more (ban a lew strokes ol the pen vet every figure

emerges as an individual character Rembrandt's draftsmanship is so fori elul that allows us to mental]) trace the
movements of the master's hand with astonishing vividness
Once a bash idea is established, an artist ma) develop
into a more complete stud) Michelangelo's stud) fig 9 ol
the Libyan Sibyl foi the Sistine
hapel ceiling is a drawing
of compelling beaut) For this sheet he chose the softet medium ol red balk over the st ran bv line ol pen and ink that
it

it

he used

in

rough

sket< lies. Ins

balk approximates the tex

l\li::>l)i

//m\

53

54

INTRODi

ll"\

10.

(above)

MICHELANGELO.

UB\

The

Vatican,

tine of flesh and captures the play of'li^ht and dark over the
nude forms, giving the figure a greater sensuousness. The

emphatic outline that defines each part of the form is so funto the conceptual genesis and design process in all
of Michelangelo's paintings and drawings that ever since Ins
time line has been closely associated with the "intellectual"
damental

portion

S1BY1

Ceiling. 1508-12. Fresco. Sistine

Rome

nude possessed the physical monumentalit) necessary to

awesome power of figures such as this mythical
prophetess. In common with other sheets like this In him

e\ (xess the

Michelangelo's locus here

musculature
like the

the lose,

was Michelangelo's habit to base his female figures on

male nudes drawn from life. To him. only the heroic male

ception

at

we

hrmh

when

in

mind, probably

Win

it

(opposite
C.

151

1.

MICHELANGELO, study
Red chalk on

paper.

The Metropolitan Museum

for rHE Libyan sibyl

(28x21.3 cm).

sx8'/h"
of Art.

New

York.

Purchase, 1924. Joseph Pulitzer Bequest

to details

had been established

did he go to so

is

much

in a

trouble

mosth clothed and must he

considerable

distance

Michelangelo believed that onlj

9.

he studied the

Since there is no sign ol hesitation m

an he sine thai the artist ahead \ had the con-

the finished Sibyl

from

torso:

toes.

preliminary drawing.

\iewed

on the

is

length before turning his attention

hand and

side of art.
It

the Sistine

ol

Chapel

l>\

Iwidenth

below?

desc ribing the anatomy

completely could he be ( ertain

th.it

the figure would be con-

vincing. In the final painting

fig

in

superhuman
et les

she communicates

strength, lifting her massive book

ol

proph-

with the greatest ease

l\IH')l)l

ll<)\

">",

11.

TITIAN.

Illl:

1559-62. Oil on canvas.

Isabella Stewart

RAPE OF EUROPA

70x80%" (178x205

cm).

Gardner Museum, Boston

COLOR. The world around us is alive with color, albeit

even those of us who arc not colorblind see only a relatively
narrow hand oi the actual lighl spe< trum, Whereas color is

entific."

an adjunct element

the latter a sad one. lake a recalcitrant child, however, color

color
is

is

graphics and sometimes sculpture,

to

indispensable

to

irtually all

true even ol tonalism,

forms of painting. This

which emphasizes dark, neutral

persona]

tirely

art

contrast to the

iii'

niion

ol

researi hers

Uong

teenth centur)

op

recentlj

down

ihen understanding

laws equivalent
tnd Si

56

/\j

>w

iii.it

artists

to

has

attrat tod the

wide

and theorists since the mid ninethe

With

more
ii<

it

Tost Impressionists

and.

color theorists have tried to set

ol

olors as perceptual

those of optical physics

and

artis

Both Van

developed elaborate color systems, one en-

nus

to

to

be "sci-

advance, while blue

a violent or

passionate color,

refuses to he governed by any rules; they work only

iik table

reason

is

seems

whcai the painter consciously applies them.

in art rests

for th.it

read that red

recedes; or that the former

hues hkc gray and brown. Of all the visual elements, color is
undoubtedly the most expressive as well as the most in
Perhaps

meaning, the other claiming

in its

We often

Notwithstanding

iili

ject

line

this large

body of theory, the

more cerebral

quality generally associated

Qie merits of line versus color have been the sub-

of a debate that

first

arose between partisans of Michel-

angelo and Titian, his great contemporary

himself was

a line

Michelangelo.
oristic

role of color

primarily on Us sensuous and emotive appeal,

tradition

le

in

Venice. Titian

draftsman and absorbed the influence of

nevertheless stands at the head of the col-

that

descends through Rubens and Van

Gogh

to

the Abstract Expressionists of the twentieth centu-

The Rape ofEuropa

u
Titian's long career, shows the

ry.

rous color that

is

>,

painted toward the end

painterly applii ation

templating hei beaut) goes all the way bax k to antiquity but
rarely has it been depu led with sue h disturbing overtones

ol

sono

ol

Picasso's

Though he no

characteristic of his work.

at

is

girl

anything bul serene

wo pails one w lib

divided into

is

doubt worked out the essential features of the composition

in preliminary drawings, none have survived. Nor evidently

the other with a masklike appearance

did he transfer the design onto the canvas but worked di-

image

on the surface, making numerous changes as he went

along. By varying the consistency of his pigments, the artisl

sion

less betrays passionate feeling.

rectly

known

upsets out

du( es

magic

is

in art.

it

does not need a system

the heavy outlines,

it

is

to

work

apparent that

12) in terms of form; yet the picture

black and white.

enclosed,
lively

flat

He has

panes

of a

decorative pattern.

makes no sense

treated his shapes

much

12

Cili dt

conception. Picasso here suggests this

Much

vi-

as a real mirror intro-

ow n and does not simply give back the

one alters the way the girl looks, revealShe is not so nun h examining her phys-

ol its

this

reality.

of her relict lion

Trained by Strong blue, purple

at

her with

fiery

its

on her cheek. But it is

the masterstroke of the green spot shining like a beacon in
the middle of hei forehead thai onveys the anguish ol the

Pi-

girl's

<

in

PABLO PICASSO

Collection, ["he

see our-

intensity. Clearly discernible is a tear

self.

Picasso was probably

the theory that red and green are

aware

oi

colors

which

intensify

complementary

each other However

"law" can

this

psyche. That was surely determined as a matter

girl's

ol pictorial

and expressive necessity.

GIRl BEFORl

canvas 64

Museum

confrontation with her inner

hardly have dictated bis choice of green to stand for the

like the

Oil on

longing and apprehen

when we unexpectedly

and green hues her features stare back

window to create a
a young woman con-

March 1932

rea( lies out to tou< h the

ol

stained-glass

The motif of

hanges

scheme

Minor

casso must have originally conceived Girl Before a

(fig.

trails

brush.

From

expression

coloi neverthe-

appearance as exploring her sexuality. The minor is a

sea ol oiiIIk ting emotions signified above all by the color

so filmy as to

so potent that

feel a joll

whose

ical

become nearly translucent in

the landscape background, which is painted with a
is

deft, flickering

Color

it

ing a deeper

green seawater, which has a delicious wetness

The medium
parts of

where

sell

simple truth, so

as glazes. The interaction between

are strikingly apparent in the orange drapery

all

sionary truth in several ways.

these lavers produces a richness and complexity of color that

off into the

Now we

the contrary hei

a sonibei

selves in a mirror whi< h often gives ba< k a reflection that

was able to capture the texture of Europa's flesh with uncanny accuracy, while distinguishing it clearly from her
wind-swept dress and the shaggy coat of Zeus disguised .is a
bull. To convey these tactile qualities. Titian built up his surface in thin coats,

She

the mirror with a gesture

in

On

oi

WRROR

<51W 162.6x1
Modem Vrl New

10.2

m)

V>ik

Mis Simon Guggenheim

i\ii:oih

r/i

although we may doubt the identification, this

portrait, but

disturbing image communicates a tragic vision that was

soon

Not long after the David was painted. Cara-

Fulfilled.

vaggio killed another

spend the

man

which forced him

in a duel,

rest of his short life

to

on the run.

Light can also be implied through color. Fiet Mondrian

uses white and the three primary colors red, yellow, and
blue
(fig.

to

signify radiant light in

14), a

Broadway Boogie Woogie

painting that immortalizes his fascination with

the Culture he found in America after emigrating from his

native Holland during World

War

II.

The

play of color

evokes with stunning success the jaunty rhythms of

and music found

jazz age.
is

New

in

Broadway Boogie Woogie

is

as

system that appropriately resembles a

a medieval

manuscript decoration

tion relies entirely

COMPOSITION.

(fig.

Galleria Borghcse.

/s"

125.

x 100.

Otherwise

this,

must

control space within the

composition.

Moreover,

pictorial

framework of a unispace must work

we have become accustomed

paintings as

windows onto separate

system

Rome

for the

and open-air

LIGHT

it.

Renaissance,

Since the Early

to

experiencing

illusionistic realities.

also
provided a geometric

of one-point perspective

called linear or scientific perspective

).

in

mes-

All art requires order.

The Renaissance invention

cm

map. As

on surface pattern.

across the picture plane, as well as behind

city

387), the composi-

its

fied

CARAVAGGIO. david with the head of goliath

it

sage would emerge as visually garbled. To accomplish

the artist

13.

as the canvas

flat

painted on. Mondrian has laid out his colored "tiles" along

a grid

1607 or 1609/10. Oil on canvas. 49'A x 39

light

York's nightclub district during the

convincing representation of architectural

settings.

By having the orthagonals (shown as

For modern light installations such as laser

concerned with reflected light effects rather
than with radiant light. Artists have several ways of repre-

Except

displays, art

is

senting radiant

light.

Divine

light, for

example,

is

sometimes

indicated by golden rays, at other times by a halo or aura.

andle or torch

<

dark interior or

may be depicted as the source of light in

night scene. The most common method

A
a

light.

show radiant light directly but to suggest its presence

a change in the value of reflected light from dark to
Sharp contrast (known as chiaroscuro, the Italian

word

for

not to

is

through

light-dark)

identified with the

is

Baroque

artist

who made thecoi nerstone of his style. In DaHead oj Goliath (fig. 13), he employed
to
heighten the drama. An intense raking light from an unseen
aravaggio,

some e
I

be

vid

at

it

vid with the

the

sele< tive

it

left is

used

to

highlighting

endows

the

fa<

tli.

the Frame

ii

<

presence. Light

uts off the figure

the viewer from the dark ba< kground. for

the painting

is

ording

to

/.'<>/)/

Thus, the foreextend out to

.ill

its

obvious the

surprising!) muted: David

ontemporan sources, the severed head

//(A

to

contemplate Goliath with a mixture of sadness and

1

ontinuous with ours, despite

shortened arm with Goliath's head seems

atricalit)

the lifesize figure of Da-

a startling

here serves as a device to create the convincing illusion that

David is standing before us. The pictorial space, with its in-

determinate depth becomes

- - -

model forms and create textures.

and the gruesome head with

seems
pity.
is

to

Ac-

a self-

II

PIET MONDRIAN. BROADWAY BOOGIE WOOGIE.

1942-43. Oil on canvas, 50x50" (127x 127 cm),
Collection,

New

The Museum

of

Modem

York Given anonymously

Art,

15.
c.

The

diagonal lines converge

i

it

enabled the

artist to

at a

gain

PIETER DE HOOCH. THE BEDROOM

1658-60. Oil on canvas. 20x23'// (51

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C

x60

cm).

Widener Collection

vanishing point on the horizon,

command

over every aspect of

and placeDutch Baroque artist,

used one-point perspective in organizing The Bedroom (fig.
15). Nevertheless, the problems he laced in composing the
three-dimensional space of his work were not so very different from those later confronted by Mondnan. (The surface
his composition, including the rate of recession

ment

of figures. Pieterde Hooch, the

geometry of De Hooch's painting

sign to

is
I

treated as a separate pocket of space

that

is

The

basically similar in de-

Broadway Boogie Woogie. Each

and

part of the
.is

house

is

design element

integrated into the scene as a whole.

artist will

usually dispense with aids like perspe< tive

on his own eyes. This does not mean that he merely

transcribes optica] reality. Blowing Bubbles l>\ the French
painter Jean-Baptiste Chardin (fig. 16) depends in good

and

rely

measure on a satisfying composition for its sua ess The motif had been a popular one in earlier Dutch genre scenes
where bubbles symbolized life's brevity and. hem e, the vanity of all earthly things. No such meaning can be attached to
C'hardin's picture, which is disarming in its simplicity. The
interest lies solely m the seemingly insignific ant subject and
sense of enchantment imparted by the children's rapl
moment We know from a contemporary

in the

attention to the

source that Chardin panned the youth "carefull) from life

tried hard to give him an ingenuous air." Hie results
and
.

are anything hut artless, however.

Hie triangular shape

ol

JEAN-BAPTIST1 CHARDIN BLOWING BUBBLES

71
cm
17l"> Oil on canva

riu-

National (.alien
(

.ill

ol

ol

\n

Washington

(.

l><

Mis John Simpson

l\ir<>ni

<

//o\

59

the bo) leaning on the ledge gives stability to the painting,

which helps
out the

suspend the

to

(imposition

inio si/e

er) aspec

.is liis
i

To

lill

the artist includes the toddler peering

intend) over the ledge

s.

fleeting instant in time.

at

which

the bubble,

head. Chardin has

of Ins arrangement.

about the

is

thought out ev-

arefull)

The honeysuckle

in the

up-

per left-hand corner, for example, echoes the contour of the

adolescent's back,
to

each

\\

hile the

two straws arc

Even the crack

other.

pose: to draw

in the

irtually parallel

stone ledge has a pur-

attention to the glass of soap by setting

it

slightly apart.
artist paints not what he sees but what he imagA wall painting from Thebes (fig. 17) presents a flat-

Often the
ines.

tened view of a delightful garden

shown

in profile

except

for the

in

which everything

pond, which

is

is

seen from

Pictorial
\

space need not conform

isual reality. El Greco's

Agony

conceptual or

to either

the

Garden

contradictory, irrational space to help conjure

fig.

up

18) uses

a mystical

vision that instead represents a spiritual reality. Christ, isolated against a large rock that

echoes His shape,

forted by the angel bearing a golden cup.

is comsymbol of the

The angel appears to kneel on a mysterious oval

which envelops the sleeping disciples. In the distance
to the right we see Judas and the soldiers coming to arrest
the Lord. The composition is balanced by two giant clouds
on either side. The entire landscape resounds with Christ's
agitation, represented by the sweep of supernatural forces.
The elongated forms, eerie moonlight, and expressive colPassion.

cloud,

other hallmarks of EI Greco's style help to heighten

ors-

our sense of identification with Christ's suffering.

above. In order to provide the clearest, most complete idea of

the scene, the Egyptian artist treated each element as an en-

unto

tit)

itself

Instead of using standard devices such as

and overlapping, he treated space vertically, so that we

read the trees at the bottom as being "closer" to us than
those at the top, even though they are the same si/e. Despite
the multiple vantage points and implausible bird's-eye view,
the image works because it constitutes a sell-contained re-

scale

ality.

he picture, moreover, has an aesthetically satisfying

decorative unity. The geometry underlying the composition

reminds lis once more of Broadway Boogie Woogie. At the

same time, the presentation has such clarity that we feel as
if we were seeing nature with open eyes lor the first time.

FORM.

Every two-dimensional shape that we encounter in

art is the

counterpart

to a

17.

POND

IN

brings

them

to life, as

it

<>()

IMIlOln

lln\

MOO

were.

They require fundamentally

and attitudes toward material as well as

subject matter. Although a number of artists have been
competent in both painting and sculpture, only a handful
managed to bridge the gap between them with complete
different talents

success.

Sculpture
or

is

categorized according to whether

modeled and whether

G \RDEN Fragment of a
<

is

forms and sculpting them. The one transcribes, the other

ft

from a tomb in Thebes

three-dimensional form. There

nevertheless a vast difference between drawing or painting

lie

British

wall painting

Museum. London

it

is

it

is

carved

a relief or a free-standing

18.

Oil

EL GRECO, the agony

on canvas, 40'A x 44%" ( 102.2 x

Toledo, Ohio. Gilt of

19.

in
1

the garden 1597-1600.

13.6 cm). Toledo

Museum

of Art,

Edward Drummond Libbey

ALKESTIS LEAVING HADES. Lower column drum from the Temple

of Artemis, Ephesus.

c,

340

British

statue. Relief

remains

B.C.

Marble, height 71"

180.3 cm).

Museum, London

tied to the

background, from which

it

only partially emerges, in contrast to free-standing sculpture,

which

is fully

liberated from

it.

further distinction

is

made between low {has) relief and high (alto) rebel <\c
pending on how much the carving projects. However, since
scale as well as depth

must be taken

into account, there

single guideline, so that a third category, middle

sometimes

lief, is

Low

is

mezzo)

no
re-

cited.

reliefs often

share characteristics with painting. In

Egypt, where low-relief carving attained unsurpassed subtlety,

many

reliefs

were

originally

painted and included

elaborate settings. High reliefs largely preclude tins kind

pictorialism.

The

figures on a

column drum from

ol

Greek

(fig. 19) have become so detached from the background that the addition of landscape or architecture elebe
ments would be both unnecessary and unconvincing
neutral setting, moreover, is in keeping with (be mythologi-

temple

l\IK')l)l

n<>\

-M

attempting them in marble. In contrast to the figure of

[ades on the column drum, the bronze youth in figure 20 is
I

him a lifelike presence that is

dancing pose. His inlaid eves and
soft patina, accentuated by oxidation and corrosion (he was
found in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Marathon), make
free to

move

further

enhanced by

about, lending
his

him even more credible in a way that marble statues, with

their seemingly cold and smooth finish, rarely equal, despite
their more natural color (compare fig. 21
).

Carving is the very opposite of modeling.

a subtractive

It is

process that starts with a solid block, usually stone, which

is

The brittleness of

highly resistant to the sculptor's chisel.

stone and the difficulty of cutting it tend to result in the

compact, "closed" forms seen in Michelangelo's St. Matthew fit;- 3 One of the most daring attempts at overcoming
).

the tyranny of

mass over space

is

and Daphne by the

Apollo

The danceBaroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (fig. 21

like pose of Apollo and graceful torsion of Daphne create the
).

impression that they are moving

graphed

come

ballet.

to a standstill as the

tree rather than

The sculpture
nini

is

succumb

nymph
to

almost, hut not quite,

to change into a
amorous advances.

begins

the god's

an amazing technical achievement. Ber-

is

completely successful

soft flesh of

a carefully choreo-

in

Time and motion have

Daphne and

in distinguishing

between the

the rough texture of the bark and

The illusion of transformation is so convincing that

we share Apollo's shock at the metamorphosis.
Like most monumental sculpture, Apollo and Daphne was

leaves.

commissioned for a specific site, which imposed severe restrictions. It was intended to be placed close to a wall and
viewed across the room from a doorway slightly to the right.
Bernini's ingenuity in solving this problem is confirmed by
walking around the group, which is now displayed in the
middle of the same room. The most characteristic view, illustrated here, corresponds to what would have been seen
from the original vantage point, although the sculpture may
he looked at profitably from other angles as well. The back
side
al

20.
off

PRAXITELES
Marathon,

c.

standing youth, found

(attr.).

350-325

B.C.

Bronze, height 51"

National Archeological

subject,

,il

which takes place

in

in the sea

129.5 cm).

an indeterminate time and

compensation, the sculptor has treated the limited

space atmospherically; vet the figures remain impris-

oned

stone

that

is,

sculpture that

is

carved

modeled fully m the round is made by either of two

methods One is modeling, an additive process using soft
in. iien. ils such .is plaster, clay, or wax Since these materials
.in- not very durable, they are usually cast in a more lasting
medium anything that can he poured, including molten

or

metal

cement, even

plastic.

lightweight hollow-bronze casting enabled the

periment with daring poses

IMHODI

with this

artist,

it

is fully

little

addition-

carved. As usu-

however, the figures are not willing

to

accept these limitations and enliven the entire space around

SPACE. In our discussions of pictorial and sculptural

space, we have repeatedly referred to architecture, for it is
the principal means of organizing space. Of all the arts, it is
also the

most

practical. Architecture's

parameters are de-

and structural system, hut there

is almost always an aesthetic component as well, even when
it consists of nothing more than a decorative veneer. A huilding proclaims the architect's concerns by the way in which it

ll<)\

in

\\ea\es these elements into a coherent program.

Architecture becomes memorable only

transcendent vision, whether personal,

when

it

expresses

social, or spiritual.

Modeling encourages "open"

forms with the aid of metal armatures to support their extenhis in conjunction with the development of
sion into sp.K e.

(,2

be seen and provides

fined by utilitarian function

ree standing sculpture

to

them.

Museum, Athens

plate. In
free

al

was never meant

information, despite the fact that

ireeks to ex-

monumental sculpture

before

21. (opposite)

GIANLORENZO BERNINI.

APOLLO and DAPHNE.

1622-24. Marble, height 96" (243.9 cm).

Galleria Borghese,

Rome

iMlicin

llo\

'

Such buildings
that

are almost always important public places

require the marshaling of significant resources and

serve the purpose of bringing people together to share

mon

com-

and values. Nowhere are these issues

than in the grandiose urban projects
conceived bj modern architects. The) ma\ be regarded as
laboratory experiments which seek to redefine the role of arput

goals, pursuits,

iii

sharper

lives.

Limited by then \er\ great

ope, lew of these ambitious proposals

Among

ing hoard

the rare exceptions

make

is

it

off the

draw

Brasilia, the inland

eapital of Brazil built entirely since I960. Presented with

an

unparalleled opportunity to design a major city from the

ground up and with vast resources at its disposal, the design

team, headed by Oscar Niemever, achieved undeniably
spectacular results (fi. 22). Like most projects of this sort,
massive stale and insistent logic that make

Brasilia has a

curiously oppressive, so that despite

its

it

lavish display, Brasi-

provides a chilling glimpse of the future.

lia

may he

Similar questions

laced by architects of single

buildings, only on a smaller scale.

Guggenheim Museum
Wright. Scorned when it was

Solomon
Lloyd
1950s,

it

B.

is

a brilliant,

if

An extreme case
in

New

first

is

the

York by Frank

erected in the late

idiosyncratic, creation by

one of the

most original architectural minds of the century. The sculptural exterior

fig.

23 announces that
)

this

can only he a mu-

seum, for it is self-consciously a work of art in its own right.

As a piece of design, the Guggenheim Museum is remarkably willful. In shape it is as defiantly individual as the
architect himself and refuses to conform to the boxlike
apartments around it. From the outside, the structure looks

22.

<>-i

l\l l)l)l(

Ki\

OS(

\i;

NIEMEYER.

The

nected by

office

ana forming

narrow passageway

Wright's interest

in

the "head" to the

left is

to the "shell"

organic

con-

containing the

main body of the museum.

fhe outside gives us some idea of what

relief

chitecture In shaping our

st

like a gigantic snail, reflecting

shapes.

fig.

24

).

vet

nothing quite prepares us

to

expect inside

for the

extraordinary

sensation of light and air in the main hall alter being

ushered through the unassuming entrance, fhe radical demakes it clear that Wright had completely rethought

sign

the purpose of an art

of inverted

dome

museum, fhe

exhibition area

with a huge glass-covered eye

at

a kind

is

the top.

The vast, fluid space creates an atmosphere of quiet harmony while actively shaping our experience by determining
how

art shall

he displayed. After taking an elevator

to

the top

one begins a leisurely descent down the

gendy sloping ramp. The continuous spiral provides for uninterrupted viewing, conducive to studying art. At the same
time, the narrow confines of the galleries prevent us from
becoming passive observers by forcing us into a direct confrontation with the works themselves. Sculpture takes on a
heightened physical presence which demands that we look
of the building,

at

it.

Even paintings acquire

new prominence

by protrud-

ing slightly from the curved walls, instead of receding into

them. Viewing exhibitions

at the

Guggenheim

is like

being

conducted through a predetermined stream of consciousness, where everything merges into a total unity. Whether
one agrees with this approach or not, the building testifies to
the strength of Wright's vision by precluding any other
of seeing the

Brasilia. Brazil.

art.

Completed I960

way

23.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Interior

Solomon R Guggenheim Museum New York

Solomon

I!

1956 59

Guggenheim Museum

1NTRODI

r/l

25.

JAN VERMEER. woman holding

The National

Meaning
An

lias

itself is

as

ly

if

in

balance

Context

work of

is

we can

required.

how

11

we cannot

respond to
and question it in order to fathom its meaning. Finding the
righl answers usually involves asking the right questions.
ven
we aren't sure w Inch question to ask, we can always

literally talk to a

art,

learn

to

ii

il

done it another way?" And when we are through, we must question

st.

ii

with, "What

would happen

oui explanation according to the

if

the artist had

same

test

of adequate proof

have we taken into account

-and arranged it in a logical and
coherent way? fhere is alas no step-by-step method to
guide us hui llns does not mean that the process is entirely
mysterious. We an illustrate
h\ looking at some examples
thai applies to anj investigation:

the available evidence

all

togethei

same

<><>

IMIiODI

it

the demonstration will help us gain courage to try

the

analysis the next time

we

1664. Oil on canvas, 16 /ix 15" (42.5x38.1 cm).

entei a

DC. Widener

The

been called a visual dialogue, for though the object

mute, it expresses Us creator's intention just as surelie were speaking to us. For there to be a dialogue,

however, our active participation

c.

Galley of Art, Washington,

museum.

great

Sphinx of

Collection, 1942

Dutch painter Jan Vermeer has been called The

and with good reason, for all his paintings

Delft,

have a degree of mystery. In

Woman

Holding a Balunce

(tig.

young woman, richly dressed in at-home wear of the

day and with strings of pearls and gold coins spread out on
25), a

the table before her,

The canvas

is

is

contemplating

balance in her hand.

painted entirely in gradations of cool, neutral

tones, except for a hit of the red dress visible beneath her
jacket.

The

soft light

from the partly open window

centrated on her face and the cap framing

it.

is

con-

Other beads of

light reflect from the pearls and her right hand. The serene
atmosphere is sustained throughout the stable composition.
Vermeer places us at an intimate distance within the relate el) shallow space, which has been molded around the fig-

ure. The underlying grid of horizontals and verticals is

modulated by the gentle curves of the woman's form and the
heap of blue draperv, as well as by the oblique .ingles of the
mirror. The design is so perfect that we cannot move a single

element without upsetting the delicate balance.

The composition is controlled in part by perspective, fne

vanishing point of the diagonals formed by the top of the
mirror and the right side of the table lies at the juncture of
the

woman's

little

and the picture frame.

finger

carefully at the bottom of the frame,

we

lower on the right than on the

where

her hand. The effect

left,

see that
it

it

If

we

is

actually

lies just

look

below

so carefully calculated that the artist

is

must have wanted to guide our eye to the painting in the

background. Though difficult to read at first, it depicts
Christ at the Last Judgment, when every soul is weighed.
The parallel of this subject to the woman's activity tells us
that, contrary to

our

impression, this cannot be simply

initial

a scene of everyday

The meaning

life.

is

nevertheless

Far

clear. Because Vermeer treated forms as beads of light,

was assumed until recently that the balance holds items of
jewelry and that the woman is weighing the worthlessness

from

it

of earthly possessions in the face of death; hence, the paint-

ing was generally called The Pearl Weigher or The Gold

Weigher.

If

we

raphy,

which

make

placed them parallel

to

is

also reveals that

of the balance: to

them

we can

look closely, however,

pans contain nothing. This

to

see that the

confirmed by infra-red photog-

Vermeer changed the position

more harmonious, he

theless attractive in its

sen

reason

lor that

it

assemblage

own right and Johns must have cho

When the wooden dooi is up the

transformed from

is

.1

neutral into

age, bringing out the nascent connotations

.1

loaded mi
the target

of

Johns has used the same plaster cast lour limes

which
them oil at
the eves, "the windows of the soul," rendering (hem even
more enigmatic; finally, he rammed them into theii "in
partments, so that they seem to press urgently out toward
lends die

fa<

es

.1

urious anonymity; then he tin

us

he results

.ire

disquieting,

aesthetic. ilh

as

well

as

expressively.

Something so disturbing cannot be without signifibut what/ We maj be reminded oi prisoners trying
to look out from small cell windows
or perhaps "blindfolded" targets ol execution. Whatever our impression, the
claustrophobic image radiates .m aura ol menac ing dangei
cance

Unlike Picasso's joining of a bicycle seat and handlebars to

bull's head. Target with Finn Faces combines two

form a

components in an open conflict that we cannot

how hard we try. The intrusion of this
ominous meaning creates an extraordmarv tension with the
disparate

reconcile, no matter

the picture

the picture plane instead of allowing

recede into space. What, then,

weighing temporal against

is

she doing:'

spiritual values,

it

If she is
can be only in

a symbolic sense, because nothing about the figure or the

setting betrays a sense of conflict.

inner peace? Perhaps

by the mirror.

through her
vaggio's

It

faith.

it

may
In

is

What accounts

for this

self-knowledge, symbolized here

also

be the promise of salvation

Woman

The Calling of St.

Holding a Balance, as in CaraMatthew (fig. 739), light might

therefore serve not only to illuminate the scene but also to

represent religious revelation. In the end,

we cannot

be

sure, because Vermeer's approach to his subject proves as

He avoids any anecdote or

symbolism that might limit us to a single interpretation.
There can be no doubt, however, about his fascination with
light. Vermeer's mastery of light's expressive qualities elevates his concern for the reality of appearance to the level of
poetry, and subsumes its visual and symbolic possibilities.
Here, then, we have found the real "meaning" of Vermeer's
subtle as his pictorial treatment.

art.

The ambiguity in Woman Holding a Balance serves to

heighten our interest and pleasure, while the carefully organized composition expresses the

underlying concept

artist's

do when a work
seems devoid of ostensible meaning? Modern
artists can pose a gap between their intention and the viewer's understanding. The gap is, however, often more apparent than real, lor the meaning is usually intelligible to the
imagination at some level. Still, we feel we must comprehend intellectually what we perceive intuitively. We can
with singular

clarity.

But what are we

to

deliberately

partially

solve the personal code in Jasper Johns' Target

with Four Faces

bus.

Where

i(i<j,.

26) by treating

it

somewhat

stands alone as an object, unlike the long box

first

at

which

the (op. par-

when its hinged door is closed. Why target in the

place? The size, texture, and colors inform us that this

ticularly

is

like a re-

did he begin.' Surely with the target,

not to be interpreted as a real target.

26.

JASPKR JOHNS TARGET WITH FOUR

in

wood box with hinged

i'0

h m

.1

he design

is

never-

FACES 1955

Assemblage encaustic on'newspapei and cloth ovei canvas

26x2(>" 66 66 cm) surmounted l>\ four tinted piaster fat es

Collet lion
(.ill

in

front

overall

Box closed

$%x26>

dimensions with

lx>\

<26x3" (85.3x66.7x6 cm
Iln Museum ol Mixiern Art. New
i.t

\li

and Mrs Robert

<

open
York

Scull

l\ll>Di

//o\ .67

of historical data
arises

cm

image captures not merely the likeness hut

traits as

on

mere likenesses and we

our

all

skill to

interest

belief that an

also the soul

age of photography, we have come

In the

sitter

Our

nearly as well.

satisfy

no doubt from the remnant ofa primitive

ofa

to see por-

readily forget that they call

grasp then meaning. Paul Revere, painted

John Singleton Copley around 1770

we cannot soke with on-thespot observations, so we must look elsewhere to answer
them. The fruit of our investigation must agree with our obby the American

(fig.

artist

27), ^i\es rise to questions

l

servations; otherwise

we cannot he sure

that

we

are right.

Silversmith, printmaker, businessman, and patriot. Re-

vere has acquired legendary status thanks to Henry

Wads-

worth Longfellow's long poem about his legendary midnight

ride, and Copley's painting has become virtually an Ameri-

can

icon.

has generally been treated as a vvor kin gman's

By rights, however, such a portrait

It

portrait, so to speak.

ought

to

he

much more

straightforward than this and,

hence, less memorable. Revere has a penetrating glance and

thoughtful pose which are heightened by the sharp light,
lending him an unusually forceful presence.

He

looks out at

he were reading us with

the same intensity that we bring to hear on his strongly modeled features. Clearly, Revere is a thinker possessing an active intelligence, and we will recognize the pose of hand on
us with astonishing directness, as

JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY.

57.

OU on

Museum

PAUL revere

canvas, 38 x 28'// (96.5 x 72.4

cm

we may

).

R.

then, this disparity between form

have been Johns'

this is really his

working

outfit.

and content

that

It

must

goal.

How do we know we are

right? After

"personal" interpretation, so
find

wonder whether

Revere

dispassionate investigation of the target's formal qualities.

We

also

of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Joseph W., William. B.,

and Edward H.

is,

chin as an old device used since antiquity to represent philosophers. This is certainly no ordinary craftsman here, and

1768-70.

c.

if

we

all,

this is

merely our

turn to the critics for help.

them divided about the meaning of Target with

it must have one. Johns, on

lour I'm r.s. although they agree

the other hand, has insisted that there

is

none!

Whom

are

The more we
think about it. the more likely it seems that both sides may
he tight. The artist is not always aware why he has made a
work That does not mean that there were no reasons, only
that they were unconscious ones. Under these circumstances, the critic may well know the artist's mind betlei
than he does and explain his creation more clearly. We can
we

to believe,

the critics or the artist himself.''

now understand that to Johns the leap of his imagination in

Target with Four Faces remains as mysterious as it first
seemed to us Our account reconciles the artist's aesthetic
oik ei ns and the lilies' search for meaning, and while we
(

no ultimate solution

realize that
at

satisfactory

is

possible,

we have

arrived

explanation by looking and thinking

lor

ourselves.
is all

It

i.

have

and

in

spe<

plai e

ial

and

looking

appeal

at
foi

IMKOIU

portraits

the)

we
ahout character which no amount

to establish a

lead a thousand insights

l>H

and this is espeThose of famous people

seem to bridge a gap of time

too easy to overlook the oh\ ions,

Hue

ill\

ll<>\

personal link

28.

In then faces

JOHN SINGLETON GOPLEY.

Oil

NATHANIEL HURD.

c.

1765

on canvas. 30x25'// (76.2x64.8 cm).

he Cleveland

Museum

of

An John Huntington

Collection

Surely no silversmith would have carried oul Ins craft in

what are probably Revere's besl business clothes. Simpl) by

looking

the pic tun'

at

we have

raised

enough doubts

to chal-

lenge the traditional view of this famous painting

At this point, our questioning oi the picture's surface
conies to an end. for the portrait tails to yield up I'm diet

Once we have posed the problem of this "< raftsman's"

we feel compelled to investigate
further. The
more we pursue the matter, the more fascinating
becomes. Copley, we discover, had painted only a few years
clues.

portrayal,

it

it

earlier a portrait of

Hurdl

.mother Boston silversmith, Nathaniel

one is so different that we would nev-

28). Vet this

fig.

er <j,uess the sitter's trade. Ilurd

is

wearing a casual robe and

him are two hooks, one of them devoted

to heraldry from which he culled the coats of arms he needed lor his work. Why, then, did Copley show Revere at a
workbench with his engraving tools spread out before him.
holding a teapot as the object of his contemplation and offerturban, and before

ing

it

to

us lor our inspection.' In light of Kurd's portrait.

Revere's work as a silversmith hardly explains these

attri-

butes and actions, natural as they seem. Oddly enough, the

question has never been raised; vet surely the differences

between the two paintings cannot he accidental.

Perhaps we can find the answer in the antecedents lor
each. Hurd's image can he traced hack to informal portraits
that originated in France m the early eighteenth century
and soon became popular as well in England, where there
was a rage lor portraits of well-known men and women. This
type of portrait was customarily reserved lor artists, writers.
and the like. In turn, the type gave rise to a distinctive offshoot that showed a sculptor at work in his studio with his
tools prominently displayed (fig. 29). Sometimes an engraver is seen instead. There is another possihle precedent: moralizing portraits, the descendants of pictures of St. Jerome,
that show their subjects holding or pointing to skulls, much
as Revere has the teapot in his hand. Copley was surely fa-

miliar with

all

gravings that
lor the

of these kinds of

we know he

images from the

portrait en-

collected, but his exact sources

Revere painting remain a mystery

and may never

he discovered. For alter 1765 Copley freely adapted and

combined motifs from

which they were.

It

is likely

that

we cannot

he cer-

he conflated two or
apparent thai

three in Revere's portrait. In any case,

it

Copley has transformed Revere from

craftsman into an

is

artist-philosopher.

Let us

now

look at this portrait in

its

larger historical

and

the artist had been asserted since the Renaissance

cept in England, where the newly founded Royal

first

drew the distinction

ed Hurd's

portrait.

Rut

in

the

768, about w hen

(

ex-

Academy

oplev paint-

olouies there was. as

oplev

himself complained, no distinction between the Hades

and craftsman. Indeed, except lor

argued that the decorative arts were the
artist

It

is

portraiture,

it

ol

can he

(attr).

PORTRAIT OF LOUIS-

1750. Pastel. 24'/2 x 21

(62.2x54.6 cm). Yale Center

lor British

An.

New

'//'

Haven,

Connecticut Paul Mellon Collection

\ues Revere was then already involved with

a

Illicit. irianism.

cause which (oplev himself did not share This difference

in their points ol

Reveres

view did not prevent (oplev from endowing

portrait with

an ingenious significance and penehe painter and the

trating seriousness of characteri/ation

silversmith must have

known each

The portrait

other well

stands as Copley's compelling tribute

to a fellow artist

as an invaluable statement about the culture

ol

and

the Colonial

era.

Obviously not everyone

kind of research

is

in a position to

onlv the art historian

must he something wrong with

expert to appreciate

it."

On

Reacting

to

work

ol

aii

s.

st

holars, <im\

sharing then

mensions of our capacity

own

il

lh.it

"there

takes an

il

straightforward fash-

knowledge, deprives

necessary

is

apprecia-

lor lull

urators are not our adversaries;

expertise and

broader contexts with those

vide a model for Our

mean

ol art

Raul Revere as a masterpiece

the portrait in "a duett

understanding that

tion. Critic

this

the contrary, our researt h serves

ol

ion," without the benefit ol adtlition.il

us

undertake

and the occasional

interested layman, lint again, this does not

onlv to affirm the portrait

cultural context. In Europe, the craftsman's inferior position

to

FRANCIS XAVIFR VISPRF

FRANCOIS ROUBIL1AC

different prints in his paintings, often

disguising their origins so completely that

tain

29.

then

knowledge

ol

who seek it, they expand

for

art and the)

and seek expenem es

appreciating

find

art's

the dipro-

fine aits of Amerk a

significant that Copley's portrait probably dates from

around the time of Revere's Inst efforts .it making engrav

in<j,s. a form of an that arose
interestingly enough, out ol
silver-

and goldsmith decorating during the

late

Middle

l\ll)l>(

ll<>\ <>

PART ONE

THE
ANCIENT

WORLD

Art history

is

more than

ated over time.

that

self,

is,

It is

a stream of art objects cre-

intimately related to history

the recorded evidence of

human

it-

events.

we must consider the concept of

we are often told, begins with the inwriting some 8,000 years ago. And in-

For that reason,

history,

which,

vention of
the

deed,

invention

of

writing

was

an

early

accomplishment of the "historic" civilizations of

Mesopotamia and Egypt. Without writing, the
growth we have known would have been impossible. We do not know the earliest phases of its development, but writing must have been several
hundred years in the making between 3300 and
3000 B.C., roughly speaking, with Mesopotamia in
the lead
alter the new societies were already past
their first stage. Thus "history" was well under way
by the time writing could be used to record events.

invention of writing,

we know

more
Or was there
genuine change m the way things happened and
of the kinds of things that happened
after "history" began? Obviously, prehistory was far from una great deal

about history than about prehistory.

,i

eventful. Yet

mark

changes

in the

this road, decisive

human

though they

condition that
are.

seem

in-

when measured

credibly slow-paced and gradual

against the events of the last 5,000 years. The be-

ginning of "history." then, means a sudden increase

speed of events, a shifting from low gear into

in the

high gear, as

history.

They

were.

it

kind of events.

It

also

means

change

listoric societies quite literally

make

not only bring forth "great individuals

one traditional definition of

by demanding human
on
large

and great deeds"

tory

in the

effort

his-

scale,

landmark,

make these achievements memorable. And

an event to be memorable, it must be more than
"worth remembering": it must also be accomplished

lv

quickly

The invention

of writing

makes

a convenient

for the absence of written records is sureone of the key differences between prehistoric
and historic societies. But as soon as we ask why

we

this is so,
all,

how

toric"

ence

and
in

face

some

intriguing problems. First of

valid is the distinction

between "prehis-

Does it merely reflect a

our knowledge of the past? (Thanks
"historic"?

differ-

but thev

for

enough to be grasped by human memory,

and not spread over many centuries. Collectively,
memorable events have caused the ever-quickening
pace of change during the past

which begin with what we

eall

live

millenniums,

the ancient world.

to the

:/

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CHAPTER ONE

PREHISTORIC

AND
ETHNOGRAPHIC ART
THE OLD STONE AGE
When

human

did

prompted them

to

beings

start creating

do so? What did these

must begin with these queswe cannot answer them.

look like? Every history of art

tions

Our

and

works of art? What

earliest works of art

with the admission that

earliest ancestors

began

to

walk the earth on two

feet

about lour million years ago, hut how they were usimj, their

hands remains unknown to us. More than two million years

we meet the earliest evidence of toolmaking. Humans
must have been using tools all alone,; alter all, even apes will
pick up a stick to knock down a banana or a stone to throw at
an enemy. The making of tools is a more complex matter. It
later

demands

first

of

all

the ability to think of sticks or stones as

"hint knockers" or "hone crackers." not only

needed

for

such purposes hut

at

when

they are

other times as well.

Once people were able to do that, they gradually discovsome sticks or stones had a handier shape than
Others and they put them aside lor future use. They selectered that

30.

WOUNDED

BISON. Cave painting,

c.

15,000-10,000

B.C.

Altamira, Spain

ed and "appointed" certain sticks or stones as tools because

they had begun to connect

l<>nii andfunction. The sticks, of

nu ise have not survived, but a lew of the stones have; the)
are large pebbles or hunks oi rock that show the marks of

Cave Art

repeated use

have been
tools h\

the

lii

si

I'KI

same operation

the

appointment so
(

mIi

in a phase oi
01 old Stone

74

foi

he next step was

<ii

to try

whatever

al

may
these

improve their shape. This is

whi( h we have evidence and with
we co.is

to

il

human development known as the

\

IIISIOHH

that

chipping away

\\l<

ll\()(,lt

U'lIK

\i;i

Paleolithii

during the last stage of the Paleolithic, which began

about 35.000 years ago, that we meet the earliest works of
It

is

art

known

refinement
less

we

Hut these already show an assurance and

removed from any humble beginnings. Un-

lo us.

far

are lo believe thai they

came

into being in a single,

sudden burst, we must assume that they were preceded by

thousands of years of slow growth about which we know

nothing

at all. At that

time the

last [ce

close in Europe(there had been

Age was drawing

at least

to

.1

three previous ones,

ol subtropical warmth, at intervals

and the climate between the Alps
and Scandinavia resembled that of present-da) Siberia or
Alaska. Ilu<j,e herds ol reindeer and other large herbivores
roamed the plains and valleys, preyed upon b\ the ferocious
ancestors of today's lions and tigers and In our own ant estors. These people liked to live m caves or m the shelter ol

WD

\UW1IK\

\l \
rhe most striking works
images of animals incised painted

l.\S(

Paleolithic art are the

alternating with periods

st

of about 25,000 years),

dei nl

Wounded Bison from the cave

Spam

(fig

overhanging rocks wherever the) could

such sites have been discovered, inosth

find

them

Man)

in Spam and in
southwestern France; on the basis of differences among the
tools and other remains found there, scholars have divided

up the "cavemen"

into several groups,

characteristic

and of these

site,

Aurignacians and Magdalenians

artists they

produced and

have played

in their lives.

it

is

alter a

especially the so-called

who

lor the

each named

stand out

lor the gifted

important role

ait

must

ulptured, on the
I

its

body,

head lowered

tore

its
1

it

is

es

ol

legs no longer able to

We

are

aves su< h as the

Utamira

at

in

won

northern

rhe dying animal has collapsed on the

-round

ama/ed

defense.

arrv

What

the weight
a vivid

the

ol

lifelike

pu

not onlv bv the keen observation

the assured, vigorous outlines, and the subd)

controlled

shading that lends bulk and roundness to the forms but

even more perhaps bv the power and dignit) ol this c feature
in its

detail

dual agony. Equall) impressive,

il

not quite as fine in

are the painted animals in the cave at Last au.v

the

Dordogne region ol France (figs. 31 and $2). Bison deer,

horses, and cattle race across walls and eiling in wild prolusion, some of them simplv outlined in black, others filled in
(

with bright earth colors but

souse

31. Axial Gallery, Lascaux

;d

ro< k surfat

ol
oi

Montignai

o|

.ill

showing the same uncanny

fife.

Dordogne

France

PRl iiisiokh

\\n

iiimh.h

\i-iih

Mil

75

32.

Cave paintings. 15.000-10,000

33. Schematic plan of

low did this extraordinary art develop?

serve?

it

And how

many thousands
swered

easily

mouth

of a

did

it

happen
The

of vcars'

What purpose

survive intact over so

last

question can be an-

enough for the pictures never occur near the

cave, where they would be open to easy view

(and destruction) hut only

darkest recesses, as far

in the

from the entrance as possible

33

fig,

Some can

).

be reached

only b) crawling on hands and knees, and the path

ate thai

tri<

The cave

one would soon be

al

whose dog

lost

is

so in-

without an expert guide.

Lascaux, characteristically enough, was discov-

ered purely by chance

'

did

to

fell

in

1940 by some neighborhood hoys

hole that led to the underground

into a

lumber.

them from

served

the

purpose

rhere< an be

little

pari ol a magi<

We

must have
more serious than mere decoration,

asual intruder, these images

far

doubt

in fact, that

perhaps

ritual

to

they were produced as

ensure

successful hunt.

gather (Ins not onlj from then secret location and from

the lines me. mi to represent spears

oi

darts thai are some-

times found pointing at the animals but also from the pecu-

.<

/'/;/

Lascaux

way the images are superimposed on one

32). Apparently, people of the Old Stone
Age made no clear distinction between image and reality; by
making a picture of an animal they meant to bring the animal itself within their grasp, and in "killing" the image they
thought they had killed the animal's vital spirit. Hence a
"dead" image lost its potency alter the killing ritual had been
performed, and could he disregarded when the spell had to
be renewed. The magic worked, too. we may be sure; hunters w hose courage was thus fortified were bound to be more
liar,

disorderly

another (as in

successful

HlSTt

\\n

iii\(x,i: w///(

\i:i

fifj;.

when

slaying these formidable beasts with their

primitive weapons.

Nor has the emotional

basis of this kind

even today. We carry snapshots of those

we love in our wallets because this <j,i\es us a sense of their
presence, and people have been known to tear up the photo-

of magic been

lidden away as they are in the bowels of the earth, to pro-

!'<

Lascaux

B.C.

lost

graph of someone they have come to hate.

Even so. there remains a good deal th.it puzzles us about
the

cue

paintings.

Why

do they have

sible places? Couldn't the

been performed just

.is

to

be

in

such inacces-

hunting magic they serve have

well out

the open?

And why

are

they so niaryelously lifelike? Would not the magic have been

equally effective if the "killing" had been practiced upon less

images? We know of countless later instances of

magic which require only the crudest and most schematic
kind of representation, such as two crossed sticks for a hurealistic

man

figure.

Perhaps we should regard the Magdalenian cave pictures

as the final phase of a development that began as simple kill-

when big game was plentiful but shifted

meaning when the animals became scarce there is evi-

ing magic at a time

its

dence

that the big herds

but to

"make" animals

withdrew northward as the climate

of Central Europe grew warmer). At Altamira and Lascaux,
then, the main purpose may no longer have been to "kill"
through seasonal

to

increase their supply, perhaps

rituals repeated year alter year. In

some

ol

the weapons associated with the animals, images of plants

have recently been recognized. Could

lenians practiced their

fertility

it

magic

be that the Magda-

in the

earth because they thought of the earth

thing from
is

whose womb

all

other

life

bowels of the

itself

as a living

springs? Such a notion

familiar to us from the cults of earth deities of later times;

not impossible that

its origin goes back to the Old Stone

would help to explain the admirable realism
of the cave paintings, for an artist who believes that he is
actually "creating" an animal is more likely to strive lor this
quality than one who merely sets up an image lor the kill.
it

is

Age.

If

it

does,

it

POSSIBLE ORIGINS. Some

of the cave pictures

may even

provide a clue to the origin of this tradition of fertility magic:

in a

good

many

instances, the shape of the animal

seems

to

We

35.

know how our imagination sometimes makes us see all sorts of images m chance
formations such as clouds or blots. A Stone Age hunter, his
mind filled with thoughts of the big game on which he depended lor survival, would have been even more likely to
vein or crack as far as possible.

all

recognize such animals as he stared

his cave

and

Perhaps

at first

to attribute

at

the rock surfaces of

deep significance

to his discovery.

he merely reinforced the outlines of such im-

c.

RITUAL DANCl

10.000 H(

v..

have been suggested by the natural formation of the rock, so

that its body coincides with a bump or its contour follows a

Rock engraving

'

Height of figures

c.

Cave of Add. una. Monte Pellegrino

ages with a charred sink from the

could see what he had found.

It

a special Status

lieved of the

dangers

of

make Images

with

little

cm)

Palermo

Sk

so that others, too,

tempting
at

il\

think that

to

mh

finding

images

artist-magicians and were

re-

the real hunt so that they could per-

image-hunting,

fect their

.is

10" (25.4

fire,

is

those w ho proved particularly good

were given

until Imallv

or no aid

the) learned hovi to

hom chance

formations,

though thev continued to welcome sue h aid

A striking example of this process of reation
i

is

the re

markable Nude Woman from the La Magdelaine Cave at

Penne (fig. 34), one of the rare instances of the human
figure in Paleolithic an apparently human fertility was a
he legs and
less pressing problem than animal fertility
I

torso have

such

been

aived from natural ledges

wav that the shapes seem

ceptibly from the stone

The

right

the rock in

of

emerge almost Imperarm is haielv visible a\u\

to

the head appears to have been omitted altogether

"<

ooperation" on the pan

ol

the natural surface

ofritualmay have centered on this figure

Yet the existence of cave rituals relating

animal
34.

nude womak Rock carving,

c.

15.000-10.000 lie Lifesize

La Magdelaine Cave, Penne (Tarn), France

group

fertility

ot

ave

lac k ol

kind

we can only guess

to both human and

would seem

Paleolithic

walls of the

I'"

What

ot

to be confirmed bv a unique
r><)s on die
drawings found in the
\ddaura near Palermo in Sic ilv h
(

I'M-IIISIOKH

\\DHU\(H.I(\I'HH

Mil

-77

36.

Mammoth

HOUSE, from Vogelherd Cave.

ivory,

length 2 // (6.4 cm).

Private collection

37.

78

/'/</

///S/0/(/<

IM

HNOGR

c.

28,000

Shown 120

B.C.

percent actual

size.

Photograph copyright Alexander Marshack)

VENUS 01 WILLENDORf
25,000 20,000 B.C Stone, height 4%" (11 cm).
Shown n? percent actual size. Naturhistoriches Museum. Vienna
(

M'llH

Mil

These images, incised into the rock with quick and sure
show human figures in dancelike movements, along

lines,

with

some animals; and

several layers of

here, as at Lascaux,

we again

find

images superimposed on one another

Carved and Painted Objects

Apart from large-scale cave
leolithic also

art,

the people of the

ings in bone, horn, or stone, skillfully cut by

tools.

The

mammoth

Upper

Pa-

produced small, hand-sized drawings and carv-

earliest of these

from

found so

far arc

means

of Hint

small figures of

in southwestern Germany,
Even they, however, are already so
accomplished that they must be the fruit of an artistic tradition many thousands of years old. The graceful, harmonious

ivory

made 30,000

a cave

years ago.

curves of the running horse

(fig. 36) could hardly be improved upon by a more recent sculptor. Many years of han-

dling have

worn down some

details of the tiny animal; but

38. bison, from La Madeleine near Les Lyzies

the two converging lines on the shoulder, indicating a dart

or

wound, were not

Musee des

then, this horse too has been "killed" or "sacrificed."

Some

of these carvings suggest that the objects

15,000-10,000 B.C Reindeer horn length

c.

part of the original design. In the end,

Dordogne

4"
1

10.15

cm

Antiqintes Nationales, St-Germain-en-Laye, Fiance

may have
some

originated with the recognition and elaboration of

chance resemblance. At an earlier Stage, it seems. Stone Am'

people were content to collect pebbles (as well as less durain whose natural shape they saw
ble small specimens
something that rendered them "magic"; echoes of this approach can sometimes be felt in later, more fully worked
pieces. Thus the so-called Venus of Willendorf in Austria
(fig. 37), one of many such female fertility figurines, has a
bulbous roundness of form that recalls an egg-shaped "sa)

cred pebble"; her navel, the central point of the design,

natural cavity in the stone.
of reindeer horn
to

owes

its

And

the masterful Bison

fig.

compact, expressive outline

is

38)

in part

the contours of the palm-shaped piece of antler from

which

it

was carved.

It is

not an

unworthy companion

splendid beasts at Altamira and Lascaux

39. a spirit

to the

art of the Old Stone Age m Europe as we know

tomarks the highest achievements of a way of life that began to declme soon alter. Adapted almost perfectly to the

The

it

il. t\

special conditions of the receding Ice Age,

si'i

could not sur-

of South Africa and the aborigines of Australia are

or were
remnants of this primeval
phase of human development. Even then art has decidedly
Paleolithic features; the painting on tree bark from North
until

very recently

Australia

man

it

beyond them. In other parts of the world, the Old Stone

Age gave way to new developments between c. 10.000 and
5000 B.C., except lor a lew particularly inhospitable areas
where the Old Stone Age way of life continued because
there was nothing to challenge or disturb it. The Bushmen
vive

{RING KANG IROOS

Western Arnhem Land. North Australia

the

last

39), while far less skillful than the ca\e pic

(fig.

aboriginal painting from

(

1900

Dree lurk

//;/

iiiskihh

\\i>

;//\(x,/m/"//(

\ia

40. Neolithic plastered skull, from Jericho,

Lifesize. Archaeological

tu res of

Europe, shows a similar interest

keen observation of

detail (including

inner organs), only here

it

is

which the hunting magic

is

movement and

the Old Stone

though
began

its

in

Age

an "X-ray view" of the

implements of ever greater technical refinement and beauty

of shape, and an infinite variety of clay vessels covered with
abstract ornamental patterns, but hardly anything comparable to the painting and sculpture of the Paleolithic. Yet the
changeover from hunting to husbandry must have been accompanied by profound changes in the people's view of
themselves and the world, and it seems impossible to believe
that these did not bnd expression in art. There may be a vast
chapter in the development of art here that is lost to us simply because Neolithic artists worked in wood or other imper-

to a close

a revolution

has been termed

it

was indeed,

al-

course extended over several thousand years.

the Near East sometime about

8000

B.C.,

It

with the

to domesticate animals and food

epoch-making achievements of human history. People in Paleolithic societies had led the unsettled life of the hunter and food gatherer, reaping where
nature sowed and thus at the mercy of forces that they could

successful attempts

first

grains one

neithei

how

to

women
new

of the truly

understand nor control. But now, having learned

assure a food supply by then

down

settled

discipline

in

permanent

own

efforts,

men and

communities:

village

and order entered their lives. There is, then, a

between the New Stone Age, or Neo-

verj basic difference

lithic

and the Old, or

Paleolithic, despite the

lac

that

all still

depended on stone as the material of their main tools and

weapons. The new mode of life brought forth a number of
important new crafts and inventions long before the earliest
appearance of metals: potter) weaving and spinning, basic
methods ol architectural construction in wood, brick, and
stone

We know

from the tangible remains of Neolithic

settlements that have been tine o\ creel bv e\< a\ ation. Unforall

tunately these

H0-

I'ltl

llisioitli

ilns

remains

\\i>

tell

us

ven

lii\<>(.i<\rilH

B.C.

spiritual eondition of Neolithic culture; they include stone

kangaroos rather than bison on

being worked.

And

the Neolithic Revolution.

7000

in

THE NEW STONE AGE

What brought

c.

Museum, Amman, Jordan

little,

\l:i

as a rule, of the

manent
help

to

JERIC1
is

materials.
fill

Or perhaps excavations

in the future will

the gap.

K).

tantalizing glimpse of

provided by the discoveries

what

lies in store for

at prehistoric Jericho,

us

which

include a group of impressive sculptured heads dating from

about 7000

whose

lie

(fig.

40).

They

are actual

human

skulls

faces have been "reconstituted" in tinted plaster,

with pieces of seashell for the eyes. The subtlety and precision of the modeling, the fine gradation of planes

and

ridges,

the feeling lor the relationship of flesh and bone would be

remarkable enough

in

themselves, quite apart from the

amazingly early date. The features, moreover, do not conform to a single type; each has a strongly individual cast.
Mysterious as they are, those Neolithic heads clearly point

Mesopotamian

(compare

110); they are

forward

to

the

harbingers of a tradition of portraiture that

first

art

tinue unbroken until the collapse of the

Roman

will

con-

Empire.

art, which had grown from the percepchance images, the Jericho heads are not intended to

Unlike Paleolithic
tion ol

fig,

"create"

life

but to perpetuate

beyond death l>\ repla< ing

more enduring substance. From
which these heads were found, we

the transient flesh with

the circumstances in

it

.1

gather that they were displayed above ground while the rest
of the body was buried beneath the floor of the house; presumably they belonged to venerated ancestors whose beneficent presence was thus assured.

had buried then dead, but we do

was
death merely a return to the womb of mother earth, or did
they have some conception of the beyond? The Jericho
heads, on the other hand, suggest that people of the NeolithPaleolithic societies, too,

not

know what

ideas they associated with the grave:

ic era believed in a spirit or soul, located in the head, that

could survive the death of the body and assert its power over
the fortunes of later generations, and thus had to be appeased or controlled. The preserved heads, apparently, were

"spirit traps"

ing place.

designed

to

They express

keep the

in visible

spirit in its original

dwell-

form the sense of tradition,

of family or clan continuity, that sets oil the settled

life

of

husbandry from the roving existence of the hunter. And

Neolithic Jericho was a settled communitv of the most emphatic sort: the people

who treasured

42.

Houses ami shrines

(schemata reconstruction

<>l

111

terraces.

at.il

bevel VI afte

lluvuk Turkey

Mellaart

6000

C.

<

the skulls of then fore-

bears lived in stone houses with neat plaster

floors,

within a

town protected by walls and towers of rough but

strong masonry construction (fig. 41). Yet. amazingly
enough, they had no pottery; the technique of baking clay in
a kiln, it seems, was not invented until later.
fortified

43.

ANIMAL HUNT

(AIM. HUYUK.
brought

to

iuli

Excavations

built ol
(

mud
fig.

at

I.

inhabitants lived in houses

Its

bricks and timber

12

Qatal Hiiyiik in Anatolia

anothei Neolithic town, roughly a hoi is. md

years younger than Jericho.

yards

Mam Room. Shrine A. Ill 1.

6000 B.C 27x65" (68.5 x 165 cm)

Restoration of

Catal Huyiik (after Mellaart)

lustered around open court-

here were no streets, since the houses had

no doors; people apparently entered through the

settlement
liesl

nit

found so

hided
fai

number

ajhI

encountei the

earliest

VnimaJ hunts

with

ol

rool

religious shrines

he

ihe e.u

on then plaster-covered walls we

paintings on

man-made

surface

running figures surrounding

huge bulls oi stags fig. 13 evoke e< hoes ol the old Stone
\'j.e
an indication thai the Neolithic Revolution must have
been a ret enl e\enl at the lime hut the halaiu e has alreadv

41. Early Neolithic wall

and lower Jericho .Ionian

,000

I!

small

slutted; these

hunts have the charactei

the male deit)

to

whom

the bull

than of an everyday .uti\n\ necessan

I'M

UISIUHH

of

rituals

and stag were sa<

WD

loi

honoring

red

rathei

mh\i\.iI

lll\(H,l(\riiH

\i:i-si

TWIN LEOPARDS Painted plaster relief. Shrine VIA,

Caul Hiiyuk. c. 6000 B.C 27x65" (68.5 x 165 cm)

45. FERTILITY

44.

c.

GODDESS, from Shrine

6000 B.C Baked

Archaeological

Compared

to

the animals of the cave paintings, these at

Catal Hiiyuk are simplified and immobile;

who

are

male

deities displax

it

is

the hunters

energetic motion. Animals associated with

an even more

symmetrically opposed leopards

and another

of each other,

the throne of a

fertility

rigid discipline; the

11

fig.

fe-

goddess

45).

(fig.

(figs. 46 and 47). The densely packed rectangles of the

houses are seen from above, Vt lnle the mountain is shown in
it

,i

volcano

covered with dots representing blobs of lava.

is

visible today

still

how eould

from Catal Hiiyuk.

Its

eruption must have been a terrifying event for the inhabi-

forth this

Neolithic Europe
While the Near East became the cradle of civilization (to be
civilized, alter all, means to live as a citizen, a town dweller),
the Neolithic Revolution progressed

pace in Europe. About 3000

view

Oi

rows \NDVOU
(

'

Via H/STOrt/i

.ii .il

\Nl)

\\<i

Hiiyuk

Wall painting Shrine VII. 14,

6000

IIIMh.i: Willi

B.C

\l;l

B.C.,

at a

very

much

slower

Near Eastern influences

began to spread to the northern shore of the Mediterranean.

Baked clay figurines of fertility goddesses found in the Balkans, such as the very striking one from Cernavoda figs. 48
(

and

49). have their closest relatives in Asia Minor.

makes

47.

K)

they have viewed it exeept as a manifestapower? Nothing less could have brought
image, halfway between a map and a landscape.

tion of a diety's

one of the many

Such

Museum, Ankara, Turkey

are mirror images

with the twin cones of an erupting volcano above

profile, its slope

^atal Hiiyuk.

pair of leopards forms the sides of

baked
nus oj Willendorf (compare fig. 37). Among the wall paintings at Catal hunk, the most surprising one is a view of the
itself,

AIM,

height 8" (20.3 cm).

two

clay statuettes that betray their descent from the Ve-

tow n

tants:

clay,

the Cernavoda Fertility Goddess so

viEWOf iow\ WDVOLCANO

memorable

What
is

Reconstruction drawing

the

48, 49. FERTILITY GODDESS, from

Baked

clay,

height G'/V

Cemavoda Romania c. 5000 B.C

Museum. Bucharest

16 cm). National

(Photographs copyright Alexander Marshack)

50.

Dolmen. Camac (Brittany

woman's bod)

sculptor's ability to simplify the shapes of a

and

yet retain Us salient Features

clude' the lace

).

which,

him, did not

to

The smoothly concave back sets off the

looning convexity of the front

breastsin

way

that

thighs,

would do honor

belly,

to

arms

in-

I,

France

1500 B.C

Neolithic Europe never rea< hed the level of social organization thai

produced the masonry architecture

bal-

the dense urban

and

find

any twentieth-

century sculptor.

community
there monumental stone

called megalithit

boulders

pla<

ol

North of the Alps

because they consist

Eastern influence cannot be detected until

time. In Central

continued

to

and Northern Europe,

lead the simple tribal

life

illage

munities even after the introduction of bronze and

til

later

be compelled only

sparse population

of small

few hundred years before the birth

ol

<

iron,

Christ

the sustained and

ly

much

that almost

ol

<

civit

we

demanded

or utilitarian, apparent-

of religious faith

the

or

hen pur-

o-ordinated effort they required

by the authority

literally

Instead

huge blocks

ed upon ea< h other without mortar

Neat

Jericho or

oi

llmuk

strut Hires ol a different kind

pose was religious rather than

DOLMENS AND CROMLECHS.

atal

moving

ol

ould

a faith

mountains

monuments have an awe-

om-

Even

un-

inspiring superhuman air about them .is n they were the

work of a forgotten raceol giants Some, known as dolmens,

Ihus

today

these

megalithit

//,'(

iiisiohh

\\i>

iii\<h,i:\i',ii<

[RT*83

51.

c.

2000

B.C.

Diameter of

circle 97' (29.6

arc tombs, "houses of the dead" with upright stones for walls

and

m)

Lintels

Mission

Fallen

CD

<=>

a single giant slab for a roof (fig. 50).

Others, the so-called cromlechs, form the setting of

gious observances. Stonehenge in southern England
.11

England,

(aerial view). Salisbury Plain (Wiltshire),

Stonehenge

and 52) has

reli-

*******

(figs.

outer circle of evenly spaced uprights

a great

Standing

supporting horizontal slabs lintels) and two inner circles

similarly marked, with an altarlike stone at the center (fig.
I

The

53).

entire structure

chitecture

is

matter of definition: nowadays, we tend

think of architecture in terms

ol

enclosed interiors, vet

tus

ol

ah

would we want

to consult the ancient

the term To them, "archi-tecture"

than ordinary "lecture" (that

ing"

much

deny the

to

WV

mmm

Altar

stone

we

;8

practical

nence

01

sta-

is

Greeks,

who coined

construction" or "build

bend

.1

bishop or an

Icclstonc

structure distinguished from the

everyday kind by its scale, order, permasolemnity of purpose. A Greek, therefore, would

meich

meant something higher

as an archbishop ranks above

hfiend above

fl

.in

\*
n

open-air theaters or sports stadiums.

bitec lure to

Perhaps we OUght

tlOI

f\

to

also have landscape architects, the designers of gardens,

parks and playgrounds;

oriented toward the exact point

is

at which the sun rises on the day of the summer solstice.

and therefore it must have served a sun- worshiping ritual.
Whether a monument such as this should be termed ar-

have acknowledged Stonehenge as architecture.

Vnd we too shall have no difficulty in doing so once we understand thai it is not nee cssarv to aldose space m order to

52. (opposite)

Stonehenge

certainly

defin<

01

.11 lit

ill.

He

II

it

an

10 bum. in need-, and

more than meets the test.

space

X-4

I'M M

TURK

WD

bitei lure is

the

art of

aspirations," then

rHNOCR

M'lIK

Mil

shaping

Stonehenge

53. (above)

Diagram of original arrangement of stones

at

Stonehenge

(after

E Hoyle)

I'M ;//s/n/(/(

\\Di iii\(h,h\I';ih

kRT*8S

54. Great Serpent

Mound, Adams County, Ohio.

Length 1400' (426.7 m).

Neolithic America
Comparable
terms of the

to

the megalithic

monuments

Europe

of

in

effort involved is the "earth art" of the prehistor-

Mound Builders.
mounds vary greatly in

Indians of North America, the so-called

ic

The term

is

misleading, since these

c.

300 B.C.-400

Tony Linek, Fort Lee,

shape and purpose as well as in date, ranging from ahout

2000 b
to the time of the Europeans' arrival. Of particular
interest are the "effigy mounds" in the shape of animals
i

presumably the totems of the tribes that produced them.

he most spectacular is the Great Serpent Mound (fig. 54),
a snake some ,400 feet loot; that slithers along the crest of a
ridge by a small river in southern Ohio. The huge head, its
center marked by a heap of stones that may onee have been
was the natan altar, occupies the highest point. Evidently
I

it

New

AD

Jersey

emotional overtones. The term "ethnographic" will serve us

better. It stands for a way of life that has passed through the
Neolithic Revolution but

shows no signs

direction of the "historic" civilizations.

that

of evolving in the

What

this

means

ethnographic societies are essentially rural and

ficient; their social

and

political units are the village

is

self-suf-

and the

rather than the city and the state; they perpetuate

tribe,

themselves by custom and tradition, without the aid of written records: hence they

own history.
The entire

depend on

pattern of ethnographic

dynamic, without the inner drive

that
to

we

for

oral tradition for their

life is static

rather than

change and expansion

take lor granted in ours. Ethnographic societies tend

he strongly isolationist and defensive toward outsiders;

human

ural formation of the terrain that inspired this extraordinary

they represent a stable but precarious balance of

work of landscape architecture, as mysterious and moving

in its way as Stonehenge.

ings and their environment, ill-equipped to survive contact

with urban civilizations. Most of them have proved tragically

helpless against
at

ETHNOGRAPHIC ART
I

here are as

(he

\i\ors

the so
ol

oi
(

we have

seen, a lew

Stone Age lasted

)ld

human

groups

the Neolithic are far easier to find.

lor

whom

Modern surThey include all

the South

and the Americas. "Primitive" is

it suu,ij,ests
quite wrongly

I'.u ilu

thai these so ieties represent the original

and Ins thus come

-I'M

same lime

encroachment by

"civilized" societies. Yet

the cultural heritage

ol

ethnographic

has enriched our own: their customs and

soci-

beliefs, their

and then music have been recorded bv ethnoloand ethnographic art is being avidly collected and admired throughout the Western world.
folklore,
gists,

ailed primitive societies of tropical Africa, the islands

a

somewhat unfortunate word

hi,

the

eties

until the present day.

be-

///s /o/:/f

\\n

to

he burdened with

iii\o<,lt\l'lll<

\m

human

condition,

main

conflicting

ANCESTOR

SPIRITS. The rewards of

this

concern with

the world of ethnographic societies have been manifold.

Among them
own

is a

better understanding of the origins of our

culture in the Neolithic

ol

the Near East and Europe.

Though

the materials on which we base our knowledge <>l

ethnographic peoples and then ways arc almost invariably of
quite recent date
very few of them go hack beyond the seventeenth century they offer striking analogies with the

Neolithic of the distant past; and. of course, they arc

nitely richer.

cho

(fig.

40)

Thus the meaning of the

is

infi-

cult of skulls at Jeri-

illuminated by countless parallels in primitive

art.

The
trict

is to be found in the Sepik River disGuinea, where until quite recently the skulls of

closest parallel

New

of

ancestors (and of important enemies) were given features

much

the

same

in

fashion, including the use of seashells for

57. Stone images, Akivi. Easter Island

17th century or earlier Height

e\cs

And here we know

55).

(fig,

"trap"

and thereby

to

c.

30'

l
>

<

tin

purpose was

that the

'4am power over the spirit

ol

to

the dead

On

the other hand, the Jericho cult probably differed from

the

New

luinea version in

some

significant respects, lor the

sculptured skulls from the Sepik liner

the delicate, re-

kit k

modeling of those from Jericho; the painted status

markings on the fates, rather than any actual portrait resemblance, establishes the identity of the deceased.
hen
alistic

savagery of expression makes

it

heads as works of an.

embody

vet they

splendid wood carvings

area,
55. Plastered skull, from the Sepik River,

19th century. British

New

Guinea.

Museum, London

such as the one

the body

as

in

for

us

the

to

think of these

same

belief as the

ancestral figures produced in

ol

in figure

tered on the head, with

hard

The entire design

">(>.

intensely staring shell

its

ethnographic

general!)

art

is

cms

th.it

cen-

while

has been

re-

duced to the role of a mere support, flic limbs suu'j,est the

embryo position in which so many sut h peoples like to bury
their dead.

The bird emerging from behind the head with its great
wings outspread represents the ancestor's vital spirit or life
force; from its appearance, it must be
frigate bird or some
other sea bird noted for its powers of flight. Its soaring move.1

ment, contrasted with the rigidity of the human figure,

forms a compelling image and a strangely familiar one foi
our own tradition, too, includes the "soul bird," from the

dove of the foly Spirit to the albatross of the Ancient Manner so that we find ourselves responding to a work ol art
I

that at

first

glance might seem

be both puzzling and

to

disconcerting.

GUARDIANS

Ancestor rituals arc the most persistent

fea-

ture of early religions and the strongest cohesive force in

ethnographic
sists

societies, but since the "primitive" world con-

of countless isolated tribal groups,

infinite variety
56.

MALE FIGURE SURMOUNTED BY

New

BIRD, from the Sepik River.

Guinea. 19th-20th century Wood, height 48"

Washington University Gallery of Art,

University Purchase.

St.

122

Louis.

Kende Sale Fund, 1945

cm

even more

oi

On

cestral figures

forms, and

its

it

an take an almost

expression varies

artistic

Easter Island, for instance,

i

arved from

vol< ani<

rcx k

we find huge an

Lined up on raised

must have cast a powerHere the carver's effort has

platforms like giant guardians, they

ful

protective spell

fig

57).

fHllllslollK

\M)

lll\(H,n\l'lll(

\RT'87

again

entered on the elongated, craggy Features

and the back

figures

seem

megalithic

Among

ol

the head

suppressed

is

an impulse akin

to reflect

monuments

ol

the face,

These

entirely.

to that

behind the

ol

labon

in

Equatorial Africa, the

skulls ol ancestors used to be collected in large containers

that

were protected by

communal dwelling
shows such
Koia This
ol

guardian

carved guardian figure,

place of the ancestral

spirits.

number of others along

tribe, like a

extent, so that

guardian images

in

its

artists

gle plane;

were able

to

is

to a

hollow dia-

The

circles.

face, in contrast,

is

concave

o\ al

\\

ithin

which

two spherical eves and a pyramidlike nose nestle as they

would in the center of a dish. The effect of the whole is extraordinarily calm, disciplined,

and harmonious

finely

the west coast

might almost mistake it lor mere decoration. Surely this

guardian could not have been meant to frighten anybody.
Tribal secrets are not readily betrayed, hence the avail-

to

sheathe their

endowing them
remarkable exam-

polished brass, thus

with special importance. This figure

body and limbs are contracted

shape, and the headdress consists of two segments of

balanced sequence of shapes so unaggressive that one

among

Central Africa, was familiar with nonferrous metals

some

Except

art.

the

form traditional

in the

a sort of

Figure 58

realm of primitive

head, the entire design has been flattened into a sin-

for the

mond

of Europe.

the native tribes

lesser extent, throughout the

ple of the geometric abstraction that occurs, to a greater or

able accounts do not

tell

us very

ever, to explain their

much

about the exact

It

the abstract tendency of ethnographic art generally

effort to

sig-

seems reasonable, howextreme remoteness from nature and

nificance of the Kota guardians.

convey the "otherness" of the

spirit

as an

world, to divorce

would allow from the

but how are
world of everyday appearances. Well and good
we to account for the varying degrees of abstraction in primitive art? Must we assume that the more abstract its form, the
more "spiritual" its meaning? If so, does the difference between the Kota and Sepik River figures reflect an equally
great difference in the kinds of ancestor worship from which

it

as strictly as the artist's imagination

they spring, or are there perhaps other factors to be taken

into account as well?

As

it

happens, the Kota guardians provide a good

these assumptions.

They have been

test for

collected in consider-

able numbers, and the differences among them are notable,

even though they all clearly belong to a single type and must
have been employed for exactly the same purpose. Our sec-

ond example

(fig.

59)

is

almost identical with the

first,

ex-

which in comparison seems almost

gruesomely realistic; its shape is strongly convex rather
than concave, and every detail has an unmistakably representational meaning. This face, with its open mouth full
of pointed teeth, seems designed to frighten. Here, we feel,
is a guardian figure that does indeed live up to its function.

cept lor the head,

Yet the

they

members

found

the

of the tribe failed to share our reaction, for

more

abstract

guardian

figure

equally

acceptable.

What. then,

is

the relation between the two guardians?

They were probably made at different times, but the interval

could not have been more than a century or two. inasmuch
as wooden sculpture does not survive for long under tropical
conditions, and European travelers, so far as we know, did
not begin to bring back any Kota guardians until the eigh-

teenth century. In any event, given the rigidly conservative

nature of this society, we can hardly believe that the ancestor

ult

of the Kota

underwent anv

significant

change dur-

ing the time span that separates figure 58 from figure 59.

them came first, or- to put the question more cauwhich represents the older, more nearly original
version/ Figure 5!) surely is. since we cannot imagine how

Which

of

tiously

)8

riih

Guardian figure, from the Kota area, Gabon.

20th

Wood and <>i>p<t. height

Musee Ethnographie, Geneva

entury

Gift of

;.i

iiisiouk

\\l)

Dr Graz, L929

lll\<x;l< M'llK

Mil

30"

76 3

<

its realistic features could have evolved from (he spare geometry of figure 58. The line of development thus leads from
figure 59 to figure 58, from representation to abstraction (we
also have a good many intermediate examples), This change

seems

to

have taken place while the religious meaning

re-

vative tempei

such

of

demanded

a society

guardian follow the pattern

ol

new

that every

predecessor

its

we

as

Vet

knew

no cop) is ever completer) faithful to its model, so

long as be repeated the basi< outlines ol the traditional de
the Koia carver enjoyed a certain latitude for no

sii^n,

many

the

Maybe these

structure.

lac ial

peeled of him, so as
ian from the

one

Any gesture

replaced

us original

to lose

comes ground down, simplified, more

good example ol this m the ideographs
which started out as tins pictures but
of their representational

The same kind

signs.

same

were even ex

slight variations

distinguish the newl\

to

it

endlessly repeated tends

trace

two oi

surviving guardian figures have exa< ib (be

retted guard

shape

or

that

hara( ter

abstract

We

is

be-

it

sec

,i

Chinese writing,

ol

before long

lost

all

and became mere

origin

transformation, although not nearl)

ol

among

as far-reaching, can be traced

the Kota guardians:

they grev* simpler and more abstract, since this was the onl\

which they could develop.

at such length because it
is
rimdameni.il characteristic of Neolithic and ethnographic art. though we cannot often observe n as clearly as in

direction in

We

have discussed the process

,i

the case

the Kota figures. Hut

ol

a negative
it

new and

distinctive designs.

also leads to the

transformation has

its

again. Alter

all.

repeat

il

has

ol

an

infinite variety of

world; lor

that

artist's

concern

this

concern

it

is

same designs over and over

the

be seis out

the only model be

be

to

we should note

Finally,

spirit

take

to

dangers,

its

ultimate source in the

with the otherness of the

makes him

It

nation

sure, but

that

us be careful not

let

iew of ibis abstraction.

lo

reate a guardian ol ances-

an use

is another such guardand he cannot know w bether he has sue ceded

unless the two resemble each other.

tral skulls,

ian figure,

RULERS. The

traditionalism in ethnographic art

two ways: there may be a cross-fertil-

stroii"

can be interrupted

in

i/ation of different cultures as the

consequence of migration

may develop
appearances. Such

or conquest, or conditions

that favor a return to

the world of visible

conditions prevailed

lor a

tune along the coast of Equatorial Africa a lew hundred

miles northwest

ol

Gabon. There, through contact with (be

historic civilizations of the Mediterranean, a

number

ol

na-

kingdoms arose, but none ol them proved \er\ enduring. A king, unlike a tribal chieftain, bases Ins authority on
the claim th.it it has been given to him b\ supernatural
forces; he rules "by the grace of God," embodying the divine
will m his own person, or he may even assume the status ol a
tive

59. Guardian figure, from the Kota area, Gabon.

19th-20th century. Metal hammered on wood, height 23" (58.4 cm).

The Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

deit)

himself There are thus no inherent

guistic, or otherwise,

lo

royal authority.

least in theory, all-conquering.

mained the same. Must we then

credit the artist

public with an interest in abstraction for

hardly sounds plausible. There

is.

its

own

and

sake

in fact, a far easier

'

his

larger and

hal

has

expla-

nation: the increasingly abstract quality of the Kota guardians resulted from endless repetition.

We do

not know how many such figures were in use al the

same time, but the number must have been considerable,
since each guardian presided over a container of not more

expectancy being limited

frequent intervals, and the conser-

than a do/en skulls. Their

they had tube replaced

at

life

more complex than

to ex, id far greatei

so with the aid

whom

ol a

ol

ed into
c

share

ol

he also

its

The) enfon

e se-

the population which

ol

rac

and the

goods and sen

institution ol kingship, then,

t

at

is

not only

the aristocracy, to

bis authority.

urit)

The

is

thai ol the tribal chief;

favored ruling elite

be delegates some

contributing

Ever) king

lence bis domain

obedience from his subjects He does

and order among the rest

return must support the aristoc

limits, ethnic, lin-

royal court b)

u es

demands

a soc iet) di\ id-

lasses rather than the loose assoc iation ol famil) or

Ian groups that

makes

tip a tribe

I'lil-lilSIOKH

It

\\l)

means

the

IHMH.K

\ ic

tOT) ol

W"//(

\l;>

the

At the lime ibis

bead was produced, the twelfth century

nothing of comparable character can be found in Europe. Only the tribal scars on the lace, and the boles lor atvi),

taching hair and beard, relate it to ethnographic art

elsewhere; these, and the purpose lor which it was made,
ancestor ritual. Our bead, together with its companions,

must have formed part of a long series of portraits of dead

probably hair taken from
rulers, and the use of real hair
strongly suggests that these heads
the person represented

for the spirits of the

were prepared as 'traps"

deeeased. But

since the rulers each had individual importance, their spir-

unlike those of the tribal ancestors, could not be

its,

merged

an impersonal collective entity; in order to be an effective trap, every head had to be an authentic, clearly distinguishable portrait. It is possible, in fact, that these heads

into

were made

if

not of bronze, then at least of terracotta while

their subjects

were

alive,

still

and became

only

spirit traps

through the addition of his

after the ruler's death,

hair.

each of these heads is unique and irreplaceable. It

last forever, hence it was executed in laborious
bronze rather than wood. It is no accident, then, that the He
heads bear a closer resemblance to the Jericho skulls than to
the ancestor figures of primitive art, for the rulers of lie had

Clearly,

had

to

indeed recaptured something of the urban quality of the

Jericho ancestor cult.

The bronze technique

dom

of Benin,

He was handed on to the kingsame area and did not dis-

of

which arose

in the

appear until the early eighteenth century. In addition to

ancestor heads, the artists of Benin produced a vast variety
of
60. Male portrait head, from

Bronze, height

13'/2

(34.3 cm). Collection the Oni of

works that had nothing

over the countryside, and thus runs counter to the ru-

ii

tenor of ethnographic society.

The

African kingdoms

never quite achieved this victory, so their instability is perhaps not surprising. The decisive factor may have been their
Inline to develop or adopt a system of writing. They existed,
.is

were along the outer edge of the historic civilizations,

and fall, therefore, are known to us only in

ii

and

their rise

its

ANIMISM. That

Niger River.

Some

splendid example

the west of the lower course of the

are of terracotta; others, such as the

in figure 60, of

bronze. The casting tech-

nique ailed the cire-perdue lost-wax process, surely bad

been imported Iron) the Mediterranean, but it was used here
(

with

u,reat skill:

the actual modeling

is

done

in

wax over an

another layer of earth is firmly packed around

the bead the whole is then heated to melt out the wax. and
molten bron/e is ponied mto the hollow form thus created.

earthen

<

ore,

more astonishing than its technical refinement, bowthe subtle and assured realism ol our He head. The
features are thorough individual, vet so harmonious and
noble in expression as to recall the classical art of Greece
and Rome see figs 23 and 295
I

\'

in the

ethnographic peoples should prefer

Kota, rather than in terms of separate individuals,

of the

animism

been termed animism,

ple a spirit exists in every living thing.

he must appease the

down, but the

spirit of

collective "tree spirit"

"life spirit."

is

is

<)<) //</ ///S/i//f/(

\\l)

I.

III\<H,I!\I'III<

\i;i

to

a result

that underlies their religious beliefs.

Other

An

spirit of a tree

animist will feel

before be cuts

any particular tree

which

spirits

in turn

Such

for to these peo-

is

merges

it

also part of a
into a general

dwell in the earth, in rivers and

sun and moon; still others demand

promote fertility or cure disease.
Their dwelling places may be given the shape of human
figures, in which case such spirits sometimes achieve

lakes, in the rain, in the

to

be appeased in order

enough

to

of a stable identity to be viewed as rudimentary de-

ever

it

em-

think of the spirits of their ancestors collectively, as did the

that

to

against the art of Ife

wood carvings

phasis on the head and the geometric simplification of every

ished native kingdoms arc the portrait beads excavated

somewhat

world but

detail.

religious beliefs have

at

when measured

close kinship with tribal

fragmentary fashion.
Artistically, the most impressive remains of these vanHe, Nigeria,

spirit

The Hornblourr

betrays

ral

do with the

lig. 61) is characteristic of this art for display. By the standards of ethnographic sculpture as a whole, it seems excep-

He

tionally realistic, but

inw

to

served to glorify the ruler and his court.

Nigeria. 12th century.

lie,

61. (opposite)

HORNBLOWER, from Benin. Late

24%" (63.3 cm). The

century. Bron/.c, height

Museum

of Art,

New

Memorial Collection.

York.

Gift of

The Michael
Nelson

16th-early 18th

Metropolitan

C. Rockefeller

A. Rockefeller,

1972

I'HIIIISIOHK

\\l>

lll\(H,l{\l'i:i(

WU

Masks form

far

l>\

the

ri<

hest chapter in "primitive" art;

the proliferation of shapes, materials, and functions

is

al-

Even the manner of wearing them varies surprisingly: some cover only the face, others the entire head;
some rest on the shoulders: some may be worn above the
head, attached to a headdress or atop a pole. There are
masks of human laces, ranging from the realistic to the most
fantastic, and animal masks or combinations of both in every
conceivable form. There are also masks that are not made to
he worn at all hut to he displayed independently as images
most

limitless.

complete in themselves.
The lew samples reproduced here can convey no more
than the faintest suggestion of the wealth of the available
material. Their
to ascertain;

meaning, more often than

ments of secrecy
itiated,

not,

is

impossible

the ceremonies they served usually had elethat

especially

if

secret society. This

were jealously guarded from the uninthe performers themselves formed a

emphasis on the mysterious and spec-

tacular not only heightened the dramatic impact of the

ual,

it

rit-

makers of masks to strive for

so that masks in general are less

also permitted the

imaginative

new

effects,

subject to traditional restrictions than other kinds of "primitive" sculpture.

WOM W

KNEELING

62.

from the Baluba area. Kinshasa, Zaire.

I9th-20th century. Wood, height 18'// (47 cm).

Koninklijk

itios

seems

Ins

figure

to

for

Midden-Afrika. Tervuren, Belgium

be true of the very line Kneeling

Woman

produced by the Baluba tribe of the Congo region,

little is known about her ritual significance. The

62
though
fig.

Museum

l,

among

is

the gentlest and least abstract of

all

tribal

carvings, and her trancelike expression, as well as the hol-

bow

low

I,

suggests

MASKS.
(

ontent

ceremonial of incantation or divination.

In dealing with the spirit world, people

perform rituals or

to

spirit

imps; thev needed

spirit

world through

to act out their relations

dames and

with the

similar dramatic ceremo-

which they could themselves temporarily assume

nials in

trap by disguising themselves with

role of the spirit

tin

were not

present offerings before their

to

masks and costumes. The origin of these dance rituals goes back as far as the Old Stone Age see fig. 35), and
(here are indications lh.it animal disguises were worn even

elaborate

then. In these early societies, the acting-OUt ceremonials as-

sumed
tumes

,i

vast variet) ol patterns

mask

,ilua\s with a

and purposes; and the cos-

as the central feature,

COrrespondingl) varied and elaborate. Nor

lias

became

the fascina-

mask died out to this day. We still feel the thrill of

hange ol identity w ben we wear one at lallowcen or
amivaJ time and among the folk customs of the European

tion o| the
;l

peasantry there were, until recently certain survivals of pre(

In

ist

i.

in

Ii.ii.k lei

'

demons

ed

/'/;/

ici

fig

ionics

means

l>\

ol

Iik

the parti( ipants impersonat-

carved masks

truly

primitive

(i.'-i.

Mask, from Kippel.

\\l>

lll\()(,l! M'lIK

Mil

I.oisi

henlal, Switzerland.

[9th century. Wo<xi. height 18" (45.7 cm).

Rietberg

IIISIOKH

ol

Museum.

Zurich. E.V.d. llevdt Collection

65. Mask, from the Gazelle Peninsula.

New

Britain

19th-20th century Bark doth, heighl 18" (45.7 cm)

Museo National

Bamenda

64. Mask, from the

area.

<lc

Aniro|)olouia.

Mexico

Clt)

Cameroon.

19th-20th century. Wood, height 26'// (67.3 cm).

Rietberg

Museum,

Zurich. E.V.d. Heydt Collection

African masks, such as the one in figure 64. arc distin-

guished

for

symmetry

of design and the precision and sharp-

ness of their carving. In our example, the features of the

human
to

face have not been rearranged but restructured, so

speak, with the tremendous eyebrows rising above the

The

rest like a protective canopy.

comes

strikingly evident as

tures of the

New

mask from

Britain in the

we

solidity of these

turn to the

shapes be-

fluid, ghostl) Fea-

the Gazelle Peninsula on the island of

South

Pacific

made

of bark cloth over a

meant to represent an animal

spirit, said to be a crocodile, and was worn in nocturnal ceremonies by dancers carrying snakes. Even stranger is the
Eskimo mask from southwest Alaska fig 66), with us non-

bamboo frame

(fig.

65).

It

is

symmetrical design ofseemingl) unrelated elements espe

cialh the dangling "leaves" or sticks attached to curved
"branches." The single eye and the month

full of

teeth are

the only recognizable details to the outsider, yet to those

who know how

to

"read" this

assemhh

of shapes u

is

the

condensed representation of a tribal myth about a swan that

drives white whales to the- hunters. Such radical displace
ment of facial details is characteristic of Eskimo masks generally, though it is seldom carried as far as here.

i.i.

Mask Eskimo from southwest Uaska

Early 20th centurj

Museum

VwmkI

of the American Indian

/'/;/

///s/o/:i(

height 22"

56

cm

Heye Foundation New York

\\/i

iiimk.i: with

\i;i

rhe wooden war helmet from southeast Alaska

in contast, strikes

due

us by

its

fig.

67),

powerful realism, which may be

not only to the fact that this

is

work of American

Indi-

an rather than Eskimo origin, hut also to its function. It, too,
is
kind of mask, a second lace intended to disconcert the
.i

enemy

h\

Our

fierce expression

its

final

example, one of the

most fascinating of all, comes from an Indian burial mound

iii
fennessee (fig. 08). it has been estimated as being between 400 and 1.000 years old. The material is a single large
seashell, whose rim has been smoothed and whose gentlj
convex outer surface has been transformed into a lace by
simple hut strangely evocative carving and drilling. Shell

masks such

as this

seem

to

have been placed

in

graves for

permanent

the purpose of providing the dead with a second,

face to trap his spirit underground.

PAINTING. Compared

to sculpture,

painting plays a subor-

Though

dinate role in ethnographic societies.

was widely known,

coloring of

its

wood carvings

human

or of the

with intricate ornamental designs (see

pendent

67.

War

helmet. Tlingit, from southeast Alaska.

Early 19th century. Wood, height 12" (30.5 cm).

The American Museum

Natural History,

of

New

York

art,

the technique

use was restricted in most areas

fit;.

to the

body sometimes
56). As an inde-

however, painting could establish

only

itself

when

exceptional conditions provided suitable surfaces.

Thus

the Nootka Indians on Vancouver Island, off the

northwest coast of North America, developed

wooden houses with

large

fairly

smooth hoards which they

liked to decorate with scenes of tribal legends. Figure 69
shows a section of such a wall, representing a thunder bird
on a killer whale Hanked by a lightning snake and a wolf.
The animals are clearly recognizable, hut they do not form a
meaningful scene unless we happen to know the context of
the story. The owner of the house obviously did, so the painter's main concern was how to combine the four creatures
into an effective pattern filling the area at his disposal.
It is apparent that these animals, which play important
parts in the tribal mythology, must have been represented
countless times before; each of them is assembled in accordance with a well-established traditional formula made tip of
walls of

fixed ingredients

small,

or that look as

they have been cut out separately and

down one

if

by one. The

firmly outlined pieces of solid col-

artist's

laid

pattern-consciousness goes so

far that any overlapping of forms embarrasses him; where

he cannot avoid it. he treats the bodies of the animals as
transparent, so that the outline of the whale's hack can he

seen continuing right through the lower part of the bird's

body,

and the leathers

ol

the tight wing reveal the front legs

of the wolf.

SAND PAINTING,

formal and abstract as the Nootka wall

may seem in comparison with the animals of

Paleolithic,
becomes downright realistic if we judge

painting

it

it

the standards

unique

ol

art grevt

and Southwest
todav
()K
(

M.isk

1000

from the Brakebill

1600 \i> Ocean

Peabod)
<

94

/'/,'/

H/STO/

Museum
Cambridge

\\h

shell,

ol

Mound Tennessee
height 8%" (22 cm).

Harvard University

Massac husetts

ll\<x,i: \i'im

Mil

.ire

the sand painting

isihle in figure 70.

up among the Indian

ol

the Tinted Slates,

the Navajo of Arizona and

ing powdered

sand

)espite

roc k
'

or earth of

main

skill,

impermanent and must he made

practitioners

the

tech-

consists of pour-

anous colors on

or perhaps hot ause of

by

That

tribes inhabiting the

its

New Mexuo The

nique which demands considerable

the

lac

flat

bed of

that they are

fresh lor each occasion

LIGHTNING SNAKE, WOLF, AND THUNUh.R BIRD ON KILLER WH \l ./ Nootka. C. 1850.

Wood, 5'8"x8'10" 1.7x2.7 m). The American Museum of Natural History, New York

69.

70.

that
tion.

Sand painting

ritual for a sick child

demands them, the designs are rigidly fixed l>\ tradiThe various compositions arc rather like recipes, pre-

scribed

by

the

medicine

man and

supervision In the painter, for the

mam

under his
use of sand paint-

"filled"

is in ceremonies of healing
That these ceremonies are sessions ol great emotional intensity on the part of l>oth doc tor and patient is well attested

ings

h\

Navajo

Arizona

our illustration
ol priest

identity

derstand

in

Such

a close

healer,

and

union

artist

even,

01

maj be

modern Western terms Hut

lor

at

times

difficult to

un-

people trying

to

bend nature to then needs In magic and ritual, the lunciions appear as different aspet ts ol a single process And the
success or failure of this process
ol

lilt-

.ind

is to

them

virtually a matter

death

/'/,'/

///s/o/,'/<

WD

lll\(H.lt\l'ilH

Wf/'T,

CHAPTER TWO

EGYPTIAN ART
i

~Mediterrane,<\n Sea

$>

Giza

Stiqqam*

THE
FAIYUM

LOWER EGYPT
Tell

>,

tl'Atnama

LIBVAN

DESERT

UPPER EGYPT
Durel-Bahan

.Thebes

>

Luwr
Hiemkovtpolis

Miles

Assuan

From

Prehistoric to Historic

The road from hunting to husbandry is

one. The problems and pressures laced

by historic so< idles

are very different from those thai confronted peoples

Paleolithic or Neolithic eras. Prehistory

which humans as

lution during

was

in

the

phase of evo-

learned

a species

how

to

maintain themselves against a hostile environment; then

achievements were responses to threats of physical extinc-

With the domestication of animals and edible

tion.

people had
survival

on

won

this planet.

But the Neolithic Revolution placed

we might

the forces of nature

tely:

plants,

a decisive victory in this battle, assuring our

us on a level at which

remained

well have
least

at

indefini-

during that geological

would never again challenge men and women as they

had Paleolithic peoples. And in main pails ol the globe, as
we saw in the previous chapter, people were content to stay
on a "Neolithic plateau."
In a few places, however, the Neolithic balance of humans and nature was upset by a new threat, a threat posed
era

not by nature but by people themselves.

ment

to that threat is

Jericho (see

What was

fig.

seen

The

earliest

monu-

the fortifications of Neolithic

in

41), constructed almost 9,000 years ago.

the source of the

necessary? Competition

human

for

made them
among tribes of

conflict that

grazing land

herdsmen or for arable soil among farming communities'.'

The basic cause, we suspect, was that the Neolithic Revoluhad been too successful in this area, permitting the local population to grow beyond the available food supply.
This situation might have been resolved in a number of
ways: constant tribal warfare could have reduced the population; or the people could have united in larger and more
disciplined social units for the sake of ambitious group efforts that no looselv organized tribal society would have been
able to achieve. The fortifications at Jericho were an enterprise of this kind, requiring sustained and specialized labor
over a long period. We do not know the outcome of the strugtion

gle in that region

future excavations

may

tell

art between ',000 and 500 B.( does lend to have a

sameness here is kernel ol truth in this the basi(
pattern of Egyptian institutions beliefs and .ii listic ideas
was formed during the first few centuries o| that vast span ol
\eais and kept reasserting itsell until the verj end We shall

Egyptian

long and arduous

us how far the

urbanizing process extended) but about 3,000 years

later,

on a larger scale, arose in the Nile valley

and that of the Tigris and Euphrates, and there these conflicts generated enough pressure to produce a new kind of

certain

,i

however, tint as time went on this basic pattern went

see.

through ever more severe

rises th.it

hallenued

<

its ability

survive, had n been as mllexible as supposed,

it

succumbed long

art

before

Egyptian

finally did

it

to

would have
alternates

between conservatism and innovation, but is never static.

Some of its great ac hievements had a dec isive influent e On
Creek and Roman art. and thus we cm still feel ourselves
linked to the Egypt of 5,000 years ago h\ ac out unions. living
tradition.

DYNASTIES. The

history of Egypt

is

divided into dv nasties

of rulers, in accordance with ancient Egyptian practice, be-

ginning with the Inst Dynasty, shortly alter 3000 B.< (the
dates of the earliest rulers are difficult to translate exactly
into our calendar).

Dynasty

First

is

he transition from prehistory

known

Kingdom forms

the

about 2155 in

with the overthrow

major division

first

of

the

to

The Old

as the predvnastic period

ending

after that,

the Sixth Dynasty.

This method of counting historic tune conveys

once the

at

strong Egyptian sense of continuity and the overwhelming

importance of the pharaoh

preme

mam

We

ruler but a god.

).

features of kingship before

transcended them

all.

privilege derived from a

Civilization

Egyptian

art.

and

see page 89

the pharaoh

);

kingship was not

for his

superhuman

a duiv

was

source, but

or

abso-

remained the kev feature of Egypdetermined the character ol

Ibis belief

lute, divine.

tian

king who was not only the suhave had occasion to mention the

largely

We do not know exactly

the steps bv which the

we

early pharaohs established their claim to divinity, but

know

their historic

achievements: molding the Nile valley

Assuan to the Delta into a single,

and increasing its fertility bv regulating the
waters through dams and canals.

from the

cataract at

first

effective state,
river

similar conflicts,

society, very

much more complex and

than had

efficient

ever existed before.

First in

Egypt and Mesopotamia, somewhat

later in neigh-

TOMBS AND RELIGION.

Of these vast public works noth-

ing remains today, and very

has survived

little

ancient

of

Egyptian palaces and cities Our knowledge of Egyptian

civ ili/ation rests almost entirely on the tombs and their conIbis

tents

no accident, since these tombs were

is

we must

make

the mistake

built to

boring areas, and in the Indus valley and along the Yellow

last

River in China, people were to live in a more dynamic world.

ing that the Egyptians viewed

where

road to the grave Their preoccupation with the cult

their capacity to survive

forces of nature but by

flicts

tion

was challenged

human forces bv

tensions and con-

arising either within society or as the result

between

societies.

These

environment have proved

ol

competi-

cope with

efforts to

a far greater

not by the

human

challenge than the

lor

it

was quite new and

of the dead

seems

ka

years Perhaps "enduring" and "con-

tinuous" are better terms

gave
its

on

link with the Neolithic past

entirelv

different

mainlv as a

this earth

but the

it.

although

.U

first

glance

all

to enjoy,

absent

the dark tear

environment

and would make sure

then

ol

own mummilied

in

come

destroyed, a statue

ol

of

thespii
cults

ii

was

afterlife

kind

of

then spirits

lor

that the ka

orpse or

the

meaning they

Instead, the Egyptian attitude

dwell

conclud-

which dominates primitive ancestor

replica ol then dail)

shadowy

THE OLD KINGDOM

in 10. 000

is a

life

ol

that

Egyptian civilization has long been regarded as the most

rigid and conservative ever Plato said that Egyptian ait had

changed

iU\n\

not

each person must provide lor his own happv

Ihe an< lent Egyptians would equip then tombs as

earlier struggle with nature.

not

forever Yet

had

that

bodv

to

should be-

themselves

There is a curious blurring ol the sharp line between life

and death here and perhaps that was the essential impulse
/(O/'/MX Mil

j^u ^f
71. PEOPLE, BOATS,

AND ANIMALS

Wall painting in predynastic tomb.

behind these mock households; a man who knew that after

death his ka would enjoy the same pleasures he did, and
who had provided these pleasures in advance hy his own
efforts,

could look forward

to

an active and happy

out being haunted by Tear of the great

then, the Egyptian

tomb was

unknown.

life

with-

In a sense,

a kind of life insurance,

an

C.

3200

Hierakonpolis, Egypt

B.C.

ture of grief. For the rest, the picture does not appear to have

any coherence as a scene or any symbolic import; perhaps

we ought

to

view

scenes of daily

life

as an early attempt at those typical

it

that

Old Kingdom tombs

we meet

several centuries later in

89 and

(figs.

90).

in-

vestment in peace of mind. Such, at least, is the impression

one gains of Old Kingdom tombs. Later on, the serenity of
this concept of death was disturbed by a tendency to sub-

more separate identities,

of judgment, a weighing of

Egyptian Style and the

Palette of

King Narmer
mural

At the time of the Hierakonpolis

about 3200

divide the spirit or soul into two or

Egypt was in process of learning the use of bronze

and by the introduction of a sort

souls; and it is only then that we also find expressions of the

country,

tear of death.

HIERAKONPOLIS. An early stage in the development

Egyptian funerary customs and of Egyptian art can
in

fig

71)

design

In

an even

Ki

s<

is still

decidedly primitive in

instructive to note, however, that the

figures tend to

almost as

glyphs

ci

become standardized, abbreviated

tombs

<ih

Ik-

to

bodied

men

Out of these emerged two rival kingdoms. Upper and

Lower Egypt. The struggle between them was ended when
certain Upper Egyptian kings conquered Lower Egypt and
combined the two realms.
One of these was King Narmer, who appears on the impressive object in figures 72 and 73, a ceremonial slate palette celebrating a victory over Lower Kgvpt (note the
different crowns worn by the king). It, too. comes from Hier-

characIt is

animal
"signs,"

be that of funeral
is

\l:i

tribal

scenes between black-bodied and white-

of

their role in lat-

black-and-white figures above the topmost

their arms spread out in a ges-

mourning women,

l(,)l'll IN

seems

the soul," since that

of local

be

were on the verge of turning into hierosuch as we see m fig. 105). The large white shapes

oi "vehi< les oi

boat are

human and

number

sovereigns not too far removed from the status of

The

the)

il

are boats; their significance here

barges

its

attering of forms over the entire surface.

ruled by a

The

chiefs.

the fragment of a wall painting from Hierakonpolis

seen

we may assume, was

B.C

tools.

light

in the

painting probably reflect local wars or

raids.

akonpolis. but otherwise

wall painting. In
to

it

has

main ways,

he the oldest historic work of

the earliest surviving

little

in

common

with the

Narmer palette can claim

art we know: not only is it

the

image of

a historic

personage iden-

by name, but

tified
tive;

in fact,

Egyptian

it

art.

If

its character is clearly no longer primialready shows most of the features ol late

we had enough preserved

only

material to

is

lorus. die

god

lo( al

ol

trace step-by-step the evolution that led from the wall paint-

representing

ing to this palette!

very start, and the slaying

Let us

we

first

"read" the scenes on both sides.

are able to do so

is

another indication

The fact that

that we have left

pper Egypt

We

effort.

real

.1

fight;

the

enemj

is a

ritual rathei

gather this from the

off his sandals

the court ollu

lal

ground.

and

explicit not

through the use of a broad range of visual

symbols conveying precise messages to the beholder and
most important of all through the disciplined, rational or-

solemn procession behind

derliness of the design. In figure 72 N. inner has seized a

spec

On

the other side

on the

hush

stands for a fortified town or citadel

king in the upper right

ing: a falcon standing

attached

a tether

same

soil

peats the

we

see a complex

above a clump

to a

human head

as the plants.

bit

I.

Facing the

of picture writ-

of 'papyrus

plants holds

that "grows" from the

This composite

mam scene on a symbolic level;

image actually rethe head and papy-

rus plant stand for Lower Egypt, while the victorious falcon

72, 73.

PALETTE OF KING NARMER, from Hierakonpohs

111

the Old

fig.

7;',

as he

when

the Lord

The bottom compartment

again on

symbolic

man

lies in

group of standard-bearers

shoes before lie appears

his
i

he again appears

The same

to in

notion

Testament, apparenth as the result

Egyptian influence,

move

a physii al

standing on hoi)

is

the decapitated bodies of prisoners.

recurs

left

the palette

he

barefoot, followed by the sandal cairiei

enemy by the hair and is about to slay him with his

mace; two more defeated enemies are placed in the bottom
compartment (the small rectangular shape next to the man
fallen

ol

than

made

clear

helpless from the

is

Narmei has taken

behind him arnes them in

his right hand), .in indication that

labels, hut also

plain

is

fact that

prehistoric art behind, lor the

meaning ol these reliefs is

only by means of hieroglyphic

he parallel

Horns and Narmei are die same, a god triumphs OVei liu
man Iocs Hence, Narmei s gesture must not he taken as

level,

commands Moses
to

him

in

re-enacts the

the burning
\ i<

tor\

(A

hull's tail

<

was

it

ceremonial garb

next 3,000 years.

3000 B.c

fails

Slate,

to

enem) and knot king down a ita

hanging down from his belt is shown in

both images of Narmer;

section

once

with the pharaoh represented as

strong hull trampling an

del.

ol

to re

for the

to

remain

a part
I

of phaiaoim

Onl\ the center

con\e\ an explicit meaning; the two Ion-

height 25"

63.5cm) Egyptian Museum Cairo

KAI'IIW

\l!l

99

single

nri ked beasts

single observe]

at a

butes

tian artist as

had been

.iihI

ornamental
1

and their attendants have no identifying attri

ma\ well be a carry-over from earlier, purely
palettes. In

any event, they do not reappear

it

strives for clarity, not illusion,

in

most

gj ptian art.

telling

view

palette's style

becomes

readily apparent in contrast

in the predynastic wall painting What strikes us first is

strong sense ol order: the surface of the palette has been

its

each ease.
on himself: when he changes
he must do so by 90 degrees, as if he were

role

the fact

74.

I00

KM'IIW

\HI

2660

B.C

the standing

human

figure, unlike that of

an

clarity, he must combine

method of doing this a method that was to
is clearly shown in the
survive unchanged for 2,500 years
large figure of Narmer in figure 72: eye and shoulders in

ing profiles, so that, for the sake of

to a different level of reality;

th.it

animal, does not have a single main profile but two compet-

seems mainly ornamental; the hieroglyphic

which belong

strict rule

and the
dead enemies. The latter are seen from above, whereas the
standing figures are seen from the side. Obviously, the modern notion of representing a scene as it would appear to a
signs,

he
and therefore he picks the

profile, and vertically from above. Any intermediate position

lne
embarrasses him (note the oddly rubberlike figures
fallen enemies; fig. 73, bottom). Moreover, he is faced with

di-

vided into horizontal bands (or registers), and each figure

stands on a line or strip denoting the ground. The only exceptions are the attendants of the long-necked beasts.

whose

as alien to the Egyp-

his angle of vision,

sighting along the edges of a cube. As a consequence, he
acknowledges only three possible views: lull face, strict

Hie new inner logic of the

OGICOl EG\ PTIAN STYLE.

Narmer

is

Neolithic predecessor;

in

But he imposes a
1

moment
to his

these views. His

PORTRAll PANEL Of HESY RA, from Saqqara.

14.3 cm). Egyptian Museum Cairo
Wood, height 45"
I

dead and legs

frontal view,
la

was worked out

so as to

who move in

of significance

profile.

show
the

the most complete way possible.

Apparently this formu-

the pharaoh (and

.ill

the palette

persons

penumbra of his divinity) in

And since the scenes depict

solemn and. as it were, timeless rituals, our artist did not

to concern himself with the fact that this method of

have

human bodv made almost any kind of

or action practically impossible. In fact, the fro-

Imt the proportions are

harmonious and the carving

oi

more balanced and

shows

fai

the physical details

keen observation as well as -real delic ,u \ nl touch.

rOMBS. When we speak ol the Egyptians attitude toward
death and afterlife as expressed in then tombs we must he
careful to make it clear that we do not mean the attitude ol

representing the

the average Egyptian hut only that

movement

caste clustered around the royal court

zen qualitv of the image would seem especially suited

divine nature of the pharaoh; ordinary mortals
ply

(/< /.

the

to

he sun

is.

Whenever

physical activity demanding any sort of effort

must be depicted, the Egyptian artist does not hesitate to abandon the composite view if necessary, for such activity is always performed by underlings whose dignity dors

or strain

not have to be preserved; thus, in our palette the two animal

and the four men carrying standards are shown

trainers

strict profile

throughout (except

for the eves).

The Egyptian

human

figure, then,

seems

style of representing the

been created

purpose

specifically for the

of

visual form the majesty of the divine king;

originated
it

never

times,

among

lost its

it

had

in

flavor,

in

must have

the artists working for the royal court.

ceremonial, sacred

to

even when,

of this

lass ol

fives ol the royal farnil)

high

officials

rati*

he tombs ol the
who were often rela
I

the- immediate
neighborhood of the pharaohs' tombs, and then shape .md
l

ontentS

are usually found in

reflect, or .ire related to.

of the divine

We

kni'j,s.

still

have

the luneraiA

monuments

a great deal to learn

about

the origin and significance of Egyptian tombs, hut there

reason

to believe that the

so-called private

concept of

tombs did not apply

afterlife
to

we

is

find in the

ordinary mortals hut

only to the privileged lew because of then association with

the immortal pharaohs

have

to

conveying
it

members

the small arista

ol

And

m later

MASTABAS. The
mastaba,
the

standard form of these tombs was the

mound laced with brick or stone, above

chamber, which was deep underground and
the mound l>\ a shall figs. 75 and 7(>
Inside the
a

squarish

burial

linked to

I.

serve other purposes as well.

Third Dynasty
The

full

beauty of the style which we saw

Narmer

in the

pal

does not become apparent until about three centuries

later, during the Third Dynastv, and especially under the

ette

reign of King Zoser,

tomb

of Hesy-ra,

who was

its

greatest figure.

one of Zoser's high

officials,

From
comes

Shafts^-j

the
the

wooden relief (fig. 74) showing the deceased with

the emblems of his rank. (These include writing materials,
since the position of scribe was a highly honored one. The
view of the figure corresponds exactly to that of Narmer on
masterly

Ay.'vj

7(>

ry

'

,.!

isv

.'V

75

Group of mastabas

(after

Badawy)

1th

Dynast)

A'

[ransverse se< hum

ol

the Step Pyramid

ol

King Zosi

Saqqara

KAI'IIW

Mil

101

77.

Step Pyramid

ol

kin^ Zoser, Saqqara. 3rd Dynasty,

c.

2600

B.C.

alter. The most elaborate ol

around the Step Pyramid of

pharaoh's lifetime as well as

the funerary

these

is

Zoser

(fig.

make

us understand

tures

made

terials.

Hirmer

alter

J.

Lauer).

P.

funerary temple;

3,

pyramid (m=mastaba);

6) courts; 5) entrance hall;

1.

small temple; 8) court of North Palace;

9)< ourl of South Palace; 10) southern tomb

mastaba

ka and

for offerings to the

creator,

tradition.

He

Imhotep.
is

the

le for

onspii

nous
<

si/e as early as the Firsl

tynasty,

is

most impressive even

Imhotep used cut-stone masonry, but

architectural forms

still

ly

over

his repertory of

enduring materials. Thus we find columns of

kinds always "engaged" rather than free-standingwhich echo the bundles of reeds or the wooden sup-

oped

for less

several

ports that used to be set into

mud-brick walls

their ex-

a traditional

serve as

great landmark.

DISTRICTS

II \l RARi"

amored

oi

false

ture

pit

the siIoik o
oi

these

ol

rhe modern imagination, enthe pyramids,"

middle

'

ol

(M'll \\ Mil

apt to create a

ol

the desert

not erected as

but as part of

temples and other buildings that

great religious celebrations during the

\asi funerary distru is with

were the scene

is

monuments rhey were

isolated strut tures in the

In

the

since

reflected shapes or devices devel-

is that of King Zoser

first
mastaba (see figs. 76 and
rhe pyramid itself, unlike later examples, is a completesolid si in ture whose onl) purpose seems to have been to

built

so,

Egyptian architecture had begun with struc-

ould be elaborated to resemble a royal palace. Dur-

known (and probably

he

of mud bricks, wood, reeds, and other light ma-

ing the Third Dynasty, they developed into step pyramids;

the best

to

whose

today.

a secret cubi-

and

came

first artist

the statue of the deceased. Royal mastabas grew to

teriors

chapel

is a

architecture has survived to

its
its

recorded in history, and deservedly

achievement

COLUMNS.

of

why

Egyptian

name has been

78. Plan of the funerary district of King Zoser, Saqqara

enough

78):

deified in later

his

district

Papyrus half-columns, North Palace,

Funerary

district of

Kinn Zoser, Saqqara

order

to

The Pyramids

ft

of

Mycerinus

(c.

2470

B.C.),

C'hefren

(c.

2500

B.c

),

and Cheops

(c.

2530

B.C

I,

Giza

~\
I^W/^K

.:,**W

W^^'---^

these forms have a clear-cut structural service to perform

(such as supporting or enclosing), they are mere surface
decoration. But

columns

dD

in figure 79:

flfl/j'gSSSSQ

all

share

We
$

tt

the slender, tapering, fluted

at

papyrus-shaped halt-columns

these do not simpl) decorate the walls to which

them and give them life as

were Their proportions, the feeling oi strength or resilient e
the) convey then spacing, the degree to which the) project,

us look

they are attached, but interpret

^Q.OODDQOD^nH

rA

let

in figure 77. or the

ii

in this task.

shall learn

more about then expressive

role

when we

discuss Greek architecture, which took oxer the Egyptian

stone column and developed

let

us note one additional

sign and use

il

lac tor

lurlliei

that

or the time being,

max enter

into the de-

such columns: announcing the symbolic

purpose of the building. The papyrus half-columns in figure
oi

Lower Egypt compare the papyrus

hence the) appear in the North Palace of
Zoser's funerary district. The South Palace has columns ol
different shape to evoke its assm iation with
pper Egypt.
79 are linked with

plants

81. Plan of the pyramids at Giza

fig.

72

1;

strengthen them. But the very

fact that

lor
to

Imhotep and his

make them serve

fellow architec
a

grasp

at first;

can express anything ma) seem

today

we tend

to

assume

Fourth Dynasty

it

redesign them so as

new. expressive purpose. The notion

that architectural forms

ficult to

is to

members no
made possible

these

longer had their original functional purpose

dil

thai unless

PYRAMIDS

oi

GIZA

The development

ol

climax during the Fourth Dynast)

the pyramid

the famous
pyramids at Giza figs 80 and 81) all ol them
he\ original!) had an
die familial smooth sided shape

reac

hes

its

in

triad of great
ol

UM'II

Mil

Hi

outei casing

dressed stone, which has disap

carefully

oi

peared except near the top of the Pyramid

ol

Each

!hefren.

the three differs slighd) from the others in details of de-

oi

sign

shown in
Cheops fig.

construction; the essential features arc

.iikI

mi don

the

the earliest and lamest, thai of

ol

now near the center of the strucrather than helow ground as in the Step Pyramid of

the burial
ture,

/use!

chamber

is

Clustered about die three

pyramids are several

<j,reat

number

smallei ones and a large

members

of mastabas lor

of the royal family and high officials, but the unified funer-

ofZoser has given way

ary district

to a

adjoining each of the great pyramids

simpler arrangement;

to

the east

is

a funerary

temple, from which a processional causeway leads to a sec-

ond temple

lower

at a

the Nile valley, at a distance

level, in

ol'

about a third of a mile.

Silhouette

ol

//

original

lacing 'Kith

\\

83.

//

/Y

THE GREAT SPHINX.

Giza.

c.

2500

B.C.

Height 65'

19.8

AirshaA

kind's

chamber

//So-called Queen's

cli

False ton

82. North-south section of Pyramid of

GB EAT SPHINX.

II E
amid
I

ol

e rock

liv

ment

sc

lit;.

83

alley

temple of

the-

Pyr-

perhaps an even more impressive embodi-

).

The

from the body of a

and once bore

(damage

inflicted

thousand years

lion

towers

to a

height of

the features of Chefduring Islamic times has ob-

in all probability,

upon

it

ured the details of the lace

th.it a

divine kingship than the pyramids themselves.

ol

feet

ren

to the

(alter L. Borchardt)

'lichen stands the Great Sphinx carved from the

royal he. id rising

65

Next

Cheops

later

it

).

Its

awesome majesty

such

is

could be regarded as an image

of the sun-god.

Enterprises

ol

this

huge

scale

mark

the high point of

pharaonit power Alter the end of the Fourth Dynasty (less

than two
again

<

after /user) they

lued to be built

sheei si/e
ai

entmies

although pyramids on

oi

were never attempted

much more modest

The world has always marveled

the great pyramids as well as

at

scale
at

the

the technical

omplishmenl they represent; but they have also come to

ol slave labor
thousands of men

be regarded as svmbols
Ion ed bv

lute rulers

ruel masters to serve the

Sui b a

pii

ture

oids have been preserved

Hii

lt.)l-ll\\

\ltl

maj

iikIk

aggrandizement of abso-

well be unjust: certain

ret

ating that the labor was paid

HI

cm

height

(><>"

in v
(

from Giza.

167.7

cm

c.

2500 B.C

Egyptian

Diorite,

Museum,

lairo

m)

for,

we are probably nearer the truth

we regard
monuments as vast public works providing economic

so that

these

ii

security for a good part of the population.

PORTRAITURE. Apart from its architectural achievements, the chief glories of Egyptian art, during the Old
Kingdom and

later,

are the portrait statues recovered from

funerary temples and tombs.

One

of the finest

is

that of

Chefren, from the valley temple of his pyramid (fig. HAt.

Carved of diorite, a stone of extreme hardness, it shows the
king enthroned, with the falcon of the god Horus enfolding
the back of the head with its wings we encountered the asI

sociation, in different form, in the

Here the Egyptian sculptor's

Narmer

palette,

"cubic'' view of the

fig.

72).

human

86.
c.

2580

PRINCE HANOI

\M> HIS WIFE SOhRET.

Museum.

Egyptian

form appears

Painted limestone, height

B.C.

ATA" (120 cud

Cairo

the sculptor prepared the

in lull force: clearly,

and side views on the faces ol a

rectangular block and then worked inward until these views
met. The result is a figure almost overpowering m its threedimensional firmness and immobility Truly it is a magnifstatue by drawing

front

its

The

icent vessel lor the spirit!

powerfully

built,

suggests some individual

pare

it

and

both, well proportioned

completely impersonal; only the lace

is

as will be seen

traits,

with that of Mvcerinus

fig.

85

).

il

we com-

Chefren's sue

<

essoi

and the builder of the third and smallest pyramid at Giza

Mvcerinus. accompanied b\ bis queen, is standing. Both
have the left loot placed forward, vet there is no hint ol a
forward movement Since the two are almost ol the same
height, the) afford an interesting comparison

beaut) as interpreted by one of the finest

fern. lie

dom

sculptors,

lure

ol

who knew
ol

Old King-

how to contrast the stru<

how to emphasize the soil.

queen through her

light

and

close-

gown.

fitting

who

fhe sculptor

and

the

male and

ol

not only

the two bodies but also

swelling forms

ol

Ills

wile Nofrel

carved the statues

was

fig. HI.

ol

Prince Rahotep

less subtle in this respec

They owe then strikingl) lifelike appearance to then vivid

coloring, which the) must have shared with other such statues but which has survived completer) intact only in a lew
instances fhe darker both color ol the prime has no indiit is the standard masculine complexion
fhe eves have been inlaid with shining

vidual significance;
85.

MYCER1NUS AND

MS QUEEN,

Slate, height 54!

Courtesy

<>i

Museum

i"

<>i

from Giza 2599

I

12.3 cm).

line Arts, Boston

-2">7

B.C

in

gyptian

quartz
trait

<

to

art

make them

baiac

lei

ol

the

look as alive as possible

I. ii

es

is

and the

por-

\er\ pronounc ed

/(.W//W

Mil

/u",

UK,

M.W//W

Mil

Standing and seated figures

omprise the basic repertorj

<

of Egyptian large-scale sculpture in the round At the end

ol

the Fourth Dynasty, a third pose was added, as symmetrical

and immobile as the first two: that of the scribe squatting

cross-legged on the "round. The finest of these scribes dates
from the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty fig 87
he name
I

1.

whose tomb at Saqqara the statue was found)

unknown, but we must not think of him as a low lv secre-

of the sitter (in

is

'Win

."'-'"li-i

i,,j'

i'">

tary waiting to take dictation; rather, the figure represents a

"master of sacred and secret lettreatment of form bespeaks the

dignity of his station (which in the beginning seems to have
been restricted to the sons of pharaohs
Our example
high court
ters,"

official,

and the

solid, incisive

).

stands out not only for the vividly alert expression of the
face, but also lor the individual

records the

somewhat

handling of the

flabby body of a

man

Another invention of Old Kingdom

for granted. Yet its origin is

was the

art

bust, a species ol sculpture so familiar that

puzzling: was

torso.

v\

past middle

we tend

huh
a*j,e.

portrait
to

take

it

simply an abbre-

it

viated statue, a cheaper substitute for a full-length figure?

Or

did it have a distinct purpose of its own, perhaps as

remote echo of the Neolithic custom of keeping the head of the
,1

deceased separate from the

Be

that as

the finest
this

it

rest of his

body (see page 81

may, the earliest of these busts

(fig.

indeed, one of the great portraits

noble head,

we

find a

88)

)?

also

time

ol all

memorable image

is

In

of the sitter's

individual character as well as a most subtle differentiation

between the

solid,

immutable shape of the

skull

and

its soft.

89.

WATt IliNC

11

flexible covering of flesh.

Painted limestone

87. (opposite)

SEATED SCRIBE, from Saqqara.

C.

2400

lit

Limestone, height 21" (53.3 cm). Musee du Louvre. Paris

relief, c.

illl'l'oroi

2400

t.\/(

\i

s 111

Tomb

B.<

of

R Saqqara

TOMB DECORATION.
let

us look brief

chambers

offering

Before we leave the Old Kingdom,

some of the scenes of daily life from the

at

ol

chitectural overseer
iii

89

figure

nonroyal tombs, such as that of the arli

at

Saqqara

he hippopotamus hunt

of special interest to us bee ause of

is

scape setting. The background of the rebel

is

papyrus thicket: the stems of the plants make

its

land-

formed

bj

a regular, rip-

pling pattern thai erupts in the top /one into an agitated

scene

nesting birds

ol

ly

menaced

fhe wa-

b\ small predators

bottom /one. marked

ter in the

In a

zigzag pattern,

is

crowded with Struggling hippopotamuses and

these,

.is

well as the hunters in the

served and

second

lull

boat,

first

h himself standing

immobile, as

he belonged

world. Ills pose

that ol the

is

ii

luneran

All

boat, are ac utelv ob-

of action. onl\

is

equal-

fish

in the

to a different

and

portrait reliefs

compare fig, 7 P. and he lowers above (he olhei

men suue be is more important than they,
Ills size also hits him out ol the context ol the hunt
he
neither directs nor supervises it. but simph observes Ills

statues

passive role

ceased
be

is

harac Icnstic

in all sue

subtle waj

but the

spun

is

BUST OF

Limestone,

lifesize

\\Kiill\i

Museum

from Giza
ol

2520

B.I

Fine Arts, Boston

We

the representations
It

ol

the de-

seems
is

to

(U,u\
this

ol

man can no longer participate in them di-

should also noic thai these

si enes ol dail) life do

dead man's favorite pastimes;
the) did,
he would be looking ba< k and sut h nostalgia is quite alien

rec

PRINCI

ol

cues from the old Kingdom

onveying the lac thai the bod)

alive and aware ol the pleasures

ol

world though the

;.

sc

il\

noi represent the

ii

KM'IIW

\i:i

107

CATTLE FORDING A RIVER

90.

to

Kingdom tombs.

the spirit of Old

fact, that

It

Detail of a painted limestone

has been shown, in

these scenes form a seasonal cycle, a sort of perpet-

ual calendar of recurrent

human

activities for the spirit of

the deceased to watch year in and year out. For the

the other hand, these scenes offered a
to

widen

ten find

relief

on

welcome opportunity

powers of observation, so that

astounding bits of realism.
his

Another

artist,

in details

we

of-

of

hi

(fig.

from the tomb of Ti shows some cattle

ed in Old Kingdom

art.

anything

eventually

we

It

is

as delightful as

will

similar

in

it

is

ford-

unexpect-

be some time before

the

human

we

realm.

en-

But

even see the deceased abandoning his

shall

passive, timeless stance to participate in scenes of daily

life.

never regained

oil,

ipse oi

entralized pharaonic

of the Sixth Dynast)

turbances and

During most
oi lo< al

North

ill

Egypt entered

oi this

South

power

at

the end

a period of political dis-

fortune that was to

last

almost 700 years.

tunc effective authority

lay in the

who

revived the old rivalry of

followed one another in

and Twelfth,
constitute the Middle king-

rapid succession, but only two, the Eleventh

are worth)
dom'.!! '.I
to reassert

ol

note

The

latter

when a series of able rulers managed

themselves against the provincial nobilit) How
1785b.<

los 'EGYPTIAN

having once been broken,

old effectiveness,

and the authority of the

to

be personal rather than

Soon after the close of the Twelfth Dynasty,

the weakened country was invaded by the Hyksos, a west-

institutional.

who

ern Asiatic people of somewhat mysterious origin,

it

for

150 years until their

expulsion by the princes of Thebes about 1570

B.C.

PORTRAITURE. The
reflected in Middle

'

unquiet

Kingdom

art.

spirit

We

of the times

find

it

is

well

especially in the

new type of royal portrait that marks the Twelfth Dynasty,

such as the one in figure 91. There is a real sense of shock
on first encountering this strangely modern face; the serene
assurance of the Old Kingdom has given way to a brooding,
troubled expression that bespeaks a new level of self-awareness. Deprived of

Its

uncompromising
that

at

first

royal trappings,

our fragment displays

a realism, physical as well as

psycho-

glance the link with the sculptural

tradition ol the past seems broken entirely. Here is another

enduring achievement of Egyptian art, destined to live on
in
Roman portraiture and in the portraiture of the

Renaissance.

hands

Main dynasties

or regional overlords,

.uid

its

Middle Kingdom pharaohs tended

logical,

THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

<

of Ti, Saqqara

ever, the spell of divine kingship,

so

\ihi the

Tomb

90);

emotional relationship

counter

B.C.

seized the Delta area and ruled

one of the herders carries a newborn calf

on his back to keep it from drowning, and the frightened animal turns its head to look back at its mother, who answers
with an equally anxious glance. Such sympathetic portrayal
ing a river

2400

relief, c.

PAINTING AND RELIEF A

also

makes

w here

it

vention.

itself felt in

leads to

all

loosening of established rules

Middle Kingdom painting and

sorts of interesting departures

They occur most conspicuously

the tombs of local princes

at

in the

relief,

from con-

decoration of

Beni Hasan, which have sur-

vived destruction better than most Middle

Kingdom monu-

91.

PORTRAIl Of SESOSTRISUI

C.

1850 B.C

The Metropolitan
of Edward S. Harkness, 1926

Quartzite, height 6'/" (15.7 cm).

Museum

New

of Art,

York. Gift

92 FEEDING

Tomb

THE ORYXES

of Khnum-hotep,

merits because they are carved into the living rock.

lie

mural Feeding the Oryxes fig. 92 comes from one of these

rock-cut tombs, that of Khnum-hotep. (As the emblem of
the prince's domain, the oryx antelope seems to have been a
I

sort of

honored pet

in his

dards of Old Kingdom

household.

art,

.til

According

same

ground-line, or the second oryx and

ought

to

be placed above the

to the stan-

the figures ought to share the

first;

its

attendant

instead, the painter lias

C.

1920

B.C.

Hem Hasan

introduced

higher
two groups are rethat closel) approximates normal appear-

secondary

ground-line only slightlj

than the primarj one. and as

lated

in

\\a\

a result the

ances His interest in exploring spatial effects can also be

seen in the awkward but quite bold foreshortening oi the
shoulders

ol

the two attendants

II

we cover up

glyphic signs, w Im b emphasize the Batness

can "icad" the forms

in

ol

the hiero-

the wall,

we

depth with surprising ease

EGYPTIAN Mil

lo'i

93. Funerary

Temple

of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahari. 18th Dynasty,

c.

1480

B.C.

THE NEW KINGDOM

The

five hundred years following the expulsion of the Hykand comprising the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties, represent a third Golden Age of Egypt. The
country, once more united under strong and efficient kins,
extended its frontiers far to the east, into Palestine and Syria
hence this period is also known as the Empire). During the
climactic period of power and prosperity, between c. 1500

sos,

and the end of the reign of Harnesses III in 102 B.C., tremendous architectural projects were carried out, centering
on the region of the new capital, Thebes, while the royal
1

tombs reached uneqiialcd material splendor.

ITie divine kingship of the pharaohs was now asserted in a
new way: b) association with the nod Amun, whose identity
had been fused with that of the sun-god Ha. and who be(

ame

the

supreme

deity, ruling the lesser

nods

much

as the

ph. ii. ioh towered

above the provincial nobility. Hut this very

development produced an unexpected threat to royal authority; he priests oi Am tin grew into a caste of such wealth
i

and powei

thai the

with then conseni

figure

ol

the

pharaoh could maintain his position only

Amenhotep IV. the most remarkable

ighteenth Dynasty, tried

proc Lin in n- Ins faith in a single god, the

changed his nam<

UO'ECYPTIAI

to

to

defeal

them by

sun disk Aten.

Vkhenaten closed the

le

Amun temples,

94. I'lan

ol

Imuran Temple

Queen Hatshepsul

(after

of

Lange)

and moved the

Tell

capital to central Egypt, near the

el'Amarna. His attempt

to

modern

place himself at the head

ol a

new monotheistic faith, however, did not outlast his reign

1365-1347 B.C and under his successors orthodoxy was
speedily restored. During the long decline that began about
1000 B.C., the country became increasingly priest-ridden,
until, under Greek and Roman rule. Egyptian civilization
came to an end in a welter of esoteric religious doctrines
New Kingdom art covers a vast range of styles and quality,
),

from

rigid

conservatism

to brilliant inventiveness,

later,

it

is

art of Imperial

almost impossible

to

most delicate refinehundred years

summarize in terms ol a rep-

Rome

the holv

rock

ol

oilier deities

holies

through

three

reminiscent of those

pyramid

at

fifteen

the shape

ol'

at

,\/a.
It

on ascending
a pro<

toward

into the
levels

essional road

hut with the mountain instead

this

is

led

is

magnificent union

of

an

note flow ramps and colonnades

hi

ec

makes latshepsut's temple

Old Kingdom monuments

the cliff that

any of the

ho
the

TEMPLE AT LUXOR. The

dom

continued

to build

imperial temples of

a fabric so

complex that any choice of monuments is bound

seem arbitrary. All we can hope to accomplish is to convey
some of the flavor of its variety.

reigning

to

temple

Amun.

monarch

at

tic

of

his wile

tfie

Amun

was devoted to huge

supreme god whom the
claimed as Ins lather The

the

traditionally

Mut. and their son Kfionsu. was begun

Amenhotep III hut was extended and

by

B.<

completed more than

the architectural en-

King-

Luxor, across the Nile from Thebes, dedicated to

about 1390

Architecture

later rulers ol the Nev.

funerary temples, but an evei greal

er share of their architectural energies

resentative sampling. Different strands are interwoven into

TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT. Among

he worshiper

hamher driven deep

courts

large

the end

lecture and nature

rival ol

<

ramps among long colonnades

linked hv

of a

small

from op-

pressively massive ostentation to the

ment. Like the

Anion and several

century later

Its

plan

is

hai.u lens

general pattern of later Egyptian temples

he

have survived from the early years of the New

Kingdom, the outstanding one is the Funerary Temple of

facade consists of two massive walls, with sloping sides.

Queen Hatshepsut,

pylon

terprises that

cliffs

built

about 1480

of Deir el-Bahari (figs. 93

B.C.

against the rocky

and 94) and dedicated

95. Court and pylon of

Ramesses

II. c.

Temple

to

12(>() B.<

of

flanking the entrance; this unit

(fig.

97, A).

95, far

The

I.

and

fig.

ol

tmenhotep

is

known

as the gateway

96) and leads

court, in tins case

colonnade and court

Amun-Mut-Khonsu,

left,

Ml.

is

to

the court

a parallelogram,

1390

01
fig.

because

B.<

uxor

HM'll P

Mil -111

ECYPTI

iiiiimmnj
"

97. Plan of the

i

Temple

alter N.

of

Amun-Mut-Khonsu, Luxor

de Cans Daviesi

98. Brick storehouses. Mortuary reniple of Harnesses

West Thebes,

Harnesses II. who added it to the temple thai had been

planned under Amenhotep 111, changed the axis of his court
slightly, so as to

conform with the direction of the Nile. We

hall, which brings us to the second
and C; 114. 95, center and right On its Far

then enter a pillared

court

(fig.

97.

P.

I.

we find another pillared hall. Beyond it. the temple

proper begins: a series of symmetrically arranged halls and
side

1260

c.

for

II

lit

the

signed

monumental fagade
to

and could but marvel at the lorcolumns that screened the dark recesses of the s.im
The columns had to be closeb spaced, lor they
tuary.
supported the stone lintels ol the ceiling, and these had to be
short to keep them from breaking under their own weight
-

"let

halls,

and temple was en-

closed by high walls that shut off the outside world. Except

the architect has consciousl) exploited this condition

sult,

far

effet

is

when measured

Egyptian architecture

96. (opposite) Pylon

ol

Ramesses
I.

uxor

heavier than the) need be As

the beholder feels almost crushed

The overavt ing

vulgar

Temple of Amun-Mut-Khonsu,

de-

is

weii' confined to the courts

making the columns

extreme right).
The entire sequence of courts,

96) such a structure

es! ol

columns

97.

fig

be experienced from within; ordinary worshipers

chapels shielding the holy of holies, a square room with four

(fig.

"F ""

l>\

their sheer

l>\

a re-

mass

ertainl) impressive, but also rather

against the earlier masterpieces

We

ol

need only compare the papyrus

II.

columns ol the colonnade ol Amenhotep III with their remote ancestors in Zoser's North Palace fig 79 in order to
realize how little ol the genius ol Imhotep has survived at

1260 B.C

I.

uxor

/CW'M

ix

\m

//

99. MAI

AND

Ills

Detail of a limestone relief.

WIFE UREL.

BRICK ARCHITECTURE. The massive

C.

1375

B.C.

vastness of their

Tomb

of

*.-

4fei

Ramose. Thebes

temples makes us think that the Egyptians built

mainly in stout'. Yet. except where absolute durability was
essential for religions reasons, they used sun-dried mud
The
bricks, a cheaper and more convenient material.

tombs

.uid

achievements of Egyptian brick architecture have attracted

comparatively little interest so far, and much of the work has
been destroyed, but the few well-preserved structures, such
.is

the storehouses attached to the mortuary temple of HaII

(fig. 98), show <i masterful command of brick

rnesses

building techniques. These barrel vaults, with a span of over

13 leet. anticipate the engineering skill of the Romans.

Akhenaten
(

)l

mams
ouh

above ground.

le

in his religious beliefs

in his

<

hoice of masters.

striking!) evident
I

mill

III

if

99), with a

only about ten years

the li.iduion.il style

and

new

ideal of

contrast with the past

a

head

beauty

becomes

in low relief from the

end of the reign of Amenhotep

low-relief portrait of Akhenaten that is
later in dale dm. 100). Figure 99 shows
at the

at its best;

(be wonderful subtlety of the

the precision and refinement of

arving

style

The

we compare

ml Ramose, done

(fig.

but in his artistic tastes as well.

new

oust loush fostering a

Akhenaten hardly anything remust have been a revolutionary not

the great projects built by

its

lines

makes

100.

Akhenaten seem at first glance like a brutal cariature \nd the latter work is indeed an extreme statement
oi the new ideal with its oddly haggard features and overin ih. iik
undulating outlines. Still, we can perceive its km
the head

xui

[Ml

NHOTEP

1\

e.

\kin

1360 B.C Limestone, height 3 Va" (8. ] cm).

Agyptisches Museum. Staatliche Museen, Berlin

ol

famous bust of Akhenaten's queen,

101) one of the masterpieces of the "Akhena-

the plasiK

shapes,

ship with the iiisib

lull

Nofretete

anti-geometric, as

fig

the delightful

ten style
not greater realism so

What distinguishes this style is

as a new sense ol form thai seeks

mui

li

dition

in-

immobility

km

\\

\i;l

ol

Egyptian

art;

lo

unfreeze the

not only

tra

the contours

it

seem more

too.

were.

fragment

daughters of Akhenaten

We
ol

(fig.

pliable

and relaxed.

find these qualities again in

wall

painting showing the

102).

rheir playful gestures

and informal poses seem in defiance of all rules of pharaonic

dignity

101.

QUEEN nofretete
Agyptisches

c.

1360 B.c Limestone, heigh

Museum.

Staatliche

19"

(50 cm)

Museen, Berlin

mm

102.

THE DAUGHTERS Ol \kiii\\n\

1360

B.<

ll

10>

10.7

cm

fhe Oriental Institute

m
'.'.'.

University of Chicago

KM'IIW

Mil

//",

m<*

)RKMEN CARRYING

BEAM, from the Tomb of Horemheb, Saqqara.

Mi

ovei

Cold
height

Hi,

EGYPT/AN \IH

oi

oi

the coffin

Inlaid with

"I

utankhamen.

c.

c.

1325

B.C.

1340 B.C

enamel and semiprecious stones,

whole 72%" (185 cm). Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Museo

Civico, Bologna

The old religious tradition was quickly restored after Ak

hena ten's death, but the artistic innovations he en< ouraged
could be

felt in Egyptian art for some time to tome. The

scene of workmen struggling with a heavy beam fig. 103
from the Tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara, shows a freedom
i,

and expressiveness

that

would have been unthinkable

in

earlier times.

As unique in its waj .is the gold coffin is a painted best

from the same tomb showing the youthful king in kittle
and hunting scenes fig 105) Phese had been traditional
i

subjects since the late years

ol

the Old

Kingdom

bul here

done with astonishing freshness al leasl so fai as

the animals are concerned While the king and his horse
drawn hariot remain frozen againsl the usual blank ba< k
-round Idled with hieroglyphs, the same It.i. kground in the
the) are

<

right-hand hall
the sulfate

Tutankhamen

henaten

Tutankhamen, who died at the age

fame entirely to the accident that his is
the only pharaonic tomb discovered in our times with most
style (fig. 104).

owes

his

of its contents undisturbed. The sheer material value of the

tomb (Tutankhamen's gold coffin alone weighs 250 pounds)

makes
ticed in

ol

the scene suddenl) turns into a desert;

covered With stippled dots

desert plants are strewn across

Even the lace of Akhenaten's successor. Tutankhamen, as it

appears on his gold coffin cover, betrays an echo of the Akof eighteen,

is

understandable that grave robbing has been pracEgypt ever since the Old Kingdom. To us, the exqui-

it

it

on the walls of tombs; perhaps this livelj scattering ol forms

against a landscape bat kground existed only on the miniature scale of the scenes on Tutankhamen's hest, and even
(

there
Style.

it

became

How

possible onl) as a result of the AJchenaten

these animals-in landscape survived in later

Egyptian painting we do not know, but the) must have survived somehow, for their resemblance
done more than 2,000 years later is

more impressive.

ignored.

MTANKHAMEh HUNTING

from a painted chest found in the king's tomb, [hebes

Length of scene

<

20"

50.7

SUggesI sand

and the animals stampede over it helter-skelter without anv

ground-lines to impede then flight.
Here is an aspect ol Egyptian painting that we rarel) see

site workmanship of the coffin cover, with the rich play of

colored inlays against the polished gold surfaces, is even

105.

to

considerable varietj

to Islamic

miniatures

far too striking to

be

l.UO H<

cm) Egyptian Museum Cairo

km'ii

Mil

;/:

CHAPTER THREE

ANCIENT NEAR
EASTERN ART
LAkE
VAN

.DurSharrukin
Nli

Mh '.Nt>mtd

'

ASS1RIA
-t,

Teheran

Asiur

AKkAD,TeUAsmar

uri s

Baghdad' mCUS iplwn

"^
<

'Bah/tow

SUMER.

**\

5l;5(I
*

ZLAM
Nalsh-i-Kustnm
Persepohs

ARABIA
PERSIAN
RED\
SI A

Mllft

200

SUMERIAN ART
plates

just about the

same

have learned enough

Yel \\c

an odd and astonishing fact that human civilization

should have emerged into the light ofhistory m two separate
is

It

achievements

this

ol

form

to

vigorous

general

tun

pii

the

ol

and disciplined

inventive

people

Between 3500 and 3000

B.C., when Egypt was being united under pharaonk rule, another great Civilization arose in Mesopotamia, the "land between the rivers." And for close to 3,000 years, the two rival

RELIGION. Each Sumerian city-state had its own local

who was regarded as its "king" .nu\ ownei
also had a
human ruler the steward ol the divine sovereign who led

centers retained their distinct character, even though the)

had contact with each Other from their earliest beginnings

expected

and

deities

at

time.

god

the people

their destinies were interwoven in man) ways.

he
pressures that forced the inhabitants of both regions to
abandon the pattern of Neolithic village life may well have

to

who

serving the deit)

plead the

ause

commands, transmitted

).

trough with lew natural defenses,

crossed by two great rivers and their

encroached upon from any direction.

Thus

tributaries,

and

had

riss-

ambition did not appear, so

far as

we know,

tive

who
until

and

it

ords.

consequence, the political history of ancient Mesopotamia has no underlying theme of the sort that divine

early

fare.

As

kingship provides

were

these

All

human

people bv his

to the

the popula

ol

subjeel

his

to

steward

It

was the temple

and resources

labor

ol

that controlled

communal

lor

enter-

required the keeping of detailed written

All this

Hence we need not be surprised

Sumerian inscriptions deal ver)

to find that

rei

the texts

largel) with

ol

economic

and administrative rathei than religious matters although

w riting was
priesd) inn ilege

Egypt; local rivalries, foreign incur-

lor

products.

such as the building of dikes or irrigation ditches

collet led and distributed a considerable part ol the

harvest

the cost of almost continuous war-

at

power

stale but also the labor

its

center was the temple.

prises,

about a thousand years alter the beginnings of Mesopotacivilization, and they succeeded in carrying it out only

and

and

the pooling

mian

lor brief periods

Ins fellow

The result was an economic svsiem that has been dubbed

"theocratic mh lalism." a planned soc letv whose administra

the (acts of geography tended to discourage the idea

this

(he

tor) ol

easily

of uniting the entire area under a single head. Rulers

among

.1

wide,

shallow

was

god, in return

leililitv

Hon

41

lo< al

controlled the forces

weather, water,

But the valley of the Qgris and

Euphrates rivers, unlike that of the Nile, is not a narrow fertile strip protected by deserts on either side; it resembles a
fig.

he

his subje< ts

ol

ol nature sue b as wind and

and the heavenlv bodies \,,i was
the idea ol divine ownership treated as
mere pious Ik Hon;
the god was quite literall) believed to own not only the terri

been the same (see

It

,i

sudden upsurge and equally sudden collapse of

military power
these are its substance. Against such a disturbed background, the continuity of cultural and artistic
traditions seems all the more remarkable. This common
sions, the

heritage

conveyed

whom we

civilization,

call

Sumerians

ol

the Tigris and Euphrates.

The

Sumerians remains obscure. Then language is unrelated to any other known tongue. Sometime
before 4000 B.C they came to southern Mesopotamia from
Persia, and there, within the next thousand years, the)
founded a number of city-states and developed their distinc
tive form of writing in cuneiform (wedge-shaped) characters on clay tablets. This transitional phase, corresponding
the predynastic period

Egypt,

is

called "protoliterate";

leads to the early dynastic period, from about

The

lit

(irst

3000

evidence of Bronze Age culture

Sumer around 4000

i:

is

23

to

seen

it

ol
ol

parable

the pyramids

to

required and

then

in

cities

ol

effe<

\,ist

.i

Ihese

the local god

mountains comEgypt in the immensit) ol effort

as great landmarks that towei
true

above the featureless plain Ihev are known as zigguratS

The most (anions ol them, the biblical lowei ol Babel has

been completelv destroyed

but a much earliei example

3000 b.i and thus several enturies oldei
the pyramids, survives at W.uka the site ol

built shoitlv before

than the Inst

Sumerian

10

the

in

mound

ol
c

<

ol

itv

ink

ailed

sloping sides reinfon

its

T let

etl

h in the Bible

b) solid

bm

he

masonr)

and ramps lead up to the

called the "White
temple" because ol its whitewashed brick exteriot figs 106
and 107). Its heavv walls articulated bv regularl) spaced
pit) |et tions and ret esses .11 e siilllt lent v well pieseivetl to
rises to a height ol

<

Sumerian
was

ol

red area that

raised platform, stood the temple

to

a sac

platforms soon reached the height

origin of the

bv

clustered about

alter the re-

gion of Sumer, which they inhabited, near the confluence

the layout

rhe houses
an Inlet tural
complex embracing not onl) shrines but workshops storehouses, and scribes' quarters as well In then midst mi a

very largely the creation of the rounders of Meso-

is

potamian

ARCH! fECTURE. fne dominant role of the temple as the

center of both spiritual and phvsical existence is strikni'Jv

H) feet; stairs

platform on which stands the sanctuar)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS.
tangible remains of

scanty compared

to

being unavailable

mud

Sumerian

those

ol

ancient Egypt; building stone

brick and wood, so that almost nothing

Egyptians' concern w

ith

ol'

Nor did

is

lilt ol

the) share the

some ri< hlv

vaulted chambers below

in the shape of
of the earl) dynastic period have been found

Ur.

pends very

Our knowledge
largely

then

the hereafter, although

endowed tombs
ground

the

are extremel)

Mesopotamia, the Sumerians used

architecture except the foundations.

city

Unfortunately,

civilization

of

Sumerian

numbers

ol

the

civilization thus de-

on chance fragments brought

excavation, including vast

in

inscribed

to lighi b)
lav tablets.

suggest son nil un '4

line

he

mam

ol

room

the original appearance

01

cella

weie offered before the statue

fig
ol

that runs the entire length ol the

seiies ol smallei
t

ella is

chambers

on the southwest

die stairs or on one

might expet

must \h\\

iht

Mm

the god.

is

temple and
the

side, rathei

ol

where

108

the strut
sacrifices

narrow

hall

is

Ranked

bv a

main entrance

to

the

than mi the side

fa<

ing

o| the temple as one

understand the reason I01 this we
ziggural and temple as
whole the entire
ol

the narrow sides

In ordei to

.1

\\(

II

\l \l

\i:

ts;/

/;,

\/;/

//<,

The "White Temple" on

106.

107 Plan or the

complex
ing

.a

planned

the bottom

around
cell. i.

is

White Temple" on

.is

The

sort of

ol

in

such

way

ziggurat (alter

many corners

II.

ziggurat,

is

forced to go

as possible before he reaches the

procession. il path, in other words, resembles a

angular

is

straight, single axis ol

Egyptian temples (see

m g the following 2,500 years

fig.

was elaborated

it

97). Dui

into ever

tall

and more towerlike ziggurats rising in multiple stages,

rhe one built b) King I Irnammu at Ur about 2500 b.< (fig.
109 had three levels. Little is left of the upper two stages,

will

and

its

some

.">()

feet high,

has survived

facing of brick has been restored.

impulse behind these

sum tuns

'

<

ertainl)

pride attributed to the builders of the fowei

120-

\\(

II

\l \l Ml

3500-3000

\s// i;\

\in

B.C.

108. Interior of the eella. "White

Temple"

reflect, rather, the widespread belief

mountaintops are the dwelling places of the gods (we

Old Testament. They

th.it

need only think of the Mount Olympus of the Creeks). The

Sumerians

felt

they could provide a

own

artificial

lit

residence lor a deity

mountains.

fundamental characteristic

religious architecture, in contrast to the

but the bottom one

Iraq. c.

onl\ by creating their

spiral.

Mesopotamian

Uruk (Warka),

Frankfort)

that the worshiper, start-

the stairs on the east side,

Tins "bent-axis approach"

ol

its

its

fairly

What was

the

not the kind ol

ol

Babel

in

the

image of the god to whom the

"White temple" was dedicated is lost it was probably Anu,
but a splendid female head of white
the god of the sk\
marble bom the same period at Uruk (Warka) may well
have belonged to another cult statue! fig. 110). The eves and
eyebrows were originally inlaid with colored materials, and

STONE SCULPTURE. Hie

the hair

was covered w

ith a

"wig" of gold or copper. The

of the figure, which must have been close to

abl\ consisted of wood.
is

on the

rest

prob-

artistic achievement, this head

works of Egyptian Old Kingdom

As an

level ol the finest

lifesize,

109. Ziggurat of King

10.

MALI in

Urnammu,

\i>

Marble, heighi 8"

from
20

L'r

ruk

cm

EJ Muqeiyar), Iraq.

Warka
Iraq

1500

c.

1000

2500

B.C.

B.(

Museum, Baghdad

\\<

//

\; \i

\i:

\su rn

\m

/_>/

ulpture

create

he sold) swelling

balance

.1

worths

combined with the

the lips

sensuousness and

ol

rather than the realistic

stone

si

group

ol

ulpture

severity

lell

Asmar

outlines Liter than the head

mother goddess; the

Uruk

times,

The

tallest,

BRONZE OH ASSKMBLKD SCULPTURE. The

about 30 incites

vegetation; the second larg-

ol

others, priests

cylindrical simplification of the

and worshipers.
rest not

teristic

the larger diameter of the pupils of their

hen insistent stare

he present

to

in their

images, and the

tempt

to

none

of

and schematic,

ple in nature.

in order to

Such an

windows of
sense of form was es-

avokl distracting attention from the eves, "the

the soul."

II

the Egyptian sculptor's

by cutting his forms out of a

ic

achieve a real likeness. The bodies as well as the

laces are rigorously simplified

association of animals with deities

from prehistoric times; we find

T*jM

it

not only in

-,

1 4Mj^|

4I

"

**

mm

(*\H

TPKshH ^C W

^i

f^Mg?

Kol

JW

IB ^H
-

-^

i\'

gp2r

'

HT\j

^m

jfl

IM^^L^i^B

Hal
HL
1

122

ANCIENT

Nl

\lt

\sn

Si. lines

JO"

/,'\

(76

1/;/

from the \bu remple,

I

cm)

Iraq

lell

Asmar

conic-

charac-

power of expression as it gazes at us from between the

branches of the symbolic tree. And well it might, for it is sacred to the god Tammuz and thus embodies the male princi-

messages to
them indicates any at-

the) portrayed, offering prayers or transmitting

the deity in their stead. Yet

is

pieces of the latter kind, roughly contemporary with the Tell

the worshipers served as stand-ins lor the persons

ol

who works

statues

Asmar figures, have been found in the tombs at Ur which

we had occasion to mention earlier. They include the fascinating object shown in figure 112, an offering stand in the
shape of a ram rearing up against a flowering tree. The animal, marvelously alive and energetic, has an almost demon-

"Representation" here had a very direct meaning: the

statues

of the carver,

Asmar

Tell

is

their eyes.

gods were believed

far

A far more flexible and realistic style prevails

among the Sumerian sculpture that was made by addition
rather than subtraction that is. either modeled in soft materials for casting in bronze or put together by combining such
varied substances as wood, gold leaf, and lapis lazuli). Some

.ill
the figures are enormous.
emphasized by colored inlays, which
are still in place. The entire group must have stood in the
cella of the Abu temple, the priests and worshipers confronting the two gods and communicating with them through
I

solid block.

only by

although the eyes of

eyes

sculpture had acquired

and again.

as seen in a

period

when Mesopotamian

richer repertory of shapes, this quality asserted itself again

Ill) carved about five

fig.

The two deities are distinguished from the

their size but b)

the

ol

ones, that survived in the

the earl) dynastic

ol

figures from

high, represents Vbu, the god

est, a

Sunienan was based on the cone

and cylindei Anns and lcj,s have the roundness of pipes,
and the long skirts worn by all these figures are as smoothly
curved as if the) had heen turned on a lathe Even in later
sentially cubic, lh. it of the

<>!

huge eyes,
that seems

the

ol

and expressive aspects

head

hecks, the delicate curves

any goddess

ol

w.is the geometrit

It

<

stead) gaze

c.

27()()

Museum, Baghdad, and The

2500

it

Marble, height of

Oneni.il Institute,

11

tallest figure

Iniversiry of

Chicago

is

a carry-over

Mesopotamia

in

the West from Aesop to La Fontaine. At least one

o|

the ass with the harp, survived as a fixed image and

counter

almost

it

odd years

medieval

later in

s<

them
we en

ulpture

Akkadian
Toward the end
socialism

ol

of the earlv dvnasiu

the

"stewards

Somen, m

period, the theoi

city-States

the god" bad

began

rati*

decay

to

be

become reigning
monarchs, and the more ambitious among them attempted
to enlarge their domain by conquering then neighbors. \i
the same time, the Semitic inhabitants ol northern Mesopolocal

ol

pr.u tice

tamia drifted south in ever larger numbers, until the)

outweighed the Sumerian sioek in man) places
hev had
adopted Sumerian civilization but were less bound to the
I

So it is perhaps not surprising that

Sargon of Akkad and his successors (2340 2180 in
they produced the Inst MesODOtamian rulers who openlv
called themselves km<j,s and proclaimed their ambition to
tradition of the city-state.
in

rule the entire earth.

Under these Akkadians, Sumerian

art laced a

sive

112.

RAM AND TREE

Wood.

gold,

The

and

Offering stand from Ur.

Museum.

What

ans

is

lore,

is

magnificent rov-

cm).

Philadelphia

but in Egypt as well (see the falcon of

74).

that has survived

task

2800 B.C

c.

lapis lazuli, height 20" (50.7

University

work of this kind

new

The most impres-

the personal glorification of the sovereign.

Horus

in figs.

72 and

distinguishes the sacred animals of the Sumeri-

the active part they play in mythology.

unfortunately, lias not

come down

form, hut tantalizing glimpses of

it

to

Much

of this

us in written

can be caught in

pictorial

representations such as those on an inlaid panel from a harp

113) that was recovered together with the offering

(fig.

The hero embracing two human-headed bulls

compartment was so popular a subject that its design has become a rigidly symmetrical, decorative formula:
the other sections, however, show animals performing a variety of human tasks in surprisingly animated and precise
fashion: the wolf and the lion carry food and drink to an unseen banquet, while the ass, bear, and deer provide musical
entertainment the bull-headed harp is the same type as the
instrument to which the inlaid panel was attached). At the
bottom, a scorpion-man and a goat carry sonic objects they
stand
in

at Ur.

the top

have taken from a large vessel.

The

skillful artist

who

created these scenes was far less

constrained by rules than his contemporaries in Egypt; even

though

on ground-lines, be

is

not

forms or foreshortened shoulders.

We

be, too, places bis figures

afraid of overlapping

must be careful, however, not to misinterpret his intention

what strikes the modern eve as delightfully humorous
was probably meant to be \iewed with perfect seriousness. If
we onlv knew the context in which these actors pl.i\ then
roles! Nevertheless, we are entitled to regard them as the

earliest

known

ancestors of the animal fable

th.it

flourished

Inlay panel

13.

from

Ur.

c.

12'/.*
I

he

from the soundbox

2600 B.C
I

niversit)

'

Shell

ad a lyre,

and bitumen,

11.1 X 11.3 in
Museum. Philadelphia
(

\\(

//

\/ \i

\i:

wii

i:\

\i:i

Ur
The

rule of the

Akkadian kings came

to

an end

when

tribes-

men

from the northeast des< ended into the Mesopotamian

plain and gained mastery of it for more than half a century.

They were driven out

in

2125

b.c.

by the kings of Ur,

reestablished a united realm that was to

last

who

hundred

veils.

GUDEA. During

the period of foreign dominance, Lagash

modern Tclloh one of the lesser Sumerian city-states,

managed to retain local independence. Its ruler, Cudea, was
careful to reserve the title of king for the city-god, whose cult
he promoted by an ambitious rebuilding of his temple. Of
this architectural enterprise nothing remains today, but Gu(

114.
(

al

///

M>

Kuyunjik), Iraq.

portrait

head

c.

ing

the

.a

).

AN AKKADIAN RULER, from Nineveh

2300-2200 B.C. Bronze, height 12" (30.7 cm).
Iraq Museum, Baghdad

in

bronze from Nineveh

(fig.

114). Despite

the gouged-out eyes (once inlaid with precious materials),

remains

the

it

persuasive likeness, majestic and

humanly mov-

same

the richness of

time. Equally admirable

is

the surfaces framing the lace; the plaited hair and the finely

curled strands of the beard are shaped with incredible precision

without losing their organic character and becom-

yet

mere ornament. The complex technique

ing

of casting

and

chasing has been handled with an assurance that bespeaks

true mastery. Ibis head could hold its own in the company
ol

the greatest works of any period.

WHAM

STELE OF

SIN. Sargon's grandson, Naram-Sin

bad himself and bis victorious army immortalized in reliei

on a large stele lit;
an upright stone slab used as a
15)
I

which owes its survival to the fact that at a later

was (allied oil as bootv to Susa. where modern arlime
chaeologists discovered it. Here rigid ground-lines have
marker
il

been discarded; we see the kind's forces advani ing among

the inrs on
mountainside Above them. Naram-Sin alone
,i

stands triumphant,

mere)

Ins isolated position

//

enemy soldiers plead lor

men, but his size and
endow him with superhuman status

.is

the defeated

le is as vigorously active

as his

Moreovei he wears the horned crown hitherto reserved for

Nothing appears above bun except the mountain-

the gods

and the<

top

bodies Ins "good stars." This

elestial

known monument

liest

\\<

li

\i \i

\i:

to

the glory

\s// /;\

\m

ol

is

conqueroi

the ear-

115.

C. 2300-2200 B.C.
Musce du Louvre, Paris

VICTORY STELE OF NARAM SIN

Stone, height

(>'()"

(2 m).

merian
the

<

arvei has

rounded

oil all

the musculai tension

the

orners

forms Equally

ylindrical quality of the

emphasize

to

hara< teristu

is

Gudea's bare arm and shouldei

in

compared with the passive

relaxed

limbs

Egyptian

ol

statues

Babylonian
he second millennium

was

time

ol

almost

ontmuous

<

he ethnic upheaval that brought

the Hyksos to Egypt had an even more disruptive effa on
the valley ol the Lgris and Euphrates
entral power by naturmoil in Mesopotamia

tive rulers prevailed only

Babylon assumed the

Hammurabi

nian dynasty,

is

1955

from about I760to 1600

role formerly played bv

1913

the founder of the Babylo-

Bj

prowess with
tradition he saw himsell as

combindeep respect foi Sumerian

the favorite shepherd" of the

sun god Shamash whose mission

HEAD

Oh CI OEA from Lagash

Dionte. height 9"

Museum

of the

same general

type,

to

2150 H(

c.

of

himself plated in the

ol

Lagash, and some twenty examples,

ol

was "to cause justice

Donation

Bartlett

dea also had numerous statues

shrines

it

Fine Arts. Boston.

ol

Frances

TcUoh). Iraq

23 cm). Courtesy

when

by far the greatest figure ol the .me

ing military

116.

B.<

Akkad and Ur

have been found so

obviously

.ill

Caned

far.

of

dionte. the extremely hard stone favored b\ Egyptian sculptors,

much more

they are

ambitious works than then prede-

Asmar Even Gudea. however devoted he

cessors from Tell

was to the traditional pattern ol the Sumerian city-State,

seems to have inherited something of the sense of persona]
importance that we

felt in

the Akkadian

knms although he

prided himself on his intimate relations with the gods rather

than on secular power

His portrait head
vidualized
fleshy
ity of

roundness

the

fig 116) appears far less distinctly indi-

when compared

fell

is

Asmar

far

with the Akkadian ruler yet

removed

statues

light

m\

iting a

upon the features The seated statue

Gudea with an

the enclosing wall

lor the god's

wonderful
fig

17

architectural plan on his lap

ol a

temple

district

its

the geometric simplic-

The stone has been worked

high and subth accented finish.

sents

I'rorn

which he

is

to a

pla\ of

repre-

perhaps
offering

approval; there are six entrances framed

l>\

towerlike projections, and the walls show regular!) spaced

buttresses

we saw in the White Temple" at

The (mure makes an instinctive contract
Egyptian statues as in figures 84 and 86the Suof

the kind

Uruk (VVarka
with sir

1 1

DEA WITH ARCHITECTURAL PLAS from Lagash

i

2150 B<

[elloh

Dioriti

\\(

//

\/

tfi

\siHt\ \Rl

lr,i<)

1ENTNI

\i:

\su n\

\m

119.

prevail in the land."

became the

Under him and

more than

The

city

thousand years

Gate, Bona/.skov, Anatolia. Turkey,

his successors,

cultural center of Sumer.

this prestige for

The Lion

was

Babylon

after its political

CODE OF HAMMURABI.
is

Hammurabi's most memorable

law code, justly famous as the earliest

his

uniform written body of laws and amazingly rational and hu-

mane

in

whose
18

).

He had it engraved on
shows Hammurabi confronting

conception.

top

The

arm

ruler's right

is

diorite stele

tall

the sun god

fig.

raised in a speaking gesture, as

he were reporting his work of codification to the divine

Although this scene was carved four centuries after

if

king.

Gudea

the

statues,

and technique.

it

is

strongly related to

them

In fact, the relief here is so

in

both style

high that the two

figures almost give the impression of statues sliced in half

when we compare them with

Naram-Sin

stele.

render the eves

niash gaze

at

As

in

the round, so that

each other with

representations of this kind.

in

ues from

tempt
god

in

fell

the pictorial treatment of the

a result, the sculptor

a force

has been able

and directness unique

They make us

recall the stat-

Asmar. whose enormous eyes indicate an

to establish the

same

relationships between

an earlier phase of Sumerian

to

Hammurabi and Sha-

at-

man and

civilization.

1-400 B.C

ASSYRIAN ART

to retain

power had waned.

achievement

c.

The city-state of Assur on the upper course of the Tigris

owed its rise to power to a strange chain of events. During
the earlier half of the second millennium B.<
Asia Minor
had been invaded from the east by people of Indo-European

language.

One

group, the Mitannians, created an inde-

pendent kingdom

in

Syria

and northern

Mesopotamia,

including Assur. while another, the Ihttites. established

themselves farther north on the rock) plateau

Anatolia.

ol

Their capital, near the present-da) Turkish village of Bogaz-

was protected by impressive

kov.

fortifications built ol large,

roughly cut stones; the gates were flanked

l>\

snarling lions

or other guardian figures protruding from the

blocks that formed the jambs of the doorw av

enormous

(fig,

1
'

About 1360 IK the 11 it tites attacked the Mitannians. who

were allies of the Egyptians, but the hitter, because ol the
internal crisis provoked l>\ the religious reforms ol Akhenaten see pages 11416), could send no effective aid; the
Mitannians wen- defeated and \ssm- regained its indepen.

dence. Under

able rulers,

a series ol

gradually expanded until

embraced

it

Assyrian domain
onh Mesopotamia

the-

not

proper but the surrounding regions as well At the height of

its

power from about 1000

to

012

the \ss\ri.m empire

B.(

stretched from the Sinai peninsula

to

Egypt w.is successfully invaded

071

in

Armenia; even Lower

b.<

Palaces and Their Decoration

118. (opposite)

of
:.

7' (-2.1

Upper part of stele inscribed with

Hammurabi, c. 1760 B.C Diorite, height

the

Law Code

of stele

mi. height of relief 28" (71 cm). Musee du Louvre, Paris

he Assyrians,

the

it

has been

Romans were

on the

ac

to

hievements

said, were- lo the

the (aeeks
ol

\ss\

nan

Sunieiians what
civilization

the south but reinterpreted

i\(

II

\l

\i;

wil

i:\

drew

them

\l:i

to

f27

120. Citadel of Sargon

Dur Sharrukin

II.

(Khorsabad), Iraq. 742-706 B.C (reconsliuction by Charles Altman)

121. Gate of the Citadel of Sargon

fit

own

its

distinctive character.

Thus the temples and

II

(during excavation)

Inside the palace, the

zig-

same impression was

reinforced by

gurats they built were adapted from Sumerian models while

long series of reliefs illustrating the conquests of the royal

the palaces of Assyrian kinu,s grew to unprecedented size

armies. Every

and magnificence.

tions supplying further data.

ly

DUR SHARRUKIN. One

705

I!

at

of these, that of Sargon

II

(died

Dur Sharrukin the modern Khorsahad). dating

(

from the second half of the eighth century

B.C.,

plored sufficiendy to permit a reconstruction

has been ex(fig.

120).

It

was surrounded by a citadel with turreted walls that shut it

from the rest of the town. Figure 121 shows one of the

oil

two gates of the citadel

the process

oi

excavation. Al-

though the Assyrians, like the Sumerians, built in brick.

they liked to line gateways and the lower walls of important
interiors \\ ith great slabs of stone which were less difficult
to procure in northern Mesopotamia). These slabs were ei(

thei de< orated with low reliefs or. as

into guardian

and
by

si

it

demons

that are

meant

an odd combination of rebel

tue

examples such as the Lion Gate at Bogazkoy (fig.

in size and appearance, the gates were
impress the visitor with the power and majesty ol

to

the kinu.

>8

our case, elaborated

at

always seem

described in

is

to

detail,

The Assyrian

with inscrip-

forces, relentless-

be on the march, meeting the

every frontier of the overextended empire, destroy-

ing his strong points and carrying away booty and prisoners.
There is neither drama nor heroism in these scenes the
outcome of the battle is never in doubt and they are often

depressingly repetitious. Yet, as the earliest large-scale efforts at

narrative in the history of

art,

they represent an

achievement of great importance. To describe the progress

of specific events in time and space had been outside the
scope of both Egyptian and Sumerian art; even the scene on
the stele of Naram-Sin is symbolic rather than historic. The
Assyrian

artist

to develop an entirely new set of

cope with the requirements of pictorial

thus had

devices in order

to

story-telling.

ulpture in the round. They must have been inspired

Awesome

119).

efficient,

enemy

campaign

\\(

ii

\i

\i

\i;

\sii

n\ \Ki

NINEVEH.
tiful,

fins

is

the Palace

ol

able

If

the

artist's results

can hardly be called beau-

they achieve then main purpose

certainly true of

Ashurbanipal died
i

to

our example
(>2(j?

is

).

be clearly read(fig.

at

122).

from

Nineveh (now

Kuyunjik), which shows the sack of the Elamite city of llain the main register: Assyrian soldiers with pickaxes

manu

and crowbars are demolishing the fortificationsnotice the

falling timbers and bricks in mid-air
after they have set

the town

fire to

down

wooded

others are marching away from it.

laden with booty. The latter group poses

itself;

hill,

problem in representation, for the

road on which they walk widens visibly as it approaches the
foreground, as if the artist had meant to render it in perspeca particularly interesting

tive,

yet the

same road also serves as a curved band that

An odd mixture of modes but an

frames the marchers.

effective device for linking

Below the main scene, we

foreground and background.

observe the soldiers at camp, re-

laxing with food and drink, while one of

LION HUNTS. The mass

of military

directly by

of descriptive detail in the reliefs

campaigns often leaves

al glorification

them stands guard.

little

room

of the king. This purpose

for the

is

person-

served more

another recurrent subject, the royal lion hunts.

in the nature of ceremonial combats than

These were more

actual hunts: the animals were released from cages within a

hollow square formed by troops with shields for the king to

kill. (Presumably, at a much earlier time, the hunting
of
lions in the field had been an important duty of Mesopota-

mian rulers as the "shepherds" of the communal flocks.

Here the Assyrian relief sculptor rises to his greatest
heights; in figure 123, from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal
(died 860?

B.C.) at

Nimrud

11

(Calah), the lion attacking the

from the rear is clearly the hero of the scene. Of

magnificent strength and courage, the wounded animal
royal chariot

seems

to

embody

all

the dramatic emotion that

the pictorial accounts of war.

equally impressive in
tian artist (see fig.
tion

We

The dying

agony.

How

lion

we miss

on the

right

in
is

122.

Egyp105) had interpreted the same composiits

differently the

need only compare the horses

are less graceful but very

123.

much more

ashurnasirpal
C.

850

the Assyrian ones

British

energetic and alive as

it

B.C.

THE SACK OF THE CITY OF HAMANU BY ASHURBANIPAL,

from the Palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh (Kuyunjik), Iraq.

c. 650 Be Limestone, 36x24'// (92.7x62.2 cm).

Museum. London

KILLING UONS, from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II. Nimrud (Calah

Limestone, 3'3"x8'4"
X2.5 m). British Museum. London
(

l,

Iraq

t\(

//

\/ \i

\i:

is//

n\ \ki

J29

124.

DYING LIONESS, from Nineveh (Kuyunjik),

Limestone, height of figure 13%" (35 cm). British

125. Ishtar Gate (restored

Glazed brick Vbrderaslatisches

10- \N(

<

Ifl

\STERt*

Mil

Iraq. c.

from Babylon, Iraq

Museum

650

B.C.

Museum, London

c,

575 b.C

der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin

they flee from the attacking lion, their ears folded back

The

fear.

lion

hunt

reliefs

in

from Nineveh, about two centu-

than those of Nimrud, are the finest of all. Despite

the shallowness of the actual carving, the bodies have a
greater sense of weight and volume because of the subtle
ries later

gradations of the surface. Images such as the dying lioness

124) have an unforgettable tragic grandeur.

(fig.

no permanent monuments or written records we

can trace
then wanderings only l>\ a areful study ol the obje< is
the)
buried with then dead. Su< h objects, of wood, bone or
met
al, represent a distinct kind of portable art
uhu h we all the
<

nomad's gear: weapons, bridles lor horses, buckles, fibulas

and other articles of adornment, cups, bowls, and the like
he) have been found over a vast area from Siberia to CenEurope, from Iran to Scandinavia The) have m common not onlv a jewellike concentration ol ornamental design
but also a repertory of forms known as the "animal
style."
And one of the sources of this animal style appears to be anI

tral

Neo-Babylonian
The Assyrian empire came
veh

fell

to an end in 612 B c when Ninecombined onslaught of Medes and Scyth-

before the

cient Iran

ians from the east. At that time the

commander of the
southern Mesopotamia made himself king

Assyrian army in
of Babylon;

under him and

his successors the ancient cit)

had a final brief flowering between 612 and 539 B.C., before
it was conquered by the Persians. The best known
of these
Neo-Babylonian rulers was Nebuchadnezzar (died 562 B.c
),

the builder of the

Tower of Babel. That famous structure

represented only one part of a very large architectural

complex comparable

to

the Citadel of Saigon

II

at

I.VIAL STYLK.
Its mam feature, as the name suggests
the decorative use of animal motifs in a rather abstract and
imaginative manner. We find its earliest ancestors on the
prehistoric painted pottery of western Iran, such as the fine

is

beaker in figure 26, which shows an ibex a wild mountain

goat) reduced to a lew sweeping curves, so that the body of
the animal becomes a mere appendage of the huge bonis
1

Dur

Sharrukin.

Whereas the Assyrians had used caned stone slabs, the

Neo-Babylonians (who were farther removed from the
sources of such slabs) substituted baked and glazed brick.
This technique,

too, had been developed in Assvria. but now

was used on a far larger scale, both for surface ornament
and for architectural reliefs. Its very distinctive effect becomes evident if we compare the gate of Sargon's citadel
it

(fig. 121
with the Ishtar Gate of Nebuchadnezzar's sacred
precinct in Babylon, which has been rebuilt from the thousands of individual glazed bricks that covered its surface
)

(fig.

125).

The stately procession

of bulls, dragons,

j~

and other

u.

animals of molded brick within a framework of vividly colored ornamental bands has a grace and gaiety far removed
from the ponderous guardian monsters of the Assyrians.
Here, for the last time,

we sense again

Mesopotamian

ancient

which we noted

art

for

that special genius of

the portrayal of animals,

in early dynastic times.

PERSIAN ART
the mountain-fringed high plateau to the east of
Mesopotamia, takes its name from the people who occupied
Persia,

Babylon in 539

B.C.

and became the heirs of what had been

the Assvrian empire. Today the country

older and

more

is

called Iran,

its

name, since the Persians, who put

the area on the map of world history, were latecomers who
had armed on the scene only a few centuries before they
began their epochal conquests. Inhabited continuous!)
suitable

since prehistoric times, Iran always

gateway

for

seems to have been a

migratory tribes from the Asiatic steppes to the

north as well as from India to the east.

would

down

The new

arrivals

dominating or intenningling
with the local population, until they in turn were lotted to
move on to Mesopotamia, to .Asia Minor, to southern Russettle

for a while,

by the next wave of migrants. These movements form

shadowy area of historical knowledge; all available information is vague and uncertain. Since nomadic tribes leave
sia

V100-4000 b c
m) Musee du Louvre Paris

Painted beakei; from Susa

Heighi il.

28

\\(

II

\l

\l<

is// it\

\hi

;/

animal's body here shows

far less arbitrary distortion,

and

the smoothly curved sections divided by sharp ridges have

no counterpart among Luristan bronzes, yet the way the

been elaborated into an abstract openwork or-

antlers have

nament betrays a
Whether or not
tral Asiatic

similar feeling lor form.

this typically

Scythian piece reflects Cen-

sources independent of the Iranian tradition, the

Scythians surely learned a good deal from the bronze casters

They belonged to a

of Luristan during their stay in Iran.

group of nomadic Indo-Kuropean tribes, including the

Medes and the Persians, that began to filter into the country
soon after 1000 B.C. An alliance of Medes and Scythians, it
will be recalled, had crushed Nineveh in 612 B.C. The Persians at that time were vassals of the Medes, but only sixty
years later, under Cyrus the Creat of the family of the Achaemenids, they reversed this situation.

Achaemenid
539 B.C., Cyrus (c. 600-529
King of Babylon along with the ambitions of the Assyrian rulers. The empire he founded continued to expand under his successors; Egypt as well as Asia
Minor fell to them, and Greece escaped the same fate only by
the narrowest of margins. At its high tide, under Darius (c.
550-486 B.C. and Xerxes (519-465 B.C. the Persian empire

After conquering Babylon in

B.C.)

assumed the

title

),

was

than

far larger

its

Egyptian and Assyrian predecessors

domain endured for two cen-

together. Moreover, this vast

turies

B.C.) in

it

331

efficiently

was toppled by Alexander the Great (356-323

and during most of its life it was ruled both
B.C.
and humanely. For an obscure tribe of nomads to

have achieved

all

this is little short of miraculous.

Within a

single generation, the Persians not only mastered the

127. Pole-top ornament, from Luristan. 9th-7th century B.C.

Bronze, height

7W (19 cm).

British

com-

plex machinery of imperial administration but also evolved a

Museum, London

monumental

art of

remarkable originality

grandeur of their rule.

Despite their genius
their

own

to

express the

for adaptation, the Persians retained

drawn from the prophecies of

was a faith based on the dualism of Good and
embodied in Ahuramazda Light and Ahriman Darkreligious belief

Zoroaster; this

racing hounds above the ibex are

The

little

more than

hori-

Evil,

and on closer inspection the striations below

the rim torn out to be long-necked hirds. In the historic art
of Siimer. this style soon gave way to an interest in the organic unity of animal bodies (see figs. 112 and 113), but
zontal streaks,

Iran

in

survived

it

the

despite

powerful

influence

of

Mesopotamia.
Sever, il thousand years
turies

lit

the ninth to seventh cen-

later, in

the style reappears in the small bronzes of the

Luristan region, nomad's gear of a particularly resourceful

kmd The pole-top ornament

horns, originally,

we

fig.

127) consists of a symmet-

suspect, they were pursued by a pair of

hut the bodies

lions

rearing ibexes, with vastly elongated necks and

rical pair nl

nl

the latter have been absorbed into

whose

ha\e been pulled out to

and lor whom the Luristan
bronzes were produced remains something of a mystery.

those

the ibexes,

ol

dragonlike slenderness.

here

linked

an be
with

doubt

little

the

ne< ks

I!\

however, that the) are

nieuluoi

animal-style

of

somehow

the

Asiatic

steppes, such as the splendid Scythian gold stag from south-

ern Russia whi< b

'

\\<

//

\l \i

is

\i:

only slight

\sn

/(\

v later

\itl

in date

(fig.

128).

The

128. STAG, from

Chased

gold, height

Kostxomskaya Scythian. 7th-6th century

c.

12" (30.5 cm),

B.C.

Hermitage Museum, Leningrad

ness). Since the cult of

in the

open

Ahuramazda centered on

fire altars

the Persians had no religious architecture.

Their palaces, on the other hand, were huge and impressive
air,

structures.

PERSEPOLIS. The most ambitious palace, at Persepolis,

was begun by Darius
in 518 B.C.; its general layout is
1

shown

in figure

129 a

number

vast

of rooms, halls, and

recalls

the royal

and Assyrian

traditions

courts assembled on a raised platform

residences of Assyria (see

120),

fig.

are the strongest single element throughout. Yet they do not

determine the character of the building, for they have been
combined with influences from every corner of the empire
in

such

style.

way

Thus,

that the result

at Persepolis

is

a new, uniquely Persian

columns are used on a grand

scale.

129. Plan of the Palace of Darius and Xerxes, Persepolis. 1) Great

entrance stairway; 2) Gatehouse of Xerxes; 3) Audience Hall of Darius
and Xerxes; 4) Throne Hall of Xerxes; 5) Palace of Darius; 6) Palace,

probably rebuilt by Ataxerxes; 7) Palace of Xerxes; 8) Council Hall;

9) Restored area of the

"Harem"; 10) Treasury;

fortifications; 12)

1 1

Section of northern

Royal tomb, probably of Ataxerxes

130.

Audience Hall

of

Dan us and

Xerxes. Persepolis. Iran

c.

500 Re.

\\(

II

\H

\s// l<\

{RT'133

combined sm^ests nothing so much as an enormously enlarged version of the pole-top ornaments of Luristan
his seems to he the only instance of Persian

room 250 feet square, had a

36 columns 40 feel tall, a low of
massing of col130
Su< li
fig.
umns suggests Eg) ptian architecture compare fig. 95 and
gyptian influence docs indeed appear in the ornamental
dot. ul ol the hasos and capitals, luu the slender, fluted shaft
ol die Persepolis columns is derived from the Ionian Greeks
rhe Audience Hall

ol

Darius,

wooden ceiling supported

which arc still standing

the) are

.1

In

.1

1.

drawing upon
nomad's gear liu,. 127).

architects'

1,

in Asia

who

Minor,

are

known

to

have furnished

Hie double stairway leading up to the Audience Hall is

decorated with long rows of solemnly marching figures in
low

artists to

is

the strange "cradle" for the

crowns the Persepolis columns

creatures, that

(fig.

is

,i

INC/EN'J

DMili

W;

\\i> \i ii\i

.\sil ll\

Mil

DU

\(

131);

I'll)

it

subservience

typical of

all

to the architectural setting that

Persian sculpture.

of special importance,

while the animals themselves are of Assyrian origin, the wav

131. Bull capital, from Persepolis.

We find it even in scenes

such as Darius and Xerxes Giving
Audience (fig. 132); the expressive energy and narrative
skill of Assyrian relief have been deliberately rejected.

of the ceil-

of the front parts of two hulls or similar

composed

ing,

beams

130). Their repetitive, ceremonial character

relief (fig.

emphasizes

the Persian court. Entirely without precedent in earlier ar-

chitecture

their native artistic heritage of

c.

500

B.C.

Musee du Louvre,

Paris

Limestone, height K'4" (2.5 mi. Treasury, Persepolis, Iran

133. Gold rhyton. Achacmenid. 5th-3rd century B.C.

Archaeological

PKRSIAN STYLE. The

style

of these

Persian carvings

seems at first glance to be only a softer and more refined

echo of the Mesopotamian tradition. Even here, however,

we discover

once more when Persia regained its independence and

seized Mesopotamia from the Romans.

Sassanian

that the Assyrian-Babylonian heritage lias

enriched in one important respect: there

Near Eastern sculpture

is

for the layers of

been
no precedent in

overlapping gar-

pleated folds such as we see in

and Xerxes relief Another surprising effect is the
way the arms and shoulders of these figures press through

ments,

Museum, Teheran

for the play of finely

the Darius

The

rulers

not far from Persepolis, he

for
B.C.

many

diverse elements. Yet

it

is

remarkable

lacked a capacit)

growth; the style formulated under Uarius I about 500

continued without significant change until the end of

the empire.

The main reason

for this failure,

it

seems, was

two

that

is

observed

the bull capital of figure 131

blind

133), textiles,

Persia.

The

and other portable

of Achaemenid
monumental arsomehow managed to survive the

latter tradition,

chitecture and sculpture,

art

unlike that of

more than 500 years during which the Persian empire was
under Creek and Roman domination, so that it could flower

134

).

bis victory over

relief

The formal source

hewn

into the

of this scene

ol tri-

ol

Persian

The two elements bold each other in balance, and

what makes the relief so Strangely impressive A

from their nomadic past that the)

never discarded. There is no essential difference between
(fig.

bouse of
272

(died

qualities.

less of scale, a carry-over

work

fig.

commemorated

an enormous

elaboration of the draperies indicate a revival

blending

fine goldsmith's

well-known composition in Roman sculpture

w itb the emperors now in the role of the humiliated barbariansbut the flattening of the volumes and the ornamental
is

the Persians' preoccupation with decorative effects regard-

and the

Roman emperors

umph

Persian art under the Achaemenids, then,

of the

sixth century

synthesis of

were

had the political and artistic ambitions of Darius \i

Naksh-i-Rustam. the burial place of the Achaemenid kings
B.C

living rock

B.C.

this feat

the Sassanians; their greatest figure, Shapur

These innovations stem from the

Ionian Greeks, who had created them in the course of the
the fabric of the draperies.

who accomplished

With

its

Roman and Near

ol

Shapur's palace

in

Eastern elements can also be

at

Ctesiphon, near Babylon,

enormous brick-vaulted audience ball fig 135 the

ades ol the facade again emphasize decorative sur.

,u

lace pattern.

but monumental

under Sassanian rule proved as init bad under the AchaemeMetalwork and textiles, on the Other band, continued

capable
nids.

ol

to flourish.

art

further evolution as

The

art and

clue! glorj ol Sassanian

iv

//

\/ \i

\it

a direct

\sin<\ \ni

r,

SHAPUR TRIUMPHING OVER THE EMPERORS PH1L1PPUS THE ARAB

AND VALERIAN. 260-72 AD. Naksh-i-Rustam (near Persepolis), Iran

134.

>l

ho

oi

h<-

ilious. mil

ornamental tradition reaching back more than

years to the

sin h as the splendid

ously exported

West

;',

.ind

\\<

//

Shapui

we

\-i

><

>t

1 1

I.

mist,

sample
to

bronzes

woven
They were

is its

in figure 136.

Constantinople and

to

\i:

\\ii i;\

\ia

silks,

copi-

the Christian

shall see that their wealth of colors

\i

I.

and

pat-

Ctesiphon,

242-72

Iraq.

AD

terns excited an important stimulus

dle Ages.

And

upon the

art of the

Mid-

since their manufacture was resumed alter

the Sassanian realm

fell

to

the Arabs in the mid-seventh

century, they provided an essential treasury of design motifs

lor

Islamic

ait

as well.

136. Woven silk. Sassanian. c. 6th century \ I)

Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. Franchetti Collection

\\(

II

\l

\l!

is// li\

\m

17

CHAPTER FOUR

AEGEAN ART

If

we

from the Nile Delta northwestward across the

first glimpse of Europe will be the east-

sail

Mediterranean, our

of Crete. Beyond

we

find a scattered

group of small
islands, the Cyclades, and, a little farther on, the mainland
of Greece, facing the toast of Asia Minor across the Aegean
ern

tip

Sea. To archaeologists,
cal

it,

"Aegean"

term; they have adopted

nourished

that

lenniums

B.C.,

in this area

it

to

not merely a geographi-

is

designate the civilizations

during the third and second mil-

before the development of Greek civilization

then modest stone tombs

Iroin

then dead are remarkable

large

number ol marble

all ol them represenl

with arms folded across the

goddess known

fertility

idols oi a pec uliarl) impressive kind

Almost

and

he things the) buried with

one respect only: the) include

in

standing nude female figure

a
<

hest

to

presumabl) the mothei

us from \sia Minoi and the

ancient Near East, whose an< estr) reaches far hat k to the
Old Stone Age see figs. 37, 48, and 49). i'hev also share
.1

which

distinctive shape,

glance recalls the angular,

at first

proper. There are three of these, closely interrelated yet dis-

abstract qualities of Paleolithic and Neolithic sculpture: the

from each other: that of Crete, called IMinoan after the

legendary Cretan king Minos; that of the small islands

and the

tinct

flat,

wedge shape

north of Crete (Cycladic); and that of the Creek mainland

the long, ridgelike nose

which includes Mycenaean civilization. Each of

them has in turn been divided into three phases. Early, Middle, and Late, which correspond, very roughly, to the Old,
Middle, and New Kingdoms in Egypt. The most important
remains, and the greatest artistic achievements, date from
the latter part of the Middle phase and from the hate phase.
Aegean civilization was long known only from Homer's
account of the Trojan War in the Iliad and from Greek legends centering on Crete. The earliest excavations (by lemrich Schliemann during the 1870s in Asia Minor and Greece
and by Sir Arthur Evans in Crete shortly before 1900 were

stable type,

(Helladic),

undertaken

to test

the factual core of these

tales.

Since then,

amount of fascinating material has been brought to

light
far more than the literary sources would lead us to
expect
but our knowledge of Aegean civilization even now
is very much more limited than our knowledge of Egypt or
the ancient Near East. Unfortunately, our reading of the ara great

chaeological evidence has so far received almost no aid

at all

from the written records of the Aegeans.

B.

In Crete a system of

was developed about 2000 B.C.; a late form of this

Minoan script, called Linear B, which was in use about six
centuries later both in Crete and on the Greek mainland,
was deciphered in the early 1950s. Flic language of Linear B
is Greek, yet this apparently was not the language for which
Minoan script was used before the fifteenth century B.< so
that being able to read Linear

B does not help us

to

under-

stand the great mass of earlier Minoan inscriptions. More-

Linear B texts are largely palace inventories and

over, the

administrative records, which reveal very

tory'

and

lack a great deal of the

both

to

about the

them.

ethnographic

art.

The longer we study

ize th.it its qualities

thus

art.

Its

for

the

many

to real-

however incongruous such terms ma)

What an extraordinary

in context.

ganic structure of the body there

is

feeling lor the or-

in the delicate

curves of

the outline, in the hints of convexity marking the knees and

abdomen. Even if we discount its deceptively modern look,

the figure seems a hold departure from anything we have
seen before. There is no dearth of earlier fertility idols, hut
almost all of them betray their descent from the hulhous.
heavy-bodied "Venus" figurines of the Old Stone Age; in
fact, the earliest Cycladic idols, too. were ol that type. What,
then,

made

the Cycladic sculptors suppress the traditional

aspects of then female idols until they arrived

cal

change

in the

of figure 137?

meaning

Was

.it

the

there perhaps a radi-

or the ritual purposes of these

statues?

We

cannot even venture a guess

to

explain the mystery

ol the second
produced the oldest lilesi/e liimres of the female nude we know, and that lor many hundreds ol years
they were the only ones to do so. In Greek art. we find verv

Suffice

it

to sav that the

millennium

1:

Cvcladic sculptors

nude female statues until the middle of the fourth cenB.C., w hen Praxiteles and others began to create cult images of the nude Venus. It can hardly he coincidence that
the most famous of these Venuses were made lor sane diaries on the Aegean islands or the coasi ol Asia Minor, the region where the Cvcladic idols had nourished
lew

tury

forms, although linked

two worlds; they have a haunting beauty of then

Among

more we come

only he defined as "elegance" and

seem

Egypt and the Near East on the one hand and to later
on the other, are no mere transition between these
to neither.

this piece, the

cm

"sophistication."

MINOAN ART

art

belongs

own

strange qualities

and perhaps the most puzzling, is its air

ness and spontaneity, which makes us forget how
know of its meaning.
gean

his-

We

background knowledge necessary

an understanding of Aegean

Greek

little

who composed

religion of the people

k.

such as that in figure 137, have a disciplined refinement utterly hevond the range of Paleolithic or

lithe, "girlish" ideal

MINOAN SCRIPT AND LINEAR

nee

the face, featureless except for

hest of them,

fertility

writing

ol

Within this narrow lv defined and

however, the Cycladic idols show wide variscale from a lew inches to lilesi/e as well as form.

ations in

The

body the strong, columnar

of the

oval shield

tilted,

art.

ol

that

Ae-

ol freshlittle

we

Minoan

civilization

is

b)

civilization ol Greece,

is

have deeper causes than

CYCLADIC ART
The people who inhabited the Cycladic Islands between
about 2600 and 1100 B.C have left hardly any trace apart

far

Aegean world
from Egypt and the Near East

strangest, ol the

the richest, as well as the

hat sets

it

apart, not onlv

hut also from the Classical

a lack ol continuit) that

arc

haeological accident

appears

to

in survev-

mam

achievements ol Minoan art. we cannot reallv

growth or development; the) appeal and disappear
so abmptl) that their late must have been determined hv exsudden violent changes affecting the entire
ternal forces
ing the

speak

ol

\k,i \\

\m

;<>

writing but an urban civilization as well, centering on several

great palaces. At least three ol them, at Knossos, Phaistos,

and

were

Mallia,

built in short order.

Hardly anything

is left

sudden spurt of large-scale building activity, for

the three palaces were all destroyed at the same time, about
1700 B C.; alter an interval of a hundred years, new and even
larger structures began to appear on the same sites, only to
suller destruction, in their turn, about 1500 B.C.
It is these "new" palaces that are our main source of information on Minoan architecture. The one at Knossos, called
the Palace of Minos, was the most ambitious, covering a vast
territory and composed of so many rooms' that it survived in
Creek legend as the labyrinth of the Minotaur. It has been
carefully excavated and partly restored. We cannot recapture the appearance of the building as a whole, but we can
assume that the exterior probably did not look impressive
compared with Assyrian or Persian palaces (see figs. 120
and 130). There was no striving for unified, monumental effect. The individual units are generally rather small and the
ceilings low (figs. 138 and 139), so that even those parts of
the structure that were several stories high could not have
seemed very tall.
Nevertheless, the numerous porticoes, staircases, and air
shafts must have given the palace a pleasantly open, airy
quality; and some of the interiors, with their richly decorated
walls, retain their atmosphere of intimate elegance to this
day. The masonry construction of Minoan palaces is excellent throughout, but the columns were always of wood. Although none has survived, their characteristic form (the
smooth shaft tapering downward, topped by a wide, cushion-shaped capital) is known from representations in painting and sculpture. About the origins of this type of column,
which in some contexts could also serve as a religious symtoday of this

bol, or

we can

about

its

possible links with Egyptian architecture,

say nothing at

all.

Who

were the rulers that built these palaces? We do not

know their names or deeds (except for the legendary Minos), but the archaeological evidence permits a

few conjecwere not warrior princes, since no fortifications

have been found anywhere in Minoan Crete, and military
subjects are almost unknown in Minoan art; nor is there any
hint that they were sacred kings on the Egyptian or Mesopotamian model, although they may well have presided at relitures: they

Minoan palaces that can be

worship are small chapels, suggesting
that religious ceremonies took place out of doors). On the
gious festivals (the only parts of

2500-1100 B.C.
Marble, height 30" (76.3 cm). The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
137. Idol from Amorgos.

identified as places of

many storerooms, workshops, and "offices"

Knossos indicate that the palace was not only a royal residence but a great center of administrative and commercial
activity. Since shipping and trade formed an important part
other hand, the
at

about which we know

island

Minoan

little

or nothing.

Vol

which is ga) even playful, and

of rhythmic motion, conveys no hint of such throats.
hara<

tei

ol

art,

the
hill

of

Minoan economic

stallations

Architecture
I

he

in

si

ol

these unexpected shifts occurred about 2000 B.c

and elsewhere) perhaps the king should be viewed as the

head of a merchant aristocracy.

mil thai time, during the eighl centuries of the Early Mi-

noan

era, the

Neolithii

engaged

in

id

\i i.i

much beyond the

even though they seem to have

life,

souk overseas trade thai brought them contact

\\

Sculpture

Cretans had nol advanced

level ol village

with Egypi

life (to judge from elaborate harbor inand from Cretan export articles found in Egypt

hen they created not only thou own system of

Aid

The

religious

than the
c

life

of

Minoan Crete

political or soc ial order.

red places,

It

is

even harder

to define

centered on certain sa-

such as caves or groves; and

its

chief deity (or

138. Staircase, east wing. Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete,

139.

The Queen's Megaron.

c,

1500

B.C.

Palace of Minos. Knossos Crete

(./

\\

Mil

Nl

deities?)

desses

was Female, akin

we

to

the mother and

lu\ e encountered before. Since the

no temples, we are not surprised

large

tilt

fertility

god-

Minoans

liad

lacked

to find that they

statues as well, but even on

small scale, religious

Minoan art are few m number and of uncertain

significance, rwo terracotta statuettes of c. 1600 b.c firom
Knossos may represent the goddess in one of her several
identities; one of them fig. 140 shows Iter with three long
sn.ikes wound around her arms, body, and headdress The
meaning would seem to he clear: snakes are associated with
earth deities and male fertility m main ancient religions,
subjects

in

as the bared breasts of our statuette suggest female

lust

fertility.

But

is

she really a cult image? Her

would he equally

may

rigid, frontal

fitting lor a votive figure,

stance

and the snakes

represent a ritual of snake-handling rather than a di-

is a queen or priestShe seems oddly lacking in awcsomeness, and the

emphasis on the costume endows her with a secular, "fash-

vine attribute. Perhaps, then, our figure

ess.

141. Beaked jug

(Kamares

Style),

from Phaistos.

c.

1800

B.C.

Height 10%" (27 cm). Museum, Heraklion, Crete

Another paradox is the fact that Crete has lew

its snake cult was probably imported, not
home-grown, yet no snake goddesses have so far been disionable"

air.

snakes, so that

covered outside Crete. Only the style of the statuette hints

a possible foreign source: the

at

emphatically conical quality of

the figure and the large eves and heavy, arched eyebrows

suggest a kinship
Asia Minor

remote

with

and indirect, perhaps through

Mesopotamian art.

and Reliefs

Paintings, Pottery,

Our snake goddess

dates from the beginning of the brief pe-

between 1600 and 1450 B.C that produced almost everywe have of Minoan architecture, sculpture, and
painting. .Alter the catastrophe that had wiped out the earlier
palaces, and a century of slow recovery, there was what
seems to our eves an explosive increase in wealth and an
riod

thing

equally remarkable outpouring of creative energy

The most surprising aspect of this sudden efflorescence,

however,

is its

great

achievement

in painting. At the

time of

the earlier palaces, between 2000 and 1700 lie, Crete had

developed

a type of pottery

famous

for its technical perfec-

1-11
but in no
way preparing us for the "naturalistic" murals that covered
the walls of the new palaces. Unfortunately, these paintings

tion

and

its

dynamic, swirling ornament

have survived only

110 s\ \m GODDESS (PRIESTESS?)
height

i.l

\\

29

II

u,

>

<

Museum

c.

1600 B.C Faience

Heraklion

rete

in

li<j,.

small fragments, so that

ever have a complete composition,

entire wall.

let

),

we

hardly

alone the design of an

from thai of the Nile

1

we

bility,

instead

valley

find a passion

ol

permanent eandsta

rhythmic, undulating move-

for

ment, and the forms themselves have an oddl) weightless

*r

as

itv.

seem

they

quality
if

to float,

orsway

in a

world without gro

the scene took place under water,

Marine life as seen m the fish and dolphin fresco in fig.

was a favorite subject of Minoan painting and the mai

139

rine feeling pervades everything else as well;

even
ic

we sense

it

"The Toreador Fresco," the largest and most dynamMinoan mural recovered so far (fig. 143); the darkei
in

patches are the original fragments on whi( h the restoration

based. The conventional title should not mislead us u hat

is

we see here

is

not a bullfight but a ritual

game

art)

mainly by their lighter skin

color.

in

performers vault over the hack of the animal.

slim-waisted athletes are girls, differentiated (as

hie

Two

Egyptian

in

That the

h the

of the

bull

was

sacred animal, and that bull-vaulting played an important

role in
this
142.
c.

CAT STALKING A PHEASANT Mural fragment, from Hagia

1600-1580

B.C.

Triada.

Minoan

still

echo

religious

in

sacrificed to the

Height 21" (53.3 cm). Museum. Heraklion. Crete

life, is

beyond doubt; scenes such

.is

the Greek legend of the youths and maidens

mmotaur.

If

we

try,

however,

"read" the

to

fresco as a description of what actually went on during these

we find it strangely ambiguous. Do the three

show successh e phases of the same action? low did

performances,

great

many

of

animals and birds

them were scenes from nature showing

among

figures

luxuriant vegetation, or the crea-

the youth in the center get onto the back of the bull, and in

tures of the sea. In the remarkable fragment in figure 142,

what direction

we see a cat cautiously stalking a pheasant behind a bush.

the flat forms, silhouetted against a background of solid col-

rodeo experts without getting clear answers

or,

recall

art.

But

if

11
*

^
ywwff^^

-k^^

tf&r*m,w}~

7:-':

-=
.,',,'

Mil

II

J if
I

IMI

ii.i *.i i.i.i

|| | | ||

Mi

1
|

1
|

inn
inn

||

these ques-

Mino-

its origin to Egyptian influence, it bean attitude of mind, a sense of beauty, very different

to

which docs not mean that the Minoan artist was

deficient
it would be absurd to blame him for failing to accomplish what he never intended to do in the first place
but that fluid, effortless ease ol movement was more important to him than factual precision or dramatic power. He

an wall painting owes

trays

he moving? Scholars have even consulted

tions. All of

Egyptian painting, and the acute observation of

plants and animals also suggests Egyptian

is

||

;^^^^v.v v.^^v ^^^^Vl^^^v,^^^^v,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ lV.v.

1

,
l

J;l

-n =-

, , , ,

.''

, , ,
. .

Y.V.WiY.Y.W^^^
143.

"THE TOREADOR FRESCO."

c.

1500 B.C Height including upper border

<

24

62 1cm)

Museum

Heraklion Crete

\/(./

\\

Mil

has as

were idealized the

ritual

stressing

l>\

its

harmoni-

ous, playful aspect to the point that the participants behave

dolphins gamboling

like
I

native creation so

mh

ates

the sea

and original that

throughout Minoan

felt

in

Boating world of Minoan wall painting was an imagi-

hi'

in painted pottery,

its

influence can be

new

pal-

the abstract patterns of old

(fig.

art

during the era

the

ol

gave way to a new repertorj of designs drawn from

and animal hie Some \csscls are covered entirely with
fish, shells, and octopuses, as il the ocean itself had been
aught within them (fig. 144). Monumental sculpture, had
ill

plant

there been any, might have retained

its

Independence, hut

which the Minoan sculptor was

the small-scale works to

confined are often eloselv akin

to the style of the

murals; the

splendidly observed mountain goat carved on a stone vase

145

fig.

leaps

the

same

"flying"

movement

"The Toreador Fresco." These mountain goats,

as the bull of
too,

were

sa-

cred animals.

Even more
Wise

fig.

\i\id

is

the relief on the so-called Harvester

146; the lower part

is lost):

a procession of slim,

muscular men, nude to the waist, carrying long-handled implements that look like a combination of scythe and rake. A
harvest festival? Quite probably, although here again the
lively

rhythm of the composition takes precedence over de-

scriptive clarity.

Our view

ers led by a fourth

who

of the scene includes three sing-

is

swinging a sistrum (a

Egyptian origin); they are bellowing with

all

rattle of

their might, es-

whose chest is so distended that

the ribs press through the skin. What makes the entire relief
so remarkable
in fact, unique
is its emphasis on physical
strain, its energetic, raucous gaiety, which combines sharp
observation with a consciously humorous intent. How many
pecially the "choirmaster,"

145.

LEAPING MOUNTAIN GOAT, on a vase from the palace

Kato Zakro.

at

c.

covered with gold

1500

foil,

Museum,

146.
c.

1550

HARVESTER
15(H) lie

B.C.

c.

4" (10.3 cm).

Heraklion, Crete

VASE, from Hagia Triada.

Steatite,

Museum.

Limestone, originally

length of goat

width 4V4" (11.3 cm).

Heraklion. Crete

works of this sort, we wonder, did Minoan art produce? Only

once have we met anything at all like it: in the relief of workmen carrying a beam (see fig. 103), carved almost two cen-

111
i

144

1500

\EGl

B.<

in iori s

\s/

from Palalkastro,

Height Ll"(28cm)

Museum,

Irete,

Heraklion, Crete

turies later

under the impact of the Akhenaten

pages III

L6). Is

it

style (see

possible that pieces similar to the Har-

vester Vase stimulated Egyptian artists during that brief but

important period?

147. Interior. Treasury' of Atreus

Mycenae, Greece,

c.

1300-1250 BC.

148. Section, Treasury

of

Atreus

MYCENAEAN ART
Along the southeastern shores of the Creek mainland there
were during Late Helladic times (c. 1600-1 100 B.C.) a num-

many wavs to those

were grouped around palaces.
Their inhabitants have come to be called Mycenaeans, after
Mycenae, the most important of these settlements. Since
the works of art unearthed there by excavation often showed
ber of settlements that corresponded in

of

Minoan

a strikingly

Crete. They, too,

Minoan

regarded as having
that they

who had

character, the

come from

Mycenaeans were

Crete, but

it

is

now

at first

agreed

were the descendants of the earliest Greek tribes,

entered the country soon after 2000 B.C.

Tombs and Their Contents

For some four hundred years, these people had led an inconspicuous pastoral existence in their new homeland; their

modest tombs have yielded only simple pottery and a few

bronze weapons. Toward 1600 B.C., however, they suddenly
began to bury their dead in deep shaft graves and, a little
later, in

conical stone chambers,

This development reached

its

known

as beehive tombs.

height toward 1300

B.C.

in

such impressive structures as the one shown in figures 147

and 148, built of concentric layers of precisely cut stone
blocks. Its discoverer

and gave
ial

it

thought

the misleading

it

far too

name

ambitious for a tomb

"Treasury of Atreus." Bur-

plates as elaborate as this can be

matched only

in

Kgvpt

during the same period.

The Treasury

of Atreus had been robbed of

149. Rhyton in the shape

its

contents

at

long ago. but other

Mycenaean tombs were found intact,

and what they yielded up caused even greater surprise
alongside the royal dead were placed masks of gold or silver,
presumably to cover their faces. II so, these masks were
similar in purpose (if not in style) to the masks found in
pharaonic tombs of the Middle and New Kingdoms (compare fig. 104). There was considerable personal equip-

Mycenae,

c.

1550

of a lion's

B.C. Cold,

National Archeoloiiit.il

ment

drinking

head, from a shaft grave

height 8" (20.3

Museum. Athens

vessels, jewelry,

weaponsmuch

of

gold

it

and exquisite in workmanship. Some of these pieces, such

as the magnify enl gold vessel in the shape of a lion's head
(fiu. 149), show a boldly expressive style <>l smooth planes

W(.7 l\

Mil

N',

r\

-.

||ly^|

-)!-

/\rff*-*\

^Sr'

'

.-..

150, 151.

VAPHJO CUPS

Shown

16

\i >.l

Mil

c.

1500 B.C Gold, heights

actual size. National Archeological

3";

3W (7.5; 9 cm).

Museum. Athens

bounded by sharp ridges which suggests contact with the

Near East, while others are so Minoan in flavor that they
might be imports from Crete.

Crete, either b\ conquest or through dwiastic

any event, then powei rose as that

monuments

the great

Of the latter kind are the two famous gold cups from a
tomb at Vaphio (figs. 150 and 151
they must have been
made about 1500 B.C., a few decades after the lion vessel, but
where, for whom, and by whom? Here the problem "Minoan
or Mycenaean?" becomes acute. The dispute is not as idle as
it may seem, for it tests our ability to differentiate
between

marriage. In

Minoans

de< lined

Mycenaean architecture were

of

between 1400 and 1200

built

the

of

all

B.(

);

the two neighboring cultures.

every aspect of the cups: do

content that

is

It

we

Architecture
Apart from such details as the shape of die olumns or decorative motifs of various sorts. Mycenaean architecture owes
c

were

find anything in their style or

un-Minoan? Our

impulse, surely,

first

huge stone

human figures to those on the Harand the similarity of the bulls to the animal in
"The Toreador Fresco." On the other hand, we cannot overlook the fact that the men on the Vaphio Cups are not engaged in the Cretan bull-vaulting game but in the far more
note the similarity of the

blocks, a type of construction quite

the Hittite fortifications

to

unknown
at

in

Bogazkd}

fig. 119). The Lion Gate at Mycenae

(fig. 152) is the
most impressive remnant of these massive ramparts, which
inspired such awe in the Creeks of later times that thev
were

regarded as the work of the Cyclopes a mythical race of oneeyed giants). Even the Treasury of Aliens, although built of
smaller and more precisely shaped blocks, has a Cyclopean
i

of catching the animals on the range, a

Minoan art, though we do find

Mycenae. Once we realize this, we are also apt to notice
that the design on the cups does not quite match the continuous rhythmic movement of Minoan compositions, and

lintel (see fig.

in

that the animals, for

The palaces on the mainland

surrounded bv defensive walls of

tradition.

fortresses

(see

subject that does not occur in

it

hilltop

Crete but similar

is to

vester Vase,

mundane business

Minoan

the

little to

also forces us to consider

147).

Another aspect of the Lion Gate foreign

to the Minoan trathe great stone relief over the doorway. The two
lions flanking a symbolic Minoan column have the same

dition

their physical power,

is

have the look of

would seem, then,

grim, heraldic majesty as the golden lion's head we encountered

figure 149. Their function as guardians of the >j,ate.

cups are a Mycenaean adaptation of Minoan forms,

either by a mainland artist or by a Cretan working for Mycenaean patrons.

muscular bodies, and their symmetrical design

again suggest an influence from the ancient Near East We

cattle rather

all

than of sacred animals.

It

that the

their tense,

may

at this point recall the

Mycenaeans

MYCENAE, CRETE, AND EGYPT

tury

B.C.,

pears

to

In the sixteenth cen-

The center

combined with a strong artistic influence from Crete and

with an extraordinary material wealth as expressed in the

its

lavish use of gold. Did the

round hearth

palaces,

it

seems, were destroyed by a natural catastrophe

tidal

cano). In any event,

it

waves following the eruption of a

does not account

for the

vol-

puzzling con-

nection with Egypt.

What we need

fore the destruction of the

new

fascinating and imaginative,

palaces;

if

hard

to

has been taking shape in recent years.

lows:

sites,

was the

plan

between 1700 and 1580

B.C.,

ing to rid themselves of the Hyksos,

and such
It

royal

audience

runs about as

fol-

like-

the megaron. Only-

rectangular room with a

in the middle and four columns to support the

beams (fig. 153). It was entered through a deep porch
with two columns and an antechamber. This design is in essence no more than an enlarged version of the simple

roof

houses of earlier generations; its ancestry can be traced

back to Middle Helladic times. There must have been a rich
ings

scheme

of wall paintings and ornamental carv-

to stress its dignity as

the king's abode.

Sculpture
No

trace has been found of

ture

modest shrines, as

who had

there

is

Mycenaean temple architecThe palaces did, however, include

m Crete What nods were worshiped
dispute: Mycenaean religion surely in-

ever existed.

if it

the Egyptians were Hy-

seized the Nile

hall, called

for certain: a large

a theory

confirm in detail-

seems

Mycenae and other mainland

of the palace, at

known

is

decorative

a triangular explanation that involves the

Mycenaeans with Crete as well as Egypt about a century beis

B.C.; it

however, that they began to sally eastward across the Aegean, for trade or war. much earlier than that.

a strange picture: what apbe an Egyptian influence on burial customs is

(earthquakes and

Trojan War. which brought the

Asia Minor soon after 1200

ly,

Mycenae thus presents

Mycenaeans perhaps conquer the

Minoans, causing the destruction of the "new" palaces there
about 1500 B.C.? This idea has now been discarded; the new

to

matter

of

Delta (see page 110). For this they gained the aid of warriors

cluded Minoan elements but also influences from Asia Mi-

from Mycenae, who returned home laden with gold (of

which Egypt alone had an ample supply) and deeply im-

own

pressed with Egyptian funerary customs. The Minoans. not

military but famous as sailors, ferried the Mycenaeans back

and

forth, so that they, too,

with Egypt (which

may

had a new and closer contact

help to account for their sudden

prosperity toward 1600 B.C as well as for the rapid develop-

ment

of naturalistic wall painting at that time).

The

close

between Crete and Mycenae, once established.

were to last a long time; toward 1400 B.C., when Linear B
script began to appear, the Mycenaeans were tfie rulers of
relations

nor, as well as deities of

Creek origin inherited from their

way of merging or ex-

forebears. Hut gods have an odd

changing their identities, so that the religious images in \Iv

cenaean art are extremely hard to interpret
What, lor instance, .ire we to make of the exquisite little
ivory

group

(fig.

Style of the piece

body

154

unearthed

.it

Mycenae

1939? The

Us richlj curved shapes and casv. flexible

movementsStill echoes Minoan art. but the subject

Two kneeling women, closely united, lend

is

strange indeed

single child:

would be

to

whose

is

he'

he natural interpretation

regard the now headless (mure as (he mother.

\K,I \\

Mil

NT

152.

Gate, Mycenae, Greece, 1250 B.c

The Lion

doned by his mother and reared by nymphs, goddesses, or

even animals. We are thus forced to conclude rather reluctantly
that our ivory in all likelihood shows a motherless

child god with his nurses.

deeper;

it

is

The

real mystery,

however,

the tender play of gestures, the intimate

feeling, that hinds the three figures together.

Nowhere

the entire range of ancient art before the Greeks do

gods

or people,

for that

matter

lies

human
we

in

find

expressing affection with

such warmth and eloquence.

153. Plan of a

Mycenaean megaron

Something quite

basically

new

is

reflected here, a familiar

view of divine beings that makes even the Minoan snake

arm and turns toward her; the

set ond woman whose left hand rests on the other's shoulder would then be the grandmother Such three-generation
sin. c

the child clings to her

a well-known subject in Christian art, in

which we often find St. Anne, the Virgin Mary, and the Infant Chrisi combined in similar fashion.
It is the memory <>l these later works that colors our view

lamiU groups are

of the M\<

enaean

ivory

an< lent religion that

other hand (hen

child 'his

NH

\l (,l

name

\\

Mil

is

,i

Yet
fits

we search

in

vain for a subject

our reading of the group.

very widespread

myth ahout

varies from place to place

On

the

the divine

who

is

aban-

goddess dig. 140) seem awesome and remote. Was this

change of attitude, and the ability to express it in art, a Mycenaean achievement? Or did they inherit it from the Minoans? However that may be, our ivory group opens up a
dimension of experience that had never been accessible to
Egypt or Mesopotamia.

\54. (opi>osilc) Hint:!-:

c,

1500- 1100

He

Shown 250

Di- il

Ivory,

lis

from Mycenae.

height 3" (7.5 cm).

percent actual

National Archeologica]

si/.e.

Museum. Athens

\/(./

l\

Mil

N>i

CHAPTER FIVE

GREEK ART
-ADRIATIC

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The works

of art

we have come to know so far are like fasciwe approach them fully aware of their

nating strangers:

background and of the "language

alien

present.

II

it

turns out that, alter

difficulties" they

we can understand
we are surprised and

all,

something of what they have to say,

grateful. As soon as we reach the Greeks, our attitude undergoes a change: they are not strangers hut relatives, we feel,

members of our own family whom we recognize immeA Creek temple will remind us at a glance of the

older

diately.

bank around the corner, a Creek statue will bring to mind

countless other statues we have seen somewhere, a Greek
coin will make us want to reach lor the small change in our
own pockets. But this air of familiarity is not an unmixed
blessing. We would do well to keep in mind that the continuous tradition that links us with the Greeks is a handicap as
well as an advantage. II we are to get an unhampered view of

Greek architecture, we must take care not to lie swayed by

offices, and in judging Creek
sculpture we had better forget its latter-day descendants in

our memories of banks and

public parks.

Another complication peculiar to the study of Greek art

from the fact that we have three separate, and some-

times conflicting, sources of information on the subject.

are, first of

all,

the

monuments

but often woefully inadequate source.

great Panhellenic (all-Creek) festivals, the

divided into

may

tern

be

main
v

lowed as an

ho of age-old

e<

The

pat

tribal loyalties

as

an inheritance from the Mvcenaeans or as a response to the

geography of Greece, whose mountain ranges, narrow valleys,

and jagged

tion

difficult

coastline would have

any event.

in

The

reinforced one another.

made

Perhaps

political unifica-

of these

all

intense rivalry

factors

these states-

of

military, political, and commercial

undoubtedly stimulated the growth of ideas and institutions.

Our own thinking about government continues to make

number of key terms of Greek origin which reflect

the evolution of the city-state: monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, democracy, and, most important, politics (derived
from polites, the citizen of the polis, or city-state). In the

end, however, the Creeks paid dearly lor their inability

broaden the concept of the state beyond the local limits ol

the polis. The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.), in which
the Spartans and their allies defeated the Athenians, was a

various

and

their

accounts were eagerly collected by the Ro-

mans, who handed them down to us. From them we learn

what the Creeks themselves considered their most impor-

achievements

in architecture, sculpture,

This written testimony has helped us

brated artists and

to

catastrophe from which Greece never recovered.

and painting.

to identify

monuments, but much

of

some

cele-

deals with

it

Geometric Style
The formative phase
four

hundred

years,

of Greek civilization embraces about

from

800

the Greeks rapidly

B.C.

The earliest

ry.

c.

100

emerge

specific dates that

from that time: 776

to

we know

centuries of this period

B.C.,

700

very

B.C.

literary

that of the original

evidence with that of the copies and

monuments, and

to

weave these strands

coherent picture of the development of Greek

difficult task indeed, despite the vast

art, is a

amount of work

tint

has been done since the beginnings of archaeological schol-

some two hundred and

Who were

the Creeks?

twenty-five years

a<j,o.

We

slightly later dates recording the foundation of various cities

That time also saw the

Greek

teristicallv

full

dev elopment of the oldest

style in the fine arts, the so-called

We know

ric.

it

which we now reserve the name Creek.

how main separate tribal units there were

We

iv

ili/alion for

do not know

in the

beginning,

architecture and sculpture in stone

|,

l.

wine and oil, which provided artists with a generous field.

Each type, however, presented unique challenges, and

some

painters

became

circles

ing the following centuries created the great

harac

Creek potters quickly developed a considerable varietv ol

shapes the basic ones are shown in fig. 155 ( hie! among
these was the amphora, a two-handled vase used lor storing

sorbed the

and gradually spread to the

Aegean islands and Asia Minor. It was these tribes w ho din-

Geomet-

only from painted pottery and small-scale

monumental

only with abstract

stock,

Games

and the starting point of Creek chronology, as well as several

have met some of them before,

such as the Mvcenaeans, who had come to Greece about
2,000 B.C Other Creek-speaking tribes entered the peninsula from the north, toward 1100 B.C., overwhelmed and ab-

Mycenaean

us are

to

the founding of the Olympic

did not appear until the seventh centurv

To reconcile the

three

into the lull light of histo-

greatest masterpieces of their time, are not

at all.

first

hut after about

have come (low n

sculpture

mentioned

Of the

little,

works of which no v isible trace remains today, while other

works, which do survive and which strike us as among the

arship

reeks remained

are of such high quality that

artists,

into a

(,

small, independent city-states.

themselves, a reliable

we cannot be sure that

they really are copies; others make us wonder how faithfully
they follow their model (especially if we have several copies,
all slightly different, of the same lost original).
Finally, there are the literary sources. The Greeks were
the first people in history to write at length about their own

tant

coast ol Asm Minor and thus

had closer contacts with the ancient Near East. Sonic en
furies later, the (necks also spread westward, founding important settlements m Sicily and southern Italy
Despite a strong sense of kinship based on language and
common beliefs, expressed in such traditions as the four

Then we have

copies made in Roman times that tell us something about

important Greek works that would otherwise be lost to us
entirely. These copies, however, always pose a problem:

some

Aegean islands and the nearby

use of a

arises

There

hut two main groups stand out: the Dorians, who settled
mostly on the mainland and the lonians w ho inhabited the

of

specialists at decorating

ertain

tv

pes

ases.

DIPYLON VASE.

At

had been decorated

Inst the potterv

designs triangles,

hut toward 800

<

he< kers,

human and

B.<

one entric

animal figures be-

gan

to appear within the geometric framework, and in the

most mature examples these figures could form elaborate
">(>
scenes Our spec mien fig
from the dpvlon cemeterv
1

in

\lhens belongs

to a

group

ol

verv

lame vases

CRJ

that served

\l!l

r,/

^sz

I
Kylix

Lethykos

Imphora

Z2?

155. Creek vase shapes

as grave

monuments;

its

bottom has holes through which

down

liquid offerings could filter

to the

On

dead below.

the

body of the vessel we see the deceased lying in state, flanked

by figures with their amis raised in a gesture of mourning,

and a funeral procession of chariots and warriors on foot.

The most remarkable thing about this scene is that it contains no reference to an afterlife; its purpose is purely commemorative. Here lies a worthy man, it tells us, who was
mourned by many and had a splendid funeral. Did the
Greeks, then, have no conception of a hereafter? They did,
but the realm of the dead to them was a colorless, ill-defined
region where the souls, or "shades," led a feeble and passive
existence without making any demands upon the living.
When Odysseus, in the Homeric poem, conjures up the
shade of Achilles, all the dead hero can do is mourn his own
demise: "Speak not conciliatorily of death, Odysseus.
than lord it over
rather serve on earth the poorest man
.

the wasted dead."

11

down and that the biggest fish has seized the bead of one of
the men, we would read the design simplv as a pattern, rather than as a disaster at sea. And what of the swastikas? Are
they ornamentalized starfish or abstract space fillers?
Geometric pottery has been found not only in Greece but

and the Near East as well, a clear indication that

Greek traders were well established throughout the eastern
in Italy

I'd

tended their graves, and even poured libations over them,

they did so in a spirit of pious remembrance, rather than to

needs of the dead. Clearly, they had refused

satisfy the

Memu-ti

all

marked and

the Greeks nevertheless

zhi

:..*.

^ftfcasaaasM

to

adopt the elaborate burial customs of the Mycenaeans (see

page

Nor

115).

Mycenaean

is

the Geometric style an outgrowth of the

tradition

quite primitive

but a fresh

and

some

in

respects

start.

Given his limited repertory of shapes, the artist who painted our vase has achieved an astonishingly varied effect. The
spa< big ol the bands, their width and density show a rather
snbile relationship to the structure of the vessel.
in

representation, however,

is

lis

interest

as yet very limited: the figures

groups, repeated .it regular intervals, are little more than

another kind of ornament, part of the same over-all texture
so thai their size varies m accordance with the area to be

in

Organic and geometric elements still coexist in the

and the distinction between them is often dil-

filled

same

held

lozenges

Ik ult

indi< ate legs,

(in les witb dots

Iiiii

may

or

whether of a man,

may

not be

a chair, or a

human

beads; and

the chevrons boxed triangles, and soon between the figures

ma} be decorative or descriptive

Mik b the same ould be said
i

bom

scene

another Geometric

we cannot
ol

vase which

structive contrast with the Mi loan \iew of

i

fig

'

-1.1:1

i.

il

it

Mil

weie not

for

till

figure 157,

.1

shipwreck

makes an

marine

the fact that the boat

life

is

in-

(see

upside

156.

D/PYLON VASE 8ih century B.C 42%"

The

Metropolitan

New

York.

Museum

Rogers Fund

of Art,

1914

108.2 cm).

SHIPWRECK. Drawing

157.

Museum

in the

at Ischia,

Mediterranean in the eighth century B.C. What is more, they

had already adopted the Phoenician alphabet and reshaped
it for their own use, as we know from the inscriptions on
these same vases. The greatest Greek achievements of this
however, are the two Homeric epics, the Iliad and the

era,

Odyssey. The scenes on Geometric vases contain hatch

power of these poems; if our knowledge

of eighth-century Greece were based on the visual arts
alone, we would inevitably think of it as a far simpler and
more provincial society than the literary evidence su<j,u,ests.
hint of the narrative

There

is

a paradox here that

needs

to

alter a

Geometric vase

Greece. 8th century B.C.

Narrative painting tapped a nearly inexhaustible some e

subjects from Greek myths and legends.

Oiese

tales

of

were

the result of mixing local Doric and Ionic deities and heroes

pantheon of Olympian gods and Homeric sagas.

comprehensive attempt to understand
the world. The Greeks grasped the internal meaning ol
events in terms of fate and human character rather than as
into the

They

also represent a

be resolved. Per-

was so lanand sculpture played a less

than they were to assume in the following

haps, at this particular time, Greek civilization

guage-minded
important role

that painting

may

centuries. In that event, the Geometric style

been something of an anachronism

in the

conservative tradition about to hurst

shipwreck scene,
ing;

its

at

rigid order already

representation and narrative

new forms come Hooding

another phase, which we call the
hursts;

the seams. In the

seems

demand

than the style can provide. Toward 700

in,

well have

eighth century, a

B.C.,

to

he dissolv-

greater scope

the

dam

and Cheek

tinalh

enters

art

Orientalizing style.

Orientalizing Style
As

name

its

implies, the

new

style reflects

powerful

in-

fluences from Egypt and the Near East, stimulated by in-

creasing trade with these regions. Between

c. 725 and 650

Greek art absorbed a host of Oriental motifs and ideas,
and was profoundly transformed in the process The change
becomes very evident if we compare the large amphora from

B.C.

Eleusis

(fig.

158) with the Dipylon Vase of a hundred years

earlier (fig. 156).

ELEUSIS AMPHORA. Geometric ornament

peared from this vase altogether, hut

it

is

has not disap-

confined

to

the pe-

the
new.
the handles, and the
curvilinear motifs such as spirals, interlacing bands, palmettos and rosettes are conspicuous everywhere; on the
ripheral /.ones

loot,

lip:

shoulder of the \essel we see a frieze of fighting animals,

derived from the repertory of Near Eastern
areas, however, are given over to narrative,

come

the dominant element.

The major
which has he

art.

158

////
.i

Height 56"

BLINDING Ol POLYPHEMUS and GORCONS on

Proto-Attu

142

cm

amphora
Archaeological

in

Museum

i.in

Eleusis

ik Mil

I',

with the aid of the

<j,ods.

Even here we notice an

interest in

the articulation of the body far beyond the limits of the Geo-

metric

style.

Ibe Eleusis vase belongs

to a group called Prom-Attic, the

ancestors of the great tradition of vase painting that was
soon to develop in Attica, the region around Athens. A sec-

ond family of Orientalizing vases

thian, since

it

is

known

as Proto-Corin-

points toward the later pottery production of

Corinth. These vessels, noted lor their spirited animal

show

tils,

Near

particularly close links with the

East.

mo-

Some

of them, such as the

perfume vase in figure 159, are molded

The enchanting little owl, "streamlined" to fit the palm of a lady's band and vet so animated in
pose and expression, helps us to understand why Greek potthe shape of animals.

in

came

tery

to

be in

demand throughout

the Mediterranean

world.

ARCHAIC VASE PAINTING

The Orientalizing phase of Greek art was a period of experiment and transition, in contrast to the stable and consistent
Geometric style. Once the new elements from the East had
been

fully assimilated, there

emerged another

style, as well

defined as the Geometric but infinitely greater in range: the

Archaic, which lasted from the later seventh century to
159. Proto-Corinthian

650

C.

perfume

about 480

vase.

Height 2" (5 cm). Musee du Louvre, Paris

B.C.

B.C.,

the time of the famous Greek victories over

and

the Persians at Salamis

riod,

we

Plataea.

During the Archaic pe-

witness the unfolding of the

genius of

artistic

Greece not only in vase painting but also in monumental architecture and sculpture. While Archaic art lacks the bal-

which they had little interest belocus was on explaining why

the legendary heroes of the past seemed incomparably
greater than men of the present. Some were historical
figures
Herakles, for example, was the king of Mycenaean
Tiryns
but all were believed to be descendants of the gods,
themselves often very human in behavior, who had had chilthe accidents of history, in

about 500

fore

B.C.

The main

dren with mortals. This lineage explained the hero's extraordinary powers.

Such an outlook

also helps us to

understand the strong

appeal exerted on the Greek imagination by Oriental lions

embodied the un-

and monsters. These

terrifying creatures

known

forces of

laced by the hero. This fascination

clearl)

seen on the Eleusis amphora.

much

life

is

The figures have

and descriptive precision that the

among them can no longer interfere with then actions; ornament of any sort now belongs
to a separate and lesser realm, clearly distinguishable from
gained so

in size

de< orative patterns scattered

representation.

lb.it ol

As

a result, the

seus and

phora

century,

fifth

it

has a freshness that gives

strong appeal for the

with those

modern

who regard

it

beholder.

It is

it

particularly

difficult to

argue

as the most vital phase in the devel-

opment

of Greek art.
Greek architecture and sculpture on a large scale must
have begun to develop long before the mid-seventh century.

Until that time, however, both were mainly of wood, and

nothing of them has survived except the foundations of a

lew buildings. Ibe desire to build and sculpt in stone, for the

new

sake of permanence, was the most important

idea that

entered Greece during the Orientalizing period. Moreover,

the revolution in material and technique must have brought
about decisive changes of style as well, so that we cannot
salelv

reconstruct the appearance of the

ples or statues

on the basis of

lost

wooden temvase painting,

later works. In

on the other band, there was no such break m continuity.

thus seems best to deal with Archaic vases before we turn

It

to

the sculpture and architecture of the period.

blinding of the giant Polyphemus by Odys-

companions the scene on die neck of the amena< ted with memorable directness and dramatic

liis

is

ance, the sense of perfection of the Classical style of the later

The significance of Archaic

ase painting

is

in

some w av

completely unique. Decorated pottery, however great its value as an archaeologist's tool, rarely enters into the mainstream of ibe history of art; we think of it, in general, as a

these men lack (be beauty we expect of epic heroes,

movements have an expressive vigor thai in. ikes them
seem thoroughly alive. The slaying of another monstrous

despite their exceptional beauty and technical refinement.

reature is depi< ted on the body of the vase, the main pan of
which has been bad!) damaged, so that only two figures

Yet

Ion e

||

their

<

have survived intact; the) are Gorgons, the sisieis

snake baned lernble la< ed Medusa whom Perseus

154

'./;/

\i;i

ol

the

killed

craft or industry.

\iu\

Ibis remains line even of

Minoan

vases,

same may be said of ibe vasl bulk ol Greek pottery.

we siudv such pieces as ibe Dipylon Vase or ibe am-

(be
il

bom Eleusis, impressive not only by virtue of their

sheer size but as vehicles of pictorial effort, we cannot esphora

cape the feeling

works of

There
been

th.it

they arc

among

the most ambitious

is

lost

no way
but

it

to

prove

tins,

of course

seems obvious

well as painters

took pride m their work, hut also that the\

could become famous

art of their day.

far too

much

has

that these are objects of

Signatures

foi

an

duced

And. remarkably enough,

according

to set patterns.

Archaic vases

are generally a good deal smaller than their predecessors,

Archaic vase painters.

since pottery vessels no longer served as grave monuments

(which were now made of stone). Their painted decoration,

style that

however, shows a far greater emphasis on pictorial subjects

are luckv

fig.

lt>2);

appear
hi<j,h

in

scenes from mythology, legend, and everyday life

endless variety, and the artistic level is often very

indeed, especially

How gready
these \essels

is

among Athenian

then

artistic

even without the

that

Some

is

of

possible with

them have

Greece never achieved

individual fame; vet even the subordinate role played by our

female vase painter must he significant of women's participation in the arts.

After the middle of the sixth century, the finest vases fre-

quently hear the signatures of the artists

who made them.

This indicates not only that individual artists

l(i().

VIS/. I'MSII-.R

potters

AM)

many

enough to have do/ens in one instance over two

hundred) ol vases by the same hand, so that we can trace
one master's development over a considerable period. Ar1

is

artists in

good

"handwriting" can be recognized

and in a lew cases we

evident from figure 160, which shows Athe-

women

.1

so distinctive a

aid ol a signature;

defined personalities in the entire history

lyric poets,

such

chaic vase painting thus introduces us to the Inst clearly

vases.

winner of a contest. The scene also includes a female assistant (on the extreme right), the earliest depiction we know
of a woman artist at work. She was, we may assume, a member of a family workshop. Unlike Sappho, the greatest of ear-

Greek

To us

style.

a great deal; the} are

the Greeks themselves valued the beauty of

na and two Victories bestowing wreaths on a vase painter

and two male assistants, presumably because he was the

ly

mean

no more than convenient labels unless we know enough ol

artist's work to gain some insight into his personality.

highly individual character, rather than routine ware proin quantity

theu personal

themselves do not

in

as

ASSISTANTS,

for while

ol art.

it

true that signatures occur in Archaic sculpture and archi-

tecture

.is

well, they

have not helped us

to identilv

the per-

sonalities of individual masters.

Archaic Greek painting was. of course, not confined

to

There were murals and panels, too. Although nothing

has survived ol them except a lew poorly preserved fragments, we can form a fair idea of what they looked like from
the wall paintings in Etruscan tombs of the same period see
figs. 242 and 243). How, we wonder, were these large-scale
works related to the vase pictures 7 We do not know but
one thing seems certain: (///Archaic painting was essentially
drawing filled in with solid, flat color, and therefore murals
could not have been very different 111 appearance from vase
vases.

pictures.

CROWNED B1 WHENA

Detail from an Attic red-figured hydria (composite photograph

IN D VICTORIES

150

B.<

Private collection

(,/,/

\ltl

/">">

161.

According

come

not

450

b.c

EXEKIAS. DIONYSUS

IN a BOAT. Interior of an Attic black-figured kylix.

Diameter 12" (30.5 cm). Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich

to the literary sources.

into

its

own

Greek wall painting did

wars (c. 475-

until alter the Persian

through the gradual discovery of modeling and

).

spatial depth.

From

that time on. vase painting

became

depth and modeling were beyond its limited

technical means; by the end ol the filth century, its decline
was obvious. Tin' great age of vase painting, then, was the
lesser art, since

Archaic era Until about 475

as

much

B.C.,

good \ase painters enjoyed

Whether

prestige as other artists.

directly reflects the lost wall paintings,

\iewed as

or not their

it

deserves

work
to

he

major achievement.

resilience
to

and strength, so

c.

540

B.C.

that the composition adapts itself

the circular surface without becoming

Dionysus reclines
white);

it

moves with the same ease

Exekias' image

mean?

According to a Homeric hymn, the god of wine had once

been abducted by pirates, whereupon he caused vines to
-row

all

over the ship and frightened his captors until they

bun here on

his return

BLACK-FIGURED STYLE. The difference between Orien-

called by every

phins and seven bunches of grapes

pline In

shown
(

he amphora from Eleusisf

fig.

one of

artistic disci-

158), the figures are

partly as solid silhouettes, partly in outline, or as a

ombination of both. Toward the end of the seventh century,

Attn

vase painters resolved these inconsistencies

l>\

adopt-

in- the "Mac k-figured" Style,

which means thai the entire

design is silhouetted in black against the oddish clay; internal details are scratched in with a needle, and while and
purple ma) be added on lop of the black to make certain
areas stand oul
a de< orative

K>l

.',

(,;;/

effect, are
c."

sharp edged forms have

\in

to

We

see

be gratefully re-

Creek drinker), accompanied by seven dolfor good luck.

the spare elegance of Exekias seems to retain some-

thing of the

spirit

of Geometric pottery (see

instructive comparison), the

work of the

fig.

157

slightly

for

an

younger

seems more akin to the forceful Orientalizing style of

Polyphemus in the Kleusis amphora. The
scene of lerakles killing the lion, on an amphora attributed
to Psiax (fig. 162), is all grimness and violence. The two
Psiax

the blinding of
I

be \iilues of this procedure, which lavois

two-dimensional

a kylix (drinking cup) of

slendei

If

into dolphins.

journey (an event

talizing .Hid Archaic

is

as

forms are counterbalanced by the heavy clusters of

grapes. But why is he at sea? What does the happy poetry of

light

jumped overboard and were turned

vase painting

mere ornament.
was once entirely
the dolphins, whose

in his boat (the sail

540

b.<

apparent
b)

in figure

Exekias.

a lacelike delicacy

The

yel also

1(>'2.

(opposite) I'SIAX.

HERAKLES STRANGLING THE NEMEAN LION,

on an Auk black figured amphora from Vulci,

Height 19'// (49.5 cm). Museo

C'ivieo,

Italy, c.

Brescia

525

B.C.

GREEK

Mil

/".7

A similar striving lor monumental effect, but with more

harmonious results, may be seen in the Eos and Memnon by
Douris (fig. 164), one of the masterpieces of late Archaic
vase painting. It shows the goddess of dawn holding the
l)o(l\ ol her son. who had been killed and despoiled of his
armor by Achilles. In this moving evocation of grief, Greek
art touches a mood that seems strangely prophetic of the
Christian Pieta (see

fig.

505). Notable too

is

the expressive

freedom of the draftsmanship; the lines are as flexible as if

they had been done with a pen. Douris knows how to trace
the contours of limbs beneath the drapery, how to contrast

dynamic outlines with thinner and more

vigorous,

delicate

secondary strokes, such as those indicating the anatomical

details of

Memnon's

because of

est

body. This vase also has a special inter-

elaborate inscription,

its

which includes the

signatures of both painter and potter as well as a dedication

("Hermogenes

is

beautiful").

ARCHAIC SCULPTURE
The new

motifs that distinguish the Orientalizing style from

fighting animals, winged monsters, scenes

had reached Greece mainly through the impor-

the Geometric
of

THE "FOUNDRY PAINTER." lapith and centaur.

163.

Interior of

an

Attic red-figured kylix.

Staatliche

c.

490-480

combat

tation of ivory carvings

B.c

Antikensammlungen, Munich

tian influences.

Greek
heavy bodies arc truly locked

in

combat, so that they almost

compact unit. Incised lines and

subsidiary colors have been added with utmost economy in
order to avoid breaking up the massive expanse of black. Yet
Psiax succeeds to an extraordinary degree in conveying the
three-dimensional quality of these figures; his knowledge of
grow together into a

body structure, his

single,

ability to

and metalwork from Phoenicia or

Mesopotamian as well as Egyp-

Syria, pieces that reflected

use foreshortening

soil,

Such objects have

so that

we can

actually been found

They do not help us, however, to

monumental architecture and sculpture
stone about 650 B.C., which must have been based on ac-

sion as well established.

explain the rise of

in

quaintance with Egyptian works that could be studied only

on the
in

spot.

Egypt

at

We know

that small colonies of

the time, but why,

we wonder,

Greeks existed

did Greece sud-

note the

way the abdomen and shoulders of Herakles are rendered

seem little short of amazing when measured against anything we have seen before. Only in such details as the eye of
Herakles do we still find the traditional combination of front
and profile views.

RED-FIGURED STYLE.

Psiax

must have

houettelike black-figured technique

shortening unduly

difficult, for in

made

some

felt

that the

sil-

the study of fore-

of his vases he tried

the reverse procedure, leaving the figures red and filling in

the background. This red-figured technique gradually re-

placed the older method toward 500

B.C

Its

advantages are

shown in figure L63, a kvli.x of C. 490-480 B.C. by an

unknown master nicknamed the 'foundry Painter.'' The
details of the Lapith and Centaur axe now freely drawn with
well

the brush, rather than laboriously incised, so the artist de-

pends

far less

on the

profile

view than before; instead, he

him
show boldh foreshortened and overlapping limbs, precise
del. nls of COStume (note the pleated skirt), and interest in
He is so fascinated by all these new elfat ill expressions
exploits the internal lines of communication that permit
to

le( ts
<

ould

that
I

.mil a pie<

\',H (,/;/

he has made the figures as large as he possibly

seem to burst from their circular frame,
e ol the Lapith's helmet has actually been cut off.

he) almost

Ik Mil

on

regard this channel of transmis-

164.
interior of

Diameter

an

DOURIS. EOS IND

WJ

Attic red-figured kylix.

10W (26.7 cm),

MNON.
490-480

c.

Musee du Louvre.

B.C

I'aris

165.

FEMALE FIGURE,

height 24'/2" (62.3 cm).

c.

650

B.C.

Limestone,

Musee du Louvre,

Paris

166.

STANDING YOUTH (KOUHOS)

Marble, height G'l

Museum

denly develop a taste for monumentalitv, and

artists

how

did her

acquire so quickly the Egyptian mastery of stone

standards,

stand with the

the kneecaps.

c.

sors

similarities are certainly striking:

all

we

note

four statues, the

figures, the

the

way they

emphatic rendering of

formalized, wiglike treatment

of

the hair.

ol

Archaic

resemblance. Indued by Egyptian

.

seem somewhat "primiawkward, less dose to nature.

statues

die Egyptian sculptor allows the legs and hips

toes protrude

The

male

fists,

ol

the female figure to press through the skirt, the Greek

shows

85).

Fund. 1932

ley forward, the

rigid, oversimplified,

166).
(fig.

The

the

650-625

the block-conscious, cubic character of

left

are further points

Whereas

B.C. (fig. 165) and a nude youth of C. 600 B.C

and compare them with their Egyptian predeces-

York. Fletcher

the close-fitting garment of the female figure, and her raised

tive"

(fig.

C. 600 B C
The Metropolitan

position of their amis, their clenched

arm

of

slim, broad-shouldered silhouette of the

clearly visible.

Let us consider two very early Greek statues, a female figure

1.9 m).

"

New

of Art.

caning? The mystery may never be cleared up, for the oldest surviving Greek stone sculpture and architecture show
that the Egyptian tradition had already been well assimilated and Hellenized. though their link with Egypt is still

Kouros and Kore

a solid, undifferentiated

hut the

mass from which

Ireek st.uues also have

cannot he measured

in

nines

ol

Egyptian terms lust

their
of all.

onlj the

ow n

that

the) are

GRl ik Mil

159

ceptions are the tiny bridges between the

thighs of the nude youth). Apparently

is

it

and the

fists

of the greatest

him that a statue consist only of Stone that has

meaning within an organic whole; the
Stone must be transformed. It cannot be permitted to remain
importance

to

representational

inert, neutral matter.

we must insist, a question of technique but of

The act of liberation achieved in our two
figures endows them with a spirit basically different from
that of any of the Egyptian statues. While the latter seem
becalmed by a spell that has released them from every strain
Ibis

is

not,

artistic intention.

for all

den

time

to

The

life.

come, the Creek images are tense,

huge eyes

direct stare of their

telling contrast to the gentle,

full

of hid-

most

offers the

faraway gaze of the Egyptian

figures.

Whom

do they represent?

name

We

call the

female statues by

(Maiden the male ones by that of

Kouros (Youth) noncommittal terms that gloss over the
difficulty of identifying them further. Nor can we explain
why the Kouros is always nude while the Kore is clothed.
Whatever the reason, both types were produced in large
numbers throughout the Archaic era, and their general outlines remained extraordinarily stable. Some are inscribed
with the names of artists ("So-and-so made me") or with
dedications to various deities. These, then, were votive offerings; but whether they represent the donor, the deity, or a
divinely favored person such as a victor in athletic games remains uncertain in most cases. Others were placed on
graves, yet they can be viewed as representations of the dethe general

of Kore

),

ceased only in the broadest (and completely impersonal)

sense. This odd lack of differentiation

seems

part of the es-

gods nor

sential character of these figures; they are neither

mortals but something in between, an ideal of physical perfection

and

vitality

shared by mortal and immortal

Homeric epics dwell

as the heroes of the

alike, just

realms of

in the

both history and mythology.

11

the type of Kouros and Kore

its artistic

interpretation

is

narrowly circumscribed,

shows the same inner dynamic we

have traced in Archaic vase painting. The pace of

opment becomes
KROISOS (KOUROS FROM ANAVYSOSt

167.

height 6 '!"

525

c.

1.9 m). National Archaeological

B.C.

strikingly clear

Kouros of figure 166 with another carved some seventy-five

Marble.

years later

Museum, Athens

(fig.

167) and identified by the inscription on

base as the funerary statue of Kroisos,

death

in the front line of battle.

Like

originally painted; traces of color

tnih free-standing

human
said

form

in

the earliest

large stone

figures

<

images of the

the entire history of art of which this can be

The Egyptian carver had never dared

to liberate

such

ompletely from the stone; they remain immersed in

some degree

were so that the empty spaces between the legs and between the arms and the torso (or between two figures in a double statue, as in fit;. 85) always
remain parti) Idled There are never any holes in Egyptian
it

to

as

il

stone figures. In that sense, they do not rank as sculpture

die round but as an extreme case of high
(

arvei on (he contrary does not

olhei

unless the) arc en< ased

mind holes

lengths

160 'GRl

to tut

aw as even

Mil

bit

in a skirt

).

The Greek
the least; he

relief.

sep.uales the arms from the torso and the

in

lcj,s

and

this devel-

from a comparison of the

from each

u,oes to great

of dead material (the only ex

and the pupils of the

can

who had died

all

its

a hero's

such figures, it was

be seen in the hair

still

eyes. Instead of the sharply contoured,

abstract planes of the older statue,

we now

find swelling

curves. The whole body displays a greater awareness of massive

volumes, but also a

tomical details are

The

more

new

style of the Kroisos thus

I'sia.x's

Herakles

(fig.

elasticity,

and countless ana-

functionally rendered than before.

162);

corresponds exactly

we witness

to that of

the transition from

black-figured to red-figured in sculptural terms.

There are numerous statues from the middle years of the

marking previous way stations along the same
road, such as the magnificent Calf-Bearer of c. 570 B.C. (fig.

sixth century

H>8). a votive figure representing the

ficial

animal he

is

not a portrait, any

donor with the

sacri-

offering to Athena. Needless to say,

more than the Kroisos

is,

but

it

it

is

shows a

type: the beard indicates a

man

of

mature

years.

The Calf-

Bearer originally had the Kouros standing pose the legs are
badly damaged and the body conforms to the Kouros ideal
(

),

of physical perfection;

its vigorous, compact forms arc emphasized, rather than obscured, by the thin cloak, which fits
them like a second skin, detaching itself only momentarily

The face, effectively framed by the soft curve

no longer has the masklike quality of the early
Kouros; the features have, as it were, caught up with the
rest of the body in that they, too, are permitted a gesture, a
at the elbows.

of the animal,

movement
smile.

expressive of

We must

life:

be careful not

drawn up in a
impute any psychological

the lips are

to

meaning

to this "Archaic smile," for the same radiant expression occurs throughout sixth-century Greek sculpture
(even on the face of the dead hero Kroisos). Only after 500
B.C.

does

it

gradually fade out.

One of the most famous

derful Rampin Head (fig.

instances of this smile

169),

is the wonwhich probably belonged to

the body of a horseman. Slightly later than the Calf-Bearer,

shows the black-figured phase of Archaic sculpture at its

highest stage of refinement. Hair and beard have the apit

pearance of richly textured beaded embroidery that sets off

the subtly accented planes of the face.

169.

height

The Kore

THE rampin HEAD c. 560 B.C Marble,

(29.3 cm). Musee du Louvre, Paris
1

type

somewhat more variable than that of the

follows the same pattern of develop-

is

Kouros, although

it

ment. A clothed figure by definition, it poses a different

problem how to relate body and drapery. It is also likely to

reflect

changing habits

or local differences of dress. Thus,

the impressive statue in figure 170, carved about the same

time as the Calf-Bearer, does not represent a more evolved

stage of the Kore in figure

the

same

basic task.

65 but an
She was found
1

alternative approach to

in the Temple of Hera

on the island of Samos and may well have been an image ol
the goddess because of her great size as well as her extraordinary dignity. If the earlier Kore echoes the planes of a rec-

tangular slab, the "Hera" seems like a column

Instead

come

to

life.

clear-cut accents, such as the

mpped-in waist in
figure 165, we find here a smooth, continuous flow of lines
uniting limbs and body Yet the majestic effect of the Statue
depends not so much on its abstract quality as on the wav
of

the abstract form blossoms forth into the swelling soilness

a livinti body.

The meat upward sweep

ol

ol

the lower third of

the figure gradually subdivides to reveal several separate

168.

CALF-BEARER, upper
entire statue 65"

portion,

c.

570 B.C Marble, height

165 cm). Acropolis Museum. Athens

of

layers of garments,
fully

stopped) as

and us pace is slowed Further but never

encounters the protruding shapes of
I

it

GRl Ik Mil

Ihl

arms hips and torso In the end. the drapery, so completely

architectonic up to the knee region, turns into a second skin.

we have scon in the Calf-Bearer.

rhe Koreol figure 171. in contrast, soon is a linear descendant ol our first Kore, even though she was carved a lull century later She. loo. is blocklike rather than columnar, with a
the kind

Strongly

however,

The simplicity of her garments,

accented waist.
is

new and

sophisticated; the heavy cloth forms a

distinct, separate layer over the body,

covering hut not con-

cealing the solidly rounded shapes beneath.

And

the

left

hand, which originally was extended forward, proffering a

votive gift of some sort, must have given the statue a spatial
quality quite beyond the two

new

discussed. Equally

is

the

earlier

kore figures we have

more organic treatment of the

hair, which Tails over the shoulders in soft, curly strands, as

compared with the massive, rigid wig in figure 165. Most

noteworthy or all. perhaps,

is

chantinglv gay expression

the

lull,

round lace with

softer;

en-

its

more natural smile

than any we have seen hitherto. Here, as in the Kroisos, we

sense the approaching red-figured phase of Archaic art.
Our final kore (fig. 172), about a decade later, has none of
the severity of figure 171, though both were found

on the

many ways she seems more akin to

the "//ere/" from Samos: in fact, she probably came from
Chios, another island of Ionian Greece. The architectural
Acropolis of Athens. In

grandeur of her ancestress, though, has given way

nate, perhaps overly refined grace. The garments

around the body

ly

of

it

or-

loop

and textures has almost be-

must have played a particularly

such works, and we are fortunate that so

in itself. Color

important role in

much

an

in soft diagonal curves, hut the play of rich-

differentiated folds, pleats,

come an end

to

still

survives in this example.

/I
170

///

/(

from

60
height 6'4"

li,

>

CRl

'

WM

B.<

S.

mios

171.

Marble

Musee du Louvre

c.

Paris

KORE

IN

Acropolis

172. KORE, from Chios (?).

DORIAN PEPLOS

530 B.C Marble, height

18"

122 cud.

Museum, Athens

C.

520

B.C.

Marble, height 21 7/s" (55.3 cm).

Acropolis

Museum, Athens

173. Central portion of the west pediment of the Temple of Artemis at Corfu, c.
Limestone, height 9'2" (2.8 m). Archaeological Museum, Corfu

Architectural Sculpture

When
also

heir to the age-old tradition of architectural sculp-

The Egyptians had been covering

the walls (and even

the columns) of their buildings with reliefs since the time of

the Old Kingdom, but these carvings were so shallow (for

example,

89 and 103) that they left the continuity of the

wall surface undisturbed; they had no weight or volume of
their own, so that they were related to their architectural setfigs.

ting only in the same limited sense as Egyptian wall paintings (with which they were, in practice, interchangeable).

This

is

also true of the reliefs

B.C

paratively lightweight relief panel. Here, then,

the Greeks began to build their temples in stone, they

fell

ture.

600-580

we have a
kind of architectural sculpture a work integrated with
the structure yet also a separate entity rather than a mod-

new

ified wall

surface or block.

TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS, CORFU.

The Lion Gate relief is

indeed the direct ancestor of Greek architectural sculpture,
become evident when we compare it with the facade
Temple of Artemis on the island of Corerected soon after 600 B.C bus. 73 and 74
lore again

as will

of the early Archaic

fu,

I.

on Assyrian, Babylonian, and

figs. 123 and 132). There

Persian buildings (for example,

existed, however, another kind of architectural sculpture in

the ancient

Near

East, originated,

it

seems, by the

Hittites:

the great guardian monsters protruding from the blocks that

framed the gateways of fortresses or palaces (see figs. 19

and 121). This tradition must have inspired, although perhaps indirectly, the caning over the Lion Gate at Mycenae
1

(see

fig.

152).

We must nevertheless

note one important fea-

Mycenaean guardian figures

from their predecessors: although they are caned in high
relief on a huge slab, this slab is thin and light compared to
ture that distinguishes the

the enormously heavy, Cyclopean blocks around

ing the gate, the

Mycenaean

it.

In build-

an empty triangular space above the lintel, for fear that the weight of the wall
above would crush it. and then filled the hole with the comarchitect

left

171

Reconstruction drawing

the Temple

ol

Artemis

.it

ol

the west front of

Corfu (after Rodenwaldt)

GRl

k Mil

l<>

of his figures from their architectural setting.

the centra] figure actually overlaps the frame.

Who

is

of

this

Not Artemis, surely, although the

frightening creature?

CeUa

The head

temple was dedicated to that goddess. As a matter of fact, we

have met her before: she is a Gorgon, a descendant of those
on the Eleusis amphora (fig. 158). Her purpose here was to
i

serve as a guardian, along with the two

porch

huge

lions,

warding

from the temple and the sac red image of the goddess
within. (The other pediment, of which only small fragments

off evil
175. Plan of the Treasury of the Siphnlans

survive,
fore,

had a similar

figure.

as an extraordinarily

frightening

She might be defined, thereand still rather

monumental

hex sign. On her

face, the

Archaic smile ap-

pears as a hideous grin; and to emphasize further

and

flving,

how

alive

she has been represented running, or rather

in a pinwheel stance that conveys movement without

real

she

is,

locomotion.
heraldic arrangement of the

The symmetrical,

Gorgon

and the two animals reflects an Oriental scheme which we

know not only from the Lion Gate at Mycenae but from
many earlier examples as well (see fig. 71, bottom center,
and fig. 1 13, top). Because of its ornamental character, it fits
the shape of the pediment to perfection. Yet the early Archaic

designer was not content with that; he also wanted the

to contain narrative scenes; therefore he has add-

pediment

ed a number of smaller figures in the spaces left between or

behind the huge main group. The design of the whole thus
shows two conflicting purposes in uneasy balance. As we

might expect, narrative will soon win out over heraldry.

Aside from the pediment, there were not many places that
the Greeks deemed suitable for architectural sculpture.

They might put free-standing figures often of terracotta

above the ends and the center of the pediment to break the
severity of its outline. And they often placed reliefs in the
zone immediately below the pediment. In Doric temples
such as that at Corfu (fig. 174), this "frieze" consists of alternating triglyphs (blocks with three vertical markings) and
latter were originally the empty spaces between the ends of the ceiling beams; hence they, like the

metopes. The

pediment, could be

the Siphnians in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi,

Archeological

c.

525

filled

with sculpture. In Ionic architec-

were omitted, and the frieze became what

the term usually conveys to us, a continuous band of painted
or sculptured decoration. The Ionians would also sometimes
ture, the triglyphs

176. Reconstruction of the facade of the Treasury of

B.C.

Museum. Delphi

elaborate the

columns

of a porch into female statues

very surprising development in view of the

of the "Hera" from

the sculpture
tural

is

members

confined
bui

is

to a

zone that

itself structurally

is framed by strucempty: the triangle

between the horizontal ceiling and the sloping sides of the

roof
all

area, called the

liis

except

moisture;

\nd n

is

to protect
it

demands

the

pediment, need not be

wooden

rafters

behind

filled in at
it

against

not a wall but merely a thin screen.

against this screen thai the pedimental sculpture

is

Samos

Technically these carvings are

in

high

relief,

like

the

170).

SIPHN1AN TREASURY, DELPHI.

are

combined

in the

All

duced here

(fig.

is

the splendid frieze. The detail repro-

pull the chariot of

at this early

ment the Greek sculptor wanted

!<! (.!;;

Mil

stage of develop-

to assert the

independence

by

177) shows part of the battle of the Greek

gods against the giants: on the extreme

from the background. Even

B.C.

building itself is not standing any longer, it has been convincingly reconstructed on the basis of the preserved fragments (figs. 175 and 176). Of its lavish sculptural decor, the

evei

ai Mycenae. Characteristically enough, howbodies are strong!) undercut, so as to detach them

for stor-

the inhabitants of the Ionian island of Siphnos. Although the

guardian lions
tin'

these possibilities

Treasury (a miniature temple

ing votive gifts) erected at Delphi shortly before 525

most impressive part

displayed.

(fig.

not a

columnar quality

giant: in
er,

left,

two

lions

(who

Cvbele) are tearing apart an anguished

front of them, Apollo and Artemis advance togeth-

shooting their arrows; a dead giant, despoiled of his ar-

177.

battle of the gods AND GIANTS, from the north

frieze of the Treasury of the Siphnians.

Marble, height 26" (66 cm). Archeological

mor,

lies at

their feet, while three others enter

from the

right.

The high relief, with its deep undercutting, recalls the

Corfu pediment, hut the Siphnian sculptor has taken full advantage of the spatial possibilities offered by this technique.
He uses the projecting ledge at the bottom of the frieze as a
stage on which he can place his figures in depth. The arms

c.

530

B.C.

Museum, Delphi

The correspondence in the poses of the fighters on the

two halves of the pediment makes for a balanced and orderly
it also forces us to see the statues as elements m
an ornamental pattern and thus robs them of then individuality to some extent. They speak most strongl) to us when
viewed one by one. Among the most impressive are the fall-

design, yet

en warrior from the left-hand corner fig.

79 and the
kneeling Herakles who once held a bronze how -from the
1

and legs of those nearest the beholder are carved completely

in the round; in the second and third layer, the forms become shallower, yet even those farthest removed from us are

right-hand half

never permitted

That in

itself,

much

we may admire the artist's command of the human

action. What really moves us is their nobility of spir-

to

merge with the background. The

result

is

and condensed but very convincing space that permits a dramatic relationship between the figures such as we
a limited

have never seen before

in narrative reliefs.

with older examples (such as

will

show us

figs.

and 150)
conquered a new

90, 122, 146.

that Archaic art has indeed

dimension here, not only

Any comparison

in the physical but also in the ex-

pressive sense.

180); both are lean,

(fig.

whose bodies seem marvelously

form

muscular figures

functional and organic.

however, does not explain their meat beauty,

as

whether in the agony of dying or in the act of killing.

These men, we sense, are suffering - or carrying out what
late has decreed, with tremendous dignity and resolve. And
this communicates itself to us in the \er\ feel ol the magit,

nificently firm shapes of

which they

are composed.

TKMPLE OF APHAIA, AEGINA.

tal

sculpture, relief has been

Meanwhile, in pedimenabandoned altogether. Instead,

we

find separate statues placed side by side in complex dramatic sequences designed to fit the triangular frame. The

ARCHITECTURE

most ambitious ensemble of this kind, that of the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina, was created about
490 B.C., and thus brings us to the final stage m the evolution
of Archaic sculpture.

The figures were found in pieces on

the ground and are now in Munich, stripped of their nine-

Orders and Plans

In architecture, the

since ancient

Creek achievement has been

Roman

identified

times with the creation of the three

teenth-century restorations. The position of each within the

pediment, however, can be determined almost exactly, since

classical architectural orders, Doric, Ionic, .ind Corinthian

their height (but not their scale) varies with the sloping

so named because lis home is the

the Ionic. The Doril
Greek mainland ma\ well c [aim to he the basic order, since
is older and more sharph defined than the Ionic, which
it

Sides of the triangle

(fig.

178).

The center

is

accented

In the

standing goddess Athena, who calmly presides, as it were,

over the battle between Greeks and Trojans that rages to either side of her in symmetrically diminishing fashion.

Actually, there are onl\ two. the Corinthian being a variant

ol

developed on the

Aegean islands and the coast

ol

Asia

GRl Ik Mil

/(>",

Minor.

178. Reconstruction drawing of the east pediment of the

Temple

of Aphaia, Aegina (alter Furtwiinglcr)

179. DYINC warrior, from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina.

Marble, length 72" (183 cm). Staatliche Antikensammlungen,

What do we mean

c.

490 B.c

Munich

by "architectural order"? By

used

common

Greek architecture only

(and its descendants); and rightly so, lor none of the other
architectural systems known to us produced anything like it.
Perhaps the simplest way to make clear the unique character of the Greek orders is this: there is no such thing as "the
Egyptian temple" or "the Gothic church" the individual
buildings, however much they may have in common, are so
varied that we cannot distill a generalized type from them
agreement, the term

is

lor

while "the Doric temple"

in

is

a real entity that inevitably forms

our minds as we examine the monuments themselves.

We must
tion as

an

be careful, of course, not to think of this abstracideal that permits us to

measure the degree of per-

any given Doric temple; it simply means that the

elements of which a Doric temple is composed are extraordinarily constant in number, in kind, and in their relation to
fection of

one another. As

a result of this

ertory of forms, Doric temples

narrowly circumscribed repall

belong

to

the

same

clearly

recognizable family, just as the Kouros statues do; like the

Kouros statues, they show an internal consistency, a mutual

adjustment of parts, that gives them a unique quality of
wholeness and organic unity.

180.

HERAKLES, from the east pediment of the Temple

c. 490 B.C. Marble, height 31" (78.7 cm).

of Aphaia, Aegina.

Staatliche

U,l,

CM

Mil

Antikensammlungen, Munich

Raking

-.iim.i

=S
Metope

Guttae'

Abacus
Kchinus

apiul

i Capita]

Stereobab
1

Leveling
in

oursi

euthynteria

181. Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders

DORIC ORDER. The term Doric order relets to the standard parts, and their sequence, constituting the exterior of

of terracotta

any Doric temple. Us general outlines are already familiar to

us from the facade of the Temple of Artemis at Corfu (fig.

constant.

174

):

the diagram in figure 181

names

of

all

shows

it

called

drums

(clearly visible in
tiles

supported

beams were used

fig.

for the ceiling;

rhe roof consisted

and wooden

184).

wooden

In

rafters,

thus the threat of

fire

was

in detail, along with

the parts. To the nonspecialist, the detailed

ter-

minology may seem something of a nuisance, yet a good

many of these terms have become part of our general archi-

TEMPLE PLANS.

The

ol Creek temples are not diwhich, as we have seen, concern

plans

rectly linked to the orders

thinking, in architecture as in countless other fields, origi-

They may vary according to the size of

the building or regional preferences, but their basic features
are so much alike that it is useful to study them from a gen-

nated with the Greeks. Let us

eralized typical" plan

remind us of the

tectural vocabulary, to

first

divisions: the stepped platform, the

lature

fact that analytical

look at the three

(which includes everything

known

on the

that rests

umns). The Doric column consists of the

shallow vertical grooves

main

columns, and the entabcol-

marked by

shaft,

the elevation only).

naos

the

room

and the porch pronaos w

I

lasters (antac).

The nucleus

182).

(fig,

which the image

in

the cella or

is

of the deity

is

placed

The Siphiuan

as flutes, and the capital,

is made up of the flaring, cushionlike echinus and a

square tablet called the abacus. The entablature is the most

which

complex of the three major

units. It is subdivided into the

architrave (a series of stone blocks directly supported by the

columns), the frieze with

projecting cornice.
nice

is

On

the long sides of the temple, the cor-

on the short sides

horizontal, while

open in such a way as

upper and lower parts.

split
its

The

entire structure

is

without mortar; they had

sion to achieve

smooth

fastened together by

umns, with very

to

(or facades), n

is

enclose the pediment between

built of stone blocks fitted together

to

be shaped with extreme preci-

joints.

means

Where

necessary, they were

of metal dowels or

rare exceptions, are

el.

composed

imps Col-

of sections.

STYIOBATE [LvH on wh.ch

and metopes, and the

triglyphs

its

COIUMNS

itondl

T~3

COLONNADE

mCOLUMNS

CEILA

NAOS

or

l^ in ANTIS

ANTA

SIDE

PASSAGE

182

or

PTEROMA

HANK COLUMNS

.SUBSTRUCTUR E
(

Iround plan

peripteral temple

or

PTERON

STEREQBATE

or

ol > typi< al
i

two columns flanked In pireason shows this minimal

ith its

Ireek

after Grinnell

(,l!l

k Mil

167

plan

sec

hind die

17")

fig,

i.

Often we find

make

eella. to

larger temples, this central unit

second porch added be-

more symmetrical.

the design

is

surrounded by

nade, called the peristyle, and the structure

Hie

as peripteral.

even have

a colon-

known

then

is

In the

Greece may

\er\ largest temples of Ionian

double colonnade.

the Egyptians, along with architectural

ornament and the

knowledge of geometry they needed in order to lay out their

temples and to lit the parts together. Yet we cannot say just
how they went about all this, or exactly what they took over,
technically and artistically, although there can be little
doubt that they owed more to the Egyptians than to the Minoans or the Mycenaeans.

Doric Temples

How did the Doric originate? What factors shaped the rigid
and precise vocabulary of the Doric order? This is an important and fascinating problem that has occupied archaeologists lor many years hut th.it even now can be answered only
in part, lor we have hardly any remains from the time when
the system was

stone temples

The

in process of formation.

still

known

to us,

such as

that of

Artemis

earliest

at

Corfu,

that the essential features of the Doric order yvere al-

show

ready well established soon after

600

B C.

How

developed, individually and in combination,

cealed into a system as rapidly as they

these features

why

seem

to

they con-

have done,

to which we have lew reliable clues.

Greek builders in stone apparently drew upon
three distinct sources of inspiration: Egypt, Mycenae, and
pre-Archaic Greek architecture in wood and mud brick. The
Mycenaean contribution is the most tangible, although
probably not the most important, of these. The central unit
of the Creek temple, the cella and porch, clearly derives
from the megaron (see fig. 153), either through a continuous tradition or by way of revival. There is something oddly

remains

The

puzzle

early

symbolic about the

fact

that

Mycenaean

the

royal

hall

should have been converted into the dwelling place of the

for the entire Mycenaean era had become part
Greek mythology, as attested by the Homeric epics, and
the walls of the Mycenaean fortresses were believed to be

Creek gods;
of

the work of mythical giants, the Cyclopes.

the Creeks

felt

The

religious

awe

before these remains also helps us to under-

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION? The

becomes acute when we consider

problem of origins

a third factor: to

what ex-

tent can the Doric order be understood as a reflection of

wooden

form follows function

purpose

have pursued

approach

this line of

be-

that an architectural form

will inevitably reflect the

ly

who

structures. Those historians of architecture

lieve that

for

which

it

was devised

at great length, especial-

in trying to explain the details of the entablature.

Up

to a

arguments are convincing; it seems plausible to

assume that at one time the triglyphs did mask the ends of
wooden beams, and that the droplike shapes below, called
point, their

guttae (see

The

fig.

181

),

are the descendants of

wooden

pegs.

peculiar vertical subdivisions of the triglyphs are per-

haps a bit more difficult to accept as an echo of three halfround logs. And when we come to the lutings of the
column, our doubts continue to rise: were they really developed from adz marks on a tree trunk, or did the Greeks take
them over ready-made from the "proto-Doric" stone columns of Egypt?
As a further test of the functional theory, we would have to
ask how the Egyptians came to put flutes in their columns.
They, too, after all, had once had to translate architectural
forms from impermanent materials into stone. Perhaps it
was they who turned adz marks into flutes? But the predynastic Egyptians had so little timber that they seem to have
f

used
of

it

only for ceilings; the rest of their buildings consisted

mud

brick, fortified by

bundles of reeds. And since the

stand the relationship between the Lion Cate relief at My-

proto-Doric columns at Saqqara are not free-standing but

cenae and the sculptured pediments on Doric temples,

finally, the flaring, cushionlike capital of the Minoan-

are attached to walls, their flutings might represent a sort of

Mycenaean column

Saqqara with convex rather than concave flutes that come a

good deal closer to the notion of a bundle of thin staves). On

is

yood deal closer

to the

Doric echi-

nus and abacus than is any Egyptian capital. The shaft of

the Doric column, on the other hand, tapers upward, not
downward as does the Minoan-Mycenaean column, and
(his definitely points to

Perhaps we
fluted
trict

columns

of Zoser

at

the Doric shaft

in

now with some

surprise

the

(or rather half-columns) in the funerary dis-

Saqqara (see

fi

r 70

that

had approximated

more than 2,000 years before

its

appearance

Greece. Moreover, the very notion that temples ought to

be built of stone, and that they required large

numbers

of

columns, must have come from Egypt. It is true, of course,

that the Egyptian temple is designed to be experienced from
the inside while the Greek temple is arranged so that the
lew were allowed to enter
and religious ceremonies usually took
altars erected out-of-doors, with the temple facade
kdrop). Hut might a peripteral temple not be inter-

impressive exterior matters most

the dimly

place

at

as a b,K

lit

cella.

preted as (he columned court of an Egyptian sanctuary

be Creeks also must have acquired
turned inside-out?
I

miK

H>H

h ol their stonecutting

(./;/

Mil

the other hand, the Egyptians

and masonry techniques from

columns

may have developed

at

the habit

of fluting without reference to any earlier building tech-

niques

Egyptian influence.

will recall

abstract echo of bundles of reeds (there are also

at all;

perhaps they found

it

an effective way

to dis-

drums and to stress

the continuity of the shaft as a vertical unit. Even the Greeks
did not flute the shafts ol their columns drum by drum, but
waited until the entire column was assembled and in posiguise the horizontal joints between the

tion.

Be

that as

it

may, fluting certainly enhances the ex-

pressive character of the column.

Stronger,

more energetic and

and

rather than

this,

its

resilient,

manner

(luted

shaft

looks

than a smooth one;

of origin, accounts for the

persistence of the habit.

Why

then did we enter at such length into an argument

seems at best inconclusive? Mainly in order to suggest
the complexity and the limitations of the technological
that

approach to problems of architectural form. The question,

always a thorny one. of how far stylistic features can be explained on a functional basis will face us again and again.
Obviously, the history ol architecture cannot be fully under-

183.

stood

if

stract,

we

view

it

The

"Basilica,"

c.

550

B.C.;

and the "Temple of Poseidon,"

only as an evolution of style in the ab-

without considering the actual purposes of building

technological basis. But

we must

likewise be prepared

or

its

to

accept the purely aesthetic impulse as a motivating force.

460

c.

umns themselves
flaring.

The

Paestum.

Why

Italv

arc different: those of the older temple

more emphatically,

taper far

more

li

and

their capitals are larger

the difference?

peculiar shape of the

tures were

columns of the "Basilica" (pe< u

compared to fifth-century Doric) has been explained as being due to overcompensation: the architect, not
vet fullv familiar with the properties of Stone as compared

as a

with wood, exaggerated the taper

At the very start, Doric architects certainly imitated in stone

some

wooden temples, if only because these feadeemed necessary m order to identify a building
temple. When they enshrined them in the Doric order,
features of

however, they did not do so from blind conservatism or force

of habit, but because the

wooden tonus had by now been

so

liar,

that

is,

we accept

the stone structure.

lor the

them
of function

must confront the problem

once more when we consider the best-preserved

sixth-century Doric temple, the so-called "Basilica"

tum
its

in

southern

Italv (fig. 183. left; fig.

at

Paes-

184), in relation to

neighbor, the so-called "Temple of Poseidon" (fig

183,

which was built almost a century later. Both are Doric, but we at once note striking differences in their proportions. The "Basilica" seems low and sprawling and not only
right),

because so much of the entablature is missing), while the

"Temple of Poseidon" looks tall and compact. Even the col-

the shaft lor greater sta-

thoroughly transformed that they were an organic part of

TEMFLKS AT PAESTUM. We

oi

and enlarged the apitals so as to narrow the gaps to be

spanned by the blocks of the architrave. Maybe so but if
bility

this interpretation in itself as sufficient to

design of these Archaic columns, do we not judge

expressive

a later

age? To label them smiplv

awkward, would be

to disregard the particular

standards of

b\ the

primitive, or

The

account

effe<

that

"Basilica's"

is

and

theirs

columns seem

their load than those oi the

to

theirs alone

be more burdened In

"

Temple ol Poseidon." so that the

contrast between the supporting and supported members ol
the order

is

dramatized rather than harmoniouslv

as in the later building Various

pression; the echinus

ol

its

seems more

elastic

tors

and bene

h.ilani ed,

ontribute to this im-

the "Basilic a's"

counterpart

larger than

fac

apitals

is

not only

'Temple ol Poseidon." it
more distended b\ the weight

in the

(,/:/

w,-/

/<.<*

170' CREEK Mil

185. Interior.

it

tarries,

larly

almost as

show

not only

if it

"Temple

Poseidon," Paestum.

of

460 B.C

were made of rubber. And the shafts

more pronounced taper but

also a particu-

Stereobate

strong bulge or curve along the line of taper, so that

they, too,

convey a sense of

elasticity

and compression com-

pared with the rigidly geometric blocks of the entablature.

(This curve, called "entasis,"

column; although

it

may

is

a basic feature of the

be very slight,

with a "muscular" quality quite

it

endows

unknown

Done

the shaft

Egyptian or

Minoan-Mycenaean columns.
The "Temple of Poseidon" (figs. 183. 185, and 186
was probably dedicated to Hera was begun c. 475 B.C and
il

finished fifteen years later;

it

served of all Doric sanctuaries.

terior

is
( 'I

also

among

the best pre-

special interest are the in-

supports of the cella ceiling

(fig.

two rows

185).

18(>

Clan

oi

the "Temple of Poseidon"

ol

columns, each supporting a smaller set of columns in a way

that makes the tapering seem continuous despite the architrave

between. Such

a two-story interior,

which became

practical necessity lor the cellas of the larger

)oric

temples

(,/(/

\KI

171

Temple of Aphaia, Aegina

187. Sectional view (restored) of the

is first

found

at the

beginning of the
tion

drawing

Temple of Aphaia

fifth

at

Aegina around the

shown here in a reconstrucconstruction scheme (fig. 187).

century,

to illustrate its

ATHENS, PERICLES. AND THE PARTHENON.

shortly before their defeat, the Persians

B.C.,

In 480
had destroyed

the temple and statues on the Acropolis, the sacred

hill

above Athens which had been a fortified site since Mycenaean times. For modern archaeologists, this disaster has
(

turned out

be a blessing

to

since the debris,

in disguise,

which was subsequently used as fill, has yielded many fine

Archaic pieces, such as those in figures 168, 169, 171, and
172 that would hardly have survived otherwise.) The rebuilding of the Acropolis under the leadership of Pericles
during the later fifth century, when Athens was at the
heigh) ol her power, was the most ambitious enterprise m
(be history of Greek architecture, as well as

max. Individually and

its artistic cli-

collectively, these structures repre-

phase of Greek art in full maturity.

The greatest temple, and the only one to be completed be-

sent the Classical

fore the
figs

Peloponnesian War(43I

188 and I8

patron deity

in

)i.

dedicated

101 b.c

I,

is

the Parthenon

to the virginal

Athena, the

whose honor Athens was named.

Built of

gleaming while marble on the most prominent site along the

southern flank of the Acropolis, it dominates the entire
n\ and the surrounding countryside, a brilliant landmark

against the ba< kdropol mountains to the north of it.

tory of the

icance

I.

',/;/

Parthenon is as extraordinary as

is

the onl\ sanctuary

\/(/

we know

The his-

its artistii

that

signif

has served

four different faiths in succession.

The

architects Ictinus

and Callicrates erected it in 448-432 B.C., an amazingly brief

span of time for a project of this size. In order to meet the
huge expense of building the largest and most lavish temple
on the Creek mainland, Pericles delved into funds collected
from states allied with Athens for mutual defense against
the Persians. le may have felt that the danger was no longer
a real one. and that Athens, the chief victim and victor at the
climax of the Persian War in 480-478 B.C., was justified in
using the money to rebuild what the Persians had destroyed.
His act did weaken the position of Athens, however (ThuI

cydides openly reproached him for adorning the city "like a

harlot with precious stones, statues,

thousand

come

talents"),

and contributed

and temples costing a

to

the disastrous out-

of the Peloponnesian War. In Christian times, the Vir-

Mary displaced the virginal Athena; the Parthenon

became first a Byzantine church, then a Catholic cathedral;
finally, under the Turks, it was a mosque. It has been a ruin
since 1087. when a store of gunpowder the Turks had put
gin

exploded during a siege. Much of the sculpture

was removed during the years 1801-1808 by Lord Elgin;
the Elgin Marbles are today the greatest treasure of the Brit-

into the cella

ish

Museum.

As the perfect embodiment of Classical Doric architecture, the Parthenon makes an instructive contrast with the
"Temple of Poseidon" (lit;. 183). Despite its greater size, it
seems far less massive Rather, the dominant impression it
creates is one of festive, balanced grace within the austere
scheme of the Doric order. This has been achieved by a gen-

188.

ICTINUS and CALLICRATES. The

Parthenon (view from the west). Acropolis, Athens. 448-432

189. Frieze above the western entrance of the cella of the Parthenon

sir also

fig

209

B.C.

(,/:/

k \iu

173

190. Plan of the Acropolis at Athens in 400 B.C (alter A.

and readjustment of the proportions: the ento its width and to the height of
the columns; the cornice projects less; and the columns
themselves are a good deal more slender, their tapering and
entasis less pronounced and the capitals smaller and less
flaring; yet the spacing of the columns has become wider.
We might say that the load earned by the columns has decreased, and as a consequence the supports can fulfill their
t.isk with
new sense of ease.
era! lightening

tablature

is

lower in relation

.1

designed

to

W. Lawrence)

produce the

illusion of absolutely straight hori-

zontals and verticals. Unfortunately, however, this function-

we should be unable

al

explanation does not work:

to

perceive the deviations except by careful measurement;

yet the fact

is that,

if it

did,

though unobtrusive, they are

visible to

the naked eye, even in photographs such as our figure 188.

Moreover, in temples that do not have these refinements,

columns do not give the appearance of leaning outward,

nor do the horizontal lines look "dished." Plainly, then, the
the

deviations were built into the Parthenon because they were

THE PARTHENON'S REFINEMENTS.

These so-called

refinements, intentional departures from the

strict

geomet-

regularity of the design lor aesthetic reasons, are another

ric

feature of the Classical Doric style that can be observed in

the Parthenon better than

anywhere

else.

thought
is

to

meant

ways

add

to

to its

beauty; they are a positive element that

be noticed.

And

that are hard to define

they do indeed contribute in

to

the integral, harmonious

quality of the structure.

Thus the stepped

The cella of the Parthenon (see plan, fig. 190) is unusualwide and somewhat shorter than m other temples, so as to

platform and the entablature are not absolutely straight but

ly

sliujitlv curved, so that the center is a bit higher than the

ends; the columns lean inward; and the interval between
die corner column and us neighbors is smaller than die

accommodate

counterpart

the western end have almost disappeared, but

Standard interval adopted

The

for the

colonnade as

a whole.

been written about these deviations from

Thai tbev are planned rattier than
beyond doubt, but why did the architects go to

greal deal lias

inec liana al exac titude

a<

the
t

idental

is

enormous

apital of the

an hitrave

174

<

trouble ol carrying them through? (Ever)

olonnade is slighdy distorted to lit the curving
he) used to be regarded .is optica] corrections

-GREEK Mil

there

is

at

second room behind

it.

The pronaos and

its

columns in front of either entrance.

columns is more Ionic than
no triglyphs and metopes but a continu-

an extra row

of

architrave above these

Doric since

it

lias

ous sculptured

frieze that encircles the entire cella (fig. 189).

PROPYLAEA.

Immediately alter the completion of the Par-

thenon, Pericles commissioned another splendid and expensive edifice

die

monumental

entry gate at the western end

of the Acropolis, called the Propvlaea (see plan,

fig.

190).

quitted himself nobly; his design not only

terrain but also transforms

it,

rocks becomes a splendid overture

which

Of

it

fits

the difficult

so that a rude passage

to

among

the sacred precinct on

opens.

the two porches (or facades)

eastern one

is

end, only the

at either

in fair condition today (fig. 191

);

it

resembles

temple front, except for the wide opening

between the third and fourth columns. The western porch
was flanked by two wings (figs. 192 and 193). The one to the
north, considerably larger than its companion, included a
a Classical Doric

picture gallery (pinakotheke), the

first

known

instance of a

room especially designed for the display of paintings. Along

the central roadway that passes through the Propvlaea, we
find two rows of columns which are Ionic rather than Doric.
Apparently

at that

time the trend in Athenian architecture

was toward using Ionic elements inside Doric structures

(we recall the sculptured frieze of the Parthenon cella).

191.

MNESICLES. The

Ionic Temples

It

was begun in 437 B.C., under the architect Mncsicles. who

completed the main part in five years; the remainder had to
he abandoned because of the Peloponnesian War. Again the
entire structure was built of marble and included refinements comparable to those of the Parthenon. Its main fascination lor us consists in the manner in which the elements
of a Doric temple have here been adapted to another task, on
an irregular and steeply rising site. Mnesicles has indeed ac-

Athens, with

strong Aegean orientation, had show n

its

hospitable to the eastern Creek

and the

mid-filth century on,

vie of building

finest surviving

the Ionic order are to be found

Acropolis. The previous

si

among

itscll

from the

examples

ol

the Structures of the

development of the order

is

known

only in very fragmentary fashion; of the huge Ionic temples

that

were erected

esus,

little

in

Samos and

Archaic times on

has survived except the plans.

at

Eph-

vocabulary,

Its

however, seems

to have remained fairly (hud. with strong

Near Past see fiys. 130 and 131 and it did
not reallv become an order in the strict sense until the
is
Sical period. Even then it continued to be rather more flexi-

affinities to the

).

ble

than the Doric order.

column, which
also,

differs

less

scroll,

most striking feature

is

the Ionic

in

body but

(see fig. 181

It rests on an ornaieh
own; the shaft is more slender, and theretapering and entasis; the capital shows a large double
or volute, between the echinus and abacus, which

.is it

were, in

profiled base of
is

Its

from the Doric not only

I.

spirit

).

its

projects strongly beyond the width of the shaft.

That these
the Doric

details add up to an entity very distinct from

column becomes clear as soon as we turn from the

diagram

to

an actual building

The

column

(fig.

196).

How

shall

we

and more
graceful than its mainland cousin; it lacks the hitter's muscular quality. Instead, it evokes the echo of a growing plant,

define

Propvlaea (view from the cast

it?

Ionic

Acropolis

Athens

H,

is,

432

of course, lighter

B.C.

(.HI. I K

Mil

175

__".

^
[

192.

93

CM

IK Mil

IIm

The Propylaea

(with pinahotheke), western entrance

Propylaea (view from the west) and the Temple of Athena Nike (427-424

B.C.), Acropolis.

Athens

194. (far left) Aeolian capital, from Larissa.

Archaeological

195.

Museum

600

c.

Corinthian capital, from the Tholos

(left,

Epidaurus

196. (below)

Istanbul

at

350 B.C Museum. Epidaurus

The Erechtheum view from

421-405 B.C
I

the smith

Acropolis, Athens.

of

something

analogy

is

like a

formalized palm

not sheer fancy, for

relatives, of the Ionic capital that

were

tree.

we have
hear

it

And

this vegetal

early ancestors, or

out

fig.

194

).

II

pursue these plantlike columns all the way hack

their point of origin, we would eventually find ourselves
to

Saqqara, where

we

we
to
at

not only encounter "proto-Doric" sup-

ports but the wonderfully graceful papyrus hall-columns of

figure 79, with their tuned, flaring capitals. It may well be,

17()).

Hence the Athenian

order about 450

architects

thought of

b.c

it.

who

took

up the

at first, as suitable

Ionic-

only for

small temples of simple plan. Such a building is the little

Temple of Athena Nike on the southern flank of the Propylaea (fig. 193), probably built 427-424 B.C from a design

prepared twentv years earlier bv (allic rates.

ERECHTHEUM.

1..

truer

and

more

complex

the

is

had its ultimate source m

Egypt, but instead of reaching Greece by sea. .is we suppose
the proto-Doric column did. it traveled a slow and tortuous
path bv land through Syria and Asia Minor.

edge of the Acropolis opposite the Parthenon. It was erected

perhaps b\ Mnesicles, lor. like the Propyin 421-405 B.<

In pre-Classical times, the only Ionic structures on the

Greek mainland had been the small treasuries built by eastern Greek states at Delphi in the regional stvlcs (see fig.

ing of Athens, so thai the

then, that the Ionic column, too.

Erechtheum

fig.

l
l

>f'

and

plan,

fiu.

190),

on the northern

laea.

it

is

masterfully adapted to an irregular, sloping site

The area had various associations with the mythical foundI-

manteau" sanctuary with

.rei

htheum was

at tuallv a "port-

several religious functions.

GRl

K Mil

Its

177

197. Porch of the Maidens, the Erechtheum, Acropolis, Athens.

name

derives from Erechtheus, a legendary king of Athens;

room was dedicated to Athena Polias (Athena

goddess); and it may also have covered the spot
contest between Athena and Poseidon was believed

the eastern
the city

where a
to

have taken place. (Apparently there were lour rooms, in

basement on the western side, but their exact

purpose is under dispute.
Instead of a west facade, the Erechtheum has two porches
attached to its Hanks, a very large one lacing north and a
small one toward the Parthenon. The latter is the famous
Porch of the Maidens (fig. 197), its roof supported by six female figures caryatids) on a high parapet, instead of regular
columns (compare fig. 176). One wonders whether these
statues were the reason why a Turkish governor chose the
building to house his harem two thousand years later. We
cannot altogether blame him, for here the exquisite refinement of the Ionic order does indeed convey a "feminine"
quality, compared with the "masculinity" of the Parthenon
addition to a

421-405

B.C.

an inverted bell covered with the curly shoots and leaves of

the acanthus plant, which seem to sprout from the top of the
column shaft (fig. 195). At first, Corinthian capitals were
used only for interiors. Not until a century later do we find

them replacing

known
(fig.

the

instance

Ionic capitals on the exterior.

is

the

Monument

198), built soon after

full

sense of the term

no entrance
is

B.C. It is

The round

earliest

not really a building in

interior,

but an elaborate support

Lysicrates in a contest.
base,

334

the

The

of Lysicrates in Athens

though hollow, has

for a tripod

structure, resting

won
on

by
tall

a miniature version of a tholos, a type of circular

building of which several earlier examples are

known

to

have existed. The columns here are engaged (set into the
wall) rather than free-standing, to

make

the

monument

more compact. Soon after, the Corinthian capital came to be

employed on the exteriors oflarge buildings as well, and in
Roman times it was the standard capital for almost any
purpose.

across the way. Apart from the caryatids, sculptural decora-

on the Erechtheum was confined to the frieze of which

little survives). The pediments remained bare, perhaps
for lack of funds at the end of the Peloponnesian War. However, the ornament. can ing on the bases and capitals of the
columns, and on the frames of doorways and windows, is extion

very

il

traordinarily delicate

and

rich; its cost,

according

to the ac-

counts inscribed on the building, was higher than that of

figure sculpture.

CORINTHIAN CAPITAL. Such

seems

h. n.

ic

emphasis on ornament
It was at this

lenstic of the late fifth century,

TOWN PLANNING AND

THEATERS. During

the three

War and
Roman conquest. Creek architecture shows little further

centuries between the end of the Peloponnesian

the

development. Even before the time of Alexander the Great,

volume of building activity was to be found in the

Asia Minor. There we do encounter some
structures of a new kind, often under Oriental influence,
such as the huge Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus (see
figs. 21618) and the Altar of Zeus at Pergamum (see figs.
226-28); town planning on a rectangular grid pattern, first
introduced at Miletus in the mid-fifth century, assumed new
the largest

Greek

cities of

time that the Corinthian capital was invented

importance, as did the municipal halls (stoas) lining the

rate substitute

market places where the

ic

178

and

foi

the Ionic

lorinthian capitals,

'GREEK Mil

.is an elabocomparison of Doric, Ionits shape is that of

see fig. 181
I

for a

|;

civic and commercial life of Greek

towns was centered; private houses, too, became larger and

198.

The Monument

more ornate than

ot Lvsicrates,

Athens,

oi'

334

200. Plan of the Theater. Epidaurus (after Picard-Cambridge)

B.<

before. Yet the architectural vocabulary,

aesthetically as well as technically,

that

c.

the temples of the late

lar,

defined shape. Before the fourth century, the auditora natural slope, preferably curved,

equipped with stone benches; now the hillside was provided

with concentric rows of seats, and with staircase-aisles at
regular intervals, as

center

is

Kpidaurus

at

At the extreme right

(figs.

199-200). At the

where most of the action took

the orchestra,

we

place.

see the remains of a hall-like build-

ing that formed the backdrop and supported the scenery.

continuing the pace of development

How

are

did not

we

grow

to

account

oi'

Greek Architecture

Greek architecture
beyond the stage it had readied at

for the fact that

significantly

the time of the Peloponnesian

War 7

After

all.

neither intel-

life nor the work of sculptors and painters show any

tendencv toward staleness during the last three hundred

lectual

it

had maintained

in Ar-

A number of such limitations

concern with monumental exteriors at

chaic and Classical times?

come

to

mind: the

the expense of interior space; the concentration of effort on

temples of one particular type; the lack of interest

structural system
i

more advanced than the

m am

post-and-lintel

uprights supporting horizontal beams). Until the late

filth

been positive advantages; without

them, the great masterpieces of the Periclean age would
have been unthinkable. Hut the possibilities of the tradition-

centurv. these had

al

Limitations

I!

herent limitations that prevented Greek architecture from

basic repertory of Greek architecture was increased

one respect only: the open-air theater achieved a regu-

ium had simply been

we perhaps misjudging her

c ? Or were there in-

architectural achievements alter -100

century.

fifth

The
in

years of Greek civilization. Are

remained essentially

all

Doric temple were nearly exhausted by then, as indicated

by the attention lavished on expensive refinements.

What (.reek architecture needed after the Peloponnesian

War vv as a breakthrough, a revival ol the experimental spirit
of the seventh centurv. that would create an interest in new
building materials, vaulting, and interior space. What prevented the breakthrough? Could

it

have been the archilec-

(,/,'/

\/;/

\79

CLASSICAL SCULPTURE
KRITIOS BOY Among

the statues excavated from the de-

had left behind on the Acropolis, there is

201 that stands apart from the rest. It must

bris the Persians

one Kouros fig.

have heen carved very shortly before the fateful year 480 B.C.
This remarkable work, which some have attributed to the
Athenian sculptor Kritios and which therefore has come to
(

known

he

as the Kritios Boy, differs subtly hut importantly

lrom the Archaic Kouros figures we discussed above (figs.

Kit) and 107): it is die first statue we know that stands in the
sense of the word. Of course, the earlier figures also

lull

stand, but only in the sense that they are in an upright position,

and are not

their stance

reclining, sitting, kneeling, or running;

an arrested walk, with the weight of the

really

is

legs. The Kritios Boy, too, has

one leg placed forward, vet we never doubt for an instant
that he is standing still. Why this is so becomes evident
when we compare the left and right hall' of his body, for we
then discover that the strict symmetry of the Archaic Kouros
has now given way to a calculated nonsymmetry: the knee

body resting evenly on both

of the forward leg

thrust

we

down and

lower than the other, the right hip

is

inward, the

hip up and outward; and

left

we

trace the axis of the body,

realize that

it

is
if

not a

is

straight vertical line hut a faint, S-like curve (or, to be exact,

a reversed S-curve).

symmetry

tures lrom

mainly on the

Taken
tell

left leg,

and

prop or buttress

an

elastic

its

balance.

CONTRAPPOSTO. The

together,

all

these small depar-

us that the weight of the body rests

that the right leg plays the role of
to

make

sure that the body keeps

Kritios Boy, then, not only stands,

And the artist has masterfully observed

the balanced nonsymmetry of this relaxed natural stance.
To describe it, we use the Italian word contrapposto (counterpoise); the leg that carries the main weight is commonly
he stands

at ease.

called the

engaged

leg; the other, the free leg.

are a useful shorthand, for from

quent occasion
discovery.

to

now on we

mention contrapposto.

Only by learning how

to

is

But

is

indeed (see

figs.

173, 170. 179,

represent the body

C.

other hand,

480 itc

we sense

and

to

show

180), but

inflexible in kind;

poses without really feeling

STANDING YOUTH (KRITIOS BOY)

have

fre-

a very basic

it

at rest

in

mo-

there not plenty of motion in Archaic art? There

what mechanical and

201

was

It

could the Creek sculptor gain the freedom

tion.

These terms

shall

it.

lor the first

we

read

some-

it

is

it

from the

In the- Kritios Boy,

on the

time not only a new repose

but an animation of the body structure that evokes the expe-

Marble height 34" (86.3 cm). Acropolis Museum. Alliens

of our own body. Life now suffuses the entire

hence the Archaic smile, the "sign of life," is no longer needed. It has given way to a serious, pensive expression
characteristic of the early phase of Classical sculpture or, as

rience

we have

figure,

mill orders, or rather the cast of mind thai produced them?

I

he suspit ion

ent e
lot

and

will not

rigidity ol

tyranny

loi

was the very coher-

it

made

impossible

it

it

It

remained

Inn k and
bui h

great strength in earlier days

for later

oik rete

to

ages

to

adaptation net essitated doing a

./;/

it

seems were incapable of

\i:l

'.

reek orders

arched and vaulted construction,

violence to the original character

Greeks

adapt die

became

ol

ertain

amount

of

the orders, and the

that

is

often called, the Severe Style).

The new

Ireek arc hite< ts to break from the established pattern.

What had been dun

to

go away that

those orders which

articulation of the

body that appears

in

the

Boy was to reach its full development within hall a

century in the mature Classical style of the Periclean era.
he most famous Kouros statue of that nine, the DoryKritios

phorus (Spear Hearer) hv Polvclitus (fig. 202), is known

to us only through Roman copies whose hard dry forms

convey

little

of the beauty of the original.

Still,

it

makes

202.

DORYPHORUS (SPEAR BEARER) Roman copy

an original of

c.

450-440

height 6'6" (2 m).

an

instructive

B.C.

by

POLYCLITUS.

Museo Archeologico

comparison

with

203. CHARIOTEER, from the Sanctuai)

after

Marble

Na/.ionale. Naples

the

Kritios

Boy.

left

and

right halves of the body

can be seen

every muscle, and the turn or the head, barely hinted

the Kritios Boy,
the precise,

if

is

he

overexplicit, anatomical detail,

and above

made

pkorus renowned as the standard embodiment

ol

all

the Dory-

the

cal ideal ol

human

was

its

cm

Museum. Delphi

beauty. At

ording

was known simply as the Canon

it

Apollo

of

470 B.C Bronze, height 71" (28

to

(rule

one an<

ient writer.

measure

s<

authority

in

at in

equally pronounced. Ibis studied poise.

the harmonious proportions of the figure

c.

\n heolouie.il

eantrapposto (with the engaged leg in the forward position

has now become much more emphatic; the differentiation

between the

Delphi,

al

lassi

SEVERE

STi LE. But

let

us return to the Severe Style

be

reason win this term was chosen to describe the charactei

Greek

ol
r.

s(

ulpture during the years between

bet nines

from Delphi

lea

(fig

to

us

203

.is

we
one

180 and 150

look at the splendid

ol

Itai

mln

the earliest extant

(./;/

\i:i

large

isi

TEMPLE OF ZEUS, OLYMPIA.

ensemble

of the Severe Style

is

The greatest sculptural

the pair of pediments of the

c. 460 B.C. and now reasmuseum. In the west pediment, the

more mature of the two, we see the victory of the Lapiths
over the Centaurs under the aegis of Apollo, who forms the
center of the composition fig. 204 His commanding figure
is part of the drama and yet above it; the outstretched right
arm and the strong turn of the head show his active inter-

Temple of Zeus
sembled in the

at

Olympia, carved

local

).

vention

he

wills the victory but, as befits a god,

physically help to achieve

it.

Nevertheless, there

is

does not
a tense-

ness, a gathering of forces, in this powerful body that

makes

outward calm doubly impressive. The forms themselves

are massive and simple, with soft contours and undulating,
continuous surfaces. Apollo's glance is directed at a Centaur
its

who has
(fig.

seized Hippodamia, bride of the king of the Lapiths

205).

Here we witness another achievement of the Se-

vere Style; the passionate struggle

is

expressed not only

through action and gesture but through the emotions mirrevulsion on the face of the girl, pain and
rored in the faces

desperate effort on that of the Centaur. Nor would an Archaic artist

have

known how

group so compact, so

full

to

combine the two figures into a

movements.

of interlocking

MOVEMENT IN STATUES. Strenuous action had already

been investigated in pedimental sculpture of the Late Archaic period (see figs. 179 and 180). Such figures, however,
although technically carved in the round, are not free-standing; they represent, rather, a kind of super-relief, since they

204. APOLLO (portion), from the west pediment

the

Temple of Zeus

Marble, over

lifesize.

at

Olympia.

Archaeological

460

c.

of

B.C.

Museum, Olympia

bronze statues in Creek art. It must have been made about a

decade later than the Kritios Boy, as a votive offering after a
race; the young victor originally stood on a chariot drawn by
lour horses. Despite the long, heavy garment, we sense a
hint of contrapposto in the body

the

ferentiated so as to inform us thai the

feet are carefully dif-

left

leg

is

the engaged

one, and the shoulders and head turn slighdy to the right.

The garment

is

severely simple, yet

compared with Archaic

draperv the folds seem softer and more pliable; we feel

(probablv for the first time m the history ol sculpture) that
thej reflect the behavior of real cloth. Not only the body but

the drapery, too, has been transformed by a

new under-

standing of functional relationships, so that every

fold

is

shaped by the forces that act upon it - the downward pull of

gravity the shape ol the body underneath, and the belts or
straps that constrict its flow. The face has the pensive,
soinewb.it
c

l.u.i\\.i\

look

we saw

in

the Kritios Boy, but the

olor ml.i\ ol the eyes, fortunately preserved in this instance,

as well as the slighdy parted

lips,

give

it

more animated

bearing of the entire figure conveys the solemnity ol the event commemorated, for chariot races and
similar ontests at thai time were competitions for divine la-

expression

["he

<

wn

18

mil sporting events in the

'

-CRl

Mil

modern

sense.

205. HIPPODAMIA ATTACKED BY A CENTAUR, from the west

ol 'Zeus at Olympia. C. 460 B.C. Marble,

pediment of the Temple

slightly over lifesize. Archaeological

Museum, Olympia

arc designed to be seen against a

direction only. To infuse the

background and from one

same freedom

into genuinely free-standing statues

lenge; not only did

denied mobility

to

run counter

was

of

motion are the most important achievement

movement

Style.

this

was done, the solution no longer

continuous succession of movements but as an aue-inspning gesture that reveals the

weapon

pre-

sented serious difficulties. Large, free-standing statues in

206. poseiixm //
i

(fig,

be done in such a way as to safeguard their all-around bal-

once

the Severe

bron/.e Poseidon (or Zeus?), almost seven feet tail in

theai
of hurling his trident (or thunderbolt?). The pose is that ol
an athlete, yet it does not strike ns as the arrested phase oi a

to

ance and self-sufficiency. The problem could not really be

tackled until the concept of contrapposto had been established, but

oi

was recovered from the

206): a magnificent nude

finest figure oi this kind

sea near the coast of Greece

a far greater chal-

an age-old tradition that

these figures, but the unfreezing had to

it

The

is

formance aimed

460-450

power

of the god. Hurling a

a divine attribute here, rather than a specific per-

at a particular

adversary

Bronze, height 6' 10" (2.1 m).

National Archeologica]

Museum. Athens

(,;;/

\m

207. DISCOBOLUS (DISCUS THROWER).

after a

bronze original of
Lifesize.

Some

years alter the Poseidon, about 450

B.C.,

Museo

Myron

cre-

ated lus famous bron/e statue of the Discobolus (Discus

Throwei

which came

<

to

enjoy a reputation comparable

to

Doryphorus. Like the latter, it is known to us only

from Roman copies (fig. 207). Here the problem of how to
ondense a sequence of movements into a single pose with-

450

C.

delle

Roman marble copy

B.C.

Terme,

by

MYRON.

Rome

standing statue now exerted a liberating influence on pedimental sculpture as well, endowing it with a new
fluidity, and balance. The Dying Niobid (fig.
work of the 440s. was carved for the pediment of a

spaciousness,

that of the

208), a

tained, that

out freezing

it

is

a very

much more complex

one. involving a

violent twist of the torso in order to bring the action of the

.11

ms

into the

same plane

as the action of the legs.

der whether the copy does not

harshei and less poised than

it

make

was

in

We won-

the design

seem

Doric temple but

we

is

so richly three-dimensional, so sell-con-

hardly suspect her original context. Niobe,

according to legend, had humiliated the mother of Apollo

and Artemis by boasting of her seven sons and seven daughters,

whereupon

the two gods killed

Our Niobid has been

Strength broken, she sinks

the original.

tract the fatal arrow.

(

LASSICAL STYLE

threshold

mature

/84

<

ol

lassical style

'GREEK

he

the se< ond hall

Mil

Discobolus
ol

brums

us

to

the

die century, the era of the

Hie conquest of movemenl

in

a free

made her garment

nt e

The

to

in

of Niobe's children.

the ground while trying to ex-

violent

slip off;

movement

her nudity

rather (ban a ncccssarv part

primary motive

all

shot in the back while running; her

devising

it,

ol

is

of her

thus

the story.

however, was

arms has

dramatic de-

The

artist's

to display

beautiful female body in the kind of strenuous action hither-

the earliest

order to measure the astonishing development we have wit

nessed since the beginnings of Greek monumental sculp-

Creek art.) Still, we must not

it was not a detached interest

ture less tban two centuries before, we ought to compare the

Niobid wall the earliest pednnental figure we came to know,

reserved for the male nude. (The Niobid

to

known

large female

misread the

in

aspect of the event alone but the desire to

in the physical

unite motion

nude

artist's intention:

and emotion and thus

to

make

the face of the Niobid,

human

feeling

is

we

feel that here, for

expressed as eloquently

the

the beholder ex-

perience the suffering of this victim of a cruel

at

is

Looking

late.

the

first

brief

glance backward

at the

show us how

wounded

warrior from Ae-

separates the Niobid from the world of Archaic art

ity

summed up in
it

chaic art

may approach

Memnon

group

felt

conveyed with

touches rather than horrifies

(fig.

nobility

it

Niobid. despite her suffering,

now and

and

we

sud-

remains so monumentally

mentary condition. The centers of both pediments are gone

completely, and of the figures in the corners only those from
the east pediment are sufficiently well preserved to convey

and
can be

only in Classical works such as the Niobid. Perhaps, in

208. DYING NIOBID

(

so

AND THE

then, as in the Eos

height 59"

we do

PHIDIAS
PARTHENON. The largest, as well as
the greatest, group of Classical sculptures at our disposal
consists of the remains of the marble decoration of the Parthenon, most of them, unfortunately, in battered and frag-

Late Ar-

164), yet the lull force of pathos

.is

What
suf-

us.

and

sell-contained.

a qual-

means

the Greek word pathos, which

fering, but particularly suffering

restraint so that

is

173);

stance, even though its meaning has

been radically reinterpreted. Once we recognize the ant lent
origin of her pose, we understand better than before why the

very differently the agony of

death had been conceived only half a century before.

(fig.

shows the pinwheel

time,

in the features as

in the rest of the figure.

gina(fig. 179) will

Gorgon from Corfu

denly realize thai these two. worlds apart as they may be.
belong to the same artistic tradition, lor (lie Niobid, too.

c.

450-440

B.C.

Marhlc.

150 cm). Museo delle Terme,

Home

(./;/

Mil

185

209. DIONYSUS, from the east pediment of the Parthenon,

Marble, over

THREE GODDESSES, from

210.

something

<>l

lifesize. British

the east pediment of the Parthenon,

the quality of the ensemble.

They represent

c.

c.

438-432

438-432

B.C.

Marble, over

the forms underneath.

Athena from the head of /ens (figs. 209 and

more than in the case of the Dying Niohtd.
we marvel at the spaciousness, the complete ease of move-

ate their

ol

210). Here e\en

inenl
in

oi

these statues There

them indeed no

fell

poetry ol being.

is

neither violence nor pathos

spec ilu action of any kind, only a

We

find

it

equally

deeph

the relaxed mascu-

Dionysus and in the soft fullness of the three

goddesses, enveloped in thin draper) thai seems to share the

line

(86

body

'./,'/

ol

Ik Mil

lifesize. British

qualities of a liquid substance as

various deities most in sitting or reclining poses, witnessing

the birth

B.C.

Museum, London

it

Hows and eddies around

The figures are so freely conceived

own

aura

ol

space, as

it

Museum, London

in

were.

depth that they crelow,

we wonder,

did

pediment? Might
they not have looked a hit incongruous, as il they had been
merely shelved there 7 The great master who designed them
they ever

lit

into the confined

must have felt something of the

whole suggests that he refused
.is more than a purely physical

shape of

sort, for
to

the composition as a

accept the triangular

limit. In

field

the sharp angles at

Parthenon sculptures
tided by us

doubtedly

no more than

is

convenience bul

number

a large

oi

a generii

label

|us

questionable accuracy

In

wen- involved

of masters

sin< e

the frieze and the two pediments were exe< Uted in less than
ten years

440-432

(c.

B.C

I.

The metopes which we have

omitted here, date from the 440s.

PHIDIAN STYLE,
style should

end of the

hard!} surprising that the Phidian

is

have dominated Athenian sculpture

fifth

sculptural enterprises gradually

the Peloponnesian War.

The

came

the west frieze of the Parthenon.

c.

British

Museum, London

(see also

fig.

it

ol

these was the balustrade

last ol

Like the Parthenon frieze,

B.(

440 B.C. Marble, height 43" (109.3 cm).

ale

because

to a halt

erected around the small temple of Athena Nike

HORSEMEN, from

until the

century and beyond, even though large-si

shows

c.

10-407

procession

a festive

but the participants are winged Nike figures (personifica-

287)

One Nike

tions of victory) rather than citizens of Athens.

(fig.

212)

is

taking

off

her sandals, in conformity with an

the corners, at the feet of Dionysus and the reclining goddesses, he has placed two horses' heads; they are

meant

to

represent the chariots of the rising sun and the waning

moon emerging

into

(and dipping below) the pedimental

space, but visually the heads are merely two fragments arbitrarily

cut off by the frame. Clearly,

moment when

we

are approaching the

the pediment will be rejected altogether as

the focal point of Creek architectural sculpture.

The

frieze of the Parthenon, a

continuous band 525 feet

shows a procession honoring Athena in the
presence of the other Olympic gods. It is of the same high
rank as the pedimental sculptures. In a somewhat different
way it, too, suffered from its subordination to the architectural setting, for it must have been poorly lit and difficult to
see, placed as it was immediately below the ceiling. The
depth of the carving and the concept of relief are not radicallong

ly

(fig.

189),

different from the frieze of the Siphnian Treasury (figs.

176 and 177), although the illusion

form

is

of

space and of rounded

now achieved with sovereign ease. The most remark-

able quality of the Parthenon frieze

is

the rhythmic grace of

the design, particularly striking in the spirited

the groups of

Who was
tures?

horsemen

(fig.

movement

of

211).

responsible lor this magnificent array

of

sculp-

They have long been associated with the name

Phidias, the chief overseer of

all artistic

of

enterprises spon-

sored by Pericles. According to ancient writers, Phidias was

particularly

famous

for a

huge ivory-and-gold

statue of Athe-

made for the cella of the Parthenon, a colossal Zeus in

same technique for the temple of that god in Olvmpia,

na he
the

and an equally large bronze statue of Athena that stood on

the Acropolis facing the Propvlaea.

None

of these survives,

and small-scale representations of them in later times are utterly inadequate to convey anything of the artist's style. It is,
in any event, hard to imagine that enormous statues of this
sort,

burdened with the requirements of cult images and the

demands

of a difficult technique, shared the vitality of the

Elgin Marbles.

due

The admiration

they elicited could have been

in large part to their size, the

preciousness of the materi-

and the aura of religious awe surrounding them. Phidias' personality thus remains oddly intangible; he may have
been a meat genius, or simply a very able coordinator and
supervisor. The term "Phidian style'' used to describe the
als,

212. NIKE, from the balustrade

Athena Nike

c.

110 407

B.<

Acropolis

ol

the

Temple

<>t

Marble, height 42" (106.7

Museum

cm)

Athens

(.Hi

\i:i

I8'i

213. GRAVE STELE

OF HEGESO.

410-400

c.

height 59" (150 cm). National Archeological

age-old tradition, indicating that she

ahout

is

to step

on holy

Her wings one open, the other

closed
are effectively employed to help her keep her balance, so that she performs with consummate elegance of
movement what is ordinarily a rather awkward act. Her
figure is more strongly detached from the relief ground than
ground (see page

99).

B.C Marble,

Museum, Athens

ground, so that the ground no longer appears as a solid sur-

assumes something of the transparency of empty

was probably inspired by the paintof the period, who, according to the literary sources, had

face but

space. This novel effect

ers

achieved a great breakthrough in mastering illusionistic

space.

are those on the Parthenon frieze, and her garments, with

body as

their deeply cut folds, cling to the

(we have seen an

in the

earlier

phase of

Three Goddesses of the Parthenon,

"Phidian." too, and also from the

is

sc

last

the beautiful Crave Stele ofHegeso

of this kind

were produced

and

ulptors,

their export

in large

they were wet

if

treatment

this

fig.

of

210).

years of the century,

(fig.

213). Memorials

numbers by Athenian

must have helped

to

CLASSICAL PAINTING

drapery

spread the

Unhappily, we have no murals or panels to verify that the

Creeks had mastered illusionistic space; and vase painting
by its very nature could echo the new concept of pictorial

space only
that

in

rudimentary fashion.

form an exception

to this

Still,

there are vessels

general rule;

we

the lekythoi

(oil

Phidian style throughout the Greek world. Pew of them,

mostly

however, can match the harmonious design and the gentle

as funerary offerings.

melanc boh of our example. The deceased is represented in

a simple domestic scene; she has picked a necklace from the

the painter could draw as freely, and with the

box held b\ the

as

il

it

were

seen espe<

tally

beholder, such

girl

servant and

keepsake.
well
.is

lHH-l.lll

rebel

seems

to

be contemplating

it

delicacv of the carving can be

the forms Farthest removed from the

the servant's

the |ewel box. or the

Here the

The

veil

left

arm supporting the

behind Hegeso's

lid

of

right shoulder.

merges almost imperceptibly with the back

in a special class of vases,

These had

find

them

jugs) used

a white coating

on which

same

spatial

modern successor using pen and paper. The

white ground, in both cases, is treated as empty space from
which the sketched forms seem to emerge if the draftsman knows bow to achieve tins.

effect, as bis

Not

many

lekvtbos painters were capable

nicknamed the

of

bringing off

among them is the unknown artist,

"Achilles Painter." who drew the woman in

the illusion, foremost

figure 214.

Hegeso

Although some twenty-five years older than the

stele, this

vase shows exactly the same scene: here,

standing maidservant holds a box from which the deceased has just taken a piece of jewelry. There is the same
too, a

mood of "PhidJan" reverie, and even

exactly.

or sculptured memorials of

Our

the chairs

match almost

This scene, then, was a standard subject

few

painted

young women.

chief interest, however,

ship; with a

(or

is

beneath the drapery as well

draftsman-

to per-

out boldly while others

make

merge with one

another or disappear into the white ground. However,

214.

THE "ACHILLES PAINTER"

Attic

manage

foreshortening. Hut the "internal dynamics" of the lines are

fluid,

on an

low does he

equally important, their swelling and fading, which

and

the artist not

suade us that these shapes exist m depth rather than merely

on the surface of the vase? lust of all, bv his command ol

some contours stand

in the masterly

lines, sure, fresh,

only creates a three-dimensional figure but reveals the bod)

must not assume

white-ground lekythos,

mi
c,

si

\\i>

that the carver of the

Hegeso

we

stele actual!)

\t\mi\.

-440-430 B.C

HeiKht 18" (40.7 cm). Staatliche Antikensammlungen

Munic h

(,/;;

k \hi

189

more likelv they both derive from a comwhich may have been a marble stele like thai
legeso Inn w ith a painted representation of the jewel-box

knew our

mon
o!

houettelike, because of the obtrusive black background.

lrk\ thus:

has also

ancestor,

has

Considering us

artistic

advantages,

we might expect

more general adoption of the white-ground technique.

Sue h however, was not the case. Instead, from the mid-filth
century on. the impact of monumental painting gradually
transformed vase painting as a whole into a satellite art that
to

reproduce large-scale compositions

shorthand dictated by

its

own

limited technique.

matic excitement

The

flee in panic.

at

artist,

on creating

him

to

maximum

shade
of dra-

hold the scene together; and, being a

he almost succeeds. Still, it is a success

second hand, for the composition must have been in-

spired by a mural or panel picture.

result,

for a lost
to

He

is,

as

it

were, battling

cause; in another hundred years, vase painting was

disappear altogether.

FOURTH-CENTURY SCULPTURE

Our

rely

too, fails to solve

not permit

spirited draftsman,

more often than not. was spotty and overcrowded.

Even the finest examples suffer from this delect, as we
can see in figure 215, which is taken from a vase produced
not very long
probably by a Greek master
in central Italy
alter 400 B.C It shows Thetis, who was about to bathe under
a fountain, being abducted by Peleus as her two girl sen ants

to

This expedient,

medium does

He thus must

or model.

kind of

in

than the other figures, and some details

in white.

his problem, since his

He

enlarge his color range: the body of Thetis

a lighter tint

have been added

scene.

tried

tried to

There

is,

unfortunately, no single word, like Archaic or Clas-

sical, that

we can use

velopment of Greek

the "Aurora Fainter," has placed

to

art

designate the third phase in the de-

from

c.

400

to the first

century

B.C.

three of the figures on a rocky slope (the fourth, intended to

The seventy-nve-year span between

he farther away, seems suspended in mid-air) in order to

nesian

suggest the spatial setting of the scene; he even shows the

fountain, in the shape of two pipes coming out of a rock in

labeled "Late Classical," and the remaining two centuries

the upper right-hand corner.

Yet the effect

remains

and a

War and

the end of the Pelopon-

the rise of Alexander the Great used to be

half, "Hellenistic." a

term meant

to

convey the spread

of Greek civilization southeastward through Asia

sil-

J
215

HE "AURORA PAINTER"

PJ

us

AND mi

Museo Nazionale

190-CRl

\l<l

r/S

Detail

<>i

dj Villa Giulia,

FaHscan vase. Early 4th century B.C

Home

Minor and

.,S

216. Reconstruction drawing of the

at

Halicarnassus (alter

Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the borders of India. It was perto expeet that the world-shaking conquests of

haps natural

Alexander in 333-323

B.C.

would

also effect an artistic revo-

lution, but the history of style is not

litical history,

and we have come

always in tune with po-

decisive break in the tradition of Creek art at

The

fourth century.

was no
the end of the

to realize that there

art of the Hellenistic era is the direct

outgrowth of developments that occurred, not at the time of

Alexander, but during the preceding fifty years.
Here, then,

is

our dilemma: "Hellenistic"

closely linked with the political

is

a concept so

and cultural consequences

we cannot very well extend it

backward to the early fourth century, although there is wide
agreement now that the art of the years 400-325 B.C can be

of Alexander's conquest that

far better

understood

if

we view

it

as pre-Hellenistic rather

than as Late Classical. Until the right word

wins general acceptance, we

existing terms as best

we

shall

have

to

is

found and

make do with

can, always keeping in

essential continuity of the "third phase" that

we

the

mind the

are about to

examine.

F.

Mausoleum
Knschen
)

216 docs not pretend to be exact in detail; it probshows fewer statues than were actually there. We do

in figure

ably

know, however, that the building rose

height of about 160

wide and 82
umns 40 feet

is

Hie contrast

strikingly

demon-

tall,

known number

of large statues, including portraits of the

deceased and their ancestors.

The commemorative and retrospective character of the

monument, based on the idea of human life as a glorious
struggle or chariot race, is entireh Greek, yet we immediately notice the un-Creek way
has been earned out. The huge
size of the tomb, and more particularly the pyramid, derive
it

from Egypt; they imply an exaltation

human
at.

gods nia\ have

Apparently Mausolus took this \iew ol him-

self as a divinely
in

temple but a huge tomb

so

huge, in

It

is

fact, th.it its

not a

name.

Mausoleum, has become a generic term for all outsized fuIt was erected at Halicarnassus in
Vsia
Minor just before and after 350 lie by Mausolus, who was
ruler of the area as a satrap of the Persians, and by bis widow

nerary monuments.

Artemisia.

The

structure

itself is

completely destroyed, but

dimensions and general appearance can be reconstructed on the basis of ancient descriptions and the excavated
fragments (including a good deal of sculpture). The drawing
its

the ruler far beyond

ol

status. His kinship with the

ordained sovereign from the Persians, who

it
from the Assyrians and Egyptians,

turn had inherited

personality as

and ambition.

The sculptural pro-

showing Lapiths battling

Centaurs. Creeks fighting Amazons, and chariot races; thru
combined length was twice that ol' the Parthenon frieze
There were also rows of caned guardian lions and an un-

although he seems

in size

feet

of three friezes

sponds

Parthenon

in three stages to a

rectangular base 117

deep supported a colonnade of Ionic coland above this rose a pyramid crowned by

feet

strated by the only project of the fourth century that correto the

tall

gram consisted

been hinted

between Classical and pre-Hellenistic

a chariot with statues of the deceased.

ordinary

THK MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS.

feet.

to

much

have wanted

to glorify his individual

as Ins high office.

The

structure em-

bodying these ambitions must have struck his contemporaries as impressive and monstrous at the same time, with its
multiple Inezes and the receding laces

ol a

pyramid

place

in

of pediments above the colonnade.

SCOPAS. According to ancient sources, the sculpture on

each of the lour sides of the monument was entrusted to a
different

master

hosen from

among

the best

the time

ol

Scopas, the most famous, did the m. un side, the one

(./;/

to the

\m

i'n

His dynamic st\le has been recognized

east.

Amazon

tions oi the

in

some

por-

such as the portion in figure 217.

can still be felt here, but there is

frieze,

lhc Parthenon tradition

umes of folds across the abdomen and below the left arm
seem designed for picturesque effect more than for functional clarity.

also a decidedly un-Classical violence, physical as well as

emotional, conveyed through strained

movements and

pas-

sionate Facial expressions (deep set eyes are a hallmark of

Scopas'

As

style).

consequence, we no longer find the

frieze; continuity and har-

rhythmic flow of the Parthenon

mony have been

sacrificed so that each figure

may have

greater scope lor sweeping, impulsive gestures. Clearly,

we

are to do justice to this explosive energetic style

not judge

it

if

we must

by Classical standards.

PRAXITELES. Some

of the features of the

sculpture recur in other important works

among

most

these

is

oi

Mausoleum

the period, fore-

the wonderful seated figure of

Demeter

from the temple of that goddess at Cnidus (fig. 219), a work

only slightly later in date than the Mausolus. Here again the

more finely textured, has an impressive volown; motifs such as the S-curve of folds across
the chest form an effective counterpoint to the shape of the

drapery, though

ume

of

its

in

body beneath. The deep-set eyes gaze into the distance with

the portrait statue presumed to represent Mausolus himself

an intensity that suggests the influence of Scopas. The modeling of the head, on the other hand, has a veiled softness
that points to an altogether different source: Praxiteles, the
master of feminine grace and sensuous evocation of flesh.
As it happens, Praxiteles' most acclaimed statue, an Aphrodite (fig. 220), was likewise made for Cnidus, although

In

"pie-Hellenistic" flavor

218).

fig

The

colossal figure

younger than Scopas and even

is

even more pronounced

must be the work of a man

encumbered by Classical

less

standards, probably Bryaxis, the master of the north side.

We know,

Roman

copies, of some Greek portraits of

seem to represent types rather than
individuals, whereas the Mausolus is both the earliest Greek
portrait to have survived in the original and the first to show

through

Classical times, but they

a clear-cut personal character. This very fact links

it

with

probably

some years

was

some Praxitelean qualities into his own

The Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles achieved such

ficulty incorporating

an important part in Hellenistic times. Nor is it

merely the head, with its heavy jaws and small, sensuous
mouth, that records the sitter's appearance; the thick neck
and the broad, fleshy body seem equally individual. The
massiveness of the forms is further emphasized by the
sharp-edged and stiff-textured drapery, which might be said

work.

to play

to encase, rather

21

than merely clothe, the body.

SCOPAS

'
I

'

'./;/

\l!l

great vol-

proverbial

fame

$51

i!

<

that she

is

often referred to in ancient litera-

synonym for absolute perfection. To what extent

her renown was based on her beauty, or on the fact that she
was (so far as we know the first completely nude cult image
of the goddess, is difficult to say, for the statue is known to
us only through Roman copies that can be no more than palture as a

BATTLt Of nil GREEKS IND IMAZONS, from the cast

359

/'<

The

than the Demeter. But his reputa-

well established

the future rather than the past, for individual likenesses

were

later

even earlier, so that the unknown

sculptor who carved the Demeter would have had no diftion

Marble, height 35" (89 cm). British

frieze of the

Mausoleum. Halicarnassus.

Museum. London

218. MAUSOLl'S, from the

Mausoleum

at

219.

Haliearnassus. 359-351 B.C. Marble,

height

lid

9' 10" (3.1

m). British

c.

Museum, London

A more

in Hellenistic

faithful

She was to have countless deand Roman art.

embodiment

of Praxitelean beauty

is

the

group of Hermes with the infant Bacchus at Olympia (fig.

221
it is of such high quality that it was long regarded as
);

very fine

own

some scholars believe to be a

Greek copy made some three centuries later. The

Praxiteles'

work. Today

it

consequence for lis. except perhaps in one

respect: it emphasizes the unfortunate fact that we do not
pave a simple undisputed original by any of the famous
sculptors of Greece. Nevertheless, the Hermes is the most
dispute

is

of little

completely Praxitelean statue

we know. The

DEMETER from (nidus

B.C

Marble, height 60"

British

reflections of the original.

scendants

340-330

lithe propor-

tions,

152 3 cm),

Museum. London

the sinuous curve of the torso, the play of gentle

curves, the sense

oi

complete relaxation (enhanced

use of an outside support

these agree well enough

Aphrodite.

We

\\ itli

many refinements here that .ire orsuch as the caressing treatment ol the

even the

hair, left

contrast, shares (he silk\ leel

.ill

(he character of the Cnidian

marble, the faint smile, the rheltingh

of the features;

that the

the

also find

dinarily lost in a copy,

bland, lyrical

l>\

lor the figure to lean against

ol

soft

"veiled" modeling

comparatively rough

the rest

ol

charm of the Hermes makes

'nidian Aphrodite

was the

artist's

it

the work

lor

Hie

easj to believe

most successful

accomplishment.

(,/;/

w,'/

19

Roman copy after an original

PRAXITELES. Marble, height 6'8" (2 m).
Vatican Museums, Rome

221.

220. CN1D1AN APHRODITE.

of

c.

300 B.C by

APOLLO BELVEDERE. The same

other statues,

all

of

them Roman

qualities recur in

PRAXITELES. HERMES,

Marble, height

many

copies of Greek works in

TV

c.

300-320 B.C. (or copy?).

Museum, Olympia

(2.2 m). Archaeological

bodied the essence of the Creek spirit. This enthusiasm tells

us a good deal not about the qualities of the Apollo Belve-

The best knownone is

most notorious is the Apollo Belvedere
interests us less for its own sake than because of
fig J.22
its tremendous popularity during the eighteenth and nine-

dere but about the character of the Creek Revival. Although

our own time takes a less enthusiastic view of the statue, we

teenth centuries. Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Goethe

and other champions of the Greek Revival (see page 619)

some day?

more

or less Pra.xitelean vein.

tempted

to sav the

i;

found

it

it

museums,

generations

1<N

Belvedere

Let us not discount the possibility that the Apollo

may again

hold a message lor our grandchildren.

the perfect exemplar of Classical beauty; plaster

casts or reproductions of
all

bom scoffing at the naivete of our forefaWho knows whether the tide of taste may not turn

bad better refrain

thers

'GREEK

art

ol

Mil

it

were thought indispensable

academies

or liberal

students grew up

in

.ills

colleges,

the belief

th.it

it

lor

LYSIPPUS. Besides Scopas and

name

Praxiteles, there

pre-llellenistic sculpture:

and

other great

em-

whose long career may have begun

in

as early as

c.

is

vet an-

Lysippus,

370

b c.

and

continued

to

the end of the century.

The main

personal style, however, are more difficult

grasp than

those of his two famous contemporaries, because of the contradictory evidence of the

reproduce his

Roman

copies that are

assumed to
work. Ancient authors praised him for replac-

Even

features of his
to

the case of the Apoxyomenos, the statue mosl in

Ills name, the evident c is l.u from con-

sistenlK linked with

liu,. 223
It shows a young athlete
leaning himseli
with a scraper, a motif often represented in Greek art limn
Classical tunes on Our version, of which onlv a single opj
has turned up so far is distinguished from all the others b)

clusive

i.

ing the canon of Polyclitus with a

produced
ism, too,

new

set of proportions that

a more slender body and a smaller head. His realwas proverbial: he is said to have had no master

other than nature

more than

itself.

But these statements describe

a general trend toward the

little

end of the fourth cen-

Certainly the proportions of Praxiteles' statues are Lysippic rather than "Polvclitan," nor could Lysippus have
tury.

been the only

artist of his

time

to

conquer new aspects of

reality.

the fact that the .inns are horizontally extended in front ol

the body. This bold thrust into space, at the cost ol obstructing the view of the torso, is a noteworth) le.it, whether or not

we

credit

pacity

to

it

Lysippus;

it

endows

the figure with a

new

a-

spontaneous three-dimensional movement

\
similar freedom is suggested by the diagonal line of the free
leg.

lor

Even the unruly

hair reflects the

new trend toward

spontaneity.

222. APOLLO

belvedere Roman marble

probably of a Greek original

of

copy,

the late 4th (or

223.

lsi

century B.C Height 7'4" (2.3 m). Vatican Museums.

Home

iPOXYOMENOS SCRAPER

probably after

Height 6'9"

Roman marble copy

330 B.C l>\ LYSIPPUS.

m) Vatican Museums Home

bronze original

"I

<

(.in

\i:i

195

224. DYING

GAUL Roman copy

after a

Marble,

bronze original of

lifesize.

Museo

Of the

enterprises sponsored by Alexander the Great,

bundled years of the Hellenistic

first

era.

Even

B.c from

Pergamum, Turkey.

Rome

and pathos.

Clearly, the

ered unworthy foes. "They

such as the numerous portraits of the great conqueror by

Lysippus, no direct evidence survives. In fact, we know very
little of the development of Greek sculpture as a whole during the

230-220

able dignity

HELLENISTIC SCULPTURE
artistic

c.

Capitolino.

after

we have few fixed points of reference; of the large

number of works at our disposal only a small fraction can be
that,

to date and place of origin. Moreover,

Greek sculpture was now being produced throughout a vast
territory, and the interplay of local and international currents must have formed a complex pattern, a pattern of

Gauls were not consid-

knew how

to die,

barbarians

though they were," is the thought conveyed by the statue.

Yet we also sense something else, an animal quality that had
never before been part of Greek images of men. Death, as we
witness it here, is a very concrete physical process: no longer able to move his legs, the Gaul puts all his waning
if to prevent some tremendous
weight from crushing him against the ground.

strength into his arms, as

visible

in-

securely identified as

which we can trace only some

is

isolated strands.

One

Pergamum

northwestern Asia Minor) between

(a city in

of

work of the late third century B.C., contemporary with the

Dying Caul. A drunken satyr is sprawled on a rock, asleep in

c.

the heavy-breathing, unquiet

of these

represented by tbe bronze groups dedicated by Attalus

240 and 200 B.C. to celebrate his victories over the Gauls. The
Gauls were a Celtic tribe that had entered Asia Minor and
kept raiding tbe Greek states there until Attalus forced them
to settle down; we meet them a few centuries later as the
Galatians

Paul's Epistle.

St.

DYING GAUL. The

statues

were reproduced

feat

in

marble

ha\ e had a special interest

with

eltic tribes in

11

fig,

1.

The

sculptor

have known the Gauls well,

the ethnic

type

shoe k of ban

for the

the Gauls' de-

Romans (who may

them because

of their troubles

northwestern Europe), and a

these copies have survived

GauU

commemorating

number of

including the famous Dying

who conceived
for lie

(he figure must

has carefully rendered

the facial Structure and in the bristly

The torque around

the neck

is

another charac-

Otherwise, however, the Gaul

teristicall) Celtic feature
shares the heroic nudity of Greek warriors sin h as those on
the Aegina pediments sec fig. 179); and if his agony seems
i

infinite!)

I'll,

more

(.!<!! k

\l:i

realistic

in

comparison,

it

still

BARBER1N1 FAUN. A similar exploration of uncontrolled

may be seen in the Barberini Faun (fig.
225), probably a very fine Roman copy after a Hellenistic
bodilv responses

has consider-

manner

of the inebriated.

He

obviously dreaming, and the convulsive gesture of the

right .irm and the troubled expression of the lace betray the

is

passionate, disturbing nature of his dream. Here again

we

witness a partial uncoupling of body and mind, no less persuasive than in the Dying Caul.

PERGAMUM ALTAR. Some decades later, we find a second sculptural style flourishing at Pergamum. About 180
had a mighty altar
B.C., the son and successor of Attalus
erected on a hill above the city to commemorate his father's
victories. Much of the sculptural decoration has been recov1

ered h\ excavation, and the entire west front of the altar is to

he seen in Berlin fig. 226). It is an impressive structure in(

deed.

The

altar

proper occupies the center of a rectangular

which rises on a tall

monumental flight of stairs

court surrounded by an Ionic colonnade

base about 100

feet

square; a

leads to the court on the west side

of such great size

seem

to

fig.

227). Altar structures

have been an Ionian tradition

since Archaic tunes, but the

Pergamum

Altar

is

the most

225. BARBER1N1 FAUN.

of

c.

Staatliche

226.

The west

Roman copy

lifesize.

Antikensammlungen, Munich

Zeus at Pergamum
Pergamonmuseum. Berlin

front of the Altar of

of a Greek original

220 B.C Marble, over

restored

I.

227. Plan of the AJtar of Zeus

Pergamum

(after

J.

at

Schrammen)

GREEK ART- 197

228.

the east side of the Great Frieze of the Altar of Zeus at

ATHENA AND ALCYONEUS, from

C.

180

B.C.

Marble, height 7'6" (2.3 m).

The carving

elaborate of all, as well as the only one of which considerable

portions have survived.

Its

boldest feature

is

the great frieze

covering the base, 400 feet long and between 7 and 8 feet

Pergamonmuseum,

Pergamum.

Berlin

of the frieze,

though not very subtle

in detail,

has tremendous dramatic force; the heavy, muscular bodies

rushing at each other, the strong accents of light and dark,

almost detached from the background, have the scale and

the beating wings and wind blown garments are almost

overwhelming in their dynamism. A writhing movement

weight of pedimental statues without the confining triangu-

pervades the entire design,

The huge

tall.

tli.it

caned

to

such a depth that they are

unique compound of two separate traditions

represents a thundering climax in the development of

frame

lar

figures,

Greek architectural sculpture (fig. 228).

be subject, the battle of the gods and giants, is a traditional one for Ionic friezes; we saw it before on the Siphnian
I

Treason (compare

fig.

a novel significance,

symbolize the victories

tory into
art for a

Pergamum, however, it has

is meant to
Such a translation of hisof Attains
177). At

since the victory of the gods

I.

mythology bad been an established device m ( licek

long tune; \ k lories over the Persians were habitual-

down

to the last lock of hair, link-

ing the victors and the vanquished in a single continuous

rhythm.

It is

this

sense of unity that disciplines the physical

and thus keeps it

and emotional

violence- of the struggle

but just barely

from exploding

its

architectural frame.

NIkK OF SAMOTHRACE. Equally dramatic in its impact

another great victory monument of the early second cen-

is

B.C., the Nike ofSamothrace (fig. 229). The goddess has

descended to the prow of a ship; her great wings spread
wide, she is still partly air-borne by the powerful head wind

tury
just

ly represented in terms of Lapiths battling Centaurs or

(.neks fighting Amazons. But to place Attains m analogy

against which she advances. Ibis invisible force of onrush-

ing air here

becomes

with the gods themselves implies an exaltation of the ruler

the forward

movement

thai

is

Oriental rather than Greek in origin. Since the time

Mausolus,

who may have been

Greek

the idea

soil

Alexandei the
lessei
"I

Pergamum

'is

Ireal

sovereigns

.(.HI

Mil

ol

first

to

introduce

it

ol

on

divine kingship bad been adopted by

and

who

the

it

continued

to flourish

among

the

divided his realm, such as the rulers

fold of the

a tangible reality;

it

not only balances

of the figure but also shapes every

wonderfully animated drapery. As a result, there

an active relationship indeed, an interdependence between the statue and the space that envelops it. such as we
have never seen before. Nor shall we see it again lor a long

is

nine

lame

io
.is

come. The Nike ofSamothrace deserves all of her

the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture.

229. NIKE

OF SAMOTHRACE

C.

200

100 B.C

Marble, height

8' (2.4

m) Museedu Louvre. Pans

i,

HI

K Mil

/w

230. im LAOCOQNGROUP Roman copy, perhaps after

AGESANDER, ATHENODORUS, and POLYDORUS OF RHODES
(present state former restorations removed).

Marble height

./</

Mil

7' (2.1

m). Vatican

1st

century \i>

Museums, Rome

LAOCOON.

Until the Nike

was discovered over

hundred

years ago, the most admired work of 1 lellenistic statuary had

been a group showing the death of Laocoon and his two sons
230). It had been found in Rome as early as 1506 and

(fig.

had made a tremendous impression on Michelangelo and

countless others. The history of its fame is rather like that of
the Apollo Belvedere; the two were treated as complementary,

the Apollo exemplifying harmonious beauty, the La-

ocoon sublime tragedy. Today

the group

somewhat

we tend

to find

the pathos of

calculated and rhetorical;

its

meticu-

lous surface finish strikes us as a display of virtuoso tech-

nique. In style, including the relieflike spread of the three

figures,

it

although
conscious.

descends from the Pergamum frieze,

dynamism has become uncomfortably self-

clearly
its
It

was long accepted

identified with a

Polydorus of Rhodes that the

in the palace of the

Roman copy

as a

Greek

original

and

group by Agesander, Athenodorus, and

Emperor

Roman writer
now it is

Titus;

Pliny mentions

thought

to

be a

or reconstruction of a late Hellenistic work. For

Romans, the subject must have held a special meaning:

punishment meted out to Laocoon and his sons
forewarned Aeneas of the fall of Troy and caused him to flee
that city in time. Since Aeneas was believed to have come to
Italy and to have been the ancestor of Romulus and Remus,
the death of Laocoon could be viewed as the first link in a
chain of events that ultimately led to the founding of Rome.
the

the divine

232. VEILED DANCER.

200

C.

B.C.?

Bron/e

statuette,

height 8'/2 " (22 cm). Collection Walter C. Baker,

PORTRAITS.

New

an important branch of Greek

Portraiture,

sculpture since the fourth century, continued

to flourish in

known

Hellenistic times. Its achievements, however, arc

us only indirectly,

One

of the few originals

Delos, a

not

work of the

made

is

early

the very

first

The

known. Whoever he was, we

to

copies,

bronze head from

\i\icl

century

B.C

as a bust but. in accordance with

part of a full-length statue.

him

Roman

most part through

lor the

York

fig

231

I,

was

It

Greek custom, as

identity of the sitter

un-

is

get an intensely private view of

The fluid modsomewhat flabby features, the uncertain, plainmouth, the unhappy c\cs under furrowed brows reveal
that immediately captures our interest.

eling of the
tive

an Individual beset In doubts and anxieties, an extremely

human, unheroic

personality.

thos in these features, but

Men

chological terms.

had surely existed

exist today Yet

There are echoes of Greek

is

STATUETTES.
Bronze, height

National Archeological

Ki"

c.

80

B.C.

(32 cm).

Museum, Athens

must

haracter

Greek world,

just

traits

.is

they

significant that the inner complexity ol

such men could be conveyed by a work of

Greek independence, culturally as well .is
about to conic to an end

231. PORTRAIT HEAD, from Delos.

pa-

pathos translated into psy-

of these particular

earlier in the

is

it

it

Before

we

only

art

when
was

politically,

leave Hellenistic sculpture,

cast at least a passing glance at another aspect ol

represented by the enchanting bronze statuette

dancer

(fig,

232

I.

She introduces us

to

ol a

we
it.

veiled

the vast variety of

(,;;;

\iii

20

WINGED GOD

233.

Diameter

1
'

Silver coin

from Peparcthus.

" (3.7 cm). British

c.

500

234. SILENUS. Silver coin from Naxos.

B.C.

Museum, London

Diameter

'/>"

(3.3 cm). British

c. 415-400 B.C.
Museum, London

236

235. APOLLO Silver coin from Catana.

Diameter

l'/"

(3 cm). British

237.

.(

HI

\IU

1
'

"

3 .3

cm

).

Silver

British

460

B.C.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT WITH AMUN HORNS. Four-drachma

by Lysimachus. c. 300 B.c Diameter I'/h" (3 cm)

silver coin issued

ANT1MACHUS OF BACTRIA

Diameter

." >"*,

c.

Museum, London

com.

c.

185 B.C

Museum, London

small-scale works produced for private ownership.

pieces were collected in

much

the

same way

Such

Characteristically enough, the finest coins of

An

and

hai<

as painted

Classical Greece were usually produced not by the most

vases had been in earlier times; and, like vase pictures, they
show a range of subject matter far broader than that of

powerful states such as Athens. Corinth, or Sparta, hut by

the lesser ones along the peripherv of the (.reek world Our

monumental

first example (fig. 233), from (he Aegean island of IVp.iiethus, reflects the origin of coinage: a square die deeply em-

sculpture. Besides the familiar mythological

themes we encounter a wealth

oi'

gars, street entertainers, peasants,

The grotesque,

everyday subjects: beg-

young

ladies of fashion.

the humorous, the picturesque

qualities

that rarely enter into Greek monumental art

play a conspicuous role here. At their best, as in our example, these
small figures have an imaginative freedom rarely matched

on

a larger scale.

The bold

spiral twist of the veiled dancer,

bedded

Archaic

art.

Naxosin
fills

tightlv as

multiplicity of interesting views that practically forces the

ingly

to

dinary

the rich interplay of concave

is

turn the statuette in his hands.

intriguing contrast between the

No

less extraor-

and convex forms, the

compact silhouette of the

and the mobility of the body within. If we only knew

when and where this little masterpiece was made!
figure

COINS
We rarely

think of coins as works of

art,

and the great major-

to

the frame,

down

Sicily

to

if

monumental

ganic

vitality of

On

com from

the

was struck

maker. Herakleidas, and

fits

Our

as

it

astonish-

third coin (fig.

or-

235)

town of Catana toward the end of

in the Sicilian

the Peloponnesian War.

An

a barrel.

he shows the articulation and

figure,

the Severe Style.

is

It

signed with the

name

well deserves to be, for

it

is

it

of

its

one

oi

Who

the true masterpieces of Greek coinage.

would have
thought it possible to endow the full-face view of a head in
low relief with such plasticity! This radiant image of Apollo
has all the swelling roundness of the mature Classical style.
Its grandeur completely transcends the limitations of the

many rewards, but visual delight is the least of these.

many Greek coins form an exception to this general rule, it is

gan to show
Alexander at

II

summarv-in-mmiature of

he were squatting inside

tiny scale of a coin.

of

is

the ubiquitous smile-.

234), almost half a century later, the die

fig.

them do not encourage us to do so. The study of their

history and development, known as numismatics, offers
ity

god, his pinwheel stance so per-

the entire area of the coin; the drinking Silenus

reinforced by the diagonal folds of the drapery, creates a

beholder

The winged

adapted

fectlv

in a rather shapeless pellet, like an impression

sealing wax.

From

the time of Alexander the Great onward, coins beprofile portraits of rulers.

The successors of

not simply because they are the earliest (the idea of stamp-

put his features on their coins to emphasize their link with the deified conqueror. Such a piece is

ing metal pellets of standard weight with an identifying de-

shown

sometime before 600 B.C.

postage stamps were no more distin-

sign originated in Ionian Greece

after

all,

the

first

);

guished than their present-day descendants. The reason,

rather, is the persistent individualism of

Every city-state had

ticular

its

own

Greek

political

coinage, adorned with

emblem, and the designs were changed

intervals so as to take

account of

at

its

in figure 236;

Alexander here displays the horns

him with the ram-headed Egyptian god Amun.

His "inspired" expression, conveyed by the half-open mouth
and the upward-looking eyes, is as characteristic of the emoidentifying

life.

tionalism of Hellenistic art as are the fluid modeling of the

par-

and the agitated, snakelike hair. As a likeness, this

head can have only the most tenuous relation to the way
Alexander actually looked; vet this idealized image of the allconquering genius projects the flavor of the new era more

frequent

treaties, victories, or

occasions for local pride. As a consequence, the

first

other

number

of

features

coins struck at any one time remained relatively small, while

eloquently than do the large-scale portraits of Alexander.

number of coinages was large.

The constant demand for new designs produced highly
skilled specialists who took such pride in their work that

their coins, the likenesses

they sometimes even signed

machus

Once

the

Greek coins thus are not only

an invaluable source of historical knowledge but an authentic expression of the changing Greek sense of form. Within
their own compass, they illustrate the development of Greek
sculpture from the sixth to the second century B C. as faithfully as the larger works we have examined. And since they
form a continuous series, with the place and date of almost
every item well established, they reflect this development
more fully in some respects than do the works of monumental art.

it.

the Hellenistic rulers started putting themselves on

became more

the most astonishing of these

at

of

Bactria

(fig.

237)

individual. Perhaps
is

the head of Anti-

present-day Afghanistan

),

which stands

the opposite end of the scale from the Alexander-Amun.

man of sharp intelligence and

perhaps about himself and others, and, in
any event, without any desire for self-glorification. This penIts

mobile features show a

wit. a bit skeptical

etratingly

human

portrait

seems

to point

the

way

bronze bead from Delos (fig 231 a hundred years

has no counterpart in the monumental sculpture of
)

time,

and thus helps

to

fill

an important nap

to the

Liter
its

It

own

our knowl-

edge of Hellenistic portraiture

(./;// k

\m

203

CHAPTER

SIX

ETRUSCAN
ART

Mild

50

The

Italian

peninsula did not emerge into the light

of

history

grew into the head

appeared on the vessel

peninsula only

of throne to indicate high rank

Greeks began

earliest
Italy

in the

and

in Sicily.

eighth century
to settle

Even

sical (Jreek historian

B.C.,

about the time the

along the southern shores of

earlier, if

we

are to believe the Clas-

Herodotus, another great migration

had taken place: the Etruscans had left their homeland of

Lydia in Asia Minor and settled in the area between Florence and Rome, which to this day is known as Tuscany, the
country of the Tusci or Etrusci. Who were the Etruscans?
Did they really come from Asia Minor? Strange as it may
seem, Herodotus' claim is still the subject of lively debate
among scholars. We know that the Etruscans borrowed
their alphabet from the Greeks toward the end of the eighth
century, but their language
of which our understanding is
as yet very limited
has no kin among any known tongues.
Culturally and artistically, the Etruscans are strongly
linked with Asia Minor and the ancient Near East, yet they
also show many traits for which no parallels can be found
anywhere. Might they not, then, be a people whose presence
on Italian soil goes back to before the Indo-European migrations of about 2000-1200 B.C. that brought the Mycenaeans
and the Dorian tribes to Greece and the ancestors of the Romans to Italy? If so, the sudden flowering of Etruscan civilization from about 700 B.C. onward could have resulted from
a fusion of this prehistoric Italian stock with small but powerful groups of seafaring invaders from Lydia in the course
of the eighth century. Interestingly enough, such a hypoth-

esis

comes very

Romans

close to the legendary origin of

hum. m shape:

time, the pottery urns gradually took on

The Bronze Age, which emerged first in

Mesopotamia around 4000 B.C., came to an end in the Italian
until fairly late.

lid

the

and body markings

which could be placed on a sort

of the deceased,
itself,

(fig.

238). Alongside the

modest beginnings of funerary sculpture, we

evidence of great wealth

find

sudden

form of exquisite goldsmith's

work decorated with motifs familiar from the Orientalizing
in the

Greek vases of the same period (see fig. 159), intermingled

with precious objects imported from the ancient Near East.
The seventh and sixth centuries C saw the Etruscans at
is

the height

of their

power. Their cities rivaled those of the

fleet dominated the western Mediterranean

and protected a vast commercial empire competing with the
Greeks and Phoenicians, and their territory extended as far
as Naples in the south and the lower Po valley in the north.
Rome itself was ruled by Etruscan kings for about a century,

Greeks, their

until the establishing of the

threw the

first

swampy

Republic in 510

B.C.

defensive wall around the seven

The kings

hills,

drained

Forum, and built the original temple on the Capitoline Hill, thus making a city out of what had
been little more than a group of villages before.
the

plain of the

Rome; the

believed that their city had been founded in 753

B.C.

by the descendants of refugees from Troy (see page 201) in

Was this perhaps an Etruscan story which the

Romans later made their own, along with a great many other

Asia Minor.

things they took from their predecessors?

What the Etruscans themselves believed about their oriwe do not know. The only Etruscan writings that have
come down to us are brief funerary inscriptions and a few
somewhat longer texts relating to religious ritual, though
gin

Roman

authors

We

existed.

tell

us that a rich Etruscan literature once

would, in

the Etruscans at

first

tombs, which the

fact,

know

hand were

Romans

practically nothing about

it

not for their elaborate

did not molest

stroyed or rebuilt Etruscan cities and

survived intact until

modern

when

they de-

which therefore have

times.

Bronze Age burials had been of the modest sort

found elsewhere in prehistoric Europe: the remains of the
deceased, contained in a pottery vessel or urn, were placed
Italian

simple

pit along with the equipment they required in

weapons for men, jewelry and household tools for
women). In Mycenaean Greece, this primitive cult of the
dead had been elaborated under Egyptian influence, as
shown by the monumental beehive tombs. Something very
similar happened eight centuries later in Tuscany. Toward
700 B.C., Etruscan tombs began to imitate, in stone, the inte-

in a

afterlife

riors of actual dwellings,

covered by great conical

earth; they could be roofed by vaults or

domes

at

Mycenae

(see

h<4.

147).

of

was the TreaAnd at the same

zontal, overlapping courses of stone blocks, as

sury of Atreus

mounds

built of hori-

238. Human-headed cinerary urn

c.

675-650

B.C Terracotta, height 25 Vi' (64.7 cm).

Museo

Etrusco. Chiusi, ItaJv

//;/ s<

\\

\m

205

206

'i

mi a

\ki

240. Sarcophagus, from Cerveteri.

length 6'7" (2 m).

But the Etruscans,

nation; they

like the

Creeks, never formed a unified

were no more than

a loose federation of indi\ id-

ual city-states given to quarreling

anions themselves and

enemy. During the fifth and
fourth centuries B.C., one Etruscan city alter another succumbed to the Romans; by the end of the third, all of them
had lost their independence, although many continued to
slow

to

unite against a

prosper,

if

we

common

are to judge by the richness of their

during the period of

c.

Museo NazionaJe

tombs

520 B(

Rome

expanded. The deceased themselves could now be represented full-length, reclining on the lids of sarcophagi shaped
like couches, as if they were participants in a festive repast,
an Archaic smile about their lips. The monumental example
in figures 239 and 240 shows a husband and wife side by

side, strangely gay

work

is

and majestic at the same time. The entire

was once painted in bright colors

of terracotta and

The smoothly rounded,

trast to

the Creek love

forms betray the Etruscan

modeling m soli materials, m con-

elastic

sculptor's preference for

political decline.

Tombs and Their Decoration

The flowering

Terracotta,

di Villa Giulia.

ol

stone carving; there

is

discipline here but an extraordinary directness

less formal

and

vivacity.

of Etruscan civilization thus coincides with

It was during this period, espenear the end of the sixth and early in the fifth century
that Etruscan art showed its greatest vigor. Creek Ar-

EARLY FUNERARY BELIEFS. We do not know precisely

what ideas the Archaic Etruscans held about the afterlife
Effigies such as our reclining couple, which for the first

chaic influence had displaced the Orientalizing tenden-

time in history represent the deceased as thoroughl) alive

and enjoying themselves, surest that they regarded the
tomb as an abode not onl\ lor the bod\ but lor the soul as

the Archaic age in Greece.

cially

lie,

many

Creek vases have been found in

Etruscan tombs of that time but Etruscan artists did not
simplv imitate their Hellenic models. Working in a very difcies

of the finest

ferent cultural setting, they retained their

own

clear-cut

identity.

One might

expect

wane under Greek

case.

On

to

see the Etruscan cult of the dead

influence, but that

was by no means the

the contrary, the tombs and their equipment grew

more elaborate

as the capacities of the sculptor and painter

welli in contrast to the Egyptians,

living.

How

else are

we

wonderfully rich arraj

bers? Since nothing
tory,

239. (opposite) Detail of sarcophagus, from Cerveteri.

Terracotta.

Museo Nazionale

di Villa Giulia,

c.

Rome

520 B.C

who thought

of the soul as

roaming Freeh and whose Itinera) \ sculpture therefore remained "inanimate"). Or perhaps the Etruscans believed
that by filling the tomb with banquets, dancing, games, and
similar pleasures the) (.mild induce the soul to stay put in
the city of the dead and therefore not haunt the realm of the

the)

.ire

achievement

ol

understand the purpose of the

murals in these lunerar\ chamthe son has survived in Greek terrilo

ol

uniquel) important, not onl) as an Etruscan

bill

also as a possible reflection ol

Creek wall

painting.

ltd

s(

\\

Mil

207

241.

Tomb

242 Wall painting

//,'/

\\

ARI

of

Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia,

detail

Italy, c.

520 B.C

520 B.C Tomb of Hunting and Fishing Tarquinia,

Italy

243. MUSICIANS

TOMB OF HUNTINC; AND

astonishing of murals

all

AND TWO DANCERS. Detail of a wall painting,

Tomb of the Lionesses. Tarqumia. Italy

FISHING. Perhaps the most

Tomb of Hunting
520 b.c Figure 24 shows the

are found in the

and Fishing at Tarquinia of c.

Beat marine panorama at one end of the low chamber: a
vast, eontinuous expanse of water and skv in which the
fishermen, and the hunter with Ins slingshot, play only an
1

242). The free, rhythmic movement of

fita..
and dolphins is strangely reminiscent of Minoan painting of a thousand years earlier see fi. 139), but the weightincidental part

birds

less, floating quality

recall Exekias'

of Cretan

Dionysus

in a

art is

Boat

absent.

see

fig.

We

might also

161 las the clos-

Greek counterpart to our scene. The differences here,

however, are as revealing as the similarities, and one wonders if any Creek Archaic artist knew how to place human
est

c.

480-470

B.C.

89? Ihe\ seem the most convincing precedent for the genconception of our subject II so. the Ktruscan artist lias

eral

brought the scene

figure

to life,

.is

the reclining couple in

to life

compared with Egyptian

just

240 has been brought

funerary statues

rOMBOF

fill

LIONESSES.

from another tomb in rarquinia

somewhat

(fig

243

later example
shows a pair of
then- movements

dan< ers; the passionate energy ol

again strikes us as h.uai teristK alb Etruscan rather than

ecstatic

Greek in spirit, oi parti< ular interest is the transparent garment of the woman, which lets the bod) shine through; in
Greece, this differentiation appears onlj

lew years earlier

figures in a natural setting as effectively as the Etruscan

phase oi Archaic vase painting fne contrasting

body color of the two figures continues a pra< tice introduced

painter did. Could the mural have been inspired by Egyptian

by the Egyptians more than two thousand years befon

scenes of hunting

fig.

in the

marshes, such as the one

in figure

in the final

86).

mi

s<

i\

Ma

s<

LATER

During the fifth century,

must have become a good
festive. We notice the change

more complex and less

we ompare the group
immediatel)

deal

it

ary

244, a ciner-

in figure

container carved of soft local stone soon after 400

with

the foot of the couch, but she

is

B.C.,

time

lias

Classical

the

met

Greek

same
is

art

reflected:

human

new mood

supernatural forces; death

is

is

air of the

the influence of

to

style of our group. At

and rehands of inexorable

of uncertainty

in the

the great divide rather than a

on earth.
In later tombs, the demons of death gain an ever more
fearful aspect; other, more terrifying demons enter the

continuation, albeit on a different plane, of

life

scene, often battling against benevolent spirits for posses-

masonry construction

other purposes, rejected

for

lor reli-

The

One

demons

the simpler Greek temples

tinctive features,

some

(fig.

to

246), but with several dis-

of these later perpetuated by the Ro-

mans. The entire structure rests on a tall base, or podium,

that is no wider than the cella and has steps only on the
south side; these lead to a deep porch, supported by two
rows of four columns each, and to tfie cella beyond. The
cella is generally subdivided into three compartments, for
Etruscan religion was dominated by a
decessors of the

Roman

triad of gods,

the pre-

Juno. Jupiter, and Minerva.

The

Etruscan temple, then, must have been of a squat, squarish

shape compared

more
say,

to

the graceful Greek sanctuaries, and

closely linked with domestic architecture. Needless to

it

provided no place for stone sculpture; the plastic

decoration usually consisted of terracotta plaques covering

center of figure 245. a tomb of the third century

the architrave and the edges of the roof. Only after 400 B.C.
do we occasionally bnd large-scale terracotta groups designed to fill the pediment above the porch.

lie at Cerveteri, richly

of these

decorated with stucco reliefs rather

than paintings. The entire chamber, cut into the

live rock,

closely imitates the interior of a house, including the

of the roof

wood.

ap-

sion of the soul of the deceased.

peal's in the

built of

design of their sanctuaries bears a general resemblance

some extent

destiny

wore

Vpparently the Etruscans, although they wore masters of

young

which pervades the

time, however, a

vived, since the buildings themselves

not the wife of the

come." The thoughtful, melancholy

to

stone foundations of Etruscan temples have sur-

gious reasons the use of stone in temple architecture.

two figures may be due

tin'

sits at

man; her wings indicate that she is the demon of death,

and the scroll in her left hand records the fate of the dehe young man is pointing to it as if to say, "Behold,
t eased.

my

Only

woman now

predecessor in figure 240. The

its

Temples and Their Decoration

NERARi BELIEFS.

the Etruscan view of the hereafter

The sturdy

pilasters

beams

note the capitals, which re-

VEIL We know, however,

of one earlier attempt

and

an

reproductions of weapons, armor, household implements,

monumental
sculpture on the exterior of an Etruscan temple. The socalled Temple of Apollo at Veii, not very far north of Rome, a

small domestic animals, and busts of the deceased. In such

structure of standard type in every other respect, had four

call

the Aeolian type from Asia Minor;

194), as well as

fig.

the wall surfaces between the niches, are covered with exact

a setting,

the snake-legged

demon and

his three-headed

hound (whom we recognize as Cerberus, the guardian

the infernal regions) seem particularly disquieting.

244.

of

astonishingly bold one

lifesize terracotta statues

to find a

on the ridge of its roof (seen also in

fig. 246). They formed a dramatic

the reconstruction model,

group of the

sort

we might expect

YOUTH iND DEMON OF DEATH Cinerary container

Early 4ih century B.C Stone (pietra fetida),

length IT"

>ln-

hi

s(

\i:i

19.4 cm).

place for

Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence

in

Greek pedimental

245. Burial chamber.

Tomb

246. Reconstruction of an Etruscan temple

of the Reliefs. Cerveteri,

Italy.

3rd century B.C

Istitutodi Etruscologia e Vntichita Italiche

niversirv oi

Rome

//;/

s<

\\

\i:i

21

st

ulpture the

ontesl

hind, in the present e

these figures

is

masterpiece

ol

ol

len ules and Apollo for the sacred

ol oilier deities.

the Apollo

fig.

2.

17

i,

best preserved of

acknowledged

Etruscan Archaic sculpture.

body, completely revealed beneath the

ol

The

to

be the

massive

lis

ornamental striatums

the drapery; the sinewy, muscular legs; the hurried, pur-

poseful stride

all

these betray an expressive power thai has

no counterpart

in

free-standing Greek statues of the

same

was indeed a sculptural center at the end of the

seems to be confirmed In the Roman tradition

that the last ol the

master from

Veii to

Etruscan rulers of the

make

city called

//:/

SCAN \KI

17")

:<

.1

the temple on the C'apitoline

Hill.
This image has disapmore famous symbol of Rome, the
the she-wolf that nourished Romulus and
existence fig. 248
The two babes are Re-

peared, hut an even

bronze figure of

Remus,

is still

c. 510B.C
Museo Nazionale di

247. \POLLO from Veii

height 69"

on

the terracotta image of Jupiter for

in

).

naissance additions, and the early history of the statue

date

'/.'/

lh.it Veii

sixth century

Terracotta,
Villa Giulia,

Home

is

ob-

248. she-wolf

c.

500

B.C.

Bronze, height 33'/2 " (85 cm).

Museo

Capitolino.

Rome

some scholars, therefore, have even suspected it of

being a medieval work. Nevertheless, it is almost surely an
Etruscan Archaic original, for the wonderful ferocity of exscute;

pression, the latent physical

power of the body and

have the same awesome quality

we sense

in the Apollo

legs,

from

In any event, the she-wolf as the totemic animal of

Veii.

Rome

has the strongest links with Etruscan mythology, in

to have played an important part from

which wolves seem

verv early times.

Portraiture

and Metalwork

The Etruscan concern with

effigies of the

lead us to expect an early interest

deceased might

individual portraiture.

Yet the features of such funerary images as those in figures

240 and 244 are entirely impersonal, and it was only toward
300 B.C., under the influence of Greek portraiture, that indi-

vidual likenesses began to appear in Etruscan sculpture.

The

finest of

them

are not funerary portraits,

which tend

be rather crude and perfunctory, but the heads

to

bronze

of

statues. Portrait of a
its

to

Boy (fig. 249) is a real masterpiece of

modeling lends a special poignancy
the sensitive mouth and the gentle, melancholy eyes.
kind; the firmness of

No

less impressive is the very high quality of the

and finishing, which bears out the ancient lame

<

.isini'j.

of

die

249

I'oiii

height 9"

\n

i<

<>i

<

boi Earl)

Jrd

Museo Archeology

century

Bronze

B.<

o Nazionale, Floreru e

//,'/

s<

\\

\i;i

even the Romans were

prestige;

them before any major

I

as the

Romans

in the habit of

called the art of interpreting

traced back to ancient Mesopotamia

unknown

in

Greece

consulting

public or private event. Divination

but

omens can
)

be

the practice was not

the Etruscans carried

it

further

than any of their predecessors. They put especial trust in the

animals, on which, they thought, the

livers of sacrificial

gods had inscribed the hoped-for divine message. In fact.

they viewed the liver as a sort of microcosm, divided into regions that corresponded, in their minds, to the regions of the

Weird and irrational as they were, these practices bepart of our cultural heritage, and echoes of them persist to this day. True, we no longer try to tell the future by
watching the flight of birds or examining animal livers, but
skv.

came

tea leaves and horoscopes are still prophetic to many people;

and we speak ol auspicious events, that is. of events indicating a favorable future, unaware that "auspicious" originally
referred to a favorable flight of birds. Perhaps we do not believe very seriously that four-leaf clovers bring good luck and

black cats bad luck, yet a surprising

number

of us admit to

being superstitious.

The

Architecture of Cities

Roman

Etruscans were masters of

and of town planning and surveyThat the Romans learned a good deal from them can

According

to

writers, the

architectural engineering,
ing.

hardly be doubted, but exactly

250. Engraved back of a mirror,
Bronze, diameter 6"

15.3 cm). Vatican

c.

400

B.C.

contributed to

Museums, Rome

Roman

how much

architecture

hardly anything of Etruscan or early

is

the Etruscans

difficult to say, since

Roman

architecture re-

mains standing above ground. Roman temples certainly retained many Etruscan features, and the atrium, the central
ballot the Roman house (see fig. 275), likewise originated in
Etruria. In town planning and surveying, too, the Etruscans
Etruscans as master craftsmen

in metal.

Their

ability in this

was of lout; standing, for the wealth of Etruria was

founded on the exploitation of copper and iron deposits.
From the sixth century on, they produced vast quantities of
bronze statuettes, mirrors, and such, both for export and do-

respect

The charm

mestic consumption.

of these small pieces

is

well

displayed by the engraved design on the hack of a mirror

done soon

400

alter

u reath of vines,

we

examining

chas,

that

(fig.

250). Within an undulating

see a winged old man. identified as Chal-

roundish object. The draftsmanship

and assured

beautifully balanced

sume

B.C

Classic. il

Greek

ail

that

we

was the

is

so

are tempted to asdirect

source of

have a good claim to priority over the Greeks. The original

of the Etruscans, Tuscany, was too hilly to en-

homeland

courage geometric schemes; however, when they colonized

the flatlands south of Rome in the sixth century, they laid
out their newly founded cities as a network of streets centering on the intersection of two main thoroughfares, the cardo

(which ran north and south and the decumanus which ran
and west). The four quarters thus obtained could be
further subdivided or expanded, according to need. This system, which the Romans adopted for the new cities they were
to found throughout Italy, western Europe, and North
Africa, max have been derived from the plan of Etruscan
)

camps. Yet

military

inspiration.

liefs that

DIVINATION
this

ma\

can

for

ficial

So

far as the style of

our piece

well he the case, hut the subject

the

winged genius

is

gazing

at

is

is

concerned.

uniquely Etrus-

We

arc witnessing a practice that loomed as large in the

ans as the care of the dead: the search for

omens or portents he EtTUS< ans believed that the will of
I

the gods manifested

itself

through si^ns

world such as thunderstorms or the

in

the natural

flight ol birds,

and

ih.a

h\ reading them people could find out whether the gods

he priests who
smiled or frowned upon then enterprises
knew the sec ret language ol these si'j,ns enjoyed enormous
I

III

S(

also

it

to the points of the

along

north-south

seems

to reflect the religious be-

the Etruscans divide the sky into regions ac-

compass and place

their temples

axis.

The Etruscans must also have taught the Romans how to

bridges, drainage systems, and aque-

build fortifications,

lives ol the EtTUS(

'/

made

cording

the liver of a sacri-

animal

east

\\

Mil

ducts, but very

these
is

fields.

The

remains of their vast enterprises

little

only truly impressive surviving

in

monument

the Porta Augusta in Perugia, a fortified city gate of the

second century B.<

fig,
251). The gate itself, recessed
between two massive towers, is not a mere entry but an architectural facade The tall opening is spanned by a semicircular arch framed by a molding; above it is a balustrade of
I

dwarl pilasters alternating with round shields, a pattern ob-

251. Porta Augusta, Perugia. 2nd century B.C

viously derived from the triglyphs

and metopes of the Doric

supports a second arched opening (now

flanked by two larger pilasters.
frieze;

it

UK ARCH. The

arches here are true, which

are constructed of

wedge-shaped blocks,

means

of masonry or brickwork

like the

the Lion Gate at Mycenae,

fig.

of horizontal courses

opening above the

152).

The

from the

they

called voussoirs,

).

composed

to

true arch

each pointing toward the center of the semicircular opening

(sec fig. 252 Such an arch is strong and self-sustaining, in
contrast to the "false" arch

monumental architecture. In Mesopotamia, the

was used for city gates (see fig. 121 and perhaps
elsewhere as well to what extent we cannot determine for
lack of preserved examples. The Greeks knew the principle
unsuited

filled in)

refusing to
orders.
it

is

And

the

in

c. 2700 B.C., but the Egyptians had used it mainly in

underground tomb structures and in utilitarian buildings

invented

it.

fig.

98), never in temples. Apparently they

thought

lies

instance

the importance of the Porta Augusta:

we know

in

which arches were

inte-

monu-

mental whole. The Romans were

its

bination

(see

herein

first

extension, the barrel vault, had been discovered in Egvpt as

early as

century on. but they confined the use of the

underground structures or to simple gateways,

combine it with the elements of the architectural

grated with the vocabulary of the Greek orders into a

lintel of

true arch, and

fifth

true arch to

belong

to

to develop this comthousand ways, hut the merit of having

of having made the arch respectable, seems to

the Etruscans.

it

Voussoirs

ARCH

BAKKl.l.Ml

1.1

UU)I\ Ml

252. Arch, barrel vault, and groin vault

in

s<

i\

\iu

215

CHAPTER SEVEN

ROMAN ART

Among

the civilizations or the ancient world, that of the Ro-

mans

far

more accessible to us than any other. The growth

of the Roman domain from city-state to empire; its military
and political struggles, its changing social structure, the development of its institutions; the public and private lives of
is

Us leading personalities

have

that way. Articulate

it

to

amaze

trace with a

Nor

us.

Romans themselves seem

matter of chance. The

wanted

we can

these

all

wealth of detail that never ceases

is

to

this a

have

and posterity-conscious, they

us a vast literary legacy, from poetry and philos-

left

ophy to humble inscriptions recording everyday events, and

an equally huge mass of visible monuments that were scattered throughout their Empire, from
(

from Spain

.nil

England

to

the Persian

Romania.

to

Vet. paradoxically,

there are few questions

more embar-

"What is Roman art.'" The

Roman genius, so clearly recognizable in every other sphere
ol human activity, becomes oddly elusive when we ask
whether there was a characteristic Roman style in the fine
ails Win is this so? The most obvious reason is the great
admiration the Romans bad forGreek an of every period and
Not only did they import originals or earlier date

haii

\i<

lassK

,il

have them copied

and lellenistic
by the thousands, and
even greater numbers; their own proI

duction was clearly based on Greek sources, and many of

then artists, from Republic .in times to the end of the Empire

were

ol

liul<

oik

cm

Greek

Roman authors show

own lime They tell us a

origin. Moreover,

with the

art

of their

d deal about the development of Greek art as described in

(

.nek writings on the subject, or they speak of

duction during the earh davs

216

i:o\l \\

\l:i

a trace survives today, but rarely

rary works.

ol

the

Roman

artistic pro-

Republic, of

about contempo-

names may be menother contexts, the Romans never

While anecdotes or

tioned incidentally in

artists'

history, theory, and criticism of art such as had existed among the Greeks. Nor do we
hear of Roman artists who enjoyed individual lame, al-

developed a rich literature on the

though the great names of Greek art Polyclitus, Phidias,

Praxiteles, Lysippus
were praised as highly as ever.
One might well be tempted to conclude, therefore, that
the Romans themselves looked upon the art of their time as
being in decline compared with the great Creek past,
whence all important creative impulses had come. This, in-

deed, was the prevalent attitude

Roman

very long ago.

rassing to the art historian than

variety.

which not

Roman

among

they claimed,

decadent phase

art in its final

rule; there

art,

Greek

no such thing as Roman

is

scholars until not

is

Greek
under Roman

essentially

art

style,

there

is

only

subject matter. Yet the (act remains that, as a whole,

the art produced under

different from

have arisen.

Greek

II

we

Greek standards,

it

Roman

art;

insist

auspices does look distinctly

otherwise our problem would not

on evaluating

appear as

will

this difference by

process of decay.

II,

on

we interpret as expressing different, unin a less negative

Greek intentions, we are likely to see
light; and onto we admit that ail under the Romans had
positive un-Greek qualities, we cannot very well regard
the other hand,

it

it

phase of Greek
Greek origin we may find
in Roman records. Actually, the Greek names of these men
do not signify much; most of the artists, it seems, were thorough "Romanized." The Empire was a cosmopolitan socieiv in which national or regional traits were soon absorbed
these innovations as belonging

art.

no mailer bow many

to the- final

artists of

.11,

Pronaos
or

253. "Temple of Fortuna

Virilis."

Rome. Late 2nd century

254. Plan of the

B.C.

"Temple

into tin-

common

Rome.

all-Roman pattern

set by the capital, the

any event, the great majority of Roman

are unsigned, and their makers, for all we know,

city of

In

works of art
may have come from any part of the far-flung Roman
domain.
But

Roman

society from the very start proved astonish-

ingly tolerant of alien traditions; the all-Roman pattern

and saes were hospitably received in the capital, and eventually they themselves would
be given the rights of citizenship. Roman civilization - and
Roman art thus acquired not only the Greek heritage but,
to a lesser extent, that of the Etruscans and of Egypt and the
Near Last as well. All this made lor an extraordinarily complex and open society, homogeneous and diverse at the
same time. The sanctuary of Mithras accidentally unearthed
in the center of London offers a striking illustration oi the
their t;ods

it

and consistent quality of form.

gle

ARCHITECTURE
II

the

ol Roman sculpture and painting has been

Roman architecture is a creative feat ol such

autonomy

questioned,

magnitude as

final

century

age

roic

ol

Roman

were

art

to

show

a consistent style

such

.is

we

in Egypt, or the clear-cut evolution that distinguishes

the art of Greece.

Its

development to

the extent that

we

expansion.

Religious Architecture

"TEMPLE OF FORTUNA

second century

found

These links with the

i,

Roman

ol

Empire.

if

Roman

temple ivpes developed during the

the Republican period (510 60b.<
the he-

ol

short ola miracle

growth,

Its

a specifically

past are strongest in the

now thoroughly and uniquely Roman in

form, tan be matched by hundreds of Others throughout the
little

Roman stamp

with an unmistakable

and

would be

start reflected

wav of public and private life, so that whatever elements had

been borrowed from Ltruscans or Creeks were soon marked

sanctuary seems

bis sanctuary,

doubts of this son

to silence all

moreover, from the very

cosmopolitan character of Roman society; the god is Persian

in origin but he had long suae become a Roman "citizen,"

it

Virilis"

had a

conquered provinces were not forced into a uniform straitjacket but. rather, were put into a fairly low -temperature
melting pot. Law and order, and a token reverence lor the
symbols of Roman rule, were imposed on them; at the same

conditions,

Fortuna

todaymight be likened to a counterpoint of

may exist side bv side, even within a single monument, and none of them ever emerges as
overwhelmingly dominant. The "Roman-ness" oi Roman an
must be found m this complex pattern, rather than in a sinunderstand

all. so long as they did not

threaten the security of the state. The populations of newly

Under such

of

divergent tendencies that

way of accommodating them

time, however,

pon h

"

temple

Fortuna

Ionic

fig.

is

the

name

rhe delightful small

sheer fancy,

is

is

to

Home durum

the

last

ol

god

example

the oldest well-preserved

Built in

for the

Roman

the

ve.ns

(i|

opv

be

Roman

concpiesi ofGree<

Greek

ol

em

16

ol

the

n suggests, in the elegant proportions

b.<

columns and entablature, the wave

no mere

number

VIRILIS."
i

have been dedicated

to

253

fluent e following
it

Virilis"

harbors PortunUS

Us kind

its

ol

ol

in

Yel

Greek temple, for we recognize a

Etruscan elements the high podium the deep
c

oi

IK)\I\\

\ni

>l

255. "Temple

porch, and the wide cella, which engages the

On

peristyle.

it

century

Be

columns of the

no longer subdihad been under the

the other hand, the cella

vided into three compartments as

of the Sibyl," Tivoli. Early 1st

is

now encloses a single unified space (fig. 254).

The Romans needed spacious temple interiors, since they
used them not only lor the image of the deity hut also lor the
Etruscans;

display

it

trophies (statues, weapons, etc.

ol

brought hack by

conquering armies. The "Temple of Fortuna Virilis"

thus represents a well-integrated new type of temple designed lor Roman requirements, not a haphazard cross of
Etruscan and Greek elements. It was to have a long life; nutheir

merous examples

of

it.

usually large and with Corinthian

columns, can he found as

both in

and

Italy

late as the

second century

SIBYL. Another type of Republican

Temple ol the Sibyl at Tivoli
(figs. 255 and 256), erected a lew decades later than the
"Temple ol Fortuna Virilis." It. too. was the result of the
merging of two separate traditions. Its original ancestor was
,i

seen

is

in the so-called

strut lure in the center of

Home

of the city was kept. This building

which the sacred flame

had the shape of

at first

the traditional round peasant huts in the

on

was redesigned

Roman

country-

under the influence

of Greek structures of the tholos type (see page 178). and
thus became the model for the round temples of late Republican times. [ere again we find the high podium, w ith steps
side; later

it

in stone,

and

onl\ opposite the entrance,

a graceful

we

look closely

al

the cella. however,

while thedooi and window

built in a lee

rallies are ol

118

i:o\t\\

\m

is,

in this case,

small pieces of building stone and brick)

and.

faced with small. Hat pieces of Stone. Concrete

m the Near East more than

had been used mainly for forti-

construction had been invented

a

thousand years

earlier but

it was the Romans who de\ eloped its potentialities

became their chief building technique. Its advantages are obvious: strong, cheap, and flexible, it alone made

fications;

until

it

possible- the vast architectural enterprises that are

still

the

mementos of "the grandeur that was Rome." The Romans knew how to hide the unattractive concrete surface

chief

behind

a facing of brick, stone, or marble-, or

by covering

it

Today, this decorative skin has disap-

with smooth plaster.

we

peared from the remains of most Roman buildings, leaving

the concrete core exposed and thus depm ing these- ruins of

notice thai

ol si one.

the wall

hnique we have not encountered before ll is

made of concrete a mixture ol mortar and gravel with rubis

ble (that

Greek-inspired

exterioi
\s

the Sibyl'

ol

OF THE

IIMIM.I.

temple

256. Plan of the "Temple

\l>.

the provincial capitals of the Empire.

the appeal that Creek

in

other

ways,

conception.

rums have

through

for us.

massive

size

They speak
and

to

us

boldness

of

SANCTUARY OF FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA. The

monument

in

which these

oldest

qualities are fully in evidence

is

the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Palestrina, in the

foothills of the Apennines east of Rome. Here,
what had

once been an important Ftruscan stronghold, a strange cult

had been established since early times, dedicated to Fortuna
Fate as a mother deity and combined with a famous oracle.
The Roman sanctuary dates from the early first century
(

its

size

zu:

the

ol

the later houses and thus laid

huge ancient temple

prei in<

t.

which

ties of

ramps and terraces

(clearly visible in

se

257) lead up
to a <j,real colonnaded court, from which we ascend, on a
flight of steps arranged like the seats of .i ( Jreek theater to
fig.

th.it crowned the entire strucArched openings, framed b\ engaged columns and entablatures, play an important part in the
elevation, just as semicircular recesses do m the plan One

and shape were almost completely hidden by the metown that had been built over it. until a bombing at-

in

ol

has been thoroughly explored during the past dec ades

ture

<

dieval

bare the rem, mis

the semicircular colonnade

i:

tack in 1944 destroyed most

258).

(fig.

-riv^nr

!!!

4 '^ v*
'

r^ m 0* r> /*Ufc,2
.

y &'

v5

ir**^***

257. Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, Praeneste

,,

Palestrina

i.

Early

1st

century B C

iiniuiiiiiiiinr

BT

is

Jfes*.
>

-i
258. Reconstruction model of the Sanctuary

of

Fortuna Primiuenia

Museo Archeologico Nazionale,

Palestrina

at

Praenestc

Palestrina

ItaK

/io\i\\

\/</

219

259. Lower terraces. Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia

of these openings appears in our view of the lower terrace

(

259

fig.

it

>;

covered by a barrel vault, another characteris-

is

Roman

architectural vocabulary. Except

tic

feature of the

for

the columns and architraves,

are

ol

the surfaces

all

concrete, like the cella of the round temple

imagine how

and

it

this

could have been constructed otherwise.

indeed hard

is

What makes
however,

An

site

ens

now

in

is

to

its

entire hillside,

vast as

to the

position, has

FORUMS.

11

Sulla did order

way

it

fits

the

Acropolis of Ath-

been transformed and

seem to grow out

the

self:

Forum Julium,

beings had simply completed a de-

molding of great open

spaces had never been possible
or even desired in the
lassical Greek world; the only comparable projects are
found m Egypt see the Temple of latshepsut, figs. 93 and

Such

N01 did

1,

it

express the

spirit ol

the

Roman

Republic. Sig-

enough the Palestrina sanctuary dates from the

time of Still,
whose absolute dictatorship (82-79 B.C.)
marked the transition from Republican government to the
nificantly

1.

one

in.

rule of Julius

111

Caesar and

which were linked

to

it

by a

even more

all

his Imperial successors

had won a great victory against his enemies in

war al Palestrina it is tempting to assume that he

man

world. Unfortunately, nothing

field of

JO

lio\t

\l:l

is left

(fig.

260),

of the forums

ruins that conveys

little

to-

of their

Secular Architecture
The arch and

vault,

an essential part of

which we encountered

Roman monumental

monument

to his

own

fame.

at Palestrina as

architecture, also

formed the basis of construction projects such as sewers

bridges, and aqueducts, designed for efficiency rather than
beauty.

The

the city of
B.C

were built to serve

end of the fourth century

Inst enterprises of this kind

Rome

as early as the

only traces of

them survive

today.

as the exceptionally well-preserved

Oltuna and as

axis

forming the most magnificent architectural sight of the Ro-

the

personally ordered the san< tuary built, both as a thanks ofI

reli-

This Forum

the later Imperial forums,

numerous others

fering to

overt.

common major

Siik e Sulla
civil

it-

framed

architecturally

.1

is

of Caesar set the pattern for

original splendor.

if

great

life

Rome

ancestress of Caesar's family. Here the merging of

ical

human

the rock, as

the end of his

square adjoining the Temple of Venus Genetrix, the myth-

dav hut a stubbly

sign laid oul by nature herself.

the Palestrina complex per-

who near

sponsored a project planned on a similar scale in

articulated so that the architectural forms

of

it,

haps inspired Julius Caesar,

gious cult and personal glory

scale but the superb

comparable

commanding

us

at Tivoli,

complex as

Palestrina so imposing.

the sanctuary at

not merely

visible

Fraeneste (Palestrina)

at

There

are,

however,

of later date throughout the Empire, such

aqueduct

southern fiance known as the Pont du Card

at
(fig.

Nimes
261

).

in
Its

rugged, clean lines that span the wide valley are a tribute not

to the high qualit) oi Roman engineering but also to the

sense of order and permanence thai inspired these efforts

only

COLOSSI. I'M
in the
rial

in

he qualities we mel here impress us again

Colosseum, the enormous amphitheater for gladiato-

games

SO

i).

in the
it

is

home figs. 262 64 Completed

terms of mass one of the largest single

tenter of

in

buildings anywhere;

when

I.

intact

accommodated more

it

than 50,000 spectators. The concrete core, with

vaulted corridors and stairways,

neering efficiency

from the arena.

to

is

its

miles

of

masterpiece of engi-

ensure the smooth (low

oi traffic to

and

both the familiar barrel vault and a

more complex form, the groined \ ault see fig. I'rl that reIt

utilizes

),

from the interpenetration of two barrel vaults at right

angles. The exterior, dignified and monumental, reflects the
sults

interior articulation of the structure hut clothes

tuates

it

in

cut stone. There

is

a fine

and accen-

balance between

verti-

and horizontal elements in the framework of engaged

columns and entablatures that contains the endless series of
arches. The three Classical orders are superimposed accordcal

ing to their intrinsic "weight": Doric, the oldest and most severe,

on the ground

floor,

followed by Ionic and Corinthian.

The lightening of the proportions, however,

"^W^
260. Plan of the Forums,

adaptation, are almost alike.

Structurally, they have

become

ghosts, vet their aesthetic

this

261. Ponl

(In (laid

Early

1st

barely notice-

Roman

function continues unimpaired, lor

Rome

is

able; the orders, in their

enormous facade becomes

it

is

through them that

related to the

human

scale

Mines Prance

centun

now

\\

\i:i

221

i:o\l r.

\l:l

265. (upper

Interiors
Arches, vaults, and the use of concrete permitted the Romans, for the first time in the history of architecture, to cre-

These were explored especially in

which had become important
centers of social life in Imperial Rome. The experience
gained there could then be applied to other, more traditional
types of buildings, sometimes with revolutionary results.
ate vast interior spaces.
tiie

great baths, or thermae,

Ujh nu iNTERIOROf mi PANTHEOh

Giovanni Paolo Pannini,

c,

1740.

The National

Painting by

Gallery

oi Art.

Washington. DC. Samuel H. Kress Collection

266.

267. (abate
268. (below

top

Plan of the Pantheon

Transverse section of the Pantheon

The Pantheon. Rome.

18-25 A

1)

PANTHEON.

Perhaps the most striking example of this

Rome, a very large round
temple of the early second century A D whose interior is the

process

is

the famous Pantheon in

best preserved as well as the

ing

Roman

structure

fis.

most impressive of any surviv265-68). There had been round

temples lon<j; before that time, but their shape, well represented by the "Temple of the Sibyl" (see bus. 255 and 256).
is so different from that of the Pantheon that the latter could
not possibly have been derived from them.

On

the outside,

the cella of the Pantheon appears as an unadorned cylindrical

drum, surmounted by a gendy curved dome; the enis emphasized In a deep porch of the kind familiar to

trance

us from

and 254
abrupt,

Roman

temples of the standard type (see

figs.

253

The junction of these two elements seems rather

but we must remember that we no longer see the
).

i:o\i \\

\i:i

22

As

name

its

the gods"

or.

the Pantheon was dedicated to

sun<j,ests.

more

(there are seven niches).

assume

that the golden

Dome

represented the

it

seems reasonable,

It

dome had

"all

seven planetary gods

precisely, to the

therefore, to

symbolic meaning, that

solemn and

of Heaven. Yet this

humble antecedents.
Ihe Roman architect Vitruvius, writing more than a century
earlier, describes the domed steam chamber of a bathing essplendid structure grew from rather

Dome

tablishment that anticipates (undoubtedly on a very

much

smaller scale) the essential features of the Pantheon: a

hemispherical dome, a proportional relationship of height

Drum

and width, and the circular opening in the center (which

could he closed by a bronze shutter on chains, to adjust the
temperature of the steam room).

Pendentive

BASILICAS. The

Basilica

fourth century ad.,

is

of

silicas,

of the

of Constantino,

a similar example,

which we speak below,

it

lor,

early

unlike other ba-

derives

shape from

its

the main hall of the public baths built by two earlier emperors,

269. Parts of a

dome

Caracalla and Diocletian. But

scale.

It

must have been the

it

is built

on an even vaster

largest roofed interior in

all

of

Rome. Today only the north aisle three huge barrel-vaultis still standing (fig. 270). The center
ed compartments
tract, or nave, covered by three groined vaults (figs. 271 and

272), rose a good deal higher. Since a groined vault resem-

building as

was meant

it

be seen. Today the level of the

to

good deal higher than it was in ansurrounding

tiquity, so that the steps leading up to the porch are now
submerged; moreover, the porch was designed to form part
of a rectangular, colonnaded forecourt, which must have
streets

had the
cella

is

is

effect of detaching it from the rotunda. So far as the

concerned, therefore, the architect apparently dis-

bles a canopy, with

all

the four corners (see

(

called the clerestory

the weight and thrust concentrated

could be pierced by large windows, so

that the interior of the basilica

quality despite
in

many

its

at

252), the upper walls of the nave

fig.

enormous

later buildings,

must have had a light and airy

We shall meet its echoes

size.

from churches

to railway stations.

Basilicas, long halls serving a variety of civic purposes,

on the great domed space that opens before us with dramatic suddenness as we step through the entrance.

had first been developed in Hellenistic Greece. Under the

Romans, they became a standard feature of every major
town, where one of their chief functions was to provide a

awe-inspiring and harmonious

dignified setting for the courts of law that dispensed justice

counted the

effect of the exterior, putting

The impact of this

at

the

same

time,

interior,

the emphasis

all

impossible to convey in photographs;

is

even the painting we have chosen (fig. 266) renders it only

imperfectly. In any event, the effect is quite different from
what the rather forbidding exterior would lead us to expect.

The dome

is

not shallow, but

circular

opening

derfully

evenflow

floor,

and that

is

dome and drum,

On

in its

is

hemisphere; and the

a true

center admits an ample

of light. This "eye"

is

also the diameter of the interior

also of equal heights,

won-

above the
I

fig.

268);

exact balance.

.ire in

the exterior, this balance could not be achieved, lor the

outward thrust of the dome had

lo

he contained by

us base considerably heavier than the top

the

and

13 feet

making

the thickness of

(> feet). Another

which show that the weight of the
uniformly on the drum but is concentrat-

dome decreases upward from 20

feet to

surprise are the niches,

dome does

not rest

ed on eight wide
course, .no closed

'pillars'

ba<

k.

(see
hut

fig.

wnh

2d

1
)

he niches, of

columns
adjoining rooms

their screen of

they give the effect ol openings that lead to

and thus prevent us from feeling imprisoned inside the Panhe ol umns the colored marble paneling of the wall
theon.
surfaces, and the floor remain essentially .is they were in Roman nines the recessed oilers ol the dome. too. are origic

hut the

nal

ROM

t\

nilt

Mil

thai covered

them has disappeared

name

in the

the emperor.

of

basilicas, but very little

Rome

provinces have fared somewhat

is

Magna

that at Leptis

which has most

of

the-

in

its

the side aisles.

better.

North Africa

had

today.

number

Those

of

in the

An outstanding one
(figs.

273 and 274),

characteristics of the standard type.

The long nave terminates

either end;

itself

remains of them

in a

semicircular niche, or apse,

at

walls rest on colonnades that give access to

These are generally lower than the nave

to

permit clerestory windows in the upper part of the nave wall

had wooden ceilings instead of masonry

convenience and tradition rather than
technical necessity. They were thus subject to destruction
by fire; the one at Leptis Magna, sadly ruined though it is,
counts among the hest-prcserved examples. The Basilica of

These

basilicas

vaults, lor reasons of

onstantine in

Rome was

daring attempt

to create a novel,

vaulted type, hut the design seems to have met with

little

had no direct successors. Perhaps people felt

that it lacked dignity because ol its obvious resemblance to
the public baths. In any event, the Christian basilicas of the
fourth century were modeled on the older, wooden-roofed
public

type

lav or;

see

fig.

it

318). Not until seven

vaulted basilic an churches

Europe

hundred years

become common

in

later did

western

270.

271. Reconstruction drawing

The

Basilica of Constantine,

of the Basilica of

Rome.

c.

310-20

AD

272. Plan of the Basilica of Constantine

Constantine (after Huelsen)

KO.\M.\

Mil

22.5

273. Basilica, Leptis Magna, Libya. Early 3rd century AD.

Many examples of the domus, in various stages of development, have come to light at Hereulaneum and Pompeii,
the two famous towns near Naples that were buried under
volcanic ash during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
House of the Silver Wedding at
The view in figure 275 is taken from the vestibule,
along the main axis of the domus. Here the atrium has become a room of impressive size; the four Corinthian colLet us enter the so-called

Pompeii.

umns at the corners of the opening in the roof give it

something of the quality of an enclosed court. There is a

C^dlc

shallow basin in the center to catch the ram water (the roof
274. Plan of the Basilica. Leptis

of

Domestic Architecture
Roman architecture

the delights in studying

is

that

it

includes not only meat public edifices but also a vast variety
of residential dwellings, from Imperial palaces to the quarters of the

scale,

we

urban

are

left

poor.

II

we

disregard the extremes of tins

With two basic types that account

of the domestic architecture that has survived, The

a Single-family

house based on ancient

distinguishing feature

is

the atrium,

.1

Italic

lor

most

domus

tradition.

is

Its

square or oblong cen-

around which the

had been a
other rooms are grouped. In Etruscan times,
rural dwelling, but the Romans "citified" and elaborated it
tral hall

lighted by an opening in the root,

it

into the typical

ROMAS

\KI

home

oi

the well-to-do.

the traditional place for

images of the ancestors of the family. At its

far end we see a recess, the tablinum, and beyond it the garden, surrounded by a colonnade, the peristyle. In addition to
the chambers grouped around the atrium, there may be furkeeping

One

The atrium was

slants inward).

Magna

ther

portrait

rooms attached

to

The

the back of the house.

entire es-

from the street by windowless walls;

obviously, privacy and self-sufficiency were important to the
tablishment

is

shut

oil

wealthy Roman.
Less elegant than the domus, and decidedly urban from
the very start,

mainly

in

is

Rome

the insula, or city block,

itself

and

which we

ancient port of

fiber. The insula

modern apartment house;

near the mouth of the

features of the

in Ostia, the

anticipates
it

is

find

Rome
many

a good-sized

concrete-and-brick building (or a chain of such buildings)

around a small central court, with shops and taverns open to
the street on the ground floor and living quarters for

numer-

275. Atrium, House of the Silver Wedding,

Pompeii. Early 1st century

276. Insula

of tlu

>f

Some insulae had as many as five stories,

with balconies above the seeond floor (fig. 276). The daily

ous families above.

life

of the craftsmen

and shopkeepers who inhabited such

an insula was oriented toward the

large extent in

modern

Italy.

The

street, as

reserved for the minority that could afford

Late

Roman

it

privacy of the

still

is

to a

domus was

it.

Diana. Ostia.

to the Classical

Greek

orders,

t.

[50 V.D

longer relied on them in the structural sense, he remained

acknowledging the aesthetic authority

.is an organizing and articulating principle. Column, architrave, and pediment might be
merely superimposed on vaulted brick-and-concrete core.
but their shape as well as their relationship to each other,
was still determined In the original grammar ol the orders
faithful to their spirit,

of the post-and-lintel system

.1

Architecture

This orthodox, reverential attitude toward the

new forms based on arched, vaulted, and

domed construction, we have noted the Roman architect's
In discussing the

continued allegiance

AD

if

he no

al

vocabulary

from the
century

Roman onquesl
d Alter thai, we
c

arc hitectur-

the (.reeks prevailed, generally 'speaking

ol

of Greece until the end

find

ol

the fust

nu reasing evidence of a con-

(MM\ Mil

227

277. Market Gate from Miletus (restored),

2iH

[emple

ol

Venus, Baalbek, Lebanon

First half of the

228 -/(0\M\

\/,'/

3rd century

c.

160 AD. Staatliche Museen, Berlin

279. Schematic reconstruction of

Temple of Venus. Baalbek

trend, of a

trary

taste

for

imaginative, "ungrammatical"

transformations of the Greek vocabulary. Just

when and

mar" <>l the Greek orders was in process oi dissolution ever)

where. In the peristyle of the Palace of Diot Ictiun fig. 280)
at Spalato Split
the architrave between the two centei olI

where it began is still a matter of dispute; there is some evidence that it may go back to late Hellenistic times m the
Near East. The tendency certainly was most pronounced in
the Asiatic and African provinces of the Empire. A characteristic example is the Market Gate from Miletus, c. 160 \ D
(rebuilt in the state
refer to

and of

it

museums in

Berlin;

fig.

277).

One might

as display architecture in terms both of

ancestry, for the picturesque facade, with

its

its

effect

its alter-

nating recesses and projections, derives from the architecstage backgrounds of the Roman theater. The

tural

),

on the

left

we

Equally astonishing

is

see an even

ing a

new

play of forces into the conventional ingredients of

the round temple (compare

figs. 255 and 256).

unorthodox ideas such as these
had become so well established that the traditional "gram-

By the

late third century,

280. Peristyle, Palace

of Diocletiafi,

more revolutionary device

arches resting directly on columns

stances of such an arcade can be found
only now, on the eve of the victory

of

a se-

lew isolated in-

earlier,

but

it

was

Christianity, that the

marriage of arch and column became fully legitimate

In
union, indispensable to the future development of architecture, seems so natural to us that we can hardly understand
I

why

it

was ever opposed.

SCULPTURE

the small Temple of Venus at Baal-

and refurbished in the third (figs. 278 and 279). The convex curve of
the cella is effectively counterbalanced by the concave
niches and the scooped-out base and entablature, introduc-

the arch of the doorwa) below, and

ries of

continuous in-and-out rhythm has even seized the pediment above the central doorway, breaking it into three parts.
bek, probably built in the early second century ad.

<

umns is curved, echoing

The

dispute over the question is there such a thing as a

Roman style'" has centered largely on the field of sculpture,

and

for quite

understandable reasons. Even

if

we discount

the wholesale importing and copying of Greek originals, the

reputation of the Romans as imitators seems borne out by
vast quantities of works that are obviously

ably

adaptations

period.

or

at least prob-

and variants of Greek models of every

While the Roman demand for sculpture was tremen-

Spalato (Split), Yugoslavia

c.

300

ad

l)\!\\

\KI-229

dons

good deal of it may be attributed

to

Republican

antiquarianism,

We know

from

accounts

that,

from early Republican

both the learned and the fashionable variety, and to a taste

for sumptuous interior decoration. There arc thus whole
categories of sculpture produced under Roman auspices
that deserve to be classified .is "deacth ated" echoes of Greek
creations, emptied of then former meaning and reduced to

ored by having their statues put on public display.

the status of highly refined works of craftsmanship. At times

literary

times on. meritorious political or military leaders were hon-

The

habit

continue until the end of the Empire a thousand

years later. Its beginnings may well have derived from the

was

to

custom

Ireek

of

placing votive statues of athletic victors and

extended to Egyptian sculpture as well, creating a vogue for pseudo-Egyptian statuary. On the other
hand, there can be no doubt that some kinds of sculpture
had serious and important functions in ancient Rome. They

other important individuals in the precincts of such sanctu-

represent the living sculptural tradition, in contradistinction

can be dated before the first century B.C. with

anv degree of confidence. How were those early statues related to Etruscan or Greek sculpture? Did they ever achieve

this attitude

to

the antiquarian-decorative trend.

We

shall

concern our-

Roman sculpture
Roman society: por-

selves here mainly with those aspects of

that are
traiture

most conspicuously rooted

and narrative relief.

in

and Olympia (see fig. 203). Unfortunately,

hundred years of this Roman tradition are a

aries as Delphi

the

four

first

closed book

not a single

to us;

Roman

portrait

has yet come

to light that

any

specifically

Roman

qualities?

Were they

individual like-

nesses in any sense, or were their subjects identified only by

pose, costume, attributes,

L'ARRINGATORE. Our

sole clue in

answer

to

these ques-

the lifesize bronze statue called L'Arringatore

(fig.

now

gen-

tions

is

281

once assigned

),

and inscriptions?

to the

second century

erally placed in the early years of the

southern Etruscan

territory

B.C.

first.

but

comes from

It

and bears an Etruscan

inscrip-

name Aule Metele (Aulus Metellus in

presumably the name of the official represented. He

tion that includes the

Latin),

must have been a Roman, or at least a Roman-appointed official. The workmanship is evidently Etruscan, as indicated
by the inscription, but the gesture, which denotes both address and salutation, recurs in hundreds of Roman statues
an early
of the same sort, and the costume, too, is Roman

kind of toga.
to

conform

One

to

suspects, therefore, that our sculptor tried

an established

Roman

type of portrait statue,

not only in these externals but in style as well. For

we

find

here of the Hellenistic flavor characteristic of the

later Etruscan tradition. What makes the figure remarkable
very

little

is its

down to the neatly

The term "uninspired" suggests itself, not as
but as a way to describe the basic attitude of the

serious, prosaically factual quality,

tied shoelaces.

a criticism
artist

in

contrast

to

the attitude of Greek or Etruscan

portraitists.

PORTRAITS. That
as a positive value

Roman

seriousness was consciously intended

becomes

clear

when we

familiarize our-

heads of the years around 75 B.C.,

which show it in its most pronounced form. Apparently the
creation of a monumental, unmistakably Roman portrait
style was achieved only in the time of Sulla, when Roman
architecture, too, came of age (see page 219). We see it at its
most impressive perhaps in the features of the unknown Roselves with

man

of figure 282,

portrait

contemporary with the fine Hellenistic

from Delos in figure 231. A more telling contrast

could hardly be imagined; both are extremely persuasive
likenesses, yet they seem worlds apart. Whereas the Helleportrait

nistic

head impresses us with

psychology, the

Roman may

its

subtle grasp of the sitter's

strike us at first glance as noth-

ing but a detailed record of facial topography

281.
Earl)

isi

At

Ms

Ml

11

in

(VARRINCATORE)

century B.C Bronze, height 71" (280 cm).

Museo Archeologico Nazlonale, Florence

>

\0- I>\1\\

Mil

character emerges only incidentally, as

is

it

not really the case: the wrinkles are true to

but the carver has nevertheless treated

the

were.

And

life,

them with

sitter's

yet this

no doubt,
a selective

^^K

i'

"^CP|

H%
^^L

v..

"^

i^E'WiH

Jfirr*' 1

*^^^^^l

/
282. PORTRAIT OF A ROMAN,
lifesize.

emphasis designed
ality

to

c.

80

Palazzo Torlonia,

B.C.

Marble,

Rome

bring out a specifically

stern, rugged, iron-willed in

its

Roman

devotion

person-

to duty.

It is

a "lather

image" of frightening

observed

facial details are like individual biographical data

that differentiate this father

Its

and the minutely

authority,

image from

peculiar flavor reflects a patriarchal

others.

Roman custom

of

considerable antiquity; at the death of the head of the family,

waxen image was made

of his face,

preserved in a special shrine, or family

which was then

altar.

At funerals,

We

these ancestral images were carried in the procession.

have seen the roots of this kind of ancestor worship

"primitive" societies (compare
trician families of
perial times.

Rome clung

The images

than works of

figs.

to

it

in

40 and 55-60); the patenaciously well into Im-

were, of course, records rather

and because of the perishability of wax

last more than a few decades. Thus the
have them duplicated in marble seems natural
art,

they probably did not

desire to

enough, yet the demand did not arise until the early first
century B.C perhaps the patricians, feeling their traditional
;

position of leadership endangered,

wanted to make a greater

way of emphasizing

public display of their ancestors, as a

then ancient lineage.

That displav certainly

is

the purpose of the statue in figure

283, carved about half a century later than our previous ex-

ample.

It

shows an unknown Roman holding two busts ol

presumably his father and grandfather. The

his ancestors,

work has

little

distinction, vet the "father-image" spirit

can

283. A

ROMAN
Late

PATRICIAN WITH BUSTS OF HIS ANCh:STORS

1st

century B.C Marble,

lifesize.

Museo Capitohno, Rome

liuuw

\ltl

-23J

284.

AUGUSTUS OF PRIMAPORTA. c. 20 B.C.

Museums, Rome

Marble, 6'8" (2 m). Vatican

even here. Needless to say, this quality was not preswax images themselves; it came to the lore when
they were translated into marble, a process that not only
made the ancestral images permanent but monumentalized
them in the spiritual sense as well. Nevertheless, the marble
heads retained the character of records, of visual docube

fell

ent in the

ments, which means that they could be freely duplicated;

what mattered was only the facial "text." not the "handwriting" ol the artist who recorded it. The impressive head in

ROMAN M<l

figure

282

is itself

a copy,

made some

fifty

years later than

and so are the two ancestors in figure 283

(differences in style and in the shape of the bust indicate
that the original of the head on the left is about thirty years
the

lost original,

older than that of

its

companion). Perhaps

this

Roman

lack

of feeling lor the uniqueness of the original, understandable

enough

in the

explain

why

context of their ancestor cult, also helps to

they developed so voracious an appetite for

copies of famous Greek statues.

fig.

Imperial

POR TRAITS. As we
gustus (27 hi -14 A

approach the reign of the Emperor AuD.

traiture that reaches

we

),

himself, as, for example, in

porta

(fig.

whether

it

284). At

first

find a

climax

its

Roman

we meet

por-

images of Augustus
the splendid statue from Prima-

we may

glance,

human

represents a god or a

soil,

Roman

trend in

in the

entirely appropriate, for the figure

on

new

is

meant

to

fifth

ruler. It

B.c (sec fig.

218); Alexander the Great had

made

(see

had

selves only in the eastern provinces,

belief in a divine

work may survive

302). In

would have

bis

where

that

fig.

Rome,

the

in

not

know how specific

Roman writer

these
Pliny,

in his

in a

famous Pompeian mosaic

events had been depict-

too, historic

ed from the third century

own, and so did

his successors, who modeled themselves after him. The latter, in turn, transmitted it to Julius Gaesar and the Roman
emperors, who at first encouraged the worship of themit

we do

century, although

echo of

be both. Here,

a concept familiar to us from Egypt

and the ancient Near East: that of the divine

poses of defeat rather than

Philoxenus of Eretria at the end of the fourth century painted the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius at Issus; an

is

entered the Greek world in the fourth century

in typical

pictures were in detail. According to the

well be uncertain of

being; this doubt

224) but

framework of a particular battle.

Greek painters, on the other hand, had depicted historic
subjects such as the battle of Salainis as early as the mid-

B.C.

on; a victorious military leader

his exploits painted

on panels that were carried

triumphal procession, or he would show such panels

in public places. These pictures seem to have had the fleeting nature of posters advertising the hero's achievements.

None has
Republic

survived.

we do

Sometime during the

not

know

when

late years of the

the

was a long-established tradition.

The idea of attributing superhuman stature to the emperor, thus enhancing his authority, soon became official policy, and while Augustus did not carry it as far as his
successors, the Primaporta statue clearly shows him envel-

temporary
such events began to assume more
monumental and permanent form, no longer painted, but
carved and attached to structures intended to last indefinitely. They were thus a ready tool for the glorification of Imperial rule, and the emperors did not hesitate to use them on a

oped in an

large scale.

ruler

air of divinity. Still, despite its heroic, idealized

body, the statue has

Emperor's gesture

is

an unmistakably

familiar from Aulus

Roman

fig.

28

);

the costume, including the rich allegorical program on the

breastplate, has a concreteness of surface texture that con-

veys the actual touch of cloth, metal, and leather.

too,

is

idealized,

or,

The head,

better perhaps, "Hellenized";

small

physiognomic details are suppressed, and the focusing of attention on the eyes gives it something of the "inspired' look
we find in portraits of Alexander the Great (compare fig.
-

236). Nevertheless, the face

but clearly individual, as

is

a definite likeness, elevated

we can determine

by comparison

with the numerous other portraits of Augustus. All Romans

would have recognized it immediately, for they knew it from
coins and countless other representations. In fact, the em-

image soon came to acquire the symbolic significance of a national flag. As a consequence of such mass production, artistic quality was rarely very high, except when
portraits were produced under the ruler's direct patronage.
That must have been true of the Primaporta statue, which
was found in the villa of Augustus' wife. Livia.
peror's

NARRATIVE RELIEF.
fined to portraiture.

Imperial

art,

The emperors

ARA

PACIS. Since the leitmotif of his reign was peace. Auto appear in his monuments as the "Prince

gustus preferred

of Peace" rather than as the all-conquering military hero.

The most important

of these

monuments was the Ara Pacis

Roman Senate in 13 B.C.

(the Altar of Peace), voted by the

and completed four years later. It is probably identical with

the richly carved Augustan altar that bears this name today.
Parts of it were found as early as the sixteenth centurv ad,

but their reintegration was not achieved until 1938.)

entire structure

though on a
228).
tal

On

(fig.

much

285) recalls the

Pergamum

smaller scale (compare

figs.

the wall that screens the altar proper, a

frieze depicts allegorical

The

Altar,

226 and

monumen-

and legendary scenes as well as

emperor himself.

a solemn procession led by the

however, was not con-

also

outstanding achievements in narrative

tal altars,

of

the

flavor;

MeteUus

representations

exactly

commemorated
reliefs

on

their

monumen-

triumphal arches, and columns. Similar scenes are

from the ancient Near East (see figs. 15, 122

familiar to us

and 132) but not from Greece. Historic events that is,
events which occurred only once, at a specific time and in a
particular place
had not been dealt with in Classical Greek
sculpture; if a victory over the Persians was to be commemorated, it would be represented indirectly, as a combat of Lapiths and Centaurs, or Cheeks and Amazons
a mythical

event outside any space-time context. Even in Hellenistic

times, this attitude persisted, although not quite as absolutely;

when

the kings of

Pergamum

celebrated their victories

over the Gauls, the latter were represented faithfully

see

285. The Ara Pacis.

width

ol altar c

55'.

c.

Museum

13

9 B.C Marble,

of the Ara Pacis,

Rome

li()\l\S

ART-233

286. IMPERIAL PROCESSION, a portion

of

the frieze of the Ara Pacis. Marble, height 63" (160

cm)

287. PROCESSION, a portion of the east frieze, Parthenon, c. 440 B.c

Marble, height 43" (109.3 cm). Musee du Louvre, Paris

[ere the "Hellenic," classicizing style

mapoita statue readies

compare the Ara

therefore, to
that ol the

Parthenon

.ill

place

What

holds

ROM

(fig.

in the Pri-

instructive,

286) with

189 and 287 Only a direct conshow how different they really are,

timeless world;

the remote
it

ual itself, not

ontiast

is

).

surface similarities. The Parthenon Ine/.e belongs

to .in ideal,

noted
It

Pacis frieze

figs.

frontation of the two will

despite

we

fullest expression.

together
its

we

see

\IU

it

is

shows

procession that took

past,

variable particulars.

a proc

beyond living memory.

the great formal rhythm of the rit-

mythic

ession

On

eh bi.ilion

the Ara Pacis

ol

in

one particular

recent event

probably the founding of the

idealized to evoke

altar in 13 B.C.

something of the solemn

air that sur-

rounds the Parthenon procession, yet filled with concrete

details of a remembered event. The participants, at least so
Ear

.is

they belong to the Imperial family, are

meant

to

be

identifiable as portraits, including those of children dressed

young to grasp the significance of

how the little hov in the center of our
group is tugging at the mantle of the young man in front of
him w bile the somewhat older child to his left smilingly tells
him to behave. The Roman artist also shows a greater con-

in

miniature

totals hut too

the occasion: note

cern with spatial depth than Ins Classical Greek predecessor: the softening of the relief background, which we first

observed in the Grave Stele of Hegeso

(fig.

213), has been

sign as a whole, with its emphasis on bilateral symmetry

never violates the discipline of surface decoration and thus

serves as an effective

for the spatially

foil

removed from us seem

partly immersed in the stone (such as the woman on the left
whose face emerges behind the shoulder of the young moth-

above.

er in front of her).

chanting product of the Augustan era

carried so far that the figures farthest

The same

interest in space appears

the allegorical panel in figure 288,

the

embodiment

of

even more strongly

in

showing Mother Earth as

human, animal, and

plant

fertility,

flanked by two personifications of winds. Here the figures

are placed in a real landscape setting of rocks, water,

vegetation,

and the blank background

empty

Whether

sky.

this pictorial

and

clearly stands lor the

treatment of space

is

Roman

invention remains a matter of dispute.

There can be no question, however, about the Hellenistic
Hellenistic or

look of the three personifications,

which represent not only a

and less dis-

different level of reality but also a different

tinctly Roman
style from the Imperial procession. The
acanthus ornament on the pilasters and the lower part of the

on the other hand, has no counterpart in Greek art, although the acanthus motif as such derives from Greece. The
wall,

plant forms are wonderfully graceful

and

alive, vet

the de-

Much

same

the

conceived

reliefs

contrast of flatness and depth occurs

the stucco decoration

of

Roman

house, a casual but en-

The modeland sketchv

throughout, but the meaning of the blank surfaces to which
it is applied varies a great deal. On the bottom strip
of our
illustration, there are two winged genii with plant ornament;
here depth is carefully eschewed, since this zone belongs to
the framework. Above it, we see that which is being framed;
it can only be described as a "picture painted in
relief," an
as suits the light material,

ing,

idyllic

landscape of great charm and

depth, despite the fact that

rather than clearly defined.

its

space

The whole

painted room decorations (see

fig.

289).

fig.

delicate

is

of atmospheric

full
is

merely suggested

effect

echoes that of

304).

ARCH OF TITUS. The

spatial qualities of the Ara Pacis rereached their most complete development in the two
large narrative panels on the triumphal arch erected in 81
lief's

D.

to

commemorate

k ~*

< -.

..

the victories of the

wjaatw will

flliHUHIfll r'*"" "'"""'""'"'1 "''"

Kmperor Titus. One

..

..4ii.i

t. u
viartuiuMiiul

AX
\

288. Allegorical and ornamental panels of the Ara Pacis

28<).

Stucco decoration from the vault

Late

1st

o\ a

Roman houseRome

century B.C Museo delle Ternie,

ROW

\\

W<7

235

290. SPOILS

FROM THE TEMPLE

IN

JERUSALEM

Relief in passageway, Arch of Titus,

Rome. 81 All Marble, height

291. LRU

236

i>\i\\

\i:i

urn

Of

mis

Relief in passageway. Arch of Titus

7' 10" (2.4

m)

of

them

290) shows part of the triumphal procession

includes the seven-branched candlestick and other sacred

formed the center of a small court flanked In public buildings at least two stories tall, but even that docs not quite answer our question. Nor does it explain the ev ident suc< ess ol

objects. Despite the mutilated surface, the

our column, which served as the model

(fig.

celebrating the conquest of Jerusalem; the booty displayed

crowd of figures

On

depth

movement

of a

appears strikingly successful.

the procession turns away from us and disap-

the right,

in

still

pears through a triumphal arch placed obliquely to the back-

ground plane so that only the nearer half actually emerges

from the background

a radical but effective device.

The companion panel (fig. 291 avoids such experiments,

number of layers of relief is equally great here.
)

We

also sense that

design has an oddly stationary quality,

its

The

simply another part of the same

is

must be due to the subject,

which is the emperor himself in his chariot, crowned by the
winged Victory behind him. Apparently the sculptor's first
concern was to display this set image, rather than to keep
procession.

difference

the procession moving.

Once we

try to

same

read the Imperial

type.

But

let

at

ble in our figure 292: in the center of the

ube: to the

and

left,

some

there are

Roman town on

<J,od

others

for several

us take a closer look

see the upper part of a large river

plies,

although the

despite the fact that this

the

the

sc

enes

bottom

strip,

ol

isi

we

representing the Dan-

river boats laden with sup-

the rocky bank; to the right, the

Roman arm) crosses the river on a pontoon bridge. The second strip shows Trajan addressing his soldiers (to the left)
and the building of fortifications: the third, the construction
of a garrison camp and bridge as Roman cavalry (on the
right) sets out on a reconnaissance mission. In the fourth
mountain stream
emperor addresses his troops m
front of a Dacian fortress. These scenes are a fair sampling;
among the more than a hundred fifty separate episodes, acstrip,

Trajan's foot soldiers are crossing a

(center); on the right, the

and the surrounding figures in terms of real space.

we become aware of how strangely contradictory the spatial
chariot

shown

relationships are: four horses,

move

in strict profile view,

bottom edge of the panel,

ought to be if they were really

in a direction parallel to the

but the chariot

is

not

where

it

Moreover, the bodies of the emperor and of most

of the other figures are represented in frontal view, rather
pulling

it.

than in

profile.

These seem

be fixed conventions for rep-

to

resenting the triumphant emperor which our

artist felt

con-

strained to respect, though they were in conflict with his

desire to create the kind of consistent

movement

in

space he

achieved so well in figure 290.

COLUMN OF TRAJAN.

That the purposes of Imperial

art,

were sometimes incompatible with a

realistic treatment of space becomes fully evident in the Column of Trajan, erected in 106-113 A.D. to celebrate that
emperor's victorious campaigns against the Dacians (the
ancient inhabitants of Romania). Single, free-standing columns had been used as commemorative monuments from
narrative or symbolic,

may have been

The Column of Trajan is distinguished not only by its great height ( 125 feet, including the
base) but by the continuous spiral band of relief covering its
Hellenistic times on; their ultimate source

the obelisks of Egypt.

292) and recounting, in epic breadth, the histoDacian wars. The column was crowned by a statue
of the emperor (destroyed in the Middle Ages) and the base
surface

fig.

ry of the

chamber
we would

served as a burial

for his ashes. If

the relief band,

find

thirds the

soleum

at

it

to

we

could unwind

be 656 feet long, two-

combined length of the three friezes of the MauHalicarnassus and a good deal longer than the

Parthenon

terms of the number of figures and the

density of the narrative, however, our relief is by far the most
ambitious frieze composition attempted up to that time. It is
also the

r
1

frieze. In

most

frustrating, for beholders

circles like a circus horse" (to

one scholar)

if

the fourth or

fifth

must "run around

'

,^*MCm>.$
I

- -

MMll

r
:

-'

v'l

>

"'

'

\
'

in

borrow the apt description of

they want to follow the narrative; once above

turn, they find themselves defeated b) the

wealth of detail unless equipped with field glasses.

One wonders
count was

lor

whose

intended.

In

benefit this elaborate pictorial ac-

Roman

times,

the

monument

292. Lower portion ol the Column ol Trajan. Rome.

106-13 A i) Marble, height of relief band c. 50" (127 cm)

/;o\i

\i:i

tual
tic,

combat occurs
and

political

much

attention,

count

his

ol

only rarely, wink' the geographic, logis-

aspects of the campaign receive detailed

as they do in Julius Caesar's

conquest

ol

famous

ac-

Gaul.

one other time have we seen this matter-of-fact

operationsin Assyrian reliefs such
as that in figure 122. Was there an indirect link between the
two? And. it so. of what kind? The question is difficult to
()nl\

at

visualization of military

nants of

illusionistic spatial depth.

Landscape and architecand the ground

upward. All these devices

ture are reduced to abbre\ iated "stage sets."

on which the figures stand is tilted

had already been employed in Assyrian narrative reliefs;
here they asserted themselves once more, against the tradi-

and perspective space. In another two

were to become dominant, and we shall

tion of foreshortening

hundred

years, they

find ourselves at the threshold of medieval

art.

In this re-

band on the Column of Trajan is curiously

prophetic of both the end of one era and the beginning of

answer, especially since there are no extant copies of the Ro-

spect, the relief

man antecedents for our reliefs: the panels showing military

conquests that were carried in triumphal processions (see
page 233 At any rate, the spiral frieze on the Column of

the next.

I.

new and demanding framework for historic

which imposed a number of difficult conditions
upon the sculptor: since there could be no clarifying inscriptions, the pictorial account had to be as self-sufficient and
explicit as possible, which meant that the spatial setting of
each episode had to be worked out with great care; visual
continuity had to be preserved without destroying the inner
coherence of the individual scenes; and the actual depth of
the carving had to be much shallower than in reliefs such as
those on the Arch of Titus, otherwise the shadows cast by
the projecting parts would make the scenes unreadable
Trajan was a
narrative

from below.

Our

artist

has solved these problems with conspicuous

success, but at the cost of sacrificing

all

but the merest rem-

PORTRAITS. The Ara Pads, the Arch of Titus, and the Colof Trajan are monuments of key importance for the art

umn

Rome

of Imperial

at

the height of

equally significant works

period

very

is

among

much more

its

styles mirrors the ever

Roman

of

same
was

their production

difficult;

and the diversity of types and

vast,

more complex character

power. To single out

the portraits of the

society.

If

we

regard

the Republican ancestral image tradition and the Greekinspired Augustus of Primaporta as opposite ends of the

we can find almost any variety of interbreeding between the two. The fine head of the Emperor Vespasian, of
c. 75 ad, is a case in point (fig. 293): he was the first of the
Flavian emperors, a military man who came to power after
the Julio-Claudian (Augustan) line had died out and who
must have viewed the idea of emperor worship with considerable skepticism. (When he was dying, he is reported to
have said, "It seems I am about to become a god." His humble origin and simple tastes may be reflected in the anti-Augustan, Republican flavor of his portrait. The soft, veiled
quality of the carving, on the other hand, with its emphasis
on the texture of skin and hair, is so Creek that it immediately recalls the seductive marble technique of Praxiteles and
his school. A similar refinement can be felt in the surfaces of
scale,

the slightly later bust of a lady

lest

portrait of a

graceful

tilt

woman

(fig.

294), probably the subt-

in all of

Roman

sculpture.

The

of the head and the glance of the large eyes con-

mood

vey a gentle

of reverie;

softness of skin and lips

is

and how

effectively the silky

set off by the

many corkscrew

curls of the fashionable coiffure.

The wonderful head

of Trajan

(fig.

another masterpiece of portraiture.

recall the

c. 100 ad., is
rounded forms

295). of

Its firm,

Augustus of Primaporta, as does the commanding

look of the eyes, dramatized

by the strongly projecting

brows. The face radiates a strange emotional intensity that

difficult to

Roman

define

is

a kind of Greek pathos transmuted into

nobility of character.

Trajan

still

conformed

to

age-old

Roman custom

by be-

ing clean-shaven. His successors, in contrast, adopted the

Greek fashion of wearing beards as an outward sign of admiration for the Hellenic heritage.
lore, to find a

It

is

not surprising, there-

strong neo-Augustan, classicistic trend, often

of a peculiarly cool, formal sort, in the sculpture of the sec-

ond century

with

238

SPASIAN

damaged chin

'ROMAS

\KI

75 A.D Marble, lilcsi/c

repaired.

Museo

delle

Terme,

Home

V.D.,

especially during the reigns of Hadrian and

Marcus Aurelius. both of them introspective men deeply interested in Creek philosophy. We can sense this quality in
the equestrian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius (fig. 296),
which is remarkable not only as the sole survivor of this class

294. PORTRAIT OF A LADY

lifesize.

Museo

c.

90

Capitolino,

296. EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF

AD

Marble,

295. IRAJAN.

c.

100 A O Marble,

lifesize.

Museum,

Ostia

Rome

MARCUS AUREUUS 161-180

\1) Bronze, over lifesize. Piazza del Campidoglio.

Rome

li()\l\\

Mil

2 \9

297. (above) PH1UPPUS

Marble,

lifesize.

298. (above right) PORTRAIT

AD

century

THE ARAB 244-49 AD.

Museums, Rome

Vatican

head

Marble,

(probably Plotinus). Late 3rd

lifesize.

Museum,

Ostia

monument but as one of the few Roman statues that remained on public view throughout the Middle Ages. The
equestrian image of the emperor, displaying him as the allof

conquering lord of the earth, had been a firmly established

tradition ever since Julius Caesar had permitted such a statue of himself to be erected in the Forum Julium. That of

Marcus Aurelius,

too,

was meant

to characterize the

emper-

or as ever victorious, for beneath the right front leg of the

horse according to medieval accounts) there once crouched

(

bound barbarian chieftain. The wonderand powerful horse expresses this martial spirit.
But the emperor himself without weapons or armor,
a bringer of peace
presents a picture of stoic detachment
rather than a military hero. And so indeed he saw himself
a small figure of a
lullv spirited

(161-180 A.D.).
was the calm before the storm. The third century saw
the Roman Empire in almost perpetual crisis. Barbarians
endangered its far-flung frontiers while internal conflicts
undermined the authority of the Imperial office. To retain
the throne became a matter of naked force, succession by
murder a regular habit; the "soldier emperors" mercenarfollowed one
ies from the outlying provinces of the realm

and

his reign

It

another

men.

at

intervals.

briel

SU< h as Philippus tbe

reigned from 244

likenesses

mising as

all

ib.it

to

of

249

art.

The
Arab

\ i>.

Their

portraits of
I

are

fig.

among

facial

human mind

fear,

realism

is

of these

134

),

who

is

as
its

uncomproaim is ex-

tbe dark passions

suspicion, cruelty

revealed bere with a dire< tness thai

240- l>\l\\ Mil

all

fig.

the most powerful

of Republican portraiture, but

pressive rather than documentary:

the

some

297; see

ol

suddenly stand

almost unbelievable.

299. CONSTANT1NE
Marble, height

8' (2.4

III

GREA1

l'.arly

4th century

m). Palazzo dei Conservator!,

AD
Rome

The

face of Philippus

in a

strange way

logical

it

minors

also

all

the violence of the time. Yet

moves us

nakedness about

that

it

doomed and cornered. Clearly,

world was not only physical but
should have been able
ing this crisis

is

to

its

psycho-

brute creature

recalls

is

Roman
Roman art
man embody-

the agony of the

spiritual.

create an

a tribute to

new

to pity; there

That

image of a

continued

plastic

achieved:

is

and the hollowed-out

line of the iris

pupils, devices alien to

earlier portraits, serve to fix the direction of the glance.

rendered

The

thoroughly un-Classical fashion as a

close-fitting, textured cap; and the beard has been replaced
hair, too, is

by a peculiar

in

unshaven look

that results

from roughing up

the surfaces of the lower part of the lace with short chisel
strokes.

A somewhat

later portrait,

probably that of the late Creek

philosopher Plotinus, suggests a different aspect of the

third-century crisis (fig. 298). Plotinus' thinking
abstract,

and strongly tinged with mysticism marked a

retreat from concern with the outer world that seems closer
to the Middle Ages than to the Classical tradition of Creek

speculative,

philosophy.

popular

tery cults

sprang from the same mood

expressed

itself in

throughout the

the spread

that,
of

Roman empire. How

on a more

Oriental mys-

trustworthy a

head represents is hard to say; the ascetic feathe intense eyes and tall brow, may well portray inner

likeness our
tures,

It

level,

any portrait made of himself. The body, he maintained, was

an awkward enough likeness of the true, spiritual sell. \\h\
then go

the bother of

to

"likeness of

vitality.

means through which the imwe are struck, first ot all,

by the way expression centers on the eves, which seem to
gaze at some unseen but powerful threat. The engraved outLet us note the

pact of these portraits

more accuratel) than outward appearan< e \( c ording to Ins biographer, Plotinus was so contemptuous oi the
imperfections of the physical world (hat he refused to have
qualities

Such

known

.1

making an even more awkward

likeness"/

a view presages die

it

so

far.

II

end of portraiture as we have

a physical likeness

becomes meaningful only

is

worthless, a portrait

as a visible

symbol of the spiritual

self It is in these terms that we must view the head oi
Constantino the Croat, the first Christian emperor and reorgani/.erof the Roman state fig. 2W) Originally, it belonged
to
a colossal statue which stood in the Basilica of Constantino.
1.

We may call it superhuman, not only because of its enormous size, but even more so perhaps as an image of Imperial
majesty. The huge, radiant eves, the massive, immobile features do not tell us much about Constantino's actual appearance; they

and

tell

us a great deal about how he viewed lumsell

his exalted office.

ARCH OF CONSTANTINE.
his role

is

Constantino's conception of

clearlv reflected in his triumphal arch

erected near the Colosseum

and most elaborate of

312-315

\ i>

One

fig.

300),

of the largest

kind, it is decorated for the most

from earlier Imperial monuments.
Ibis procedure has often been viewed as dictated by haste
and by the poor condition of the sculptural workshops of
its

part with sculpture taken

Rome

at that time.

300. Arch of Constantine, Koine 312

These may have been contributory

fac-

15 V.D

l)\l\\ Mil

2->l

tors,

but there appears to be a conscious and carefully con-

sidered plan behind the way the earlier pieces were chosen

and employed.

Ml

them come from

ol

the

The figures themselves have an oddly

first.

quality: the

heads are very

large, while the bodies

doll-like

seem

not

us Vurelius, and the portraits of these emperors have been

only dwarfish (because of the thick, stubby legs) hut also

lacking in articulation. The mechanism of contrapposto has

reworked into likenesses of Constantine.

disappeared completely, so that these figures no longer

monuments, those dedicated

i

group of
Trajan, Hadrian, and Mara related

of figures appears simply as a series of heads above those of

systematically

Does

this not

restorei

ol

to

convej Constantine's view of himself as the

Roman

glory,

the legitimate successor of the

stand freely and by their

seem
All

"good emperors" of the second century?

The arch also contains a number of reliefs made especially

however, such as the friezes above the lateral openand these show the new Constantinian style in full
force. If we compare the medallions of figure 301, carved in
Hadrian's tune, with the relief immediately below them, the
contrast is such that they seem to belong to two different
for n.

ings,

worlds
into

Hie scene

Rome

in

312

from the rostrum

represents Constantine. alter his entry

\i>.

in

addressing the Senate and the people

the Forum.

The first thing we notice here- is the avoidance of all the

numerous devices developed since the filth century B.c
lor creating spatial depth; we find no oblique lines, no foreshortening, and only the barest ripple of movement in the
listening crowds.

The

architecture has been flattened out

against the relief background,

which thus becomes

a solid,

impenetrable surface. The rostrum and the people on or bethe second row
side it form a second, equally shallow layer

01

ROM

t\

\l:i

Medallions (117

138

\.D.)

and

own muscular

effort; rather,

dangle from invisible strings.

the characteristics we have described so

far are

essen-

negative, judged from the Classical point of view: they

tially

represent the loss of many hard-won gains

more primitive

earlier,

proach does not

new

they

to

style.

the result

The
ol a

really

a throwback

levels of expression. Yet

to

such an ap-

advance our understanding

of

the

C'onstantinian panel cannot he explained as

lack of ability, lor

it

is

far too

consistent within

be regarded as no more than a clumsy attempt to

imitate earlier Roman reliefs. Nor can it he viewed as a return to Archaic art, since there is nothing in pre-Classical
itself to

it. No. the Constantinian sculptor must

have had a positive new purpose of his own. Perhaps we can
approach it best by stressing one dominant feature of our re-

times that looks like

lief:

its

sense of sell-sufficiency.

The scene fills the available area, and fills it completely

note how all the background buildings are made to have the
continues beyond
same height), but any sut2,ue st ()n that

it

the frame

frieze (early

kh

is

carefully avoided.

It is

century). Arch of Constantine

as

if

our

artist

had asked

mmm m^mmmmmmiiimmmmtimmiim

302. THE BATTLE

OF 1SSUS

or

BATTLE OF ALEXANDER AND THE PERSIANS Mosaic copy from Pompeii.

of a Hellenistic painting. 8'll"x 16'9'/2" (2.7x5.1 m).

"How can get all of this complicated ceremonial

my panel?" In order to do so, he has imposed an

himself,

event into

abstract order

upon the world

of appearances: the middle

third of the strip is given over to the

and his entourage, the

tine

buildings that identify the

action
scale

they are

all

rostrum with Constan-

rest to the listeners

Roman Forum

and the

as the scene of the

quite recognizable, even though their

and proportions have been

drastically adjusted).

The

symmetrical design also permits him to make clear the

unique status of the emperor. Constantine not only occupies
the exact center; he
nately,

is

shown

has been knocked

turn their heads toward

tionship.

That the

him

while

all

the other figures

express their dependent

to

frontal pose

reserved for sovereigns,

full-face (his head, unfortu-

off),

is

human

rela-

indeed a position of majesty

or divine,

is

nicely

demon-

strated by the seated figures at the corners of the rostrum.

Museo Archeologico

the Etruscan murals and because

to light
iar;

only in

baffling

do about

modern

all

of

it

B.<

of it, having come-

charm of the unfamilabout

infinitely less

architecture or sculpture.

material, with very lew exceptions,

range; almost

century

much

times, has the

because we know

Roman

1st

Nazionale. Naples

is

it

The

than

we

surviving

severely limited in

consists of wall paintings, and the

great majority of these come from Pompeii. Herculaneum,

and other settlements buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 a i) or from Rome and its environs. Their dates
cover a span of less than two hundred years, from the end of
the first century B.C to the late first century \i>; what happened before or after remains largely a matter of guesswork.
And since we have no Classical Greek or Hellenistic wall
paintings, the problem of singling out the Roman element as
against the Greek is far more difficult than in sculpture or
,

architecture.

the only ones besides Constantine to face us directly: these

figures are statues of emperors

we met elsewhere on

the same "good emperors"

the arch. Hadrian and

Marcus Aure-

litis. Looked at in this way, our relief reveals itself as a bold

and original creation. It is the harbinger of a new vision that
\\ ill

become

basic to the

development of Christian

art.

Greek Sources
That there was copying of Greek designs, that Creek paintings as well as painters were imported, nobody will dispute
But the number of instances
strated

is

earlier point,

PAINTING

we mentioned

this

cm

Pliny's reference to a

ture of the late fourth century B

Issus

which

in

he demon-

small indeed. Let us consider two of these

see page 233

i.

<

or. at

any

other battle

shown

in

sents the only large body of ancient painting subsequent to

tury H(

Figure 302 illustrates the center and right

an

pic-

representing the battle of

The same subject

Hie modern beholder, whether expert or amateur, is apt to

find painting the most exciting as well as the most baffling
aspect ol art under Roman rule
exciting because it repre-

ol

At

Creek

rate, an-

Alexander's war against the Persians

is

an exceptionally large and techmcalh accomplished floor mosaic from a I'ompeian house ol the first cen-

lto\l\\

hall,

\iti

with

24

ALEXANDROS OF ATHENS. THE KNUCKLEBONE

303.

1st

century B.c Marble panel, I6V2X 15"

Museo Archeologico

Dai ins and the fleeing Persians, and the badly

portion, with the figure of Alexander.

hand

special reason to link this

can hardly doubt that

ficient

oneof

is

it

The crowding,

Roman

no

But a Hellenistic

the air of frantic ex-

citement, the powerfully modeled and foreshortened forms,

when

shadows

the precise cast

did

reach this particular stage of development?

for

even the great

frieze of

these qualities

all

We do not

Pergamum seems

know,

restrained in

comparison.

Our second

the very opposite of the first. A

Herculaneum painted in a delicate
group of five women, two of them en-

instance

is

style,

gaged

in

.1

shows a
game of knucklebones
it

\ttii

in fig. 214), vet

white-ground lekythos

seems so much weaker than the conception

copy or better perhaps, an imitation
to

longs

to a spec lal

representative

ol

in

for the

that

it

style

must he

the Classical

lass of "collector's

Roman
Hems"

man-

market.
that

is

It

be-

no more

painting as a whole than the Alex-

Roman

We

wonder, moreover, whether anything .is

attenuated is this a< tuall) existed in Classii al Athenian art.
Was n perhaps a late "neo Attic" invention meant to cater to
andii mosaic

the tasie

ROM

ol

t\

seme

\/:/

p.utK

l.i

Mediterranean. Unfortunately,

ol

it

is

not

consists entirely of the imitation

it

colored marble paneling. About 100

this so-called

B.C.,

more ambitious and

elaborate style that sought to push back or open up the Hat
surface of the wall by means of illusionistic architectural
perspectives and "window effects,'' including landscapes
and figures. Three phases of this more elaborate style have
First Style

began

to

be displaced by a

far

the time of the eruption of

The

the topics or adaptations of Classical

comparable
(aeek si, noes manufactured
nei

in the eastern

found

very informative for us, as

the execution

inscription

this.

plainly recalls that ol the late fifth century B.C

earliest

(compare the

An

303).

(fig.

us that Alexandras of Athens painted

tells

Illusionism

phase of Roman wall painting, known from a

few examples of the second century B.C., does show a clear
connection with the Hellenistic world, since it has also been

The

been distinguished, known as the Second, Third, and

Fourth Stvles. but the differences between them are not always clear, and there seems to have been considerable overlapping in their sequence, so that we can largely disregard
this classification here. The Fourth Style, which prevailed at

small marble panel from

Imeai

Nazionale, Naples

leftis

mosaic with Pliny's account, we

copy and an astonishingly pro-

Hellenistic painting.

painting of what date?

damaged

While there

PLAYERS.

(42x38 cm).

gTOUp of Itoiuan connoisseurs

'

most

intricate of

House

in the

all;

Mount Vesuvius

in

79

At)., is

our example, a corner of the Ixion

of the Vettii at Pompeii

(fig.

the

Room

304), combines

imitation marble paneling, conspicuously framed mythological

scenes intended

to give the effect of

panel pictures

and fantastic architectural vistas seen

through make-believe windows. This architecture has a
strangely unreal and picturesque quality that is believed to
set

into the wall,

304. (opposite) The Ixion Room, House

Pompeii.

63-79

ad

of

the

Vettii,

ItoMW

\l;i

305.

ARCHITECTURAL VIEW Wall painting from a villa at Boscoreale,

1st century B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

near Naples.

New

York. Rogers

backdrops of the theaters of the

often anticipates effects such as that of the Market

reflect the architectural

time;

it

Gate of Miletus (see

fig.

277).

Fund, 1903

This is most strikingly demonstrated by the famous

Odyssey Landscapes, a continuous stretch of landscape
subdivided into eight compartments by a framework of pilastions.

Second Style, as representgood deal more substantial and

ters. Each section illustrates an episode of the adventures of

Odysseus (Ulysses). One ol the adventures with the Laes-

thus provide a better measure of the illusionistic devices by

which the Roman painter achieved these breakthroughs,

create a wonderful feeling of atmospheric, light-filled space

The

architectural vistas of the

ed by our figure 305, are a

lie

is

clearly a

master of modeling and surface textures; the

the lustrous, richly decorated col-

forms framing the vista

umns, the moldings, the mask

at

the

top have an

extraor-

dinary degree of three-dimensional reality. They effectively

set off the distant view of buildings, which is flooded with
light to convey a sense of free, open-airspace. But as soon as

we

try

selves

penetrate tins architectural maze,

to
lost;

the individual structures

we

find our-

annot be disentangled

horn each other, their size and relationship are obscure. And
we qui< klv realize that the Roman painter has no systematic
grasp oi spatial depth, that bis perspective is haphazard and
inconsistent within

itself.

Apparently he never intended us

enter the spa< e he has created;

remains forever beyond us.
to

When

like a

promised land,

it

ol

the

HOMAN

Roman

Mil

painter's

approach outweigh

is

reproduced

vistas,

bis limita-

306).

(fig.

The

bluish tones

airy,

and binds together all the forms within this

fairyland, where the human figures
no more than an incidental role. Only upon fur-

that envelops

warm Mediterranean
seem

to play

ther reflection do

we

realize

bow

frail

the illusion

ol

coher-

ence is even here: if we were to try mapping this landscape,

we would find it just as ambiguous as the architectural perspective discussed above.
ic,

like that of the

Ifs

unity

is

stucco landscape

not structural but poetin figure

289.

The Odyssey Landscapes contrast with another approach

to nature, which we know from the murals in a room of the
Primaporta (fig. 307). Here the architectural
framework has been dispensed with altogether; the entire
wall is given over to a view of a delightful garden lull of

Villa of Livia at

flowers, fruit trees,

landscape takes the place of architectural

exact foreshortening becomes less important, and the Mi-

mes

trygonians

the

same

and

birds.

These charming

tangible quality, the

details

same concreteness

have

of color

and texture as the architectural framework of figure 305,

,iiid their apparent distance from the beholder is also about

306.

THE LAESTRYGONIANS HURLING ROCKS AT

Wall painting from a house on the Esquiline

'
I

Hill,

Rome. Late

III

1st

FLEET OF ODYSSEUS.

century B.C Vatican Museums.

Rome

,***

'M),

yii

w oi

\(.\/{/)/\ Wall paintinu 1'rom the

\ ilia

of Livia at Primaporta

<

20

B.(

Museo

delle

ferme Home

l!<)\1

\\

Iftj

308. PEACHES

AND GLASS JAR.

Wall painting from Herculaneum.

Musco Archeologico

same

the

they seem

there

torn,

low

is

to

be within arm's reach. At the hot-

beyond

trellis,

it

narrow

strip of

lawn

and immediately
alter that the garden proper begins. Oddly enough, however,
we cannot enter it; behind the front row of trees and flowers
with a tree

then a low

in the center,

wall,

an opaque mass of greenery that shuts off our view as

dense hedge. This garden, then, is another

lies

c.

50

A.D.

Nazionale, Naples

be done, because the shadows cast by the various objects are

seems

to

he imprisoned within the

systematic in his approach

promised land made only lor looking. The wall has not really
been opened up but merely pushed hack a lew feet and re-

details, his

depth that

h is this very limitation of spatial

endows our mural with its unusual degree of
wall of plants,

coherence.

On a large scale, such restraint does not occur often m

though, in the still
Roman mural decoration. We do find
lifes that sometimes make their appearance within the liitriit.

ment

rier that

rendering

ol

the translui ent glass jar half

refle< tions

I'he

JUSI this

'

liOMW

ua\ Cut

Utl

with water

we

feel

the

opied (hem Irom an actual jar illuminatil

we

tr\

lo

determine (he source and

dire< tion ol the lighi in the pi< tine

2-4H

filled

are so acutely observed thai

painter must have

ed

particularly noteworthy for the

we

find thai this cannot

examples,

this

differentiates

Roman

painting from that of the

Renaissance or of modern times.

form

is

In the finest

in its overall structure.

real the

a basic unifying ele-

is

Out example

308)

Roman
no more

amply compensated for by other qualities, so that our

observation must not be regarded as condemning him to an
inferior status. I'he absence of a consistent view of the visible world should he thought of instead as a fundamental hailack

anticipated to

(fig

is

However sensuously

work nearly always lacks

.lie .iK hite< tural schemes. These usually take the form of
make-believe niches or cupboards, so that the objects,
whu h arc often displayed on (wo levels remain close to us.

Clearly, the

the behavior of light than in

lo

his handling of perspective.

,1

jar.

despite his striving for illusionistic effects,

artist,

effectively as a

placed by

Nor do we have the impres-

not consistent with each other.

sion that the jar stands in a stream of light; instead, the light

The

illusionistic

tendencies that gained the upper hand in

the first century b.c may have been

some extent by lellenistic painters, hut in the
which we know them they seem to he a specifically

Roman murals during

in

Roman development,
tive

as against the reproductive or imita-

works we had examined

sist in

before.

Echoes of the

latter per-

the mythological panels that occur like islands within

an elaborate architectural framework (see fig. 304). While

these scenes hard!) ever give the impression of straightfor-

ward copies

somewhat

after Hellenistic originals, they often

have the

disjointed character of compilations of motifs

from various sources.

A characteristic example is the picture of lercules discovering the infant Telephus in Arcadia, from the basilica at
i

lerculaneum

of a

Roman

fig.

309

painter

).

What stamps

is its

this as the

handiwork

oddly unstable style; almost every-

thing here has the look of a "quotation," so that not only the
forms, but even the brushvvork varies from one figure to the

Thus the personification of Arcadia, seated in the censeems as cold, immobile, and tightly modeled as a statwhereas Hercules, although his pose is equally

next.
ter,

ue,

Statuesque, exhibits a broader and

nique.

Or compare

more luminous

tech-

the lion, painted in sketchy, agitated

dabs, with the precise and graceful outlines of the doe. The

sparkling highlights on the basket of fruit are derived from

vet another source: still lifes such as figure 308. And the

mischievously smiling young Pan in the upper-left-hand

corner

is

composed

have a character

all

of quick, feathery brushstrokes that

their

own.

VILLA OF THE MYSTERIES. There exists, however, one

monument whose sweeping grandeur of design and coherence of style are unique in Roman painting: the great frieze
one of the rooms in the Villa of the Mysteries just outside
Pompeii (fi. 310). Like the garden view from the Villa of

in

310. SCI \i

'"
c.

DIONYSl u

50 lie

Villa

<>l

\nsn

309.

to

nil

HERCULES AND TELEPHUS Wall paintiriR from Herculancum

c. 70 AD Museo ArcheoloKico Na/.ionale. Naples

Wall painting frieze

the Mysteries, Pompeii

i:o\i \\

\in

Livia,

ii

dates from the latter pan of the

when

the Se< ond Style

ment
more

of the wall space

in

common

Style murals, for

was

at its

first

century

the studied and sell-conscious quality

B.<

height, So far as the treat-

is concerned, the two works have

with each Other than With other Second
both of them are conceived in terms of

rhythmic continuity and arm's-length depth.

The artist who created

the frieze in the Villa of the Myster-

placed Ins figures on a narrow ledge of green against

a regular pattern of red panels separated l>\ strips of black, .1
kind ol running stage on which they enact their strange and

we

call classicism.

of exceptional greatness of vision has

artist

filled

An

these forms

Whatever his relation to the famous masters

whose works are lost to us forever, he was
their legitimate heir in the same sense that the finest Latin
poets of the Augustan age were the legitimate heirs to the
with new

fife.

of Greek painting

Greek poetic

tradition.

ies lias

solemn
cult

'.'

ritual.

Many

Who
details

they, and what is the meaning of the

remain puzzling, but the program as a

.ire

whole represents various aspects of the Dionysiac Mysteries, a semisecret cult of very ancient origin that had been
from Greece. The sacred rites are performed
brought
in the presence ol Dionvsus and Adriadne, with their train of
satyrs and sileni, so that human and mythical reality tend to
to Italy

merge

into one.

We
ties

sense the blending of these two spheres in the qualitheir dignity of bearing
all the figures have in common

and expression, the wonderful firmness of body and drapery,

the rapt intensity with which they participate in the drama
of the ritual fig. 311). Many of the poses and gestures are
(

taken from the repertory

of Classical

Greek

311.

art,

yet they lack

woman with WEIL

PORTRAITS.

ROM

IB!

to Pliny, was an
Rome, serving the ances-

according

tor cult as did the portrait busts discussed earlier (see pages
230-33). None of these panels has survived, and the lew
portraits found on the walls of Roman houses in Pompeii

may

well derive from a different, a Hellenistic, tradition.

only coherent group of painted portraits

at

The

our disposal,

comes from the Faiyum district in Lower

them found so far seem to date from
or rethe second century ad We owe them to the survival

strangely enough,

Egypt. The earliest of

vival

of an

ancient Egyptian custom, that of attaching a

portrait of the

deceased

fig.

104), but

wrapped, mummified body.

had been sculptured (compare

to the

Originally, these portraits

became replaced

in

Roman

times by painted

ones such as the very fine and well-preserved wooden panel

reproduced in figure 312.

Detail of wall painting frieze

Villa dI the Mysteries,

ISO'

Portrait painting,

established custom in Republican

Pompeii

c.

50 B.c

312. portraii oi

,\

boy from the Faiyum,

Lower Kgypt. 2nd century \ D Encaustic on

13X7W (33x 18.:-! cm).

The Metropolitan Museum oi Art, New

H8
Gift of Edward S. Harkness,

panel,

York.

The amazing Freshness of its colors is due to the Fact that

was done In a technique of great durability tailed encaustic, which moans that the pigments arc suspended in hot

quicklj a\h\ in lame numbers, the) tend to have

wax. The mixture can be opaque and creamy,

ments

it

from a snapshot
it

becomes apparent

onl)

when we compare

with other Faiyum portraits. Since the) were produced

main

ele-

m common,

and translucent. At their best, these portraits have an

immediacy and soreness of touch that have rarely been sur

such as the emphasis on the eyes the

placing ol the highlights and shadows, the angle from v\ bi< h
the face is seen In the later examples, these mi\ entional

passed; our dark-haired boy

elements

like oil paint,

or thin

a piece of reality as

hire

and

it

is

as solid, sparkling, and lifelike

anyone might w

does have

si vie.

ish.

The style of the

otherwise we could not

pic

tell

it

stiffen

more and more

ours the) merel) furnish

into a fixed type, while in

a flexible

mold within which

to

cast the indl\ idu.il likeness

ROM

l\

\l!l

251

Eastern terms, the most successful product ol this crossbreeding process was Islam, which still dominates the entire
see pages 290-91

area to this da)

Hie growth

ol

as yet very incompletely understood, since

rule

is

was

part ol

Roman
much ol

the Graeco-Oriental religions under

an underground movement which has

it

lew

left

where it took place has

war and destruction so many times that
important discoveries, such as ol the Dead Sea Scrolls, are
rare events indeed. There is mounting evidence, however,
that the new taiths also gave birth to a new style in art. and
that this style, too. resulted from a lusion of Graeco-Roman
tangible traces. Besides, the area

been

OF

313. PORTRAIT

Archaeological

MAN

diameter

250 a

t)

and Oriental elements. The artists who struggled with the

task ol coining images to express the contents ol these kuths
were not among the most gifted ol their time: they were provincial crattsmen ot modest ambition who drew upon whatever visual sources happened to be available to them,
adapting, combining, and reshaping these as best thev

Glass,

nm

Museum,

a theater ol

Arezzo. Italy

could. Their efforts are often clumsy, vet

find the beginnings of a tradition that

importance

Whether

Roman

or Hellenistic

is

an

idle

do know, however, that it was not confined to

:. since it can be linked with some portrait miniatures
apparently done in Italy during the third century

to call this stvle

We

question.

The

finest ot

them

is

the medallion

shown

in its actual

1 Its power ot characterization, superior to

that ot any Faivum portrait, represents the same climax ot
Roman portraiture that produced the marble bust of Philippus the Arab seeh_ 297
si/t in figure 31

DLRA-ELROPOS. The
style

In di-

ss

tury

\D

the

mood

the

c risis

see page 240

ot
.

most

of the times the spread of Oriental mystery

They were of various origins

and

reli-

Egyptian. Persian. Se-

development naturally centered in

their home territory, the southeastern provinces and border
regions of the Roman Empire Although based on traditions
in etlect long before the conquest ot these ancient lands by
Alexander the Great, the cults had been strongly influenced
mitic

their early

bv Greek ideas during the Hellenistic period:

it

was. in

tact.

and Greek elements that thev owed

to this fusion of Oriental

and appeal.
The names ol most ot these

remembered only bv

today

powerful rivals

ot

cults,

taiths.

their doctriii'

even though thev

Christianity during the earlv centu-

In those davs. the

I

and

specialists,

cultural melting pot

Near East was a vast reliwhere all the competing

including Judaism, Christianity, Mithraism,

Mam-

and many more, tended to influence

that thev had an astonishing number of
thin_
non. whatever their differences ot origin, ritual, or nomenclatu:
hem shared such teatur- - s
'ruth the hope ot salvation, a chiel
the dichotomy ol good and evil, a ritual
prop'
and the dutv to seek
Of initiation baptism
flu- last and in N
sticism,

we

of basic

art.

illustrations of this

telling

Dura-Europos on the upper Euphrates, a Roman

was captured by the resurgent Persians
under Shapur about 256 v D and abandoned by its population soon alter. Its ruins have vielded the remains of sanctuaries of several religions, decorated with murals which all

town

ot

show

essentially the

same Graeco-Oriental

character.

The

best preserved are those from the assembly hall of a synaof their

numerous compart-

one representing the consecration

ol the tabernacle fig. 314
It is characteristic of the melting-pot condidons described
above that even Judaism should have been affected by them
Momentarily, at least, the age-old injunction against im agi
was relaxed so that the walls of the assembly hall could be
illustrate the

covered with a richly detailed visual account of the histon

ol

Chosen People and their Covenant with the Lord. The

new attitude seems to have been linked with a tendency to
change Judaism from a national to a universal faith by misthe

sionary activity

some

ingly,

among

the non-Jewish population: interest-

such as the

of the inscriptions on the murals

314 are in Greek. In any event, we may

be sure that the artists w ho designed these pictures laced an
unaccustomed task. )ust as did the painters who worked for
the earliest Christian communities: thev had to cast into
visible torm what had hitherto been expressed only in

name Aaron

their vitalitv

here that

frontier station that

ments, we

the Roman world in the third cenwe mentioned a> characteristic of

is

become

have been found in the Mesopotamian

gogue, painted about 250 VD

Eastern Religions

it

to

development of mediev al

tor the

new compound

was

words

How

in fig.

did thev go about

our illustration

we can

it?

Let us take a closer look at

animals, human
without trouble, but their

read the details

beings, buildings, cult objects

relationship eludes us There

is

no

action,

no

story,

onlv an

nblv ol forms and figures confronting us in the expectation that

we

will

tween them The

be able

a similar dithcultv

know

vet

it

to establish

the proper links be-

frieze in the Villa ol the Mysteries presents

there,

too.

strikes us as verv

the beholder

much

figures have an eloquence ot gesture

is

supposed

to

less puzzling, for the

and expression

that

makes them meaningful even though we maj

nol under-

stand the context of the scenes.

II
the synagogue painter Tails to be equally persuasive
must we attribute this to his lack of competence, or arc there

Other reasons as well?

laced

The question

when discussing

is

rather like the one

we

the Constantinian relief in figure

301, which resembles the Dura-Europos mural in a

Of ways.

The synagogue

self-sufficiency, of

condensation

ness, but his subject

is

number
same sense of

painter exhibits the

far

for the

sake of complete-

more demanding: he had

sent a historic. d event of vast

to repre-

religious importance (the

consecration of the tabernacle and

its

priests,

which began

humanity and God as described in detail in the Holy Scriptures, and lie had to represent
in such
a way as to surest that it was also a tuneless, recurrent ritthe reconciliation of

it

ual.

Thus

his picture

ficance far greater and

burdened with a wealth of

more rigidly defined than that

is

accordance with the

he mere empty gestures

our artist could not imagine

biblical description, as a tentlike

construction of poles and goat's-hair curtains.

Roman

The attendant

and red heifer in the lower-left-hand corner are derived

from Roman scenes of animal sacrifice, hence they show

derstood as behind, rather than on top

of,

the crenellated

wall that shields the precinct of the tahernac

tion in

Their si/e

le

governed by their important e not by then posispace Aaron, as the principal figure, is not onlv large]

however,

is

than the attendants hut also more

costume, because of

its

rigid

and

ritual significance,

detail, at the cost of obliterating

is

His

abstract.

diagramed

the hodv underneath.

in

The

still show a residue ol mobiland three-dimensional existence. Then garments sur-

attendants on the other hand,

ity

enough

are Persian,

hie artistic influences

from

,1

fashion

indication not only

the

ol

holder area hut of possi

Persia.

combines in none-too a considerable variety oTlorm.il elements

Our synagogue mural,

skilllul

.111

in this

then,

whose onlv common denominator is the religious message

hands ol a gre.it artist, this message

of the whole. In the

might have been a stronger unifying force, but even then

the shapes and colors would have heen no more than a humhie,

imperfecl simile of the spiritual truth they were meant

to serve. That, surely,

was the outlook

of the authorities

who

supervised the execution of the mural cycle and controlled

its

program. The essential quality of these pictures can no

longer he understood in the framework of ancient

express an attitude that seems

spective view of the altar table next to the figure of Aaron, in

the perfunctory modeling here and there, and in the rudi-

could hardly do better than

mentary cast shadows attached

legentibus

the painter

freefj

to some of the- figures. Did

understand the purpose of these shadows'

sine e (he rest ol the

either light 01 space in the

conveyed by other means: the seven-bran* hed andlestii k

the two incense burners, the alt. 11, and Aaron are to he un-

remnants of foreshortening not found among the other

figures. Other echoes of Roman painting appear in the per-

still

ol

sense Even the oc< asional overlapping ol forms aphe sequence ol things in spa< e is

pears largely accidental.

prisingly

him visualize the tabernacle and the

consecration ceremony
No wonder he has fallen hack on a sort of symbolic shorthand composed of images borrowed from other, older traditions. The tabernacle itself, for instance, is shown as a
in

to

odd mixture of civilizations

his disposal to help

it,

seem

signi-

relief. Nor did he have

Jewish religious painting at

Classical temple simply because

hey

of the

Dionysiac frieze or the Constantinian

a well-established tradition of

picture betrays no awareness

If

we were

to

sum up

their

Tar closer to the

purpose

art;

they

Middle Ages

in a single

phrase we

quote a famous dictum justifying the pictorial representation of Christian themes: t\)//or/
scriptura,

to

Ihh

painting conveys the

314.

idiotis

Word

of

.pictura

God

THE CONSECRATION Of

AND

its PRIESTS

to

III

translated

the unlettered

FABERNACLl

from the Assembly Hall

of the Synagogue .it Dura-Kumpos.

245-56 A n Mural. 4'8'/r x 7'8'/V (1.4x2.3 mi
National Museum. Damascus Syria

i:o\l\\

\l;i

CHAPTER EIGHT

EARLY CHRISTIAN

AND

BYZANTINE ART
p

Vewa

,5.*

<?

CYCLADES

/I

{J_

In

the

323 An Constantine the Great made a fateful decision

consequences of which are still felt today he resolved

Roman Empire

to

move

of

Byzantium, which henceforth was

the capital of the

stantinople,

and

to

be

to

the

town

Ireek

known

as Con-

today, as Istanbul. Six years later, after

energetic building campaign,

an

was officially
completed. In taking this step, the Emperor acknowledged
the growing strategic and economic importance or the eastern provinces (a development that had been going on for
some time The new capital also symbolized the new Christhe

transfer

).

tian basis of the

Roman

since

state,

it

was

in the heart ol the

most thoroughly Christianized region of the Empire.

Constantine could hardly have foreseen that shifting the

power would

seat of Imperial
vet within less

result in splitting the realm,

than a hundred years the division had be-

come an accomplished

fact,

even though the emperors

Constantinople did not relinquish their claim

provinces.

The

latter,

Roman

ruled by western

Germanic

at

the western

to

emperors,

Visigoths,

soon

fell

dals.

Ostrogoths, Lombards. By the end of the sixth century

prey to invading

tribes

the last vestige of centralized authority

The

Van-

had disappeared.

eastern, or Byzantine, Empire, in contrast, survived

these onslaughts, and under Justinian (527-565) reached

new power and

With the rise of Islam a hundred

Near Eastern parts of the Emwere overrun by conquering Arab armies: in the elev-

years
pire

later,

stability.

the African and

enth centurv. the lurks occupied a large part of Asia Minor,

while the last Byzantine possessions in the West (in southern Italy) fell to the Normans. Yet the Empire, with its do-

"EARLY CHRISTIAN" UMD "BYZANTINE

West

makes

that

Christian

impossible

it

the

art in

Style;

Christians during the lime prior

Church or.

Orthodox
our

era.

designate

produced

ol art

bv oi for

the splitting off

to

ol

single heading.

speaking

sine ih

any work

refers, rather, to

it

reli

fast and

ol

uss the development

to dis<

Roman Empire under

"Earl) Christian" does not

the

is

It

gious even more (ban the political separation

the

ol

roughly, the lust live centuries

ol

on the other hand designates not

of the eastern Roman Empire but a specific

"Byzantine

only the art

art."

qualitv ol stvle as well

Since this style grevi out ol certain

tendencies that can be traced back to the tune ol Constantine or even earlier, there is no sharp dividing line between
Early Christian and Byzantine

Thus

art

the reign

ol .Justin-

been termed the lust Golden Age of Byzantine art.

Justinian himsell was a man of Strongly western. Latin

ian has
vet

who almost succeeded in reuniting the Constantmian domain; and the monuments he sponsored, especially
those on Italian soil, mav be viewed as either Earl) Christian

orientation

or Byzantine,

depending on which frame of reference we

select.

Soon alter, it is true the political and religious cleavage

between East and West became an artistic cleavage as well.
In western Europe, Celtic

and Germanic peoples fell heir to

which Early Christian art

the civilization of late antiquity, of

had been

a part,

The

A'jes.

and transformed

it

Middle
no such break; in

into that of the

East, in contrast, experienced

the Byzantine Empire, late antiquity lived on. although the

Balkans and Greece, held on until 1453.

Creek and Oriental elements came increasingl) to the fore

at the expense of the Roman heritage. As a consequence,

when the lurks finally conquered Constantinople itself

The division of the Roman Empire soon led to a religious

Byzantine Civilization never became wholly medieval "Ihe

Byzantines mav have been senile." one historian has ob-

main reduced

to the

as well. At the time of Constantine, the bishop of

split

deriving his authority from

St. Peter,

Rome,
was the acknowledged

head, the pope, of the Christian Church. His claim to pre-

the development

eminence, however, soon came-

best, therefore,

to

be disputed by the patri-

arch of Constantinople, differences in doctrine began to

tian

develop, and eventually the division of

Middle

Christendom into a
Western, or Catholic, and an Eastern, or Orthodox. Church,
became .ill but final. The differences between them went
very deep; Roman Catholicism maintained its independence
from Imperial or any other state authority and became an
international institution reflecting

its

character

the

.is

tra-

Church, while the Orthodox Church was based on

the union of spiritual and sec ul.u authorit) in the person of

versal

remained Creeks

served, "but thev

the end."

to

sense of tradition, of continuity with the

if

Byzantine

ol

we

see

in

it

We

art

can understand

the context of the

phase of antiquity rather than

he same

determines

past,

final,

the context

it

hris-

ol

(he

.Vj.es.

EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

When

and where the first Christian works ol art were produced remain a matter ol conjecture Ol ihe surviving
monuments, none can be dated earlier than about 200 v D
;

we

therefore,

lack

all

knowledge

direct

ol art

in the service ol

(he emperor, who appointed (he patriarch. It thus remained

dependent on the power ol the Slate, exacting a double alle-

Christianit) before that time

giance from the faithful and sharing the vicissitudes

Constantine the Creat. because ihe third century, too is

poorlv represented Ihe painted decorations ol the Roman

litical

power.

We

will

recognize this pattern as the

ol

po-

hiisiun

adaptation of a verv ancient heritage, the divine kingship

Egypt and the Near East;

if

oi

the Byzantine emperors, unlike

pagan predecessors could no longer claim the status ol

retained an cquallv unique and exalted role bv
placing themselves at the head of the Church as well as ol
the State. Nor did the tradition die with the fall ol
oust. in

lor certain

about Christian

these are morel v one

tian art

Ihe tsars

ol

Russia claimed the mantle

Moscow became "the

Russian Orthodox Church was .is

zantine emperors
the

Slate as

was us Byzantine parent

body.

<

ol

the B)

third

Koine

loselv

tied

'

to

and
the

there

Before
faith;

among

(be reign

ariisiK

Lome

ol

Chris-

embed) the

and the Neat East such as

own

traditions of theii

\i:i

hristians.

material, but

\lex

he) had probabl) developed separate

(The extraordinar)

the synagogue at Dura-Europos

did not

ol

hrisuan communities existed in the

<

great cities of North Africa

andria and \ntio< h

ol

various possible kinds

onstantine's reign,

older and larger

we know

is little

we reach

provide the onlv sizable and coherent bod)

gods, thev

tinople

fa<

until

catacombs, the underground burial places ol (he

their

In

art

see fig

iihisii \\

\\i>

114

murals

ol

suggest thai

n)/\\ii\i

\i:i

315. Painted ceiling. 4th century A.D. Catacomb of SS. Pietro e Marcellino,

paintings similarly orientalizing in style

may have decorated

the walls of Christian places of worship in Syria and Pales-

since the earliest Christian congregations were formed

tine,

members

by dissident
the

home

of the Jewish community. Alexandria,

of a large and thoroughly Helleni/ed Jewish colo-

ny dining the

first

or the second century

duced

illustrations of the

that of

Pompeian murals.

Old Testament in

We meet

hristian art later on, but

ad may have

pro-

a style akin to

echoes of such scenes in

we cannot be sure when

or

where

they originated, or by what paths they entered the Christian

tradition.

Rome

nize the division of the ceiling into

compartments as

figures, as well as the landscape settings, betray their de-

scent from the

same Roman

which here, in the hands

become debased by
But the catacomb painter has used this
idiom,

of an artist of very modest ability, has

endless repetition.

traditional vocabulary to

convey a new. symbolic content,

and the original meaning of the forms is of little interest to

him. Even the geometric framework shares in this task, for
the great circle suggests the Dome of Heaven, inscribed
with the cross, the basic symbol of the

Catacombs
II

medallion

the dearth of material from the eastern provinces of the

Empire makes

judge the position of the catacomb paintings withm the early development of Christian
art the paintings nevertheless tell us a good deal about the
spirit

of the

it

difficult to

communities

that

sponsored them. The burial

tomb were

of vital concern
on the hope of eternal life in paradise II ie imagery of the catacombs, as can be
seen m the painted ceiling in figure 315
learl) expresses
rite .ind

the safeguarding of the

to the early

Ihristian,

whose

faith rested

us otherworldly outlook although the lorn is are in essence

still

those of pic

256 / Mil.)

In isiiau

///</s//

mural decoration. Thus we recog-

w WD BYZANTINE

Mil

a late

and highly simplified echo of the illusionistic architectural

schemes in Pompeian painting, and the modeling of the

we

faith.

In the central

see a youthful shepherd, with a sheep on his

shoulders, in a pose that can be traced back as far as Greek

(compare fig. 168); he stands lor Christ the SavGood Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep
The semicircular compartments tell the story of Jonah: on
the left he is cast from the ship, on the right he emerges

Archaic
iour,

art

the

at the bottom he is sale again on dry

upon the mercy of the Lord. This Old Tes-

from the whale, and

land, meditating

tament miracle, often juxtaposed with

New

Testament mir-

enjoyed immense favor in Early Christian art as proof

of the Lord's power to rescue the faithful from the jaws of
death. The standing figures represent members of the
acles,

/r\

.13

316. Reconstruction

Begun

of

Old

333 AD.

c.

St. Peter's,

Rome,

(after Frazer)

D
Church, with their hands raised in prayer, pleading for divine help. The entire scheme, though small in scale and unimpressive in execution, has a coherence and clarity that set
it apart from its pagan ancestors as well as
from the synagogue murals of Dura-Europos (see fig. 314 Here is, if not
).

the reality, at least the promise of a truly

form (compare

monumental new

fig 349).

317. Plan

Architecture

of

Old

St

Peter's

after I-'ra/en

make Christianity the state reliRoman Empire had a profound impact on Chris-

Constantine's decision to
gion of the

tian art. Until that time,

meet

worship

congregations had been unable

to

were held covertly in

the houses of the wealthier members. Now, almost overnight, an impressive architectural setting had to be created
for

new

for the

in public; services

official faith, so that

the

Church might be

visible

Constantine himself devoted the full resources of his

and within a few years an astonishing

to all.

office to this task,

number

Rome

only in

and

at

THE

of large. Imperially sponsored

but also in

other important

churches arose, not

Constantinople, in the Holy Land,

familiar features of the earlier structure

was indeed

a uniquely suitable

churches, since
by Christian

model

combined the spacious

it

ritual

with

The pagan
lor

basilica

Constantmian

demanded

interior

Imperial associations that

religion.

But a church had

to

be more than an assembly

addition to enclosing the

the sacred

community

hall:

of the faithful,

louse of God, the Christian successor

in

was

it

the tem-

to

ples of old. In order to express this function, the design of

sites.

the pagan basilica had to be given a new focus, the

BASILICA.

pro-

claimed the privileged status of Christianity as the new state

These structures were a

new

type,

altar.

now

called the Early Christian basilica, that provided the basic

model

development of church architecture

for the

ern Europe. Unfortunately, none of

original form, but the plan of the greatest

church. Old

in west-

them has survived

in its

Constantmian

Rome, is known with considerable

A\H and 317). For an impression of the interior, we must draw upon the slightly later basilica of St. Paul
Outside the Walls, built on the same pattern, which remained essentially intact until it was wrecked by fire m 1823
accuracy

St. Peter's in

(figs.

dig. 318>.

these two

The Early Christian basilica, as exemplified in

monuments, is a synthesis of assembly hall, tem-

ple, and private house It also has the qualities

creation that cannot be wholly explained

sources.

What

owes

it

times becomes obvious

ter's

with

th.it

lit

fig.

when we compare
27

an original

terms of

the Imperial basilicas

of the basilica

dred years earlier

and

to

ol

):

.it

Leptis

ol

its

pagan

the plan of St. Pe-

Magna, erected

hun-

the long nave flanked In aisles

by clerestoiy windows, the apse, the

wooden

root

.ire

318 Interior, Si Paul Outside the Walls, Rome

Begun 386 A. D. (etching by G B. Piranesi l7J h
l

\i:i)

<

iiiu\ii\\

\\i)

h)/\\ii\i

\i:i

257

319.

S.

320. Plan of

ApoUinare in Classe, Ravenna. 533-49 AD.

(after

S.

De

ApoUinare in Classe

Angelis d'Ossat)

which was placed in front of the apse at the eastern end of

the nave, and the entrances, which in pagan basilicas had
usually been on the flanks, were shifted to the western end.
The Christian basilica was thus oriented along a single, longitudinal axis that

is

curiously reminiscent of the layout of

Egyptian temples (compare

fig.

97).

Before entering the

traverse a colonnaded court, the atrium

church proper, we
(see page 226), the far side of which forms an entrance hall,
the narthex. Only when we step through the nave portal do
we gain the view presented in figure 318. The steady
rhythm of the nave arcade pulls us toward the great arch at
the eastern end (called the triumphal arch), which frames
the altar and the vaulted apse beyond. As we come closer, we
realize that the altar stands in a separate compartment of
space placed
sept

in

at right

angles to the nave and

aisles,

321. Interior (view toward the apse),

the tran-

the lesser basilican churches, this feature

S.

is fre-

ApoUinare in Classe, Ravenna. 533-49 AD.

quently omitted).

One

essential aspect of Early Christian religious architec-

emerged from our discussion: the contrast

ture lias not yet

demonstrated
between exterior and interior. It is
in the sixth-century church of S. ApoUinare in Classe near
strikingly

Ravenna, which still retains its original appearance for the

most part. The plain brick exterior (figs. 319 and 320) remains conspicuously unadorned; it is merely a shell whose
shape reflects the interior spate it encloses the exact opposite <>l the Classical temple. (Our view, taken from the west.
shows the narthex but not the atrium, which was torn down
a long time ago; the round bell tower, or campanile, is a meThis ascetic, antimonumental treatment of
the exterior gives way to the utmost richness as we inter the
Here, having left the everyday world bechurch (fig. 321

dieval addition

decorations

Before dealing with these mosa-

at greater length,

we must

take note of an-

other type of structure that entered the tradition of Christian

architecture in Constantinian times: round or polygonal
buildings crowned with a dome. They bad been developed,
will recall, as part of the elaborate Roman baths; the de-

we

was derived from that source (see page

had been built to serve as monumausoleums, by the pagan emperors. In

sign of the Pantheon

224). Similar structures

mental tombs, or

the fourth century, this type of building

meaning

in the baptisteries

is

given a Christian

(where the bath becomes a

sa-

I.

we find ourselves in a shimmering realm of light and

olor where precious marble surfaces and the brilliant glitter
mosaics evoke the spiritual splendor of the Kingdom of

hind,
.

DOMED STRUCTURES.
ic

cred rite) and the funerary chapels linked with basilican

churches. The finest surviving example is Sta. Costanza
(figs. 322-24), the mausoleum of Constantine's daughter

<>l

322. (opposite)

God

2~>H / .Mil.Y

IIRISII \\ \\l)

H)/.\\IIM

Mil

Interior, Sta.

Costanza, Rome.

c.

350 AD.

\i:i)

mis

1 1

\\

\\D h\/\\ii\i

iflr259

mural painting. Mosaics

designs composed of small pieces

had been used by the Su-

of colored material set in plaster

merians as early as the third millennium B.C. to embellish

The Hellenistic Creeks and the Ro-

architectural surfaces.

mans, employing small cubes of marble called tesserae, had

refined the technique to the point that it could reproduce
paintings, as in The Battle oflssus (see fig. 302). But these

were mostly

floor

mosaics, and the color scale, although rich

in gradations, lacked brilliance, since

it

was

limited to the

various kinds of colored marble found in nature.

mans would

also

The Ro-

produce wall mosaics occasionally, but

only for special purposes and on a limited scale.

The

vast

and

intricate wall

mosaics of Early Christian

art

The same is true of

their material, for they consist of tesserae made of colored
glass. These, too, were not entirely unknown to the Romans,

thus are essentially without precedent.

323. Plan of Sta. Costanza

had never been exploited before;

yet their special virtues

they offered colors of far greater range and intensity than

marble tesserae, including gold, but lacked the fine gradations in tone necessary for imitating painted pictures.
over, the

More-

shiny (and slightly irregular) faces of glass tesserae

act as tiny reflectors, so that the over-all effect

is

that of a

immaterial screen rather than of a solid, continuous surface. All these qualities made glass mosaic the ideal
complement of the new architectural aesthetic that conglittering,

324. Section, Sta. Costanza

fronts us in Earlv Christian basilicas.

Constantia, originally attached to the

(now ruined) Roman

Agnes Outside the Walls. In contrast

church of St.
gan predecessors,

shows

domed

space into a

dows

it

to its pa-

a clear articulation of the interior

cyclindrical core

by clerestory win-

lit

the counterpart of the nave of a basilican church

and a ring-shaped "aisle" or ambulatory covered by a barrel

Here again the mosaic decoration plays an essential

vault.

part

mood

setting the

of the interior.

Painting and Mosaic

CONTRASTS WITH GRAECO-ROMAN PAINTING. The

guiding principle of Graeco-Roman architecture, we recall,
had been to express a balance of opposing forces, rather like

the balance within the contrapposto of a classical statue

muscular, physical display of active and passive, supporting
and supported members, whether these were structurally

merely superimposed on a concrete core. Viewed in

such terms. Early Christian architecture is strangely inexpressive, even antimonumental. The tangible, material
structure has become subservient to the creation and defini-

real or

he rapid growth ol Christian architecture on a large scale

must have had an almost revolutionary effect on the development of Early Christian painting. All of a sudden, huge

tion of immaterial space; walls

be covered with images worthy of their

monumental framework. Who was equal to this challenge?

light-filled,

wall surfaces

had

lertainly not the

combs with

to

humble

artists

who had

their limited stock of types

decorated the cata-

and subjects. They

were superseded by masters of greater ability, recruited,

may suppose, under

K(

is

of the

new

we

Imperial auspices, as were the archi-

basilicas.

Unfortunately, so

little

has sur-

vived of the decoration of fourth-century churches that

its

history cannot be traced in detail. Apparently, great pictorial

c

ycles were spread over the nave walls, the triumphal arch,

.ind the

apse from the very

drawn upon

start.

These cycles must have

a great variety of earlier sources, reflecting the

rather than emphasized as before.

riors to perfection.

new an form, the

greal

Earl) christian wall mosaic. whi< h

to a large extenl repla< ed the older and cheaper technique

>(,!)

Mil )(

illtisnw

\\l>

I'A/WIIM

Mil

ol

say, in fact, that

Early Chris-

the wall. In Early Christian mosaics the flatness of the wall

is also denied, but lor the purpose of achieving an
"illusion of unreality." a

beings or symbols,

flic-

luminous realm peopled by celestial

difference in aim becomes particu-

whenever these mosaics make use of the old

formulas of spatial illusionism. Such is the case in figure
.525. which shows a section of the magnificent dome mosaics

emerged

One might

surface

end

there

brilliant color, the

tian and Byzantine chinches demand mosaics the wa\

Creek temples demand architectural sculpture.
Roman mural painting had developed elaborate illusionissurface of
tic devices in order to suggest a reality beyond the

WALL MOSAK

of this process

The

metric order of the images in a mosaic complex such as that

fit the spirit of these intefig. 321

of S. Apollinare in Classe

larly striking

Oul

of

transparent brightness of gold, the severe geo-

whole range ofGraeco-Roman painting. The heritage of the

past however, was not onl) absorbed but transformed so as
to make it lit its new environment, physical and spiritual.
S

and vaults have the quality

weightless shells, their actual thickness and solidity hidden

from the church of

St.

of the fourth century.

George

Two

at

Salome a, done at the

hands raised in

saints, then

prayer, stand against a background that clearly betrays its

descent from the perspective \istas of "stage architecture"

325.

Dome

mosaic

(detail).

Late 4th century AD.

St.

George, Salonica. Greece

Pompeian painting; the foreshortening, to be sure, seems

somewhat askew, but a surprising amount of it survives intact. Even so, the structure no longer seems real, for it lacks
all physical substance: its body consists of the same gold as

in

the background (other colors, mainly purple,

blue,

and

green, are used only in the shaded portions and the orna-

ment), so that the entire building becomes translucent. This

is

not a stage set but a piece of symbolic, otherworldly archi-

tecture

meant

to

evoke such concepts as the Heavenly Jeru-

salem, or the City of God.

MARIA MAGGIORE, ROME.

STA.
too,

we

In narrative scenes,
see the illusionistic tradition of ancient painting be-

ing transformed by

new

selected from the Old

content.

and

New

Long sequences

of scenes.

Testaments, adorned the

nave walls of Early Christian

basilicas. The Parting of Lot

taken from the oldest surviving
cycle of this kind, executed about 430 in the church of Sta.
Maria Maggiore in Rome. Abraham, his son Isaac, and the

and Abraham

(fig.

326)

is

occupy the left half of the composition; Lot

two small daughters, turn toward
of Sodom on the right.

rest of his family

and

his clan, including his

the city

The

task of the artist

who designed our panel is comparaColumn of Trajan

ble to that laced by the sculptors of the

(see

fig.

292):

how

to

condense complex actions

into a visual

326.

THE PARTING OF
c.

430

\ i)

St. i

LOT

WD

ABRAHAM

Maria Maggiore,

Mms.ik

Home

EARLY CHRISTIAN IND BYZANTINI \lll-Jhl

Form thai would permit them to be read at a distance. He

has in i.u i. employed many of the same "shorthand" de\ ii es, sm h as the abbre\ iative formulas for house, tree, and

showing

or the trick of

city,

crowd of people

a "grape-

.is

cluster oi heads" behind the foreground figures. Bui in the

Rrajani< reliefs, these devices could be used only to the extent that they

were compatible with the

realistic

aim of the

scenes, which re-create actual historic events. "Look, this

is

on the growth of book illustration. As long as the roll

form prevailed, illustrations seem to have been mostly line
drawings, since lasers of pigment would soon have cracked
effect

and come oil m the process of rolling and unrolling; only the
vellum codex permitted the use of rich colors, including
or, as we usualh
<j,old. that was to make book illustration

illumination

say,

of the Scriptures (in our instance. Genesis 13), which

roll to

is

than something that

.it

what pace

ed,

biblical or classical subjects

how much
codex

were primarily depict-

of a carry-over there might have been from

all

these are

still

unsettled problems.

artist

VATICAN VERGIL. There can

that the earliest illuminations,

context of the external world.

tinic

When, where, and

the development of pictorial book illumination took place,

whether

and beholder alike, rather

happened only once in the space-and-

small-scale counterpart of murals.

mosaics, and panel pictures.

what happened in the Dacian wars." we are told. The mosaics in Sta. Maria Maggiore, on the other hand, depict the histoid oi salvation; the reality they illustrate is the living word
present reality shared by

the

be

little

question, however,

whether Christian, Jewish,

influenced by the

Our panel does not tell us, "This is what happened in Genesis 13" we are expected to know that already), hut "Behold
the working of the Lord's will." Hence the artist need not

pagan, were clone

clothe the scene with the concrete details of historic narra-

known, the Vatican

glances and gestures are becoming more important to

him than dramatic movement or three-dimensional form.
The symmetrical composition, with its cleavage in the cen-

time of the Sta. Maria Maggiore mosaics, reflects this

in a style strongly

sionism of Hellenistic-Roman painting of the sort

or

illu-

we met

at

tive;

makes

ter,

clear the symbolic significance of this parting:

way of Abraham, which is that of righteousness and the

Covenant, as against the way of Lot, destined for divine vengeance. And the contrasting late of the two groups is further
emphasized by the juxtaposition of Isaac and the daughters
of Lot, whose future roles are thus called to mind.
the

Pompeii.

One

of the oldest illustrated manuscript books

Vergil,

Book, and Illustration

From what source

cles

such as

sitions 7

Were they the

to illustrate

first

compo-

in Italy about the

tradi-

although the quality of the miniatures is far from inspired (fig. 327); the picture, separated from the rest of the

page by a heavy frame, has the effect of a window, and in the

landscape we find remnants of deep space, perspective, and
the play of light and shade.
The oldest illustrated Bible manuscripts so far discovered
apparently belong to the early sixth century (except for one
fragment of
style, in

did the designers of narrative mosaic cy-

of Sta. Maria Maggiore derive their

ih.it

made

tion,

five leaves that

Vergil); they, too, contain

Roll,

probably

seems

related to the Vatican

echoes of the Hellenistic-Roman

various stages of adaptation to religious narrative,

Near Eastern flavor that

Dura-Luropos murals (see fig. 314).

often with a

at

times recalls the

scenes from the

Bible in extensive fashion? Lor certain subjects, they could

among the catacomb murals, but their

most important prototypes may have come from illustrated
manuscripts, especially of the Old Testament. As a scriptural religion, founded on the Word of God as revealed in Holy
have found models

Writ, the early Christian

Church must have sponsored

on

duplic atingof the sacred text

a vast scale;

the

it was handled with a reverence quite unlike the treatment of an} book in Graeco-Roman civilization. But when
did these copies become works of pictorial art as well.' And

the ancient world

evidence,

when

CM5CiiNniNVlNTMMCUC^!,mNLCMK\C0\\.VMTl
NMVC15JUM\vJTlLixn\cviL^lul\\lN\c.\xiiHr

LNlUM^HIOUXMUMNNm^lne^XM-VMOS

begins

trail

known

thinus; thus, their history

us largely from indirect

Egypt- we do not know exactlv

is

in

to

with the discovery of a suitable material, paperlike

but lather
ol

AVOC'MO00t0II>GNV4DmrNJUNTlE>\Mc;y

earliest Bible illustrations look like?

Books, unfortunately, are

in

0&^\saKx^MM-MHMaui.\e<\M\nsTi'

and every copy

of

what did the

loR>ii\MnriNcVii<HoRro<au\fci'aACoUNiM

more

brittle

papyrus were

in

made from

the form of

the papyrus plant. Books

rolls;

they remained in use

throughout antiquity Not until late Hellenistic times did a

better substance become available: parchment or vellum,
thin, bleat bed animal hide, far more durable than papyrus.
It

was strong enough

thus

made

hnic all)

lee

ailed a

odex gradually

rus

his

tec

\i:l)

be

<

<

reased without breaking, and

ol

bound book we know

today,

odex.

and the fourth entur\ \li. the \elluin

roll, whether vellum or papyhnologii al change must have had an important

Between the
c

to

possible the kind

first

replac ed the

IIKIsnw Wl) BYZANTIN1

\i:i

327. Miniature from the vi/k v\ VERGIL

Earlj 5th century

\n

Biblioteca Apostolica Vatic-ana,

Rome

Ib^^oivit^fF-A^f T**ydco mxpKtiO &*M& *&*&

:

^in
WRESTLING THE ANGEL, from the VIENNA genesis Early 6th century
\3'Ax9V>" (33.6x24 cm). Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek. Vienna

328. Page with JACOB

VIENNA GENESIS. The

enna Genesis,
Wergil.

is

a Tar

most important example, the

more

Written in silver

Vi-

work than the Vatican

(now turned black) on purple velstriking

tory going back as far as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia; us

appearance in miniatures such as ours may reflect earlier
illustrations

lum and adorned with brilliantly colored miniatures, it

achieves a sumptuous effect not unlike that of the mosaics
we have seen. Figure 328 shows a part of the story of Jacob;
in the foreground, we see him wrestling with the angel and

pack

receiving the angel's benediction.

disposal.

The picture, then, does

show a single event but a whole sequence, strung out

Song a single U-shaped path, so that progression in space
becomes progression in time. This method, known as continuous narration, has a complex
and much debated hisnot

\ I)

made

for

books

tainly looks like a frieze

For manuscript
the advantage
a

oi

Our

form.

(Our picture
itself

artist

to

continuous method offers

economy;

it

permits the painter

to

his

at

apparently thought of his picture as

than as

be

re. id like

a frame.

on the purple

ba<

lines of text, rather

The painted forms are placed

kground

that holds the letters,

phasizing the importance of the page

cer-

of narrative content into the area

window demanding
directly

roll

illustration, the

spatial

maximum

running account

turned back upon

Mil) CHRISTIAh

.is

WD

em-

a unified field.

H)/\\ll\l

\ia

Sculpture
c

ompared

to

secondary role
tion ol

Christian

In Early

lone

to large cult statues,

ples;

il

man

art.

graven images was thought

it

had

figure.

to est

["he biblical prohibi-

apply with particular

was

avoid the pagan taint of

to

lifesize

representations

thus developed from the very

It

monumental

hew

to

away from the

direction:

the idols worshiped in pagan tem-

religious sculpture

idolatry,

Jerusalem, Daniel in the Lions' Den, and

painting and architecture, sculpture played

massive scale of Graeco-Roman

start in

spatial

the hu-

of

an

anti-

depth and

sculpture toward shallow,

small-scale forms and lacelike surface decoration.

The

earli-

works of Christian sculpture are marble sarcophagi,

which were produced from the middle of the third century
on for the more important members of the Church. Before

est

the time of Constantine, their decoration consisted mostly of

the

same

murals
forth

limited repertory of

themes

familiar

from catacomb

the Good Shepherd, Jonah and the Whale, and so

but

within a framework borrowed from pagan sar-

cophagi. Not until a century later do

we

find a significantly

broader range of subject matter and form.

beholder,

highly characteristic of

is

of thinking,

man

those years

is

the richly carved Sarcophagus of Junius Bas-

sus, a prefect of
Its

colonnaded

Rome, who died

in

359

front, divided into ten

(figs.

329 and 330).

square compartments,

shows a mixture of Old and New

upper row left to right the Sacrifice of Isaac, St. Peter Taken Prisoner. Christ Enthroned between SS. Peter and Paul,

Testament scenes: in the

),

Christ before Pontius Pilate (two compartments); in the lower,

the Misery of Job, the Fall of

'2')

\i:i

<

Man,

Christ's Entry into

SARCOPHAGUS Ol 1UNIUS BASSUS

///;;s// \\

\\i>

r,)/\\n\i

\m

359

A.

Paul Led to

lis

modern
the Early Christian way
to the

which stresses the divine rather than the hu-

nature of Christ. Hence His suffering and death are

merely hinted

at;

He appears

before Pilate as a youthful,

long-haired philosopher expounding the true wisdom (note

the scroll), and the martyrdom of the two apostles is repre-

sented in the same discreet, nonviolent fashion. The two

central scenes are devoted to Christ the King: as Ruler of the

enthroned above the personification of the

He enters Jerusalem
triumph. Adam and Eve, the original sinners, denote the

He

Universe

sits

firmament, and as an earthly sovereign

in

burden of guilt redeemed by Christ, the Sacrifice of Isaac is

the Old Testament prefiguration of Christ's sacrificial death,
while Job and Daniel carry the same message as Jonah
they fortify the hope of salvation.
When measured against the anti-Classical style of the
frieze on the Arch of Constantine, carved almost halt a century before (see fig. 301 ), the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

seems decidedly

SARCOPHAGUS OF JUNIUS BASSUS. A key example for

St.

Martyrdom. This choice, somewhat strange

classicistic.

The

figures in their deeply re-

cessed niches betray a conscious attempt to recapture the

statuesque dignity of the Greek tradition. Yet beneath this
superimposed quality we sense a basic kinship to the Constantinian style in the doll-like bodies, the large heads, the
oddly becalmed, passive air of scenes calling for dramatic

The events and personages confronting us are no

tell their own story, physically or emotionally, but to call to our minds a higher, symbolic meaning

action.

longer intended to
that binds

Marble. 3' 10'// x 8'

them

1.2

together.

x 2.4 m). Museo Petriano.

S(

Peter's,

Rome

ENTHRONED (detail

A'AO. ciikisi

CLASSICISM.

329)

oi fig.

Classicizing tendencies of this sort

seem

to

have been a recurrent phenomenon in Early Christian

sculpture horn the mid-fourth to the early sixth century.

Their causes have been explained in various ways.

On

the

had many important adherents who may have fostered such revivals as a
kind of rear-guard action; recent converts (such as Junius
Bassus himself, who was not baptized until shortly before
one hand, during

this period

paganism

still

his death) often kept their allegiance to values of the past,

artistic

the

and otherwise. There were

Church who favored

also important leaders of

a reconciliation of Christianity with

the heritage of Classical antiquity; the imperial courts, too,

both East and West, always remained aware of their institutional links with pre-Christian times,

and could thus become

its roots in any giv-

centers for revivalist impulses. Whatever

en instance, classicism had

tion, for

future

it

preserved

and

to

transmit to the

treasury of forms and an ideal of beauty that

might have been irretrievably

IVORY DIPTYCHS.
class of objects

All

whose

lost

without

it.

tins holds true particularly

artistic

physical size: the ivory panels

in

virtues in this age of transi-

its

thus helped

importance

far

for a

exceeds their

and other small-scale

reliefs

precious materials. Designed for private ownership and

meant

to

be enjoyed

lector's taste,

.1

at

close range, they often

minor

refined aesthetic sensibility not found

a col-

331. PRIESTESS
Ivory,

1
1

OF BACCHUS Leaf of

1/IX5 // (30 x 14 cm). Victoria

1

a diptych,

&

Albert

(Crown copyright reserved

c. 390-400 \ D
Museum, London

among

Church or State.
Such a piece is the ivory leaf (fig. 331 forming the right half
of a hinged diptych that was carved about 390400, probably on the occasion of a wedding among the Nicomachi and
the large, official enterprises sponsored by
1

EARLY CHRISTIAN iND BYZANTINl

Mil ' 265

main centuries

perfection had an appeal for

later: its cool

the Middle Ages as well.

Our seeond
eastern

ivory

(fit;.

332), done soon alter

500

the

Empire, shows a elassieism that has become

Roman

an eloquent vehicle of Christian content. The majestic archangel is clearly a descendant of the winged Victories of

Graeco-Roman art. down

Yet the power he heralds

to

the richly articulated drapery.

is

not of this world; nor does he

The architectural niche against

inhabit an earthly space.

which he appears has lost all three-dimensional reality; its

relationship to him is purely symbolic and ornamental, so
that he seems to hover rather than to stand notice the posi(

on the

tion ol the feet

steps).

It is

this

disembodied

conveyed through classically harmonious forms,

him so compelling a presence.

PORTRAITURK.
by the Church,

it

If

monumental

statuary

quality,

that gives

was discouraged

retained, for a while at least, the patronage

of the State. Emperors, consuls,

and high

officials

continued

the old custom of erecting portrait statues of themselves in

public places as late as the reign of Justinian, and some-

times later than that the

(

eighth centurv). Here,

during the

last

too,

recorded instance

we

latter half of the fourth

years of the

fifth,

is

in the late

find retrospective tendencies

century and the early

with a revival of pre-Constantinian types

and a renewed interest in individual characterization. From

about 450 on, however, the outward likeness gives way to
the image of a spiritual ideal, sometimes intensely expressive, but increasingly impersonal; there were not to be any

more

portraits, in the

Graeco-Roman sense

almost a thousand years

332.

////

ARCHANGEL MICHAEL

Early 6th century A. D

British

Symmachi, two
vative outlook

is

Ivory,

17

Leal

of a

to

of the term, for

come.

diptych.

*5W (43.3x14 cm).

Museum, London

Roman

aristocratic

reflected not only

families.

Their conser-

the pagan subject (a

ol I>.k thus and her assistant before an altar of Jubut also in the design, which harks back to the era of
Augustus ompare fig. 28(x At Inst glance, we might well

priestess
piter)

mist. ike

lor a

it

much

earlier work, until

we

realize,

from

sm. ill spatial incongruities such as the priestess' right

overlapping the frame

that these

produced With loving tare hut no longer

Signifii

iiith

enough

the pagan

theme

fully

\/</

///;/s//\\

\\h

/:>/

\\//\/

re-

understood

did not prevent our

panel from being incorporated into the shrine

loot

forms are quotations,

\i;i

ol

saint

333.
height li'

PORTRA11 OF EUTROPIOS C 450

;

'

(31.7 cm). Kunsthistorisches

A.

Marble.

Museum. Vienna

The process is strikingly exemplified by the head of Eufrom Ephesus (fig. 333). one of the most memorable

tropios

of its kind.

It

of "Plotinus"

reminds us of the strangely sorrowful features

see fig. 298) and of the masklike colossal head

of Constantine
ical

see fig, 299), but both of these have a physconcreteness that seems almost gross compared to the
I

extreme attentuation of Eutropios. The face is frozen in visionary ecstasy, as if the sitter were a hermit saint; it looks,
in fact,

more

blood.

The avoidance of

than of a being of flesh and

volumes has been carried so
far that the features are lor the most part indicated only by
thin ridges or shallow engraved lines. Their smooth curves
emphasize the elongated oval of the head and thus reinforce
its abstract, otherworldly character. Not only the individual
person but the human body itself has ceased to be a tangible
reality here; and with that the Greek tradition of sculpture in
the round has reached the end of the road.
like that of a specter

solid

though the leadership tended to shift more and more to the

East as the position of the West dec lined. During the reign

was completed; Constandominance over the

of Justinian (527- 565) this shift

tinople not only reasserted

its political

West but became the undisputed

artistic capital as well

tinian himself was an art patron on a scale

onstanline's day; the works he sponsored or promoted

have an Imperial grandeur th.it fully justifies the a< claim ol
those who have termed his era a golden age. They also display an inner coherence of style which links them more
(

strongly with the future development of Byzantine art than

with the art of the preceding centuries.

Architecture and Decoration

of the First Golden A",e
enough, the richest array of monuments ol the
Golden Age (526-726 ad survives today not in Constantinople where much has been destroyed but on Italian
soil, m the town of Ravenna. Originally a naval station on the
Adriatic, it had become the capital of the West Rom, m emperors in 402 and, at the end of the century, of Theodoric,
king of the Ostrogoths, whose tastes were patterned after
those of Constantinople. Under Justinian, Ravenna was the
Ironically
First

BYZANTINE ART
There

no clear-cut line of demarcation between Early

Christian and Byzantine art. It could be argued that a Byzis

antine style (that

a style associated with the imperial

is,

court of Constantinople)

becomes discernible within Early

Christian art as early as the beginning of the

fifth

Roman or,

as

some

scholars prefer to call them. Eastern

characteristics are often

main stronghold

of Byzantine rule in

Italy.

century,

soon after the effective division of the Empire. We have

avoided making this distinction, lor East Roman and West

and Western Christian

S.

VITALE, RAVENNA. The most important church of that

526-547, is of a type derived mainly

time, S. Vitale, built in

from Constantinople.

We

recognize

its

octagonal plan, with

domed central core (figs. 334-87). as a descendant of

mausoleum of'Sta. Costanza in Rome see figs. 322-24),

difficult to

the

separate before the sixth century. Until that time, both areas

the

contributed to the development of Early Christian

but the intervening development seems

AAA.

Jus-

unmatched since

art.

S. Vitale,

al-

Ravenna, 526-41

to

have taken place

\i>

\i:n

iu:isii\\

\\n r.)/\\u\i

ifil

mav be
really

relevant, vet,

if

the truth be

told,

they

fall

short of a

persuasive explanation In any event, from the time of

Justinian,

domed, central-plan churches were

to

dominate

the world of Orthodox Christianity as thoroughly as the basilican plan

dominated the architecture of the medieval

West.

As for S. Vitale, its link with the Byzantine court is evidenced by the two famous mosaics flanking the altar (figs.
338 and 339), whose design must have come directly from
the Imperial workshop. Here Justinian and his empress,
Theodora, accompanied by officials, the local clergy, and
ladies-in-waiting, attend the service as if this were a palace
chapel. In these large panels,
cration of the church,

we

made

find

shortly before the conse-

an ideal of

human

beauty

quite distinct from the squat, large-headed figures we encountered in the art of the fourth and fifth centuries; occa335. Plan of

S. Vitale

sionally (figs. 315, 331

this

emerging new

extraordinarily

336. Transverse section of

Costanza.
richer in

S.

Vitale

is

both larger in scale and very

spatial effect;

its

slim figures, with tiny feet, small

al-

S. VitaJe

during the previous century. Compared

built

tall,

where domed churches of various kinds had

in the East,

been

and 332) we had caught a glimpse of

but only now do we see it complete:

ideal,

to Sta.

much

below the clerestory, the nave wall

turns into a series of semicircular niches that penetrate into

the aisle and thus link

The

way.

leries

aisle itself

were reserved

it

nave in a

to the

new and

intricate

has been given a second story (the

for

women A new economy

).

gal-

in the con-

windows on every
which flood the interior with light. We find only the
merest remnants of the longitudinal axis of the Early Christian basilica: a cross-vaulted compartment for the altar,
ba( ked by an .ipse, toward the east, and a narthex on the
other side Us odd. nonsymmetrical placement has never
been fully accounted for).

struction of the vaulting permits large

level,

Remembering S. Apollinare in Classe (see figs. 319-21),

same time on a straightforward basilican plan.
we are particularly struck by the alien character of S. Vitale.
built at the

How

did

it

happen

radically different

point ol view

from the basilica and

ol

<

from the Western

so ill-adapted to Christian ritual? Alter

all,

been backed by the authoroust. inline himself? Main different reasons have

had not the design of the

ity

church
mausoleums) so

that the East favored a type of

building (as distinct from baptisteries and

been suggested

338. (opposite topi

S. Vitale

EMPEROR JUSTINIAN AND HIS ATTENDANTS.

Mosaic,

c.

547

AD

S. Vitale

basilica

practical, religious, political. All of

268 EARLY CHRISTIAN

337. (above) Interior (view from the apse into the choir),

WD

I'A/WIIM Mil

them

339. (opposite bottom)

EMPRESS THEODORA AND HER

Mosaic,

c.

547 AD.

S. Vitale

-VI

TENDANTS.

Mil.)

///(/s;/\\

\\l) l>,)/\\ll\l

Mil-2h<>

340. Section of Hagia Sophia. 532-35 AD. (after Gurlitt)

341. Plan of Hagia Sophia (after

v.

Sybel)

mond-shaped laces dominated by their huge, staring eves,

and bodies that seem to he capable only of slow ceremonial
gestures and the display of magnificently patterned cos-

movement or change is carefully exdimensions of time and earthly space have

given way to an eternal present amid the golden translucency of Heaven, and the solemn, frontal images seem to
present a celestial rather than a secular court. This union of
tumes. Every hint of

cluded

the

and

political

spiritual authority accurately reflects the "di-

vine kingship" of the Byzantine emperor.

We

are, in fact, in-

and Theodora as analogous to Christ

and the Virgin: on the hem of Theodora's mantle (just visible in figure 339) is conspicuous embroidery showing the
three Magi carrying their gifts to Mary and the newborn
King; and Justinian is flanked by twelve companions
the
vited to see Justinian

Imperial equivalent

crowded behind
II

we

of

the twelve apostles (six are soldiers,

a shield with the

monogram

342.

ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES

of Christ).

and ISIDORUS

OF MILETUS.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

turn from these mosaics to the interior space of the

church,

we

discover that

it.

too.

shares the quality ol'dema-

slenderness that endows the figures with

terialized, soaring

mute exaltation. Justinian, Theodora, and their

immediate neighbors were surely intended to be individual
likenesses, and their features are indeed differentiated to a
their air of

degree those of the archbishop, Maximianus, more so than

I

the rest), but the ideal type has molded the laces as well as
all have a curious family resemmeet the same large dark eves under
(lined brows the same small mouths and long, narrow,
slightlv aquiline noses countless times from now on in Byz-

the bodies, so that they

We

blance.

antine

shall

art.

HAGIASOPH1
ments

b\

portant

W isdom
ol

ISTANBUL. Among the

surviving

),

tar

Sophia

Hagia

is

(the

Church

the

532 537,

architects,

Iralles

of

Holy

the arc hitectural masterpiece of that age and one

the great creative triumphs of any age (figs.

Built in

monu-

Justinian's reign in Constantinople, the most im-

ol

too.

and Isidorus

340

44).

achieved such lame that the names of

it

ol

rememberedAnthemius

were

of

Miletus Alter the Turkish conquest

be< .nne
mosque the four minarets were added
and the mosah dec oration was largely hidden undei
whitewash Some ol the mosaics were uncovered in our cen-

in

145

then

it

.i

313. (above) Capital. Hagia Sophia

270 EARLY CHRISTIAN \\h

ID /.\\

l\l

Mil

34

(opposite)

Interior.

Hagia Sophia

\i:i

<

iinisn

wit

i',)/

\\ii\i

\i:i

iwrv

since

345),

(fig.

museum.
The design

building

the

was turned

into

of Hagia Sophia presents a unique combina-

tion of elements:

it

has the Longitudinal axis of an Early

Christian basilica, but the central feature of the nave

is

square compartment crowned by a huge dome and abutted

at either end by half domes, so that the nave becomes a great

Attached

oval.

to

these half

with open arcades, similar

say,

then, that the

dome

domes

to

are semicircular niches

those in

S. Vitale;

one might

of Hagia Sophia has been inserted

between the two halves of a central-plan church. The dome

rests on four arches that carry its weight to the great piers at
the corners of the square, so that the walls below the arches
have no supporting function at all. The transition from the

square formed by these arches to the circular rim of the

dome is achieved by spherical triangles called pendentives
(see fig. 269); hence we speak of the entire unit as a dome

on pendentives. This device permits the construction of taller, lighter, and more economical domes than the older method (as seen in the Pantheon, Sta. Costanza, and S. Vitale) of

dome on a round or polygonal base. Where or

dome on pendentives was invented we do not
know; Hagia Sophia is the earliest case we have of its use on

placing the

when

the

a monumental scale, and its example must have been of

epoch-making importance, for from that time on the dome
on pendentives became a basic feature of Byzantine architecture and, somewhat later, of Western architecture as
well.

*Zfl

There

is,

however,

still

another element that entered into

the design of Hagia Sophia.

main

piers,

The

plan, the buttressing of the

and the vast scale of the whole

345. CHRIST, from DEiSIS mosaic. 13th century. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

346 Churches of the Monaster)

\i:n

iiiusiiw \\D n)/\\ii\i

\i;i

oi

Hosios Loukas

(St.

Luke of

Stiris),

Greece. Early llth century

recall the Basilica

cross with arms

ol equal length contained in a square with

narthex added on one side and an apse sometimes Willi
flanking chapels) on the other. he central feature is a dome
on a square base; it often rests on a cylindrii aldrum with tall
i

windows, which raises u ln<j,li above the rest oi the building,

as in both churches of the Monaster) of llosios Loukas in
Greece figs. 346 is
he> also show other chara< teristii s
of later Byzantine architecture: a tendency toward more
I

elaborate exteriors, in contrast to the extreme severity

we

observed earlier (compare

loi

elongated proportions. The

334), and a preference

In;.

lull

impact of this

verticality,

however, strikes us only when we enter the church

348
shows the interior of the katholikon. on the left in figs
H
and 347). The tall, narrow space compartments produce a
I

li'j,

347. Plan

of

churches of the Monastery of

Hosios Loukas (after Diehl)

sense of crowdedness, almost of compression. whi< h is dramatically relieved as we raise our glance toward the luminous pool of space beneath the dome

of Constantine (figs. 270-72), the most ambitious achieve-

ment

of Imperial

monument

est

Roman

vaulted architecture and the great-

whom

associated with a ruler for

Justinian

had particular admiration. Hagia Sophia thus unites East

and West, past and future, in a single overpowering synthesis. Its

great

massive

mound,

exterior, firmly planted

though

its

upon the earth

rises by stages to a height of

higher than the Pantheon

diameter

is

and

184 feet

therefore

like a

feet

dome,

its

somewhat smaller (112

feet

),

al-

stands

more boldly.
Once we are within,

out far

all sense of weight disappears, as if

the material, solid aspects of the structure had been ban-

ished to the outside; nothing remains but an expanding

space that inflates, like so many sails, the apsidal recesses,
the pendentives, and the

we saw

aesthetic

dome

itself.

Here the architectural

taking shape in Early Christian architec-

ture (see pages 257-60) has achieved a new, magnificent

dimension. Even more than previously, light plays a key

dome seems

the

role:

according

to a

because

rests

it

to float

"like the radiant

contemporary description

upon

of

heavens,"

the building

a closely spaced ring of windows,

the nave walls are pierced by so

many openings

and

that they

have the transparency of lace curtains.

The golden glitter of the mosaics must have completed
the "illusion of unreality." We can sense the new aesthetic
even in ornamental details such as moldings and capitals (fig.

such all
is

343).

The

motifs

scrolls,

acanthus

foliage,

and

derive from classical architecture, but their effect

radically different; instead of actively

cushioning the im-

upon the shaft of the column, the caphas become a sort of openwork basket whose delicate

pact of heavy weight

ital

surface pattern belies the strength and solidity of the stone.

Architecture and Decoration

of the

Second Golden Age

Byzantine architecture never produced another structure

to

match Hagia Sophia. The churches of the Second (.olden

Age from the late ninth to the eleventh century and after
were modest in scale, and monastic rather than imperial m
(

spirit.

Their usual plan

is

that of a

Creek cross

(that

is

348

Interioi

\i:n

k.itholiknn

Hosios Loukas

miisiiw \\n id/wiim

\i:i

349.

Dome

mosaics. 11th century.

Monastery Church, Daphne, Greece

itself to

us in the

Daphne, where the

pictorial

Figure 349 shows this view as

Greek monastery church

dome

decoration of the

is

of

it

presents

better preserved than in the Katho-

down from the center of the

dome is an awesome mosaic image of Christ the Fantocrator
Ruler of the Universe) against a gold background, its huge
likon of Hosios Loukas. Staring

scale

emphasized by the much smaller figures of the sixteen

Old Testament prophets between the windows. In the corners we see lour scenes revealing the divine and human

the Annunciation (bottom left)

counterclockwise order by the Birth, Baptism, and Trans-

natures of Christ
in

followed

The entire cycle represents

figuration.

gram

so

perfectly

in

a theological pro-

harmony
we cannot
with

relationship of the images that

the
say

geometric

whether the

an hitecture has been shaped by the pictorial scheme or vice

versa A similarly strict order governs the distribution of subthroughout the rest of the interior
largest and most lavishly decorated church of the
Second (.olden Age surviving toda\ is St. Mark's m Venice,
jei is

The

he Venetians had long been under Byzantine sovereignty and remained artistically dependent on the
East well alter thev had hecome politically and commercially

begun

in 1063.

powerful
t

in their

own

right. St

Mark's, too. has the Crook-

ross plan ins( ribed within a square, hot here

the

loss

emphasized by

is

dome

ol its

own

351

Ihese domes are not raised on drums;

27-v /

Mil)

lliasliw

WD

H)/\\ll\l

Mil

each arm of
350 and

figs.

instead, they

have been encased in bulbous wooden helmets covered by

gilt copper sheeting and topped by ornate lanterns, to make
them appear taller and more conspicuous at a distance.

They make

a splendid

landmark

cious interior, famous for

meant

its

lor the seafarer.

The

to receive the citizenry of a large metropolis,

just a small

monastic community as

at

Daphne

spa-

was
and not

mosaics, shows that

it

or Hosios

Loukas.

During the Second Golden Age, Byzantine architecture

Orthodox faith. There
the basic type of the Byzantine church underwent an amaz-

also spread to Russia, along with the

ing transformation through the use of

wood

as a structural

most famous product of this native trend is the

Cathedral of St. Basil adjoining the Kremlin in Moscow (fig.
352). Built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, it seems as
unmistakably Russian as that extraordinary ruler.. The
domes, growing in amazing profusion, have become fantastic towerlike structures whose vividly patterned helmets
material. The

may resemble anything from mushrooms and hemes to OriThese huge ice-cream cones have the gay un-

ental turbans.

realitv ol a fairy tale, yet their total effect is

oddly impressive;

keyed as thev are to the imagination of faithful peasants

(who must have stared at them in open-mouthed wonder on
their rare visits to the capital), thev nevertheless convey a
sense of the miraculous that is derived from the more austere miracles of Bvzantine architecture.

350.

351.

Interior. St. Mark's.

St.

Venice Begun 1063

Mark's

(aerial view), Venice.

Begun 1063

352. Cathedral

of St

Basil

Moscow

EARLY CHRISTIAN \ND

li)

1)54-60

/ \\ ll\l

IRT-275

\i:d

///;/s//\\

\\i>

i;)/\\ll\l

\l;l

354. Scenes from Genesis. Mosaic,

ICONOCLASTS AND ICONOPHILES. The

development

of Byzantine painting and sculpture alter the age of Justin-

was disrupted by the Iconoclastic Controversy, which

began with an Imperial edict of 726 prohibiting religious images. It raged for more than a hundred years, dividing the
population into two hostile groups. The image-destroyers
ian

(Iconoclasts), led by the

emperor and supported mainly

the eastern provinces of the realm, insisted on a

pretation of the biblical ban against graven images

ducive

in

literal inter.is

con-

they wanted to restrict religious art to

abstract symbols and plant or animal forms. Their opponents, the Iconophiles. were led by the monks and centered
in the

to idolatry;

western provinces, where the imperial edict remained

most part. The roots of the conflict went

c.

1200.

St.

Mark's. Venice

we know

philesin843. While

Byzantine

artistic tradition

was

not affected In the ban

CLASSICAL REVIVAL.
art of the

Second

(, olden

si

ape that

re< alls

it

have dealt Byzantine religious art a fatal blow. It

did succeed in reducing the production of sac red images
\cr\ greatly, hut failed to wipe it out altogether, so that there
was a fairly rapid recovery alter the victory of the Icono

music

and

his

c.

900

ad

COMPOSING m
cm)

14'/sx 10 /V'(3()X-2(,
l

PSAl MS, from he Paris Psalter

i

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

in /)(/</</

Composing

(fig.

353).

the
the

was

It

Classical models

David himsell could

Orpheus harming the beasts with his

companions prove even more surprising,
loi

figures that have nothing

al

at

.ill

to

young woman next to David is Melody, the one coyly hiding behind a pillar is Echo, and the male
figure with a nee trunk personifies the mountains ol Bethlehem. The late date of the picture is evident on!) mm en. an
do with the

Bible: the

qualities ol style sue h as the abstrac

draper)

overing Melod)

's

zigzag pattern of the

legs.

Another fascinating reflection of an early source is the

quence ol scenes from .cues is among the mosaii s ol
(

seSt

which must have been adapted

from an Earl)
hristian illuminated manusc ript rhe squat,
large-headed figures re< .ill the art ol the fourth entun as
Mark's in Venice

353. (apposite) david

explain

I'nmpeian murals, hut the figures, too oh

hem

since the) are allegoric

lad the edict been enforceable throughout the Empire,

^ge as

to

Classical mollis

probably illuminated about 900, although the temptation to

put it earlier is almost irresistible. Not onl) do we find a land-

person of Christ; socially and

ol l.ate

Psalms from the so-called Paris Psalter

well he mistaken

illicit well

max help

This interest

the astonishing reappearance

verv deep: on the plane of theology they involved the basic

issue of the relationship of the human and the divine in the

power struggle between State and Church. The Controversy

also marked the- final break between Catholicism and the
Orthodox faith.

how the

survive from thecal

eighth to the mid-ninth century, Iconoclasm seems to

have brought about a renewed interest in sec ular art. which

\iousK derive

they reflected a

to

l\

ineffective lor the

politically,

certain about

little for

managed

fig

354

\HI)

IIIHSIIW

\\l)

H)/\\n\i \m

355.

THE CRUCIFIXION.

Mosaic. 11th century.

Monastery Church, Daphne, Greece

does the classical young philosopher type representing the

Lord (compare fig. 330), which had heen long since replaced in general usage by the more familiar bearded type
(see fig. 349). Of particular interest is the scene in the

upper-right-hand corner. Ancient

man
this

art

had visualized the hu-

soul as a tiny nude figure with butterfly wings; here

image reappears or survives, rather under Christian

spirit of life

auspices as the

that the Lord breathes into

Adam.
The Paris Psalter and the Genesis mosaics in St. Mail's
betray an almost antiquarian enthusiasm for the traditions
of Classical art. Such direct revivals, however, are extreme
cases. The finest works of the Second Golden Age show a
classicism that has been harmoniously merged with the
spiritualized ideal of human beauty we encountered in the
art of Justinian's reign. Among these, the Crucifixion mo-

Daphne

saic at

qualities are

those

ol

there

is

(it;.

355) enjoys special lame.

Its

more fundamental, and more deeply

Classical
fell,

than

the Parts Psalter, vet are also completely Christian:

no attempt

to re-create a realistic spatial setting,

but

the composition has a balance and clarity that are truly

monumental as against the cluttered Pompeian landscape of
the

)a\ id

miniature.

classical, too. is

the statuesque dignity

gentle pathos conveyed by their gestures and facial expressions, a restrained

met

in

Greek

and noble suffering of the kind we first

century B.C. (see pages 184-87).

art of the fifth

Karly Christian art had been quite devoid of this quality. Its
view of Christ stressed the Saviour's divine wisdom and

power, rather than His sacrificial death, so that the Crucifix-

was depicted only rarely and in a notably unpathetic

The image of the Pantocrator as we saw it on the Sarcophagus ofJunius Bassus and above the apse of S. Apollinare in Classe (figs. 330 and 321) retained its importance
throughout the Second Golden Age the majestic dome
ion

spirit.

it

but alongside

Daphne stems from that tradition

we now find a new emphasis on the Christ

mosaic

at

When and where this human

of the Passion.

interpretation of the Saviour

its first appearance we cannot say for sure; it seems to

have developed in the wake of the Iconoclastic Controversy.
There .ire lew examples of it earlier than the Daphne Cru-

made

and none of them has so powerful an appeal to the

emotions of the beholder. To have introduced this compassionate quality into sacred art was perhaps the greatest
achievement of the Second Golden Age, even though its full

cifixion,

possibilities

were

medieval West

to

he exploited not in Byzantium but in the

at a later date. Yet

human

Byzantine

art,

view of Christ

too, pre-

in the cen-

which seem extraordinarily organic and

graceful compared to those of the Justinian mosaics at s.
\ il. ile (figs. 338 and

served and developed the

he most important aspe< of these figures' ( lassu al heritage however is emotional rather than physical; it is the

longer has the forbidding severity of the Daphne Pantocrator: instead, we find an expression of gentle melancholy,

the

ol

figures,

Mil)

llinsliw

WD

l'A/\\ll\l

\i;i

turies to

Sophia

come. The wonderful mosaic fragment from Hagia

315), probably of the thirteenth century, no

(fig.

along with a subtlety of modeling and color

the best Classical tradition of the

tti.it

perpetuates

Second Golden Age.

Adam and Eve

from the dead

central group

Us dramatic Ion c aqualitv

expect

Late Byzantine Painting

1201 Byzantium sustained an almost

In

fatal

defeat

when

the armies of the Fourth Crusade, instead of warring against

the lurks, assaulted and took the city of Constantinople lor

over

fifty

years, the core of the Eastern

Empire remained

Latin hands. Byzantium, however, survived this catastro-

phe; in 1261,

it

once more regained

fourteenth century saw a

painting, with a distinct

last

and

its

sovereignty,

and the

lai

<>|

energy, tearing

they appear
sive

image

known

to

ol

\d.un and Eve from (hen

through the an

llv

graves, so thai

magnificend) expres-

Such dynamism had been un-

divine triumph.

the earlier Byzantine tradition.

fourteenth century,

it

shows

Justinian, Byzantine art

still

that eight

Coming

the

in

hundred years

aftei

had us creative powers.

efflorescence of Byzantine

original flavor of

its

own, before

the Turkish conquest in 1453.

Because of the impoverished

to find

tine ail so

What amazes US about this

we would hardlv
on the basis
what we have seen ol liv/anlnisi line moves with extraordmai
phvsii al

is

state of the greatly

shrunken

ICONS. During the Iconoclastic Controversy one ol the

chief arguments in favor of sacred images was the< laim that
Christ Himself had permitted St. Luke to paint lis portrait,
I

Empire, mural painting often took the place of mosaics, as in

the recently uncovered wall decoration of a mortuary chapel

and

attached to the Kariye Camii (the former

"true" sacred images were supposedly the source lor the

Church

of the

Saviour in Chora in Istanbul.

From this impressive cycle of

pictures, done about 1310-20, we reproduce the Anastasis
(Creek word for resurrection), in figure 356. The scene ac)

tually

depicts

the event

just

before the Resurrection

Descent into Limbo. Surrounded by a radiant glorthe Saviour has vanquished Satan and battered down

Christ's
iole,

the gates of Hell (note the

bound Satan

at

His

feet, in

midst of an incredible profusion of hardware), and

356. ANASl

\s/s

Fresco,

c.

1310

is

20.

the

raising

that other portraits ol

lously appeared

er,

man-made

hnst or of the Virgin had miracu-

on earth

ones.

Such

bv

fig.

li.u

These

pictures, or icons,

in early Christian tunes out

(such as

divme

ofGraeco-Roman

original
lat-

had developed
portrait panels

known about their origins, lor exIconoclastic Conn overs

are ex-

312). Little

is

amples antedating the

tremely scarce.

Of the few discovered so far, perhaps the most important

the Madonna from Sta. Francesca homana in home,
brought to light some years ago by the cleaning of a muchis

Kariye Camii (Church of the Saviour in Chora

Mil.)

Istanbul

IlltlsllW \\l) l',)/\\ll\l

\lil-27<<

357.

MADONNA

(detail).

6th-7th century AD.

Encaustic on wood. Sta. Francesca Romana,

shows the

repainted panel. Only the Virgin's face

still

nal surface in lair condition

Its link

Roman

portraiture

medium, which
that
also

is

(fi.

357).

evident not only from the painting

is

encaustic (see page 251). a teehnique

went out of use

alter the Iconoclastic Controversy, but

the fine gradations of light

from

origi-

with Graeco-

themselves, however

and shade. The forms

the heart-shaped outline of the

the tiny mouth, the long, narrow nose, the

strongly arched brows

lace,

huge eves under

reflect an ideal of human beauty as

Rome

abound: the graceful pose, the rich play of drapery

tectural perspective of the throne

have become oddly abstract. The throne, despite its foreshortening, no longer functions as a three-dimensional object,

and the highlights on the drapery resemble ornamental

sunbursts, in strange contrast to the soft shading of hands

and

faces.

The

total effect is

somewhat

transparent,

higher degree of three-dimensional solidity. What

makes this image so singularly impressive is the geometric

the shapes look as

far

which endows the features with a

monumental grandeur such as we never encounter again in
Early Christian or Byzantine art. Where and when was it
produced? In the sixth or seventh century, we must assume,
but whether in Italy or the East we cannot say, lor lack of

severity of the design,

comparable material, lie that as it may, it is a work of extraordinary power that makes us understand how people
c

ame

to believe in the

superhuman

origin of sacred pictures.

Because ol the veneration in which they were held, icons

had to conform to strut formal rules, with fixed patterns repeated ovei and over again Vs a onsequence, the majority
of them are more conspicuous lor exacting craftsmanship
than for artistic inventiveness, The Madonna Enthroned
<

work of this kind; although painted in the thirteenth centur)

reflects a type of several hundred years
hoes <>i the Classicism ol the Second Golden Age
earliei
fig

158

is

,i

ii

\80'l

IflJ

<

>

/f/;/sn r,

\\n i;)/\\ll\i

\in

(which looks rather like a

all these elements

miniature replica of the Colosseum). But

spiritualized as that of the S. Vitale mosaics, while retaining

a

folds, the

tender melancholy of the Virgin's face, the elaborate, archi-

almost

if

they were

literally true, for

neither

flat

nor spatial but

like that of a stained-glass

lit

window;

from behind. And

this is

they are painted in a thin film on a

highly reflective gold surface that forms the highlights, the

halos.

and the background, so that even the shadows never

seem wholly opaque.

This all-pervading celestial radiance,
quality

first

encountered

we

will recall, is a

in Early Christian mosaics. Panels

such as ours, therefore, should be viewed as the aesthetic

equivalent, on a smaller scale, of mosaics, and not simply as
the descendants of the ancient panel painting tradition. In
fact, the most precious Byzantine icons are miniature mosaics done on panels, rather than paintings.
Along with the Orthodox faith, icon painting spread
throughout the Balkans and Russia, where it continued to
even alter the disappearance of the Byzantine EmThe shifting of the creative impulses within this tradito the outlying areas of the Orthodox world is signalized

flourish
pire.

tion

by the

work

ol

Andrei Uuhlev. the finest Russian icon paint-

er

and a great

artist

by any standard. Figure

>5f)

shows

his

Constantinople

<

358.

madonna enthroned

32^x19%"

(81.9

>

\Q

Late

-in

with Greek painters

in Russia or through a sojourn in

The most individual element and also the
most distinctivel) Russian
is
the color scale brightei
more omplex, and different in key from that of am Byzan-

tact

famous panel Old Testament Trinity, done about 1410 20.

(The title refers to the three angels who visited Abraham .it
Mamre. Although parts of it are poorly preservedmost <>l
the picture reveals a harthe background has disappeared
monious beauty of design and a depth of lyrical feeling thai
vie with the most Classical products of the Second Golden
Bge. Rublev must have been thoroughly acquainted with
the best that Byzantine art had to offer, either through con-

tine work,

hi the

hands

ol

tions as orange, vermilion,

primitive garishness of the sort

here, the controlled intensity

pan

master, sue h combina-

a lesser

and turquoise might

ol

we

easily

often find

these tones

is

have

lolk art;

an essential

of the composition.

Hid century. Tempera on panel,

[Tie

National Gallery

\n

Washington, D.C Andrew Mellon Collection, 1937

EARLY CHRISTIAN

WD

ID / \\

l\l

\lll-2sl

SftrtNSStf^"**!^

359.

ANDREI RUBLEV. old testament trinity,

Panel, 55'/2x44'//

(141x113 cm). Tretyakov

Sculpture
Monumental

sculpture, as

pear completely from the

we saw

fifth

tended

to disap-

and stone carving was confined almost entirely to architectural ornament (see fig. 343). But small-scale reliefs, especially in ivory and metal, continued to be produced
throughout the Second Golden Age and beyond.
Their extraordinary variety of content, style, and purpose
is suggested by the two samples shown here, both of them
is

a triptych

portable altar shrine with two hinged wings

high dignitary might carry

traveling

fig,

for his private

it)

and

who

<

of the kind a

devotions while

St.

we

John the Baptist and

plead for divine mercy on behalf of human-

five apostles

small

360); in the upper half of the center panel

sec Christ Enthroned, Hanked by

the Virgin

below.

The exquisite refinement of

IllilSIIW |\l) ll)/\\ll\l

Mil

cifixion

(fig.

fig.

361

),

Daphne Cru-

355).

Our second

art,

large-scale statuary died out with the last Imperial portraits,

One

Moscow

this icon-in-miniature recalls the style of the

earlier,

century on. In Byzantine

dating from the tenth century.

1410-20.

c.

Gallery,

panel, representing the Sacrifice of Iphigenia

belongs

to

an ivory casket meant

that, rather surprisingly, is

for

wedding

gifts

decorated with scenes of Greek

mythology. Even more than the miniatures of the Paris

Psalter, it illustrates the antiquarian aspects of Bvzantine

Classicism after the Iconclastic Controversy, for the subject

is that of a famous Greek drama by Euripides; and our composition

(which

is

curiously shallow, despite the deep under-

cutting of the relief) probably derives from an illustrated

Euripides manuscript, rather than from a sculptural source.

Though drained

of

all

tragic

emotion and reduced

of ornamental playfulness, these knobby

little

art. It was through

Graeco-Roman heritage en-

coherent visual quotation from ancient

channels such as
tered

thi'

this that the

to a level

figures form a

mainstream of Byzantine

tradition.

360.

THE HARBAV1LLE TRIPTYCH

361.

Late 10th century. Ivory. 9Vi X 11" (24 X 28

THE SACRIFICE OF IPHIGl \i Detail ol Ivor) casket

& Albert Museum. London (Crown copyright

Victoria

t iti

Musee du Louvre.

|.

Paris

10th centurj

reserved

\i;i

<

mtlsiiw

\\i)

H)/\\ll\l

\m

ILLUSTRATED TIME CHART

POL]

ICAL HIS Oil

Sumerians

LIGION

H E

lower Mesopotamia

settle in

Predynastic period
unites

Y,

Menes

Egypt;

Upper and Lower Egypt

c.

3100

AT V

SCI E N C E

R E

TEC

NOLOG

c. 3500
3500-3000
3300
3250

Pictographic writing, Sumer,

Wheeled
U

Inn-

iiul

remple"

ziggurat,

Uruk

Sumer,
Sailboats used on Nile
Potter's wheel. Sumer.
carts.

c.
c.

e.

Hieroglyphic writing, Egypt,

Old Kingdom, Egypt (dynasties l-VI)

1100 2185
Divine Kingship ol the Pharaoh
Earl) dynastic period. Sumer. e. 3000-

Cuneiform

bronze
Plows drawn
First

c.

3000

Sumer. c. 2900
and weapons. Sumer

writing,
tools
l>\

oxen

Akkadian Kings 2340-2180;

Gudea c. 2130
23

10;

Theocratic socialism

m Sumer

f
Tomb

Sphinx Giza

conquer Babylon

c.

1600

Flowering of Minoan civilization

c.

1700- 1500

New Kingdom,
Monotheism

of

Egypt, c. 1580-1085
Akhenaten (r. 1372-

13,58,

Dorians invade Greece

c.

Khnum-hotep, Beni Hasai

ot

Bronze tools and weapons in Egypt

Canal from Nile to Red Sea
Mathematics and astronomy flourish in
Babylon under Hammurabi
Hittites employ iron tools and weapons
Book of the Dead, first papyrus book.
XVI 11 dynasty
Hyksos bring horses and wheeled vehicles to Egypt c. 1725
China develops silk production c. 1500

Middle Kingdom, Egypt 2133-1786

Hammurabi founds Babylonian dynasty

c. 1760, writes Code of Hammurabi
Hittites

1100

rn

-jjf

IIIIHIHA

Stonehenge l.nuland

Hebrews accept monotheism

Jerusalem capital

ol

(bom c. 660)
Nebuc fiadnezzar destroys Jerusalem 586
.nil. una Buddha
563 183), India

'

179),

Chinese philos-

ophei

vs

mocracy 310
revoll against

republit

Etruscans, set up

509

s/

284

mi

>60
geographic map and celestial globe
Aeschylus. Greek playwright (525-456)
Pythagoras, Greek philosopher (fl. c. 520)
<

Athenians expel tyrants establish de-

Romans

I,

Thales of Miletus calculates solar eclipse

585; Anaximander of Miletus designs

Persians conquei Babylon 539; Egypt

323

1000; Greeks adopt

Earliest iron tools

Zoroaster, Persian prophet

551

ii\i;i

el-Bah

it c. 800
and weapons in China
Ideographic writing in China
First Olympic names 776
lomor fl. c. 750 700 Iliad and Odyssey
Coinage invented in Lydia (.Asia Minor)
c. 700-650; soon adopted by Greeks

c.

Solomon (died 926)

Assyrian Empire c. 1000-612

onfin ins

Dm

Phoenicians develop alphabetic writing

Palestine; rule of

David; of

Funeral) templeol Hatshepsul

Stele of ilaniniui.ilii

\\,,ii

from R

K\h\ painted

l>\

Exekias

FAINTI NG, SC
Fortifications

1.1'

U RE,

ARCH FECTURE
I

and Sculpture, Jericho, Jordan

Houses. Shrine, and Wall Painting, Qatal Hiiyiik

Painted beaker, Susa

Female Head from I ink

"White Temple" and ziggurat, Uruk
1

Plastei skull

lei

ii

ho

Mural, Hierakonpolis
Palette of

Narmer
Abu

Statues from

temple. Tell

Step pvramid and funerarj

Saqqara, by Imhotep

Asmar

district ol Zoser,

Harp and offering stand horn

Rahotep and Nofret

L'r

Sphinx, Giza

Pyramids

at

Giza

Cycladic Idol from Amorgos

Ziggurat of King Urnammu

Tomb

of Ti, Saqqara

Naram-Sin

Stele of
Palette of

Nairn

Gudea

Tomb

statues from Lagash

Khnum-hotep, Beni Hasan

of

Sesostris

III

Stonehenge, England
,

Tf

Hammurabi

Stele of

Cat Stalking Pheasant, Hagia Triada

Snake goddess. Crete
"Toreador Fresco"
Harvester Vase from Hagia Triada

Vaphio Cups
Palace of Minos. Knossos, Crete

Funerary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahari

Lion Gate, Bogazkoy
Temple of Amun-Mut-Khonsu, Luxor

Akhenaten and Nofretete

Tomb

of

Tutankhamen

Treasure of Atreus. Mycenae

Lion Gate. Mycenae

ion Gate. \l\

Dipylon vase
Citadel of Sargon

II.

Dur Sharrukin

Stan. Scythian
Reliefs from

Temple

ol

Nimrud and Nineveh

Artemis. Corfu

Ishtar Gate, Babylon

"Hera" from Samos
"Basilica," Paestum

Kvlix painted b\ Exekias

"Peplos Kore"

Siphnian Treasury and sculpture, >c-li>lii

of Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia
1

Tomb

Kore from Chios

Sarcophagus from Cerveteri

Apollo from Veu
She-Wolj from

\ptilla

from

Veii

Home
//>

ra

from s

iimi

<

nun

285

Pol [TICAL
Persian

II

ars in

\\

u\\\

Peloponnesian

War

I.

LITERATURE, SCIK NC

LIGION

160

460 440
Sophocles, Greek

Sparta against Athens, 131

104

Rome

Greek historian

tragic playwright

406)

196

Euripides, Greek tragic playwright (died 406)

Hippocrates, Greek physician (born 469)

conquers Near East

defeats Carthage in First Punic

TECH NO LOGY

c.

129

Vlexander the Great

nniipu's Egypt 333; defeats Persia
;

K.

[ravels of Herodotus,

ITS

199

Iree< e

lean ^ge in Athens c

Peri<

Socrates, philosopher (died 399)

\\ ai 264
241; acquires Spam 20
Gauls invade eastern Greek states; repulsed 2

Plato,

philosopher (427-347); founds

10.

Academy 386

200

Aristotle (384-322)
Theophrastus of Athens, botanist (fl. c. 300)
Euclid's books on geometry (fl. c. 300-280)
Archimedes, physicist and inventor
(287-212)
Eratosthenes of Gyrene measures the
globe c. 240
Plautus, Roman comedies (255-184)

ielphi

200

Invention ol' paper. China

Carneades of Cyrene, head ol' Academy,
brings delegation of Greek

Rome dominates

Asia Minor and Egypt;

annexes Macedonia (and thereby
Greece) 147: destroys Carthage 146

to Rome 156
Roman comedies (died

philosophers

Terence,

Golden Age of

Rome 82-79

Sulla, dictator of

dictator of

Rome 49-44
(

Earliest water

27

r.

B.C. 14

\ I)

^v
Augustus
\

D.

literature; Cicero,

Catullus, Vergil. Horace, Ovid, Livy

Julius Caesar conquers Gaul 58-49;

Emperor Augustus

Roman

159)

<</

wheels

Vitru\ius'

De architect lira

Plmy the

Elder,

Primaporta

Crucifixion of Jesus c. 30
Jewish rebellion against Rome 6670;
destruction of Jerusalem by Emperor
1

Vsia

c.

65) spreads Christianity

to

Tacitus.

German ia

Seneca,

Roman statesman

Minor and Greece

Eruption

Mt. Vesuvius buries Pompeii.

ol

IcKulaneum 79

Varieties of glass blowing

itus

Paul 'died

Natural History, dies

Pompeii 79

Imperor Trajan

(
i

Roman Empire

r.

)8

117) rules

Ptolemy, geographer and astronomer

largest extent

(died 160)
Galen, physician and anatomist (died

at its

Emperor Marcus Aurelius

author

Shapui

212

Perset ution
I

201

ol

1,2.!

Sassanian king

Christians in

ol

Neo-Platomst
philosopher (died 270)

hiocleli.in

28

305 divides
1

mpire

Mithraism spreads

in

Roman Empire
Basilica

286

TIME

<

ll

Mil

Plotinus,

Pei

Roman

mpire 250 302

Emperoi
I

Hi 1-180).

Meditations

ol

(r.

Le]

in

SCULP T U RE,ARCHITE(

INC.

II

It

Palace, Persepolis

East pediment from Aegina

Tomb

of Lionesses,

larquinia

Charioteer. Delphi

Alexander

ilu-

Pediments, Temple of Zeus, Olympia

"Temple of Poseidon." Paestum
Doryphorus by Polyclitus
Temples on Acropolis. Athens
Parthenon. Propvlaea. Temple of
Athena Nike, Frechtheum
Parthenon sculpture by Phidias
Mausoleum, Halicarnassus
Theater. Epidaurus
Monument of Lysierates. Athens
Aphrodite and Hermes 1>\ Praxiteles

Great

Apoxyomenos

Lysippus

l>\

Nike ofSamothrace

Pergamum

Altar

Porta Augusta, Perugia

Laocodn Group
"Temple ol' Fortuna

s-

Laocodn (.roup

Yinlis."

Rome

Aulas Metellus
'Temple of the Sibyl." Tivoli
Sanctuary ol Fortuna, Praeneste
Portrait head from Delos
Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

Forum

Rome

of Caesar,

Primaporta
Augustus of Primaporta
Villa of Livia,

Odvssev Landscapes
Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace),

Rome
A

House
House

Wedding, Pompeii
of the Vettii. Pompeii
Hercules and lelephus. Ilerculaneum
Colosseum, Rome
of the Silver

Vespasian

Arch of Titus. Rome

\ ilia ni

the Mysteries

Pompeii

Column

of Trajan,

Pantheon.
Insula of

Rome

Rome
House

of Diana, Ostia

Market Gate, Miletus

Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.

Rome
Portrait of a

Temple

boy Faiyum

of Venus, Baalbek

Palace of Shapur
Equestrian statue of
Marcus Aurelius, Komi'

ofShapur

I.

Basilica. Leptis

I.

Ctesiphon; Triumph

Naksh-i-Rustam

Home

Magna

Philippus the Aral)

Synagogue, Dura-Europos

//\//

it

Mil

287

I)

LITICAL

I'O

II

Christianity legalized
13; state religion

om

R E

III!

1..

SCI ENCE,

TECH NO LOGY

Edict of Milan

l>\

395

Emperor Constantine the Great r 32

537 moves capital tci Byzantium
renamed Constantinople) 330;
I

LITER A

IK. ION

ignizes Christianity; baptized

deathbed
Si
Ambrose

140

397);

St.

on

Jerome

Augustine (354 130)

Roman Empire split into eastern and
western branches 395
147

120); St.

Colossal statue

Home sacked
Church

Constantine

by Visigoths 110

Patrick (died

St.

"I

461

c.

oi

Jui

Invention of the stirrup in China

founds Celtic

Sarcophagus

brought to eastern
Mediterranean from China

Silk cultivation

432
Western Roman Empire tails to Goths 476
rheodoric founds Ostrogoth kingdom in
Ra\ enna c. 493
"Golden Age" of Justinian 527-565
St. Gregorj (540-604)
St Benedict (died 543) founds
in Ireland

Oldest illustrated Bible manuscripts.

early 6th cent.

Benedictine order

Lombard kingdom

in

north Italv 568

{rchangel Michael, diptych leaf

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

600

Mohammed
of

(570-632): Hegira 022. beginning

Koran 652

Moslem chronology

Byzantium

Near Eastern and

to Moslems 642-732;

loses

African provinces
to

Seljuk lurks 1071

Moslems conquer Spain

71

Iconoclastic controversy

726-843

Conversion of Russia

Orthodox Church

to

c.

990

aim empire in Constantinople 1204-61

Mongols onquer China 1234-79

I.

<

n
Miiilniiiia

onstantinople
I

inks

1")

leadership

\88

',.

(if

onquered b\ Ottoman
(i assumes

Mos<

Orthodox

UMI CHAR!

bun

nthroned

it

mi

nst

(!

Kariye Camii

Im.iiiIhiI

FA

NTING, SCULPTUR]

Palace of Diocletian, Spin

Arch of Constantine

Rome

Colossal statue of Constantine

Basilica of Constantine,

Old

St. Peter's,

Sta.

Costanza,

Home

Home
Rome

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

St.

Paul Outside the Walls

Catacomb

Rome

of Sarin Pietro e Marcellino

Rome
Dome mosaic.

St.

George, Salonica

Arc h oi Constantine
Interior Sta

t'ostan/a.

Rome

Ron

Mosaics, Sta. Maria Maggiore,

Rome

Eutropios
Vatican Vergil
Mosaics,

S.

Apollinare in Classe and

S. Vitale,

^^H j^V

^B>i' v$

JHj

Ravenna
Ravenna

^^^^^M

S. Vitale,

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Vienna Genesis
Archangel Michael, diptych

|MP*ZX

^S-C.-^*^

Q|Mf

mKL

BU;-; f^J

pK.^ * 1

leaf

Riil*

yfy

<

apital

Ham.i Soph

Portrait OJ EutTOpioS

Plan

of

S Vitale. Ravenna

Madonna, Sta. Francesca

Romana, Rome
St.

Mark's. Venice

Harbaville Triptych
Poris Psalter

Monastery churches,
Hosios Loukas
Mosaics.

The

Daphne

Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Mosaics Daphi

Mosaics,

St.

In

Sat

rifit

oj

Iphigenia

Mark's, Venice

Fresco. Kariye C'amii. Istanbul

Madonna Enthroned,

icon

Old Testament Trinity In Andrei Rubl(

Cathedral of St. Basil. Moscow

*S

iimi

//

\i:i

289

PART TWO

THE
MIDDLE
AGES

When we

think of the great civilizations of our past,

we tend to do so in terms of visible monuments that

have come to symbolize the distinctive character of
each: the pyramids of Egypt, the ziggurats of Babylon, the

Parthenon of Athens, the Colosseum, Ha-

in such a review of
would he represented by a
Nolre-Damein Paris, perhaps, or
Gothic cathedral
Chartres, or Salisbury. We have many to choose
horn, hut whichever one we pick, it will he well

gia Sophia.

The Middle Ages,

climactic achievements,

190'

mi

MIliDI

v.i s

north of the Alps, although in territory that formerly

belonged

to

the

Roman

Empire. And

if

we were

to

bucket of water in front of the cathedral of

our choice, this water would eventually make its
way to the English Channel, rather than to the
spill a

Mediterranean.
Here, then,

we have

the most important single

about the Middle Ages: the center of gravity of

European civilization has shifted to what had been

fact

the northern boundaries of the

Roman

world.

The

many

Mediterranean, for so

centuries the great

highway of commercial and cultural exchange

binding together

become

We

all

the lands along

its

shores, has

a barrier, a border zone.

have already observed some of the events that

for this shift the removal of the im-

paved the way

perial capital to Constantinople, the

between the Catholic and Orthodox

cay of the western half of the

growing

Roman Empire under

the framework of late

Roman, Christian civilization, however imperfectly;

the local kingdoms they founded
the Vandals in

North

Africa, the Visigoths in Spain, the

Gaul, the Ostrogoths and

all

Lombards

Franks

in Italy

in

were

Mediterranean-oriented, provincial states on the

periphery of the Byzantine Empire, subject

to

the

commercial, and cultural power.

As late as 630, after the Byzantine armies had recovered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt from the Sassanid
pull of its military,

Persians, the reconquest of the lost

The Church in Rome broke its

with the East and turned for support to the

Germanic north, where the Frankish kingdom, under the energetic leadership of the Carolingian dynasty, rose to

the status of imperial power during the

eighth century.

split

faiths, the de-

the impact of invasions by Germanic tribes. Yet

these tribes, once they had settled down in their

new environment, accepted

mic, and spiritual.

last ties

Western prov-

inces remained a serious possibility.

When

the pope, in the year 800, bestowed the title

emperor upon Charlemagne, he solemnized the
new order of things by placing himself and all of
Western Christianity under the protection of the
king of the Franks and Lombards. He did not, however, subordinate himself to the newly created
Catholic emperor, whose legitimacy depended on
the pope, whereas hitherto it had been the other
way around (the emperor in Constantinople had formerly ratified the newly elected pope). This interdependent dualism of spiritual and political authority,
of Church and State, was to distinguish the West
from both the Orthodox East and the Islamic South.
Its outward symbol was the fact that though the emperor had to be crowned in Rome, he did not reside
there; Charlemagne built his capital at the center of
of

Aachen, close to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and in Germany on the

his effective power, in

Ten years later, the chance had ceased to exist, for

meanwhile a tremendous and completely unforeseen new force had made itself felt in the East: the
Arabs, under the banner of Islam, were overrunning
the Near Eastern and African provinces of Byzantium. By 732, within a century after the death of

Mohammed,

they had swallowed

all

of North Africa

and threatened

to

add southwest-

as well as Spain,

ern France to their conquests.

It

would be

difficult to

exaggerate the impact of

present-day

map

of Europe.

Meanwhile, Islam had created a new

civilization

stretching from Spain in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, a civilization that

reached

its

highest

more rapidly than did that of the medieval

West. Baghdad on the Tigris, the capital city of
Charlemagne's great contemporary, Harun al-Rapoint far

shid, rivaled the splendor of

left the European

shore of the western Mediterranean, from the Pyr-

Byzantium. Islamic art,

and craftsmanship were to have a farranging influence on the European Middle Ages,
from arabesque ornament, the manufacture of paper, and Arabic numerals to the transmission of
Greek philosophy and science through the writings
of Arabic scholars. (Our language records this debt
in such words of Arabic origin as algebra and alco-

enees

hol.)

It is

with

some

the lightninglike advance of Islam

upon the Chris-

tian world. The Byzantine Empire, deprived of its

western Mediterranean bases, had to concentrate
all its efforts on keeping Islam at bay in the East. Its
impotence in the West (where it retained only a pre-

carious foothold on Italian soil)

to Naples, exposed to Arabic raiders from

North Africa or Spain. Western Europe was thus

forced to develop

its

own

resources, political, econo-

learning,

fore

we

well, therefore, that

we acquaint

ourselves

of the artistic achievements of Islam be-

turn to medieval art in western Europe.

////

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CHAPTER ONE

ISLAMIC ART
CHINA

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'Damascus

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The

incredible speed with which Islam spread throughout

Near East and North Africa remains one of the most astonishing phenomena in world history. In two generations,
the new faith conquered a larger territory and greater numbers of believers than Christianity had in three centuries.
How was it possible for a group of semicivilized desert tribes
suddenly to burst forth from the Arab peninsula and to impose their political and religious dominance on populations
far superior to them in numbers, wealth, and cultural heritage? That they had the advantage of surprise, great fighting
skill, and a fanatical will to win, that both Byzantine and Persian military power was at a low ebb, has been pointed out
often enough; these favorable circumstances may help to
account for the initial Arab successes but not for the endurthe

What had begun

ing nature of their conquests.

as a triumph

of force soon turned into a spiritual triumph as Islam gained

the allegiance of millions of converts. Clearly, the

new

faith

must have satisfied the needs of vast multitudes of people

more fully than any of the older religions of the Hellenized
Orient.

Christian tradition.

Moslems

are those

of

essential elements to the Judaeo-

its

The word Islam means "submission";

who submit

to the will of Allah, the

and all-powerful God, as revealed

to

ran, the sacred scriptures of Islam-.

Mohammed
The Koran

one

in the Ko-

often draws

upon the contents of the Bible and counts the Old Testament prophets as well as Jesus among the predecessors of

Mohammed.

Its

teachings include the concepts of the Last

Judgment, of Heaven and

to

ethical

commands

Hell, of angels

and

is

ing absorbed by the inhabitants of the regions the) ruled

Instead, they absorbed the

no

ritual

demanding

a priesthood;

all

conquered populations, along

with their cultural heritage, which they

the requirements of Islam

Moslems have

In art. this heritage

Byzantine

encompassed the Early Christian and

its echoes of Hellenistic and Roman

with

style,

forms, as well as the artistic traditions of Persia (see pages

131-35). Pre-Islamic Arabia contributed nothing except the
beautifully ornamental Arabic script; populated largely by

nomadic

tribes,

had no monumental

it

sculptured images of local deities

ity,

art hitecture. and its

under Mohammed's

idolatry. Originally, Islam, like early Christian-

made no demands

first fifty

fell

at all

upon the

visual arts.

a Persian columned

rounded by

hall,

or

a fence or a ditch.

even a rectangular

The one element

Mohammed,

are

Mecca.

members

All

of

one great community. During his lifetime, he was their leader not only in the religious sense but in all temporal affairs as
well, so that he bequeathed to posterity a faith which was
also a

new

religious

pattern of society.

and

political

The

tradition of placing both

leadership in the hands of a single rul-

er persisted after the Prophet's death; his successors

the caliphs, the deputies of

Mohammed, whose

mosques had in common was the marking of the qihlti

which Moslems turn in praying): the side
facing toward Mecca had to be emphasized by a colonnade,

on the opposite side

end of the seventh century, however, the Moslem
rulers, now firmly established in their conquered domains.
began to erect mosques and palaces on a large scale .is visiAt the

ble

symbols of their power, intended

dous appeal

is

it

and the core of

opened

its

ranks

outdo

all

pre-Islamic

monuments

of

architecture do not, for the most part, survive in

their original form.

What we know

of their design and decowere produced by craftsmen gathered from Egypt, Syria, Persia, and even Byzantium, who
continued to practice the stvles in which they had been

shows

ration

trained.

that they

distinctive Islamic tradition crystallized only

the course of the eighth century

were

its

tremen-

the blending of ethnic and universal ele-

ments. Like Christianity,

to

claim to au-

on their descent from the families of the

Prophet or his early associates.
quality of Islam

sur-

(the direction to

Eastern Islam

thority rested

The unique

field

these impro-

vised

Moslem

true believers, according to

Moslem

place of prayer could be a church taken over lor the purpose,

mosque), almsgiving,

to

During the

years after the death of the Prophet, the

structures in size and splendor. These early

and a pilgrimage

to

ARCHITECTURE

equal access to Allah, and the observances required of them

are simple: prayer at stated times of day (alone or in a
fasting,

adapted

skillfull)

or merely by placing the entrance

devils.

of Islam, too, are basically similar

those of Judaism and Christianity. As to dissimilarities,

there

).

ban against

many

Islam owes

The

tongues but also had to adopt the social, l("j,.il .iikI political
framework of the Moslem community. As a result, the
Arabs, though lew in numbers, were never in danger of be-

to

everyone,

GREAT MOSQUE, DAMASCUS. Thus

at

Damasc us.

built

sanctuary, had

its

Mosque

the Great

706- 5 within the enclosure

1

of a

Roman

walls covered with wonderful ijass mosa-

ics of Byzantine origin.

The

surviving remnants, such

.is

the

stressing the kinship of the faithful before God, regardless of

section reproduced in figure 362, consist entiieh

race or culture. Yet, like Judaism,

landscape and architecture framed by richly ornamented

borders against a gold background. Nothing quite like them

it

was

also a national reh-

The Arab warriors under the

conquer the earth for Allah did
convert the unbelievers to Islam; their aim was

gion, firmly centered in Arabia.

early caliphs

not expect to

Simply

who

to rule, to

vants of the

set out to

enforce obedience to themselves as the ser-

One True

God. Those

privileged status by joining Islam

who wanted
had

to

to

share this

become Arabs-by-

adoption: they not only had to learn Arabic in order to read

the Koran (since Allah had chosen to speak in that lan-

guage,

his

words

must not be

translated

into

lesser

ol

tews

ol

known in Bvzantine art, but then style obviousl) reflet ts

an illusionism familiar to us from Pompeian painting. Apparis

ently,

m the Near
Byzantium than in Europe. Caliph althe mosque, must have welcomed these

ancient traditions persisted more strongly

Eastern provinces
Walid,

who

built

ol

Hellenistic-Roman motifs, so different from the symbolic

and narrative content of Christian mosaic s A somewhat later Arabic author records that the

countn contained main

/s/

\\i/(

\m

2')',

The Great Mosque, Damascus,

362. Landscape mosaic. 715 AD.

churches "enchantingly

and

dor,"

that the Great

fair

and renowned

Mosque

at

character of the plant motifs are strongly reminiscent of

for their splen-

Damascus was meant

Byzantine architectural ornament (compare

to

date of the

huge desert

craftsmen conscripted from several provinces of the former

Byzantine domain in the Near East. There is also, however,

pal-

a notable Persian element, evidenced by

ace at Mshatta (in the present-day kingdom of Jordan) has

been much disputed; we can well understand why, for the
style of the facade decoration (fig.

363 harks back

)

probably about 743.

The

cal abstract patterns characteristic of

and the

;.^,f~
.-r ......

363. Ration
c.

oi

743

the facade
\ i)

2'K,

i\i

\\j/(

\i:i

ol

.;.

the Palace at Mshatta,

Height of triangles

Staatliche

lions

and

metalwork (see fig. 136). On the other hand, the geometric

framework of zigzags and rosettes, uniformly repeated over
the entire width of the facade, suggests a taste for symmetri-

to various

lace-like carving

winged

similar mythical animals familiar from Sassanian textiles or

pre-Islamic sources. According to the best available evidence, the palace was erected by one of al-Walid's successors,

343), and
were done by

fig.

variations within the reliefs indicate that they

keep the Moslems from being dazzled by them.

PALACE AT MSHATTA. The

Syria

9W (24

Museen, Merlin

cm).

J<

Moslem

art.

365. Plan of the

364.

Mosque

848-52 AD.

of aJ-Mutawakkil (view from the north), Samarra, Iraq.

Mosque

of aJ-MutawakkiJ

(after Creswell)

GREAT MOSQUE. SAMARRA. A

striking

early caliphs' architectural enterprises,

all

example of the
of which were

in Syria, which may also have influenced the

church towers of medieval Europe.) The floor area of the
Great Mosque at Samarra is more than 45,000 square
yards
almost ten acres, of which five and a half were covered by a wooden roof resting on 464 supports. These have
all disappeared now, along with the mosaics that once covered the walls. The most spectacular aspect of the building

churches

on an immense scale at incredible speed, is the Great

at Samarra (on the Tigris, northwest of Baghdad),
under al-Mutawakkil, 848-52. Only an aerial view (fig.

built

Mosque
built

364) can convey

est

mosque

its

365) are typical of the

main

is

Mecca, encloses a court

that run toward the qibla side, the cen-

axis pointing south (up) to

surrounded by
ter of

which make it the largThe basic features of the plan fig.

mosques of this period: a rectangle, its

vast dimensions,

in the world.

which

is

aisles

marked by

were summoned

to

mosque by

a ramp. Its bold

a spiral staircase leading to the

platform at the top, reflects the ziggurats of ancient Mesopo-

a small niche, the mihrab; on the

tamia, such as the

northern side rises the minaret, a tower from which the

faithful

the minaret, linked with the

and unusual design, with

that time

prayer by the cry of the muezzin.

to

(This feature was derived from the towers of Early Christian

still

announce

famed Tower of Babel (see page

to the

19), at

Did al-Mutawakkil wish

in a fair state of repair.

world that the realm of the caliphs was

heir to the empires of the ancient

Near

East.'

Western Islam
'

MOSQUE, CORDOVA.
to

mosque

the

converted
*

to

at

some notion of the

Mosque at Samarra, we must turn

In order to gain

interior effect of the Great

Cordova

in Spain,

1236, the structure retains

IIIUIIitMIt
(

fig,

to

its

we came

the

Although

in 786.

to

(jihla side.

The plan

Islamic character

366) was originally designed as

type

begun

Christian use after the reconquest of the city in

simpler version of the

know at Samarra, the aisles being confined

Haifa century later, the mosque was en-

larged by extending the length of these aisles; in <)(>l-65

III

ilic\

Hypostyle

hall

more

were lengthened attain, and twent\ years

aisles were added on the east side, since a

later eighl

river

barred any further extension to the south. These su<

statues illustrate the flexible

which made

it

nature of early

mosque

366. Flan of the

enlarged

in

987

Mosque
\

at

Cordova. Spain

D (from Gomez-Moreno

seemingly endless

forest of

columns confronts

nothing but the direction of the aisles

(///>/(/

bank

essive

plans

possible to quadruple the size of the sanctu-

ary without departing from the original pattern. As

a

to

we enter
us,

with

guide us toward the

side

isiwik

\ki

297

367. Interior of the sanctuary (view from the east). Mosque, Cordova

The sanctuary was covered by

wooden

roof

(now

re-

of a Byzantine church

(fig.

344): in the

latter,

space always

volume and has a clearly defined shape, while

placed by vaults) resting on double arcades of remarkable

is

and picturesque design (fit;. 367), The lower arches are

horseshoe-shaped, a form that sometimes occurs in Near
Eastern buildings of pre-Islamic date but which Moslem architecture made peculiarly its own. They rise from short,
slender columns of a kind familiar to us from Roman and
Early Christian times. These columns, however, also support stone piers that carry a second tier of arches. Was this
piggy-back arrangement a practical necessity because the

Cordova its limits are purposely obscured, so that we experience it as something fluid, limitless, and mysterious. Even
in the Capilla de Villaviciosa, the surfaces and cavities prevent us from perceiving walls or vaults as continuous surfaces; the space is like that of an openwork cage, screened

who began

architect
ly at

maximum

the building of the

speed

umns from some

had

mosque

apparent-

to utilize a set of too-short col-

he certainly has
used the (lex ice to excellent advantage, for it produces an
far lighter and airier than a system of single arcbes
effe<
earlier structure? If so,

and supports could have achieved,

A further elaboration of the same principle
Capilla de Villaviciosa

(fig.

368), a vaulted

is

found

chamber

in

the

to the

treated as

continuous with its surroundings.

This distinctively Moorish (North African and Spanish)
style reaches its ultimate stage of refinement m the Alhambra Palace in Granada, the last Islamic stronghold on the

off yet

Iberian peninsula during the late Middle Ages.

portion, the
built

paign

)()l

().")

Here we meet lobed

arc lies in

three

tiers.

way as to form a complex, ornamental

screen
lt- \ault is e\en more imaginative; eight slender
arc Iks or ribs
ross ea< b other above the square compartment, subdh iding il into a network of colls. It is instructive
interlaced in sucb a
I

(ix

ompare the

298'ISLAMK

spatial effects of the

\l;l

Mosque

at

Cordova and

Its

Court of the Lions and the rooms around

between 1354 and 1391

(fig.

369).

richest
it,

was

The columns now

have become slender as flower stalks; they support stilted

arcbes of extravagantly complex shape, cut into walls that
seem to consist of nothing more than gossamerlike webs of

ornament.

On

north of the mihrab, which dates from the building camol

at

I.k

the interior surfaces

(fig.

370) we find the same

ework of arabesque decoration, earned out

colored stucco or

tile

in delicately

a limitless variety of designs, includ-

ing bands of inscriptions, yet disciplined by

symmetry and

infinitely richer

than that of

the Mshatta fac.ade, but in retrospect the two

monuments.

rhythmic
separated

order.

l>\

The

six

effect

is

centuries and the entire expanse of the

W*^A

368. Capilla de Villaviciosa, Mosque,

370. Stucco decoration. Hall of the

Two

Sisters, the

"

Alhambra

Cordova. 961-65 A.D.

Mediterranean, appear clearly linked by the same basic process of evolution: the ribs of the Capilla de VUlaviciosa have

disappeared behind a honeycomb of ever-multiplying cells

framed by tinv arches that hang like stalactites from the ceil-

wonder that the Alhambra is enshrined in the

romantic imagination of the West as the visible counterpart
ings. Little

of

all

the wonders of

The Thousand and One Siqhts.

The Turks
From

the tenth century onward, the Seljuk lurks gradually

advanced into the Near East, where they adopted Islam,

seized control of most of Persia. Mesopotamia, Syria, and the
Holy Land, and advanced against the Byzantine Empire in
Asia Minor. They were followed in the thirteenth century by
the Mongols of Genghis Khan
whose armies included the
Mamelukes (a people related to the Turks) and by the
Ottoman lurks. The hitter not only put an end to the Byzantine Empire by their capture of Constantinople in 1453, but
occupied the entire Near East and Egypt as well, thus becoming the most important power in the Moslem world The
growing weight of the turkish element in Islamic civilization is reflected by the westward spread of a new type ol
mosque, the madrasah, which had been reated in Persia
under Seljuk domination in the eleventh century.

<

MADRASAH OF SULTAN HASAN,

369. Court of the Lions, the Alhambra, Granada, Spain. 1354-91

most imposing examples

is

the

CAIRO. One

Madrasah

ol

Sultan

/SM\|/(

the

ol

lasan in

Mil

2<><i

371. Court (view from the qibla side),

Madrasah

of

Sultan Hasan, Cairo, Egypt. 1356-63

372. Mausoleum attached

Madrasah

of

to the

Sultan Hasan

373. (opposite) Taj Mahal. Agra. India. 1630-48

;00-/SM\f/<

\m

Cairo,
spirit.

contemporary with the Alhamhra hut very different in

Its main feature is a square court (fig. 371
with a
).

Opening onto each

A.

lamic

MAHAL
ar< Inlet

AGRA.
lure

is

The most famous mausoleum of

the Taj

Mahal

al

Agra

fig,

Is-

373), built

had been unknown to early Islam; they were borrowed from

the West (see page 257) in the ninth century and became
especially popular among the Mameluke sultans of Egypt.

Moslem ruins of India,

Shah Jahan, as a memorial to his wile He belonged to the
Mogul dynasty w hich had come from Persia, so that the basic similarity of the Taj Mahal and the mausoleum of Sultan
Hasan is less surprising than it might seem al first glance.
At the same time, such a comparison emphasizes the special
qualities thai make the Taj Mahal a masterpiece of its kind.
The massiveness ol the Cairo mausoleum, with its projecting cornice and firmly anchored dome, has given way to a
weightless elegance not unlike that of the Alhamhra The
white marble walls, broken by deep shadowy recesses, seem
paper-thin, almost translucent, and the entire building gives
the impression of barely touching the ground, as if it were
suspended from the balloonlike dome. Its mood of poetic
reverie is greatly enhanced by the setting; the long reflect-

The dome

ing pool lined with dark green shrubs sets off the cool white-

fountain in the center.

is

side of this court

a rectangular vaulted hall; that on the qibla side, larger

than the other three, serves as the sanctuary The

mental scale of these halls seems

of Sassanian Persia (see

fig.

to

monu-

echo palace architecture

135), while the geometric clar-

whole design, emphasized by the severe wall surfaces, is a Turkish contribution that we shall meet again. It
represents an attitude toward architectural space completely opposed to that of many-aisled Arabic mosques.
Attached to the qibla side of the Madrasah of Sultan Hasan is the sultan's mausoleum, a large cubic structure surity

of the

mounted by a dome

tine

in

domes.

(fig.

372).

Such funerary monuments

our example betrays

its

descent from Byzan-

three centuries later In one of the

ness of the great pavilion in trulv magnificent fashion.

/SMW/(

\Hl

)()1

MOSQUES
once they

\l

ERZURUM AND ISTANBUL.

The Turks,

settled in Asia Minor, developed a third variety of

mosque l>\ interbreeding the Seljuk madrasah with the

domed Byzantine church. Among the earliest and most astonishing results of this process is the wooden dome of the
I In Mosque at Erzurum (see fig. 76-1). which has successfull) withstood the earthquakes common in that region: The
Turks, therefore, were well prepared
ty

of

to appreciate the beauSophia when they entered Constantinople. It imthem so strongly that echoes of it appear in

la<j,ia

pressed

numerous mosques
1453.

One

of

thi'

erected 1609-16

built in that city

most impressive
(figs.

374-76).

is

Its

and elsewhere

that of Sultan

alter

Ahmed

1,

four smaller

abutted by four half domes instead of two, and

domes next

to the

minarets

at the corners.

\02ISLAMH

Moslem

Mil

Mosque

(after

Unsal)

architectural genius.

375. (below)

Mosque

of

Ahmed

(view from the west), Istanbul, 1609-16

The

mounting sequence of these domes has been handled with

marvelous logic and geometric precision, so that the exterior
is far more harmonious than that of Hagia Sophia. Thus, the
first half of the seventeenth century, which produced both
the Taj Mahal and the Mosque of Ahmed 1, marks the final
flowering of

Ahmed

plan elaborates and reg-

ularizes the design of Hagia Sophia into a square, with the

mam dome

374. Plan of the

of

376. (opposite) Detail,

Mosque

of

Ahmed

lem theology, suggests that painted sacred images never

posed a serious problem to Mohammed and his immediate

REPRESENTATION

successors; since there was no pictorial tradition

we can enter into a discussion of Islamic painting

and sculpture, we must understand the Moslem attitude toBefore

ward representation. It has often been likened to that of the

Byzantine Iconoclasts (see pages 279-81 ), but there are significant differences. The Iconoclasts, we will recall, were
opposed to sacred images that is. images of religious personages rather than to representation as such. Mohammed.
too, condemned idolatry; one of his first acts alter his triumphant return to Mecca in 630 was to take over the Kaaba, an
|

age-old Arabic sanctuary, and to

remove

all

found there. These were always understood

the idols he

have been

to

among

the

Arabs, Islamic religious painting could have been created

only by borrow inu from outside sources, and such a de\ elop-

ment was most

unlikely as lorn; as the authorities did not

encourage it. They could afford to display indifference or

even at times a certain tolerance toward the sacred pictures
of other faiths

Mohammed ma)

Child from destruction

former Christians

in

among

have saved the Virgin and

order not

to

hurt the feelings

oi

his followers

Ibis passive iconoclasm did not prevent the Arabs from

accepting the nonreligious representational

the newlj conquered territories. Statues

art the)
oi

found

an) sort the)

statues,

and the Koran expressly places statues among the

handiwork of Satan, while painting and representation in

surely abominated, but Hellenistic landscapes could be in-

general are not mentioned.

scattered

Mohammed's attitude toward painting seems to have

been ambiguous. An early Arabic source informs us that in
630 the Kaaba also contained murals of religious apparently
I

biblical) subjects; the

Prophet ordered them

stroyed, except for a picture of

Marv with the

all

to

be de-

Infant Jesus.

which he protected with his own hands. This incident, is

well as the lack of any discussion of the subject in earl) Mos-

troduced into mosques see

I

sec

fig,

(ig.

362

.ind

among the relief decoration

The rums of another
'>(>;>).

Sassanian animals

of the Mshatta facade

pal, ice.

contemporar)

with Mshatta. have even yielded fresco fragments with human figures. ()nl\ from about 800 on do we find strictures
against representation as such

verts.

but

perhaps under the influence

ture,

ol

Moslem
of

religious litera-

prominent Jewish con-

hie! argument became not the danger ol idolatr)

hum, in presumption in making imam's ol living

I'he

/s/

\\//(

\ia

(03

a creative act th;u is reserved to God

can breathe a soul into living creatures.

Characteristically enough, a good

things, the artist usurps

alone, since only

le

specimens are

to

number

of the finest

be found in the churches and palaces of

western Europe; whether acquired by trade, by

DECORATED OBJECTS.
or animal figures of

Theoretically, therefore,

any kind were forbidden by Islamic

Yet in actual practice the ban

lart;e-scale representational

seems

to

human
law.

imitated.

lor

public display. There

of the

art

at

and other Moslem

princes, that images of living things were harmless if they
did not cast a shadow, if they were on a small scale, or applied to objects of daily use, such as rugs, fabrics, and pot-

As a

result,

human and

animal figures did survive in

but they tended to become reduced to decorative

motifs, intrinsically no more important than geometric or
Islamic

art,

We must

remember,

among

in

German emperors

Palermo

for

Roger

II

(fig.

too, that this

the peoples

lions attacking

camels on either side of a symbolic tree of life

ment, the animals have yielded their original fierceness

tendency was an age-

who shaped Moslem

Turks, and Mongols

civi-

It

the element of pattern that links

is

bronze creature

Moslem

made

fifty

to a

heritage of their nomadic past (see pages 131-32). Islam,

almost three feet

was natural to these culrugmaktures. When the techniques of the nomads' arts
merged with the vast
ing, metalwork, and leathercraft
repertory of forms and materials accumulated by the craftsmen of Egypt, the Near East, and the Graeco-Roman world,
the decorative arts of Islam reached a level of sumptuous-

free-standing sculpture in

ness never equaled before or since.

can convey only the

The few samples

illus-

faintest suggestion of their

endless variety.

377 Coronation cloak

width

of the
'2"
1

tall; it

all

of Islamic

statue of an animal hardly does justice to

It

ter.

is

the

(fig. 378). This one

and a sizable one at that, since it is
is, in fact, one of the largest pieces of

certainly casts a shadow,

then, merely reinforced a taste that

them with

years later in a very different part

world, northeast Persia

of the

Mil

years after

a motif

common

ISI \\ll(

fifty

whose ancestry goes back thousands of years in

the ancient Near East (compare fig. 127); here, inscribed
within quarter-circles and filled with various kinds of orna-

is

shared a

by Islamic artisans

133-34,

Normans had captured that city from the Moslems (who

had held it for 241 years). The symmetrical grouping of two

all

lization, Arabs, Persians,

UN

made
1

the

love of portable, richly decorated objects as the

trated here

377),

of Sicily in

splendid sense of pattern.

plant ornament.

old tradition;

or as

Ages as marvels of imaginative craftsmanship and often

Such a piece is the embroidered coronation cloak

effective only against

the luxury-loving courts of the caliphs

tery.

dle

was

have been a widespread conviction, especially

gilt,

crusaders' booty, they were treasured throughout the Mid-

art.
its

Yet to call

it

the

peculiar charac-

primarily a vessel, a perforated incense burner

whose shape approaches

tional aspect of the

that of

an animal; the representa-

forms seems secondary and casual.

We

what kind of beast this is meant to be; if only a

part of it had survived, we might even be doubtful whether it
represented anything at all, so abstract and ornamental is
the handling of the body. The object becomes a "living creacannot

German emperors.

tell

133-34. Red

(3.4 m). Kunsthistorisches

silk

and gold embroidery,

Museum, Vienna

378. Incense burner, from Khurasan, Iran. 1181-82.

Bronze, height 33'// (85 cm).

New

ture" only while it is serving its proper function; filled with

burning incense, breathing fire and smoke, our animal
might well have seemed terrifyingly real to a naive beholder.

The Seljuk prince who owned

The

Metropolitan

York. Rogers

undoubtedly enjoyed the

performance of this half-comic, half-demoniacal guardian
monster, which he himself could "bring to life" whenever he
it

wished.

Museum

of Art,

Fund, 1951

by artists of other faiths. Byzantine masters were imported

occasionally to work for Arab rulers, and the Oriental Christian churches that survived within the Islamic empire must
have included many painters who were available to Moslem
art patrons. But what kind of pictures could the Moslems
have wanted?

We may assume that there was a more or less continuous

demand for the illustration of scientific texts. The Arabs had

PAINTING. The

fate of

painting in the

Moslem world

be-

inherited such manuscripts from the Byzantines in the Near

East, and. being keenly interested in Greek science, they re-

tween the eighth and thirteenth centuries remains almost

entirely unknown to us. So little has survived from the five
hundred years following the Damascus mosaics that we

illustrations

should be tempted

essential part of the content,

pictorial

to

assume the complete disappearance

expression under Islam

if

literary

of

sources did not

contain evidence to the contrary. Even so, it seems clear that

the tradition of painting was kept alive, not by Moslems but

produced them

grams

had

own language. This meant that the

be copied as well, since they formed an

in their
to

or botanical treatises
liest

whether they were abstract

or representational images

Islamic

Works

illuminated

<

as in zoologil

of this sort are

.il

among

manuscripts known so

ISLAMH

dia-

medical.
the earfar,

Mil

al-

105

s*'s

* J

'.

^1

^\^A> *^&*ti&3
*s

uMjkl*J{Jy*

-ffelrfjil

AND AN ASSISTANT, from an Arabic translation

12% x9%" (32.5x24.8 cm). Courtesy of the Freer Gallery

379. ERASISTRATUS

Baghdad School

106

/s/

\\f/<

Mil

1221

of Dioscorides'

^^Ou

De Materui Medica.

of Art, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.

though none of them can be dated before about 1200. This

example (fig. 379) is from an Arabic translation, signed and
dated 1224, of Dioscorides' De Materia Medica; it shows the
Greek physician Erasistratus reclining on a couch and discoursing with an assistant. Both are equipped with halos to
indicate their venerabilitv. Interestingly enough, the scribe
(

instance also did the illustration; or, rather, he copied

along with the text. The ultimate source of the picture

It is

its

tempting

way

to

draftsmen,

tures

if

the text

this incidental

ligrapher's style of

Antique miniature with three-dimen-

the imagination to see

The forms remain

the page, like the script

a

takes a real effort of

remnants of these

present version, in which everything

namentalized.

it

itself,

rhythmic assurance akin

is

qualities in the

flattened out

and

or-

on the surface of
and our artist's pen lines have
strictly

to that of the lettering.

380. Pen drawing

Mesopotamian

in red ink.
'

<

).

the calling of scribe was an an-

a skilled

calligrapher might do

pi<

demanded them without having to feel that

activity stamped him as a paintei
and an

it

late

rip illumination found

through scribes who doubled .is

Moslem

lor to a

and honorable one;

abomination

sional figures in a spatial setting, but

art

cient

in this

must have been a

think that manusi

into Islamic

in the sight of Allah

pen-drawn

I.

He that as

illustrations,

it

may, the

with

oi

<

al-

without

the addition of color, soon made its appearance

in seculai
Arabic literature such as the Maqamai of Hariri, rhese delightful stones, composed about
100. were probably illus1

trated

withm

hundred years

after the)

were written, since

we have illuminated lanri manuscripts from the thirteenth

century on. The drawing in (inure -580, from a cop) dated
132.-!. is clearly a descendant of the
style we saw in the DiosI

from

a Hariri

manuscript

1323 British Museum. London

ISI.WIK

Mil

i07

corides illustration of a century before.

same

much

The

lnu-s

have the

quick, rhythmic quality, but they are handled very

more freely now. and with an extraordinary expres-

sive power.

Our

artist's

grasp of

the response of the eleven

men

human
to

character,

showing

the plea of the clever ras-

and witty that we must regard

more important than a mere copyist.

cal in the center, is so precise

him

as far

in the
uity,

West, which had been dormant since the end of antiq-

began

about this time (see figs. 534 and 539).

which Chinese influence transformed the

to revive

The extent

to

tradition of Islamic miniature painting

is

well demonstrated

by the combat scene of prince and princess in a landscape

(fig. 382): this is no colored drawing but an ambitious pictorial

composition that

fills

the entire page.

The

narrative to be

has served merely as a point of departure for our

most of his effort is devoted to the setting, rather than

illustrated
artist;

Persia

to

Arab merchants had been in touch with the Far East even
before the advent of Islam, and occasional references to Chinese painters by early Moslem authors indicate that these
contacts had brought about some acquaintance with the art
of China.

It

was only

after the

Mongol invasion of the

thir-

the action described in the text.

He must have been

great admirer of Chinese landscapes, for the graceful

delicately

shaded rocks,

trees,

and flowers of our picture

clearly reflect their Far Eastern source. At the

the design has a decorative quality that

Islamic; in this respect,

it

and

is

same

time,

characteristically

seems more akin

to the pattern of

a Persian carpet than to the airy spaciousness of Chinese

teenth century, however, that Chinese influence became an

important factor in Islamic art. It can be felt most strongly in

landscape painting.

Mongol rule,
from about 1300 on, such as the Summer Landscape in
figure 381. More than three centuries earlier, under the
Song Dynasty, the painters of China had created a land-

Another important result of Far Eastern influence, it

would seem, was the emergence of religious themes in Persian miniatures. The Mongol rulers, familiar with the rich
tradition of Buddhist religious art in India and China, did not

Persian illuminated manuscripts done under

scape

art of great

atmospheric depth, mist-shrouded moun-

and rushing streams embodying a poetic vision of

untamed nature. Our Mongol painter must have known this
tradition well; most of the essential elements recur in his
own work, enhanced by a lively sense of color that made him
stress the red and yellow of leaves turning in early fall. Did
such landscapes reach medieval Europe? We do not know,
but it may be more than coincidence that landscape painting
tains

381.

i08

fs/

win

\m

share their predecessors' horror at the very idea of pictures

Mohammed. In any event, scenes from the life of the

of

Prophet do occur in Persian illuminated manuscripts from

the early fourteenth century on. Since they had never been
artists who created them had to rely
on both Christian and Buddhist art as their source of inspiration. The result was a curious mixture of elements, often far

represented before, the

from well integrated.

from the Album of the Conqueror (Sultan Mohammed

Mongol Mid- 14th century. Topkapu Palace Museum, Istanbul

SUMMER LANDSCAPE,

11).

382.

JUNYAD.

SOLITARY COMBAT OF PRINCi

HUM

from a Persian manuscript. 1396. British

\)

\\l> ritl\(

ss

ill

\i

\)i

Museum London

ISI.W1K

Mil

109

383.

THE ascension OF MOHAMMED, from

a Persian manuscript.

1539-43. British Library, London

Only on rare occasions does Islamic religious painting rise

level that hears comparison with the art of older faiths.
Such a picture is the wonderful miniature in figure 383,

to

.1

showing Mohammed's ascension

we read

the Koran.

Lord "caused lis servant to make a journey

the remote place ol Worship which We have

that the

by night... to

to Paradise. In

We might show him of Our

Moslem authors added elaborate details to this
ount: the as< enl was made from Jerusalem, under

encircled with blessings, that

Later

si'^ns
brie! a.

the guidance

ol

the angel Gabriel;

Mohammed

rose through

the seven heavens where he met his predecessors, includVI. mi

Abraham Moses, and Jesus, before he was
ing

was

said to

have ridden a miraculous mount named buraq,

mule and larger than an ass," and

"white, smaller than a

having a

cheek or

some authors

also gave

lace like
it

wings.

that of a

We

will

human

being;

recognize the an-

from the winged, humanit derives

headed guardian monsters of ancient Mesopotamia (see fig.
121 and their kin, the sphinxes and centaurs, all of which
had survived as ornamental mollis in the great melting pot
of Islamic decorative art, where they lav dormant, as it were,

cestry of this beast:

until

Moslem

miniature,

writers identified

them with buraq.

the wings are reduced

to

In our

ring of feathers

p.iienlK

around buraq's neck, so as not to interfere with the saddle.

The animal follows Gabriel across a deep-blue, star-studded
skv; below, among scattered clouds, there is a luminous ce-

,is(

lestial body,

broughl into the present e

ol

\llah

The entire journey ap-

was though) ol as analogous lo that ol Elijah, who

ended to heaven in a fien chariot. Mohammed, however,

;/o-

/s/

win

\l:l

probably the moon.

The Far Eastern elements

384. Calligraphic page from the Album of the Conqueror (Sultan

Turkish

in this poetic vision are striking.

We

find

them

(?).

in the flame-

golden halos behind Gabriel and Mohammed, a familiar

feature of Buddhist art; in the curly, "intestinal" stylization
of the clouds; in the costumes and facial types of the angels.
like

Yet the

composition as a whole

the agitated movement of

the angelic servitors converging from

Prophet strongly

recalls Christian art.

all

sides

upon the

Our miniature thus

represents a true, and singularly felicitous, meeting of East

and West. There is only one small concession to Islamic
iconoclasm: the Prophet's face lias been left blank. e\ ulentlv
it was thought too holy to be depicted.
Scenes such as this one occur in manuscripts of historical

because

or literary works, but not of the Koran.

apparently did not dare

to illustrate

Mohammed

II

Topkapu Palace Museum. Istanbul

Even the Persians

the Sacred Book direct

althoughor perhaps because illustrated copies of the

v.

were not altogether unknovt n m the Moslem world The

Koran remained the calligraphers' domain, as it had been
from the very beginning of Islam. In then hands. Arabic lettering became an amazingly flexible set ol shapes, capable
ble

of an infinite variety of decorative elaborations, both geometric

and curvilinear

At then best, these designs are master-

pieces of the disciplined imagination that

in a

strange way, the abstract

art

of our

seem

to anticipate,

own mne The page

shown

in figure

pher

the fifteenth century, renders the single word Allah

It

is

ol

indeed

.1

384, probably done b\ a Turkish calligra-

marvel

ol

inn

i<

.11

w ithin a rigorous

set of for-

mal rules, sharing the qualities ol a maze, ol

rug pattern.
and even ol certain non-obje< tive paintings More than an)
othei single object, it sums up the essence ol Islamic ,111.
,1

Bi-

/s/

\w/(

\iu

\\

CHAPTER TWO

EARLY
MEDIEVAL

ART

the Roman Empire carried with them, in the form ol nomads' gear an ancient and widespread artistic tradition, the

THE DARK AGES

The labels we use for historical periods tend to be like the
nicknames of people: once established, they are almost imthough they may no longer be suitThose who coined the term "Middle Ages" thought of

possible to change, even

able.

the entire thousand years from the filth to the fifteenth century as an age of darkness, an
cal antiquity

and

its

then, our view of the Middle

we no

empty

rebirth, the

interval

between

Renaissance in

classi-

Italy.

Since

Ages has changed completelv;

longer think of the period as "benighted" but as the

"Age of Faith."
With the spread of this new, positive conception, the idea
ol'darkness has become confined more and more to the early
part of the Middle Ages. A hundred years ago, the "Dark
Ages" were generally thought to extend as far as the twelfth
century: they have been shrinking steadily ever since, so
that today the term covers no more than the two hundredyear interval between the death of Justinian and the reign of

Charlemagne. Perhaps we ought to pare down the Dark

Ages even further; lor in the course of the century 650-750
\ i)
as we have pointed out earlier, the center of gravity of
European civilization shifted northward from the Mediterranean, and the economic, political, and spiritual framework
of the Middle Ages began to take shape. We shall now see
,

that the
tic

same century

also gave rise to

some important

artis-

achievements.

it

in the Luristan

ornaments from southern Russia (see page 32 and figs

127 and 128). This style, with its combination of abstract
and organic shapes, of formal discipline and imaginative
1

freedom, became an important element

manic

art of the

purse cover

(fig.

who

East Anglian kins;

On

in the

eltic-Ger-

Dark Ages, such as the gold-and-enanicl

385) from the grave, .it Sutton Hon. of an
died between 625 and 633

are lour pairs of symmetrical motifs: each lias

it

own distinctive character, an

its

indication that the motifs have

been assembled from four different sources. One motif, the

standing man between confronted animals, has a very long
history indeed
we first saw it in Sumerian art more than

3,000 years before (see

ducks bring

to

mind

in Luristan bronzes.

hand,

is

of

lig.

The eagles pouncing on

13).

similar pairings of carnivore-and-\ lctim

The design above them, on

more recent

origin.

It

the other

consists of fighting animals

whose tails, legs, and jaws are elongated into bands forming
a complex interlacing pattern. Interlacing bands as an ornamental device occur

in

Roman and

Early Christian

art.

espe-

cially

along the southern shore of the Mediterranean, but

their

combination with the animal Style, as shown here,

to be an invention ol the Dark Ages, not much before

seems

the date of our purse cover.

Metahvork,

Celtic-Germanic Style

ANIMAL STYLE. The

We have cue ountered early examples

bronzes of Iran and the Scythian gold

so-called animal style,

of

Germanic

tribes that

had entered

western Europe from the east during the declining years of

.185.

in a variety of materials

and techniques and

often of exquisitely refined craftsmanship, had been the

principal

medium

of the animal style.

durable, and eagerly sought

Purse cover, from the Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial,

t>^

r
>

33

after,

Such

account

objects, small,

for the rapid dif-

\ i>

Gold with garnets and enamels, length K" (20.3 (mi British Museum, London

\ni)

\//

dii

i/

i/,'/

;;

386.

Wood, height

fusion of

repertory

its

ever, these

of

ANIMAL HEAD, from

c.

5"

the Oseberg Ship-Burial,

12.7 cm). University

forms. During the Dark Ages,

how-

forms migrated not only in the geographic sense

but also technically and

artistically, into

wood, stone, and

even manuscript illumination.

Wooden specimens, as we might expect, have not survived in large numbers; most of them come from Scandinavia,

where the animal

else.

ninth century,

with

style flourished longer

The splendid animal head

much

is

the terminal

than anywhere

in figure 386, of the early

of a

post that

was found, along

other equipment, in a buried Viking ship at Ose-

berg in southern Norway. Like the motifs on the Sutton

Hoo

shows a peculiarly composite quality: the basic shape of the head is surprisingly realistic, as are certain
details (teeth, gums, nostrils), but the surface has been
spun over with interlacing and geometric patterns that bepurse cover,

it

tray their derivation from metalwork. Snarling monsters

such as this used to rise from the prows of Viking ships, endowing them with the character of mythical sea dragons.

Museum

825

c.

come Rome-oriented.

Hiberno-Saxon Style

framework of the Roman Church, being

was ill-suited to the rural character of
Irish life. Irish Christians preferred to follow the example of
the desert saints of Egypt and the Near East who had left the

The

institutional

essentially urban,

temptations of the city

the Alps also reflet ted the pagan

animal

Style.

In order to

produced, however,

made

north of

Germanic version of the

understand how they came

we must

first

to

be

acquaint ourselves with

the important role played by the Irish (Hibernians), who,

during the Dark Ages, assumed the spiritual and cultural

leadership of western Europe. The period 600-800 \ D deserves, in fact, to be tailed the
l

Roman Empire;
pel to

.olden

Age of

thus the missionaries

them from England

sot ietv

in

the

entirely barbarian by

readily accepted Christianity,

tact

Ireland. Unlike

English neighbors, the lush had never been part of the

lieu

filth

Roman

who

carried the Gos-

century found

a Celtic

The lush

standards.

which brought them

into con-

wuli Mediterranean civilization, but thev did not be-

l/4 ! Mil) Ml Dll

\l

\i:i

seek spiritual perfection in the

to

soli-

tude of the wilderness. Croups of such hermits, sharing a

common

ideal of ascetic discipline,

monasteries. By the
far

had founded the

century, monasteries

fifth

earliest

had spread as

north as western Britain, but only in Ireland did monasti-

cism take over the leadership of the Church from the bishops. Irish monasteries, unlike their Egyptian prototypes,
soon became seats of learning and the arts; they also developed a missionary fervor that sent Irish monks to preach to
the heathen and to found monasteries in northern Britain as
well as on the European mainland, from Poitiers to Vienna.

These Irishmen not only speeded the conversion

to Chris-

northern France, the Netherlands, and

monastery as a cultural
European countryside. Although
their Continental foundations were taken over before long
by the monks of the Benedictine order, who were advancing
north from Italy during the seventh and eighth centuries,
Irish influence was to be felt within medieval civilization for

Germany, they

Christian works of art that were

Rather, they adapted what they had

received in a spirit of vigorous local independence.

tianity of Scotland,

[Tie earliest

A.u.

of National Antiquities, Oslo

also established the

center throughout

several

the

hundred years

MANUSCRIPTS.
monasteries had
Christian books

to

tome.

In order to spread the Gospel, the Irish

to

produce copies of the Bible and other

in large

numbers. Their writing workshops

became tenters of artistic endeavor, for a

manuscript containing the Won! of (Jot! was looked upon as
a s,ic red object whose visual beauty should reflect the importance of its contents. Irish monks must have known Ear-

(scriptoria) also

<^s>

387. Cross Page from the Lindisfurne Gospels.

c.

700 AD. 13'/2x9'/4 " (34.3x23.5 cm).

British Library',

London

ly

Christian illuminated manuscripts, but here again, as in

denly been subdued by the superior authority of the

so

many

In order to

other respects, they developed an independent

dition instead of simply

copying their models. While pictures

them, they
decorative embellishment. The finest

illustrating biblical events held

devoted great effort

to

tra-

little

interest for

of these manuscripts belong to the Hiberno-Saxon style,

combining Celtic and Germanic elements, which flourished

in the monasteries founded by Irishmen in Saxon England.
The Cross Page in the Lindisfarne Gospels fig. 387 is an
|

imaginative creation of breathtaking complexity; the minia-

working with a jeweler's precision, lias poured into

compartments of bis geometric frame an animal interlace so dense and yet so lull of controlled movement that the
fighting beasts on the Sutton Hoo purse covet seem child-

achieve this effect, our

Iross

impose
ol

game" demand, for instance, that organic and geometric

shapes must be kept separate; that within the animal compartments every line must turn out to be part ol an animal's
body,

if

we

take the trouble to trace

it

back

to its point of

There are also rules, too complex to go into here, concerning symmetry, mirror-image (fleets and repetitions ol
shapes and colors. Onh b\ working these out for ourselves
origin.

intense observation

l>\

tins strange,

an we hope

to

enter into the

Ol the representational images they found

tian

manusc

spirit ol

mazelike world.

ripts,

Earl) Chris-

the Hiberno-Saxon illuminators generally

the world of paganism,

retained only the symbols of the four evangelists, since these

these biting and clawing monsters, bad sud-

could be translated into their ornamental idiom uitbout

simple in comparison.
in

to

the

the

ishly

has had

an extremely severe discipline upon himself His "rules

turist,

embodied

artist

It

is

as

if

\i:i)

\u

/>//

\i

\iti

lis

much

The

difficulty.

lion of St.

Mark

iti

the Echternach Gos-

388), sectioned and patterned like the

enamel inanimated by the same

curvilinear sense of movement we saw in the animal interlaces of the previous illustration. Here again we marvel at
the masterly balance between the shape of the animal and
the geometric framework on which it has been superimposed (and which, in this instance, includes the inscription,
imago leonis).
pels

(fit;.

lays of the

The

Sutton Hoo purse cover,

human

figure,

is

on the other hand, remained beyond

the Celtic or Germanic

artist's

reach for a long time. The

bronze plaque of the Crucifixion

(fig.

389), probably

made

book cover, shows how helpless he was when faced

with the image of a man. In his attempt to reproduce an Earfor a

ly

Christian composition, he suffers from an utter inability to

conceive

of

the

human frame

as an organic unit, so that the

becomes disembodied in the most literal

sense: the head, arms, and feet are all separate elements
joined to a central pattern of whorls, zigzags, and interlacing
bands. Clearly, there is a wide gulf between the Celtic-Germanic and the Mediterranean traditions, a gulf that the Irish
artist who modeled the Crucifixion did not know how to
figure of Christ

bridge.

388.

SYMBOL OF

ST.

MARK, from the Echternach Gospels,

c.

690 AD.

12 3/4 x 10y8 " (32.4x26.4 cm). Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

389. CRUCIFIXION, plaque from a book cover

Bronze. National

;/'.

I.

Mil) Ml

I'll

Mil

Museum

(?).

8th century AD.

of Ireland, Dublin

390. Balustrade rebel inscribed by the Patriarch Sigvald (762-76 AD), probably caned
Marble,

3x5'

c.

magne:

Lombard
The

situation

we even

find

Style

was much the same in Continental Kurope:

among the Lombards in northern Italy. The

it

representation. His evangelists' symbols are strange crea-

lour of

all

725

collecting and copying of ancient Roman

The oldest surviving texts old great main classi-

the

literature.

Germanic stone carver who did the marble balustrade relief

in the Cathedral Baptistery at Cividale (fig. 390) was just as
perplexed as his Irish contemporaries by the problem of
tures indeed;

c.

(91.3 x 152.3 cm). Cathedral Baptistery, Cividale, Italy

them have the same spidery

front

and their bodies consist of nothing but head, wings,

and (except for the angel) a little spiral tail. Apparently he

legs,

he was violating their integrity by forcing them

frames in this Procrustean fashion. On the
other hand, he had a well-developed sense of ornament; the
panel as a whole, with its flat, symmetrical pattern, is an ef-

cal Latin authors are to be

found

manu-

Carolingian

in

which, until not very long ago, were mistakenly

regarded as Roman, hence their lettering, too. was called
scripts,

roman.
This interest in preserving the classics was part of an am-

Roman

bitious attempt to restore ancient

civilization,

along

Charlemagne himself took an active

hand in this revival, through which he expected to implant
the cultural traditions of a glorious past in the minds ol the
with the imperial

title.

did not feel

semibarbaric people of his realm. To an astonishing extent,

into their circular

he succeeded. Thus the "Carolingian revival' mav he

termed the first and in some ways the most important
phase of a genuine fusion of the Celtic-Germanic spirit with

fective piece of decoration, rather like

He

may, in

tal textiles

fact,

an embroidered

have derived his design

(compare

fig.

in part

cloth.

that of the

Mediterranean world.

from Orien-

Architecture

136).

PALACE CHAPEL. AACHEN. The

CAROLINGIAN ART
The empire
dure

built

for long.

verj start.

by Charlemagne see page 291

(

His grandsons divided

it

did not en-

into three parts,

and

proved incapable of effective rule even in these, so that political

power reverted

to

the local nobility.

The cultural

achievements of his reign, in contrast, have proved far more

lasting; this very page would look different without them, for
it

is

printed in letters

whose shapes derive from

Carolingian manuscripts.

known

The

fact

line arts played

an im-

portant role in Charlemagne's cultural program from the

the script in

that these letters are

today as "roman" rather than Carolingian recalls an-

other aspect of the cultural reforms sponsored by Charle-

On

his usits to Italy,

the architectural

Home and
his

own

monuments

with those

capital at

ol

he had become familiar with

the Constantinian era in

ol

the reign of Justinian in Ravenna;

Aachen, he

felt,

must convey the majest)

Empire through buildings ol an equally impressive kind

)1 and 3 )_>
is. in I.k
lbs Famous Palai e Chapel figs
directly inspired l>\ S. Vitale compare figs 13
V?
To erect
such a structure on Northern soil was drfffr tilt undertaking; columns and bronze gratings had to be imported horn
hah. ,\\u\ expert stonemasons musl have been hard to find.
The design, hv Odo of Met/ probably the earliest an hitct

of

J (

>

I,

,i

urn

\n dii

\i

\m

;;:

391. Interior

of

the Palace Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen.

792-805 AD.

1 the Alps known to us by name), is by no means a

mere echo of S. Vitale but a vigorous reinterpretation, with
purs and vaults of Roman massiveness and a geometric

north

clarity ol the spatial units very different

from the

lluid

space

of the earlier structure.

Equally significant
trance

now

is

Odo's scheme

lor the

largely obscured by later additions

western enand rebuild-

ing); at S. Vitale. the entrance consists of a broad,

semidetached narthex with twin stair turrets, at an odd angle to the main axis of the church, while at Aachen these
elements have been molded into a tall, compact unit, in line

mam axis and closely attached to the chapel proper

monumental entrance structure, or weslwork (from
the German Westwerk), which makes one of its first known
appearances here, holds the germ of the two-tower facade
with the
Ibis

familiar

bom

so

318 -EARLY UI-.DU

many

\l

later

\i:i

medieval churches.

392. Cross section

of

the Palace Chapel of

Charlemagne

(after

Kubaeh)

393. Plan

of

the Abbey

Church

Consecrated 799 A.D

run. ver^rtrji uvrxrrn. ix

*n. coi.

in ttn-anrSu rnj-n>nr9(bt.n

of St.-Riquier, France.

(alter Efifmann, 1912)

The

stair towers.

JPt^*f

>#

icas

(compare

lig.

apse, unlike that of Early Christian basil-

317),

separated from the eastern tran-

is

sept by a square compartment, called the choir. St.-Riquier

was

widely

imitated

churches, but these,

later

other

in

too.

monastery

Carolingian

have been destroyed or rebuilt

shown

in

importance

of

times a fine westwork of the tenth century

(

is

figure 403).

PLAN OF A MONASTERY, ST GALL. The

monasteries, and their close link with the imperial court, are

suggested by a unique document of the period, the

drawing of a plan for a monastery preserved in the
Chapter Library at St. (Jail in Switzerland fig. 395). Its bavividly

large

seem to have been determined at a council held

near Aachen in 816-17; this copy was then sent to the abbot
sic features

of

St.

Gall for his guidance in rebuilding the monastery.

may regard
according

We

therefore, as a standard plan, to be modified

it,

to local

The monastery

needs
is

complex, sell-contained

rectangle about 500 by 700 feet

trance-way, from the west

fi.

396).

unit, filling a

mam

The

en-

passes between stables and a

which admits the visitor to a colonnaded semicircular portico flanked by two round towers, a
sort of strung-out westwork that looms impressively above
hostelry toward a gate

the low outer buildings.

It

emphasizes the church as the

center of the monastic community. The church

is

a basilica,

with a transept and choir in the east but an apse and altar
either end; the nave
altars,

394. Abbey Church of St.-Riquier (engraved view by Pctau,

1612, after an 11th-century manuscript illumination)

and

at

containing numerous other

aisles,

do not form a single continuous space but are subdiThere are numerous

\ided into compartments bv screens.

entrances; two beside the western apse, others on the north

and south

flanks.

This entire arrangement reflects the functions of a monastery church, designed lor the liturgical needs of the

ST-RIQUIER,

ABBEVILLK. An

even

more

elaborate

westwork formed part of the greatest basiliean church of

Carolingian times, that of the monastery of St.-Riquier also
called Centula), near Abbeville in northeastern France. It
has been completely destroyed, but its design is known in
detail from drawings and descriptions (figs. 393 and 394).
I

Several innovations in the church were to

importance

for the future: the

narthex which

is

in effect a

become

westwork leads

of basic

into a vaulted

western transept; the crossing

where the transept intersects the nave) was

crowned by a tower, and the same feature recurred above
the crossing of the eastern transept, again with two round
(the area

monks

rather than lor a lav congregation. Adjoining the

church

to

the south

is

an arcaded

cloister,

around w huh are

grouped the monks' dormitorj ton the east side), a refectory

and kitchen on the south side and a cellar The three large
buildings north of the church are a truest house, a school.
i,

and the abbot's house. To the east are the infirmary, a chapel
and quarters lor novices, the cemetery (marked by a large
cross), a garden, and coops for chit kens and geese. The
south side is occupied bv workshops barns, and otliei service buildings.
actly like this

earned out

.is

There

is.

anywhere

needless

even

drawnyet

its

to say,

St

no monastery ex-

Gall the plan

was not

layout conveys an excellent

notion of such establishments throughout the Middle Ages.

\nn

\n dii

\i.

\m

uu

395. Plan of a monastery. Original in red ink on parchment,

c.

820 AD. 28 x 44

Stiftsbibliothek, St. Gall, Switzerland (inscriptions translated into English

396. Reconstruction model, alter the

Mil) Ml

1)11

\l

Mil

c.

820

ad

(71.

12.

from Latin)

plan of a monastery (Walter

lorn.

1965)

cm).

397.

ST.

MATTHEW.

from the Gospel Booh of Charlemagne.

c.

800-10 AD. 13 x
Kunsthistorisches

398. PORTRAIT

10"

(33x25.4 cm).

Museum. Vienna
OF MENANDER

Wall painting.

C. 70 \ D
House of Menander. Pompeii

Manuscripts and Book Covers

GOSPEL BOOK OF CHARLEMAGNE. We know

from

lit-

erary sources that Carolingian churches contained murals,

mosaics, and relief sculpture, but these have disappeared

almost entirely. Illuminated manuscripts, ivories, and goldsmiths' work, on the other hand, have survived in consid-

They demonstrate the impact of the Caromore strikingly than the architectural
the period. The former Imperial Treasury in Vi-

erable numbers.

lingian revival even

remains of

enna contains a Gospel Book said to have been found in the

tomb of Charlemagne and, in any event, closely linked with
his court at Aachen. As we look at the picture of St. Matthew
(fig. 397), we find it hard to believe
such a work could have been executed in northern Europe about the year 800; if it were not for the large golden

from that manuscript

that

halo, the Evangelist

Matthew might almost be mistaken for

one of Menander (fig.

a classical author's portrait like the

Pompeii almost eight centuries

398). painted at

Whoever

the artist

he plainly was
painting,

fully

down

to

was Byzantine,

Italian, or

conversant with the

earlier.

Prankish

Roman

the acanthus ornament on

tradition of

the wide

frame, which emphasizes the "window" aspect of the pichare.

The

St.

Matthew represents

of the Carolingian revival;

it

is

the most orthodox phase

the visual counterpart of

copying the text of a classical work of

literature.

Mil.)

Ml

1)11

Mil

\21

GOSPEL BOOK OF ARCHBISHOP EBBO. A miniature of

sonic three decades later for the Gospel Book of Archbishop

Ebbo of Reims fig. 399) shows the classical model translated into a Carolinian idiom. It must have been based on an
evangelist's portrait of the same style as the St. Mull hen.
I

but now the entire picture

is filled

with a vibrant energy that

sets everything into motion: the drapery swirls about the

figure, the hills

heave upward, the vegetation seems

to

be

tossed about by a whirlwind, and even the acanthus pattern

on the frame assumes a strange, flamelike character. The

Evangelist himself has been transformed from a Roman author setting down his own thoughts into a man seized with
the frenzy of divine inspiration, an instrument for recording
the Word of God. His gaze is fixed not upon his book but

upon

his

symbol the winged

(

with a

lion

as the transmitter of the Sacred

scroll),

Text.

which

acts

This dependence

upon the Will of the Lord, so powerfully expressed here,

marks the contrast between classical and medieval images
the dynamism of line
of men. But the means of expression

that distinguishes our miniature

calls the

passionate

movement

manuscripts of the Dark Ages

UTRECHT PSALTER.

from

its

predecessor

in the

ornamentation of

(figs.

387 and 388).

The Reims School

also

re-

Irish

produced

the most extraordinary of all Carolingian manuscripts, the

Utrecht Psalter (fig. 400). It displays the style of the Ebbo
Gospels in an even more energetic form, since the entire
the artist
is illustrated with pen drawings. Here again
has followed a much older model, as indicated by the architectural and landscape settings of the scenes and by the use
of Roman capital lettering, which had gone out of general

book
399. ST MARK, from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims.

816-35

A.I)

Bibliotheque Municipale, Epernay, France

use several centuries before. The wonderfully rhythmic

MM-QUAUMMJfruiiS-

ADDMQUlUtllflCAJ
rAJUUUiIU5 MWT0/M
,

OaMADiliCiTMnKJiMICU^f^^r,

100 Illustration

\in

\u nil

\l

\m

to

Psalm

11

from the

fw

run

lit

i'saltcr. c.

820-32 a d University

Library, Utrecht

401. Upper cover of binding, the Lindau Gospels,

Gold and jewels,

13% x

lOVa"

c. 870 \ D
(35x26.7 cm). The Pierpont Morgan Library New York

quality of his draftsmanship, however, gives to these sketch-

LINDAl

es a kind of emotional coherence that could not have been

Sc hool

present in the earlier pictures, Without

the Utrecht Psalter would carry
etic

little

it.

the drawings

ol

conviction, lor the po-

language of the Psalms does not lend itsell to illustration

same sense as the narrative portions of the Bible.

the

The Psalms can he

literally

and then

illustrated only by taking

In visualizing

the top of our picture,

we

it

each phrase

some manner Thus,

in

at

see the Lord reclining on a bed.

GOSPELS COVER,
an

still

and

sheep

trian artist, this

at

the city gate

the foreground the\ are

for the slaughter." In the

hands

ol a

pedes-

procedure could well turn into a wearisome

charade; here, it has the force ol a ureal drama.

mi

fig

work

ol

ol

the

ol

Reims

jeweled front cover

the third quarter

the goldsmith's art

it

ed turrets, so dial the light can penetrate beneath them,

cified

the earth."

style

shows how splendidh, the Celtic-Germanic metalwork tradisell to the ( a inhuman re\ i\
tion of the Dark Aues adapted
al. The clusters ol semiprecious stones are not mounted
direc ll\ on the gold ground but raised on law leet or arcad-

"Awake, why sleepest thou. () Lord?" On the left, the faithful crouch before the Temple, "lor.
our belly cleaveth unto
killed "as

The

in the reliefs of the

the ninth century. Ibis masterpie< e

bring out then

felt

of the Lindau Gospels

ol

flanked by pleading angels, an image based on the words.

be

lull brilliance,

(bust betrays no bun

stand rather than

gesture.

was

h>

endow

to
1

hang,
1 1

111

among

ol
lis

wub

not \ei conceivable,

hand as we can see

bom

Interesting!)

pain or death.

arms spread oui

the si^ns

ol

le

seems to
solemn

in a

human

suffering

even though the means were

the eloquent expressions

the small figures in the adjoining

w;/

to

enough, the cru-

compartments

\u dii

\i

al

ol griei

\iu

Sicily

when the Lindau Gospels cover was

made, the remains of Charlemagne's empire were ruled by
bis two surviving grandsons: Charles the Bald, the West
Frankish king, and Louis the German, the East Prankish
kiim. whose domains corresponded roughly to the France
and Germany of today. Their power was so weak, however,

In 870. about the tone

Europe once again lay exposed to attack. In

Moslems resumed their depredations, Slavs
and Magyars advanced from the east, and Vikings from
that Continental

the south, the

Scandinavia ravaged the north and west.

These Norsemen (the ancestors of today's Danes and
Norwegians) had been raiding Ireland and Britain by sea

from the

late

eighth century on;

now

Norman nobles expelled the Arabs from

and the Byzantines from South Italy.
In Germany, meanwhile, after the death of the last Carolingian monarch in 911, the center of political power had
shifted north to Saxony. The Saxon kings (919-1024) reestablished an effective central government, and the greatgland while other

OTTONIAN ART

they invaded north-

them. Otto I, also revived the imperial ambitions of

Charlemagne. After marrying the widow of a Lombard king,
he extended his rule over most of Italy and had himself
crowned emperor by the pope in 962. From then on the Holy
Roman Empire was to be a German institution or perhaps
we ought to call it a German dream, for Otto's successors
est of

never managed

to consolidate their

claim to sovereignty

south of the Alps. Yet this claim had momentous conse-

quences, since

it

led the

German emperors

into centuries of

western France as well, occupying the area that ever since

has been called Normandy. Once estabhshed there, they

conflict with the

papacy and

North and South

in a love-hate relationship

soon adopted Christianity and Carolingian civilization, and,

from 911 on, their leaders were recognized as dukes nomi-

can be

During
of major

felt to

Normans assumed

a role

importance in shaping the political and cultural destiny of

Europe, with William the Conqueror becoming king of En-

402.

THE GERO CRUCIFIX

Sculpture
During the Ottonian period, from the mid-tenth century to
the beginning of the eleventh, Germany was the leading nation of

c.

Europe,

\i:d Ml dii

\i

\m

politically as well as artistically.

975-1000 A.D Wood,

height 6'2" (2 m). Cathedral, Cologne

whose echoes

the present day.

nally subject to the authority of the king of France.

the eleventh century, the

local Italian rulers, linking

German

403. Westwork,

achievements

in both areas

traditions but

soon developed new and original

began as

St.

Pantaleon, Cologne. Consecrated 980 A.D.

revivals of Carolingian
traits.

had married a Byzantine princess, establishing a direct link

between the two imperial courts. It remained for the Ottonian artist to translate the Byzantine

GERO CRUCIFIX.

These changes of outlook are impressively brought home to us if we compare the Christ on the
cover of the Lindau Gospels with The Gero Crucifix (liu,.
402) in the Cathedral at Cologne. The two works are separated by little more than a hundred years' interval, but the
contrast between them suggests a far greater span. In The
Gero Crucifix we meet an image of the crucified Saviour
new to Western art: monumental in scale, carved in powerfully rounded forms, and filled with a deep concern lor the
sufferings of the Lord. Particularly striking

is the forward
bulge of the heavy body, which makes the physical strain on
arms and shoulders seem almost unbearably real. The lace.
with its deeply incised, angular features, has turned into a

mask

which all life has lied.

Ottoman sculptor arrive .it

of agony, from

How

did the

bold conception 7

We

do not

belittle his

this startlingly

greatness by recall-

ing that the compassionate view of Christ on the Cross had

been created

sculptural terms and to replace

its

pressive realism that has been the

art

image

into large-scale

gentle pathos with an ex-

mam

strength of German

ever since.

Architecture
Cologne was closely connected with the imperial house
through its archbishop, Bruno, the brother of Otto I. who left
a strong mark on the city through the numerous churches
he built or rebuilt lis favorite among these, the Benedictine
Abbey of St. Pantaleon. became his burial place 'as well as
1

that of the wife of Otto

(fig.

II.

103) has retained

Only the monumental westwork

original shape essentially un-

its

changed until modern times; we recognize n as a massive

and well-proportioned successor to Carolingian westworks.
with the charac teristU tower over the crossing
(in transept and a deep porch flanked b)

in Byzantine art of the Second Golden Age see

355)and that The Gero Crucifix clearly derives from thai
source. Nor need we be surprised that Byzantine influence

Si:

should have been strong

judged

tall

ol

the west

stair turrets

fig.

in

Germany

at that

time, lor Otto If

MICHAEL'S, HILDESHEIM. The most ambitious

tron of architecture
in

terms

ol

and

pa-

Ottoman age, however,

surviving works, was Bemward, who.
art

the

Mil) Ml Dll

Mil

having been one of the tutors of Otto 111. became

Bishop of 1 lildesheim. His chief monument is another Benedictine abbey church, St. Michael's (figs. 404-6). The plan.
alter

its two choirs and lateral entrances, recalls the monaschurch or the St. Call plan (fig. 395). But in St. Michael's the symmetry is carried much further: not only are
there two identical transepts, with crossing towers and stair
but the supports
turrets see St.-Riquier, figs. 393 and 394

with
tery

),

of the nave arcade, instead of being uniform, consist of pairs

Reconstructed plan. Hildesheim Cathedra]

104

of columns separated by square piers. This alternate system

1001-33

Michael's).

St.

divides the arcade into three equal units of three openings

each; the

and

first

third units are correlated with the en-

trances, thus echoing the axis of the transepts. Since, more-

and nave are unusually wide in relation to

Bernward's intention must have been to
achieve a harmonious balance between the longitudinal and

over, the aisles

/X

length,

their

transverse axes throughout the structure.

The

nrnnnnnnnn

rr

Bernward's church

between arcade and

405. Reconstructed longitudinal section,

Hildesheim Cathedral

exterior, as well as the choirs, of

have been disfigured by rebuilding, but the interior of the

nave fi^s. 405 and 406), with its great expanse of wall space

clerestory, retained the majestic spatial

feeling of the original design until World

after Beseler)

War

reduced

11

it

to

columns date from the twelfth

century, the painted wooden ceiling from the thirteenth.
(The

ruins.

capitals of the

The Bernwardian western

choir,

as reconstructed in our

plan on the basis of recent studies,

ing: its floor

was

church, so as

ment

to

is

particularly interest-

raised above the level of the rest of the

accommodate

a half-subterranean base-

chapel, or crypt, apparently a special sanctuarv

of St.

Michael, which could be entered both from the transept and

from the west. The crypt was roofed by groined vaults resting on two rows of columns, and

its

walls

were pierced by

arched openings that linked it with the U-shaped corridor, or

ambulatory, wrapped around it. This ambulatory must have
been visible above ground, enriching the exterior of the
western

were windows

choir, since there

in its outer wall.

Such crypts with ambulatories, usually housing the venerated tomb of a saint, had been introduced into the repertory of
Western church architecture during Carolinian times; the
Bernwardian design stands out

lor its large scale

and

its

carefully planned integration with the rest of the building.

Metal work
OF
BISHOP BFRNWARD. How much
DOORS
BRONZE
importance Bernward himself attached to the crypt at St.
Michael's can be gathered from the fact that he commissioned a pair of richly sculptured bronze doors which were
probably meant lor the two entrances leading from the tran-

'l.!#
106

Interioi (view

toward the west, before World

Hildesheim Cathedral

War

11).

were finished in 1015, the year

was consecrated The idea may have come to him
result of his visit to Rome, where he could see ancient

sept to the ambulatory (they

the crypt
as a

).

Roman and perhaps Byzantine bronze doors. The Bernwardian doors, however, differ from their predecessors; they
are divided into broad horizontal fields rather than vertical
panels, and each field contains a biblical scene in high relief.
Our
Below

man

detail
it.

li'j,.

407) shows

in inlaid letters

haracter,

is

Adam and Eve

rem. likable

\i:l)

\il

on

\l

Mil

Ro-

part of the dedicatory inscription, with the

date and Bernward's name. In these figures

alter the Fall.

lor their classical

we

find nothing

407.

monumental

ADAM AND EVE REPROACHED BY THE LORD, from the Bronze Doors of Bishop Bernward.
1015. c. 23x43" (58.3 x 109.3 cm). Hildesheim Cathedra]

The scene of Christ washing the feet of St. Peter contains

notable echoes of ancient painting, transmitted through

ofThe Gero Crucifix: they seem far

one might easily mistake them for a piece of goldsmith's work such as the Lindau
Gospels cover (compare tig. 401). The entire composition
must have been derived horn an illuminated manuscript;

tectural

the oddly stylized hits of vegetation have a good deal of the

chitectural perspectives as the mural from Boscoreale

of the

spirit

smdllei' than they actually are, so that

movement we recall from Irish miniatures.

conveyed with splendid directness and ex-

Byzantine

art;

the soft pastel hues

ol

the background

ret all

the illusionism of (iraeco-Roman landscapes, and the archi-

frame around Christ

is a

late

descendant of such

ar-

sec

twisting, turning

tig.

Yet the story

Ottoman artist is obvious enough; but he has also put

them to a new use, so that what was once an architectural
vista now becomes the Heavenly City, the House of the Lord

is

pressive force.

The accusing

a great void of blank surface,

it

points to a cringing

finger of the Lord, seen against

is

the local point of the drama;

Adam, who passes the blame

mate, while Eve, in turn, passes

it

to the

serpent

.it

to his

her

feet.

305). That these elements have been misunderstood bv

the

lilted with golden celestial space as againsi the atmospheric

earthh space w ithout The figures have undergone a similar

transformation: in ancient

Manuscripts

GOSPEL BOOK OK OTTO

glance and of

used

The same intensity of

gesture characterizes Ottoman manuscript
III.

which blends Carolingian and Byzantine elements

into a new style of extraordinary scope and power The most
important center of Manuscript illumination at that time
was the Reichenau Monastery, on an island in the Lake of
Constance. Perhaps its finest achievement
and one of the
painting,

great masterpieces of medieval art

Otto
(bus.

III

from w

is

huh we reproduce two

408 and 409).

the Gospel Hook of

full-page miniatures

to

represent

art

this

composition had been

doctor treating a patient

Now

St

Peter

takes the place of the sufferer, and Christ that of the phvsician (note that

type here
physical

i,

to

He

is still

the beardless

young philosopher

a consequence, the emphasis has shifted from

spiritual action, and ibis new kind ol a< lion is not
^s

only conveyed through glan< es and gestures, n also

the scale of things: Christ and St

'j,ovei

figures, are larger than the rest, (bust's "active

arm

dial

we

see hide

tinj

space

more than then eves and hands

Mil

Ml Dll

M Mil

i--

who

longer than His 'passive'' one, and the eight disciples

merer) watch have been compressed into a

ns

most active

Peter, the

so

Mil) mi dii

\i

\i;i

409. ST LUKE, from the Gospel Book of Otto

c.

The other
ic

1000.

13x9%" (33x23.8

miniature, the painting of St. Luke,

image of overwhelming grandeur. Unlike

is

III

cm). Staatsbibliothek, Munich

symbol-

his Carolingian

his

symbol,

the ox.

surrounded by

Old

five

no longer shown writing; his

lambs dunk the

life-gh ing waters that spring

Enthroned on two rainbows, he holds aloft a huge cluster of clouds from which
tongues of light radiate in every direction. Within it we sec

the Evangelist's

feet.

predecessors, the Evangelist

Gospel

lies

is

completed on his

lap.

inscription: Fonte

"From
water

from the Gospel Book of Otto

111

c.

1000.

Staatsbibliothek,

artist

FEET OF PETER,

13x9%" (33x23.8

Munich

cm).

The ke\

to the entire

patrum ductas

from beneath

design

bos agnis

elicit

is

in the

undas

the source of the lathers the ox brings forth a flow

for the

message
408. (opposite) CHRIS! WASHING THE

Testament

prophets and an outer circle of angels. At the bottom, two

ol

lambs"

that

is.

St

Luke makes

salvation explicit for the faithful.

has truly "illuminated" the meaning

enigmatic phrase
usual terms

In

translating

it

into

ol

die prophets'

The Ottoman

ol tins

terse

and

such compelling

\i:n \u nil

\i

\m

CHAPTER THREE

ROMANESQUE
ART

Looking hack over the ground we have covered

so

most

in this

hook

a thoughtful reader will be struck by the fact that

far,

al-

of our chapter headings and subheadings might

all

Some

serve equally well lor a general history of civilization.

are based on technology

others on

geography,

<

lor

example, the Old Stone Age),

ethnology,

whatever the

religion;

source, they have been borrowed from other fields, even

though in our context they also designate artistic styles.

There are only two important exceptions to this rule: Archaic and Classical are primarily terms of style; they icier to
qualities of form rather than to the setting in which these
forms were created. Why don't we have more terms of this

We

sort?

do, as

we

shall see

hut only for the

art of the past

nine hundred years.

Those who

first

conceived the idea of viewing the history

of art as an evolution of styles started out with the conviction

that art in the ancient world

developed toward a single

cli-

and the Celtic-Germanic heritage.

these different components into a coherduring the second half ol the eleventh cnturv was

lamic influence,

What welded
ent stvle

all

<

not anv single force but a variety of

lac tors that

made

foi

new burgeoning ol vitality throughout the West Christianity had at last triumphed everywhere in Europe; the Vikings
still largely pagan in the ninth and tenth centuries when
their raids terrorized the British Isles and the Continent, had
entered the Catholic

fold,

not only in

Normandy

but in Scan-

Cordova had disintegrated

in 1031 into many small Moslem states, opening the way for
the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula; and the Magyars
had settled down in Hungary.
There was a growing spirit of religious enthusiasm

dinavia as well: the Caliphate

reflected

of

the greatly increased pilgrimage traffic to sacred

and culminating, from 1095 on, in the crusades to liberate the Holv Land from Moslem rule. Equally important
sites

the thirteenth century to the fifteenth. For whatever was

was the reopening of Mediterranean trade routes by the

navies of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa; the revival of commerce
and manufacturing; and the consequent growth of city life.
During the turmoil of the early Middle A^es, the towns of
the West Roman Empire had shrunk greatly in size (the
population of Rome, about one million in 300 ad. fell to less
than 50,000 at one point); some were deserted altogether.
From the eleventh century on, they began to regain thenformer importance. New towns sprang up everywhere, and
an urban middle class of craftsmen and merchants established itself between the peasantry and the landed nobility

not-yet-Gothic they adopted the label Romanesque. In doing

as an important factor in medieval society

max: Greek

art

from the

au,e of Pericles to that of

the Great. This style they called Classical

that

Alexander
perfect

is.

Everything that came before was labeled Archaic,

cate that

was

it

I.

to indi-

old-fashioned and tradition-hound, not-

still

vet-Classical but striving in the right direction, while the

times did not deserve a special term

had no positive qualities of its own, being merely an
echo or a decadence of Classical art.
Style of post-Classical

since

it

The

early historians of medieval art followed a similar pat-

tern; to

so,

them, the great climax was the Gothic

from

they were thinking mainly of architecture: pre-Gothic

churches, they noted, were round-arched,

(

style,

as against the pointed arches

and the soaring lightness

Gothic structures), rather like the ancient

building,

and heavy

solid,

Roman

and the term "Romanesque" was meant

just that. In this sense,

all

of

style of

to

convey

of medieval art before 1200, inso-

shows any link with the Mediterranean tradition,

could be called Romanesque. Some scholars speak of medieval art before Charlemagne as pre-Romanesque. and of
Carolingian and Ottoman as proto- or early Romanesque,
far as

it

and they are

(that

is,

to

ri<j,ht

medieval

art

the extent that

Romanesque

from about 1050

art

proper

1200) would he un-

to

In many respects, then, western Europe between 1050

and 1200 became a great deal more "Roman-esque" than it
had been since the sixth century, recapturing some of the
international trade patterns, the urban quality, and the military strength of ancient imperial times.

authority

was

did not extend

The

central political

even the empire of Otto

farther west than modern German)

lacking, to he sure.

much

does), but the central spiritual authority of the pope took

place to

some extent

as a unifying force.

The

its

international

armv that responded to Urban ll's call for the First Crusade
was more powerful than anything a secular ruler could have
raised for the purpose.

thinkable without the contributions of these earlier stvles.

On
do

the other hand,

if

we

than justice

to

those qualities that

less

we are likely to
make the art of the

Follow this practice

ARCHITECTURE

Dark Ages and of Carolingian and Ottoman times different

from the Romanesque.
Carolingian

art.

Charlemagne and

we

The most conspicuous

will recall,

was brought

his circle, as part of a

into being

l>v

conscious revival

chitecture and that

ol

difference between

ing increase in building activ

summed

Romanesque

the preceding centuries

itv

is

ar-

the amaz-

An eleventh-century monk.

remained strongly linked with

his imperial court. Ottoman art. too. had this sponsorship.
and a correspondingly narrow base. The Romanesque, in
contrast, sprang up all over western Europe at about the

up well when he triumphantly exclaimed that the world was puttinu on a "white mantle of
churches." These churches were not onh more numerous

same

it

and more "Roman-looking,"

of wooden roots, and
then exteriors, unlike those ol Early Christian, Bv/antme.
Carolingian, and Ottoman churches were decorated with

includes the Carolingian-Ottonian tradition along with a

both architectural ornament and sculpture. Geographically,

policy;

even

time;

alter his death,

it

it

consists of a large variety of regional stvles, dis-

many

tinct vet closely related in

source. In this respect,

it

ways, and without a central

resembles the

art ol the

rather than the court styles that had preceded

good

many

other, less clearly traceable ones,

Classical, Early Christian,

it.

Dark Ages
although

such as Late

and Byzantine elements, some

Is-

Raoul Claber.

it

than those of the early Middle Ages, they were also generally
larger,

more

lor their

richly articulated,

naves now had vaults instead

Romanesque monuments

ol

the

first

importance are

distrib-

uted over an area that might well have represented the

l>\l\\l SQl

\in

;/

410. St.-Sernin, Toulouse (aerial view),

Plan of Si

111

OM Wl

SQJ

\i:i

Semin

(after

Conant)

c.

1080-1120

412. Axonometric projection of nave, St-Semin (alter Choisy)

 the Catholic

world

northern Spain

to

border to central

is to Raoul

world, th.a

Glaber: from

the Rhineland, from the Scottish-English

Italy.

The richest crop, the greatest variety

of regional types, and the most adventurous ideas arc to be

found in France.

If

we add
whose

disfigured buildings

group those destroyed or

to this

known

original designs arc

us

to

through archaeological research, we have a wealth of architectural invention unparalleled by

any previous

era.

Southwestern France
ST-SERNIN, TOULOUSE. We begin our sampling

of Ro-

cannot be more than that with

St.-Sernin, in the southern French town of Toulouse figs
410-13), one of a group of great churches of the "pilgrimage

manesque churches

it

type," so called

because they were

ing to the pilgrimage center

oi'

built

along the roads lead-

Santiago de Compostela

in

northwestern Spain. The plan immediately strikes us as \ ery

much more complex and more

fully integrated

than those of

such as St.-Riquier, or St. Michael's at Hildesheim (see figs. 393 and 404). It is an emphatic Latin
earlier structures

cross, with the center of gravity at the eastern end. Clearly,

this
ty

church was not designed

only but (like Old

to

serve a monastic

St. Peter's in

modate large crowds of

lay

Rome,

316)

fig.

worshipers in

its

communito

accom-

long nave and

transept.

The nave

is

flanked by two aisles on either side, the inner

continuing around the arms of the transept and the

aisle

apse and thus forming a complete ambulatory circuit an-

chored

we

the two towers of the west facade.

to

had developed as a feature of the crypts

now it has emerged
above ground and it is linked with the aisles of nave and
transept, and enriched with apsidal chapels that seem to radiate from the apse and continue along the eastern face of
the transept. (Apse, ambulatory, and radiating chapels form
a unit known as the pilgrimage choir. The plan also shows
tory,

413. Nave and choir. St.-Sernin

The ambula-

will recall,

of earlier churches (as at St. Michael's);

look Early Christian

see

fig.

vaults, arches,

here
tion

poses a high degree of regularity upon the entire design: the

physical, "muscular" forces

of square bays,

which serve

as a basic

pilasters firmly knit

has indeed been recaptured

remarkable degree; vet the forces whose interacexpressed in the nave of St.-Sernin are no longer the

that the aisles of St.-Sernin are groin-vaulted throughout.

made up

while those of St ,-Sernm

>.

engaged columns, and

together into a coherent order

This, in conjunction with the features already noted, im-

aisles are

318

seem more akin to structures such as the Colosseum (see

fig.
263). The syntax of ancient Roman architecture

to a
is

ol

Craeco-Roman architecture
we have

but spiritual forces spiritual tones of the kind

human body

Carolingian and Otto-

module, for the other dimensions, so that the nave

and transept bays equal two such units, the crossing and the

seen governing the

facade towers four units.

height of the nave wall would appear |ust as unnaturallv

unit, or

On

the exterior, this rich articulation

is

further

enhanced

man

drawn-out

an ancient

to

in

The hall-columns running

miniatures.

Roman
seem

against the inner and outer aisles, the apse, the ambulatory,

some tremendous, unseen

and the radiating chapels; by the buttresses reinforcing the

walls between the windows, so as to contain the outward
thrust of the vaults; by the decorative framing of windows
and portals; and by the great crossing tower (completed m
Gothic times and taller than originally intended). The two

transverse arches thai subdivide the barrel vault

to

pressure, hastening to meet the

bulator)
In

now obscured

huge

bv a

As we enter the nave, we are impressed with its tall proportions, the architectural elaboration of the nave walls, and

achieve this

effect.

inseparable

Vaulting the nave so as

Very different from the

chad's, with

space (see
structures

its

figs.
is

ample and serene

sensation

interior of Si

Mi

simple and clearly separated "blocks" of

405 and 400). The contrast between these

such as

to

make

the nave walls

ol St.

Michael's

the nave

altar ol later date).

thus describing our experience

mean

which create

ol

Their insistentl) repeated rhythm propels us toward the

eastern end of the church, with its light-filled apse and am-

facade towers, unfortunately, have remained stumps.

of

ol

be driven upward bv

Christ in figure 409. They

all

enure

beholder as the arm

by the different roof levels that set off the nave and transept

the dun, indirect lighting,

the

to

we do

not, ol

course

set out

suggest that the architect consciously

to

For him. beauty and engineering were

to

eliminate the

fire

wooden tool was not only a practical aim; it also

challenged him to make the louse ol the Ford grander and
more impressive. And since a vault becomes the more difhazard

ol a

ficult to

sustain the faithei

every resource

to

make

it

is

from the ground, he strained

tall as he dared
He had.

(he nave as

ROMANESQl

\R1

the clerestory for safety's sake. Instead.

however,

to sacrifice

he

galleries over the inner aisles, to abut the lateral

limit

pressure of the nave vault, hoping that enough light would

through them into the central space. St. -Serum serves

remind us that architecture, like polities, is "the art of the
possible." and that its success, here as elsewhere, is measured by the degree to which the architect has explored the
limits of what was possible to him under those particular circumstances, structurally and aesthetically.
filter

to

Burgundy and Western France

The

builders oi'St.-Semin would have been the

answer

final one.

impressive though

to

first to

admit

the problem of the nave vault was not a

that their

it

is

in its

own

terms.

AUTUN CATHEDRAL. Hie architects of Burgundy armed at a more elegant solution, as evidenced by the Cathedral of Autun

414).

fig.

where the

galleries are replaced by a

blind arcade (called a triforium, since

openings per bay

and

story elevation possible

often has three

it

a clerestory.

What made

was the use

of the pointed arch for

this three-

more nearly downward than outward. For reasons of harmony, the pointed
arch also appears in the nave arcade (it had probably
reached France from Islamic architecture, where it had
been employed for some time). Autun, too, comes close to
straining the limits of the possible, for the upper part of the
the nave vault, which produced a thrust

414. (above) Nave wall.

^k
JH[

IBM

MM

im

^Mtt,

9. fisflr

tk

^^1

f/sl

w
PJ^S
1

m"'-

"1
a

li

H
H^

if?*'
,r *

Hi

liP-JvA

'* 4*

1
i

lam

<>\i\\is<jl

Mil

e.

415. (left) Choir

(c.

120-32

1060-75)

.and nave (1095-1

115),

St.-Savin-sur-Gai'tcmpc

1i

-flE-i

Autun Cathedral

nave wall shows a slight but perceptible outward lean under

the pressure of the vault, a warning against any further attempts

to

increase the height of the clerestory or

to

enlarge

the windows.

HALL CHURCHES. A
own, appeals

in the

third alternative, with virtues of its

west of France, in such churches as that

b St.-Savin-sur-Gartempe

(fig.

415).

lacks the reinforcing arches, since

continuous surface

which

the nave
to

the

well

height,

lit,

lor the

making

it

two

on the nave

earned almost

aisles are

a "hall

er walls have generously sized

church," and their out-

windows. At the eastern end

happily unobstruct beyond the crossing tower.

qf the nave, there

ed in this case

directly

to oiler a

cycle, the

supported by a majestic set of columns. Vet

is

is fairly

same

The nave vault here

was meant
446 for this

murals see fig.

great weight rests

for

finest of its kind). Its

arcade,

it

The nave and

is

a pilgrimage choir

aisles of hall

gle roof, as at St. -Savin.

churches are covered by a

The west facade,

too,

tends

to

sin-

be low

and wide, and may become a richly sculptured screen. That

of Notre-Dame-la-Grande at Poitiers (fig. 416), due west
from St. -Savin, is particularly noteworthy in this respect.
with

its

elaborately bordered arcades housing large seated or

standing figures.

A wide band

of relief stretches across the

facade on either side of the doorway, which

is

deeply re-

cessed and framed by a series of arches resting on stumpy

columns. Taller bundles of columns enhance the

turrets,

whose conical helmets match the height of the gable

in the

center (which rises above the actual height of the roof be-

hind

it).

The

sculptural program spread out over this entire

417. West facade St.-Ktienne. Caen. Begun 1068

area

a visual exposition of Christian dot trine that

is

for the

is

a feasl

eves as well as the mind.

England and Normandy

farther north,

Normandy, the west fagade evolved

cntireh different direction

Caen

hat of the abbe)

417), founded

Etienne

at

queror

year or two alter his invasion

(fig.

l>\

ol

hint h

in

an

ol Si

William the Con-

England, oilers

striking contrast with Notre-Dame-la-Grande. Decoration

a
is

hum' buttresses divide the front ol the

and the vertical impetus
continues triumphantly m the two splendid towers, whose
height would be impressive enough even without the tall
at a

minimum,

lour

church into three

Earl) Gothic
lull in

to

416. West facade. Notre-Dame-la-Grande, Poitiers.

Early 12th century

order

to

helmets Hie interioi is equall) remarkable,

understand its importance We must Inst turn

the extraordinary development

tecture in Britain
t

vertical set turns,

durum

the

last

ol

Vnglo-Norman

quarter

ol

archi-

the eleventh

entury.

I>\! \\l S(jl

\ri

CATHEDRAL,

Dl 1MIW1

the Cathedral of

Durham
begun

Scottish border,

austere in plan,

it

Its

most ambitious product

(figs.

H8

1093.

in

is

20), just south of the

Though somewhat more

has a nave one-third wider than

um's, .md a greater overall length (400

feet),

St. -Ser-

which places it

the largest churches of medieval Europe. Hie nave

ma\ have been designed to be vaulted from the start; and
107;
the vault over its eastern end had been completed by

among

same

the rest of the nave, following the

This vault

is

of great interest, lor

it

pattern. In

1130.

represents the earliest

systematic use of a ribbed groined vault over a three-story

nave, and thus

we saw

marks

a basic

Autun. Looking

at

at

advance beyond the solution

the plan,

consist of the usual groin-vaulted

proaching

we

see that the aisles

compartments

closely ap-

square, while the bays of the nave, separated by

strong transverse arches, are decidedly oblong and groinvaulted in such a way that the ribs form a double-X design,
dividing the vault into seven sections rather than the con-

419. Plan of

Durham

ventional four. Since the nave bays are twice as long as the
aisle bays,

numbered

piers of the nave arcade,

and the

alternate in size, the larger ones being of

I

that

is.

(after

the transverse arches occur only at the oddpiers therefore

compound shape

bundles of column and pilaster shafts attached

to a

420. Transverse section of

square or oblong core), the others cylindrical.

Perhaps the easiest way

system

culiar

is to

Cathedral

Conant)

Durham

to visualize the origin of this pe-

(after

Cathedral

Acland)

imagine that the architect started out by

designing a barrel-vaulted nave, with galleries over the

aisles,

and without

a clerestory, as at St.-Sernin, but

with

the transverse reinforcing arches spaced

more

widely.

As he

he realized that he could have a clerestory

after all if the barrel vault of each nave bay was intersected
by two transverse barrel vaults of vval shape (see fig. 421);

was doing

so,

the result would be a pair of Siamese-twin groined vaults,

and the ends of the transverse barrel vaults could become
the clerestory, since the outward thrust and the weight of
the whole vault would be concentrated at six securely anchored points on the gallery level. The ribs, of course, were
11H

;',

Nave (looking

/,'om \\l SQl

\l:i

east),

Durham

Cathedral

10'^

1130

necessary

to

provide a stable skeleton for the groined vault.

421. Rib vaults (after Ac land

so that the curved surfaces

with masonry of

minimum

between them could be

filled in

thickness, thus reducing both

We

ST-ETIENNE, CAEN.
of St.-Etienne at

Caen

Let us now return to the interior

(fig.

422).

The

nave,

it

seems, had

do not know whether this ingenious

scheme was actually invented at Durham, but it could not

originally

much earlier, for it is still in an experimental stage. While the transverse arches at the crossing
are round, those to the west of it are slightly pointed, indicating a continuous search lor improvements in detail. Aes-

possible, in the early twelfth century, to build a groined nave

weight and thrust.

have been created

thetically,

the nave at

Romanesque

Durham

is

among

the finest in

all

architecture: the wonderful sturdiness of the

alternating piers

makes

a splendid contrast with the dra-

matically lighted, saillike surfaces of the vault.

wooden

been planned with

ceiling. Alter the

galleries

experience

and

of

and a

clerestory,

Durham,

it

became

vault instead, with only slight modifications of the wall design.

But the bays of the nave here are approximately

square, so that the double-X rib pattern could be replaced by

a single

X with an

additional transverse rib (see

producing a groined vault of

421

fii>.

),

six sections instead of seven.

These sexpartite vaults are no longer separated by heavy

transverse arches but by simple ribs

weight

that, besides, gives a

another

saving

in

stronger sense of continuity to

makes for a less emphatic alCompared to Durham, the nave of

the nave vault as a whole and

ternating system of piers.

St.-Etienne creates an impression of graceful, airy lightness

was added

closely akin to the quality of the Gothic choir that

And structurally, too, we have

where Romanesque merges into Ear-

in the thirteenth century.

here reached the point

ly

Gothic.

Lombardy
At the time

when

the

Normans and Anglo-Normans

structed their earliest ribbed groined nave vaults, the

con-

same

problem was being explored in Lombardy, where ancient

cities bad once again grown large and prosperous. Lombard

Romanesque

architecture was both nourished and impeded

by a continuous building tradition reaching back to

Roman

and Early Christian times and including the monuments of

Ravenna.
S

AM BROCK). MILAN. We

approach one of

its

tures. S. Ambrogio
been occupied by

in

sense this background as

we

most venerable and important strucMilan figs. 423-25 on a site that had
).

church since the fourth century. The

present building was begun in the late eleventh century, except for the apse and southern tower, which date from the
tenth.

though more ornate and far more

and the geometric simof the Ravennate churches (compare bus 319 and

The

brick exterior,

monumental,
plicity

422. Nave (vaulted

5-20). St.-Ktienne.

C'ac-n

334).

recalls the proportions

Upon entering

the atrium,

we

are confronted by the

;;o\f \\i s(jt

\i;

severely

handsome

facade, with

its

deeply recessed arcades;

beyond it are two bell towers, separate structures just

touching the outer walls of the church. We had seen a round
probably the earliest surviving example,
tower of this kind
just

on the north side of S. Apolmost of its successors are square,

of the free-standing bell tower, or campani-

the ninth or tenth century

ol

linare in Classe (fig. 319);

but the tradition

remained so strong in Italy that they hardly ever became

an integral part of the church proper.
The nave of S. Ambrogio, low and broad (it is some ten
feet wider than that at Durham), consists of four square
le,

423.

S.

424. Interior,

425. Longitudinal section of

Ambrogio, Milan. Late 11th and 12th centuries

<>\i\\i SQI

\/:/

S.

Ambrogio

S.

Ambrogio

426. Speyer Cathedral, from the cast

bays separated bv strong transverse arches. There

is

no tran-

but the easternmost nave bay carries an octagonal,

sept,

domed crossing tower or lantern. This was an afterthought,

and we can easily see why, tor the nave has no clerestory
and the windows of the lantern provide badly needed illumination. As at Durham, or Caen, there is an alternate system
of nave piers, since the length of
of

two

each nave bay equals

The nave

however, differ significantly from their northern

vaults,

counterparts. Constructed of brick and rubble, in a tech-

nique reminiscent of

Roman

groined vaults such as those in

the Basilica of Constantine, they are a good deal heavier; the

diagonal

ribs,

moreover, form true half circles

and Caen, they are flattened

),

(at

Durham

so that the vaults rise to a

point considerably above the transverse arches. This pro-

duces

domed diet and

t

gives each bay the appearance of a

separate entity, apart from further increasing the weight of

the vault.

On

and never approached the prolo-Colhit

and he shared with

Germany and the Low Countries

SPEYER CATHEDRAL. German Romanesque architecture,

centered

although

in the Rhineland, was equallv conservative,

conservatism reflects the persistence ol

Carolingian-Ottonian rather than earlier traditions

Imperial

the

Cathedral

ol

at-

his patrons a taste lor

ample

interi-

has

,i

Norman contemporaries

did.

Under these circumstances,

lat-

I,

c hurch of the period. The nave, one-third tallei

and widei than that ol Durham has a generous lerestory,
since it was planned for a wooden roof; in the earl) twelfth

every other

was divided into square bays and covered with

it
unribbed groined vaults akin to the Lombard rathei

heav)

instead of striving lor height and light as his

begun

westwork now sheathed bv a modern reconstrucand an equallv inonunient.il eastern grouping ol

tion
crossing tower and paired stair towers fig 126
he an In
tectural detail derives from l.oinbardv. long a locus ol Gei
man imperial ambitions compare S Ambrogio but the tall
proportions are northern, and the sc ale is so vast as to dwarl
er,

century,

lis finest

Spever

about 1030 but not completed until more than a cenlurv

pare

321

its

achievement,

or proportions like those of Early Christian basilicas (comlig.

stage.

a smaller scale, the Milanese architect might have

tempted a clerestory instead of galleries; bul the span of the

nave was determined bv the width of the tenth-century
apse,

he saw no reason to take risks by experimenting with more

economical shapes and lighter construction, so that the
ribbed groined vault in Lombard) remained conservative

that

aisle bays; the latter are groin-vaulted, like the first

three of the nave bays, and support galleries.

Ik-nun 1030

than the

Norman

type

ItoMWI

sew

\l:l

\9

427. Tournai Cathedral. Nave 1110-71; transept and crossing

TOURNAI CATHEDRAL. The

Speyer Cathedral

is

echoed

in a

of

time of Charlemagne (see St.-Riquier,

lew complete sets were ever finished

394), although

fig.

and even fewer have

their practical functions

as stair towers,

can hardly be
way not easily fathomed
today, they expressed medieval man's relation to the supernatural, as the ziggurats had done lor the ancient Mesopotamians (he storj of the lower of Babel always fascinated the
people of the Middle A^es Perhaps then symbolic meaning
is best illustrated by a "case history.'' A certain count had a
bell

towers, or watc htowers

accounted

for

on

).

this basis.

their popularity

In a

).

quarrel with the people of a nearby town, led by their bishop.

sieue to the town, captured it. and, to express
triumph and humiliate his enemies, he lopped the top off
then cathedral tower Evidently, loss of tower meant loss of
I

le finally laid

his

I.

lowers being architectural symbols of strength, power,

CAMPANILE, BAPTISTERY, AND CATHEDRAL,

The most famous tower
an accident.

It

is

of

all,

the Leaning

however, owes

Tower

of Pisa

its

(or,

PISA.

renown to
more pre-

cisely,

the Campanile of Pisa Cathedral), which began to as-

sume

its

present angle, because of poor foundations, even

before completion
slightly bent).

(figs.

428 and 429; note

The tower forms

that

its

part of a magnificent

axis

is

ensem-

on an open site north of the city that includes the Catheand the circular, domed Baptistery to the west of it.
They represent the most ambitious monument of the Tuscan Romanesque, reflecting the wealth and pride of the city
ble

dral

republic of Pisa.

Par more than Lombardv, with

its

strong northward con-

Tuscany retained an awareness of its classical

heritage throughout the Middle Ages. The plan of Pisa Cathedral is essentially that of an Early Christian basilica,
elaborated into a Latin cross by the addition of two transept
nections,

that resemble smaller basilicas in themselves, with

apses of their own; the crossing is marked by a dome, but
the rest of the church is wooden-roofed except for the aisles

arms

(four in the nave, two in the transept arms),

which have

430) has somewhat taller

proportions (ban an Early Christian basilica, because there
groined vaults. The interior

(fig.

are galleries over the aisles, as well as a clerestory, yet the

and authority

140* l:o\l\\l so/

Tuscany

churches of the

Rhine Valley and the Low Countries. In the Cathedral of

(fig. 427), it occurs twice, at either end of the transeptthe most memorable massing of towers anywhere in
Romanesque architecture. Originally, there were to have
been four more: two at the west facade (later reduced to turrets) and two flanking the eastern apse (replaced by a huge
Gothic choir). Such multiple towers had been firmly established in medieval church design north of the Alps since the

Whatever

1165-1213

impressive eastern end of

number

Tournai

surviv ed

c.

\i:i

428. Pisa Baptistery, Cathedral, and Campanile (view from the west). 1053-1272

429. Plan of Pisa Cathedral.

Baptistery,

and Campanile

K).

Interior

Pisa Cathedral

i:o\l\\l sqi

\RT*341

splendid Ides

ol classical

columns supporting the nave and

arcades inevitably recall such

aisle

Paul Outside the Walls (see

Pisa Cathedral
in
tal

white marble inlaid

patterns

From Imperial
in central Italy
is

and

fig.

structures as

St.

companions are sheathed entirely

with horizontal stripes and ornamen-

its

dark-green marble.

Roman

Roman

during the Middle Ages. On the exteriors,

blind arcades and galleries, producing

temples.

GIOVANNI. FLOHKNCE.

In Flor-

ence, which was to outstrip Pisa commercially and artistically,

the greatest achievement of the

the Baptistery

(fig.

Tuscan Romanesque

431). opposite the Cathedral, a

is

domed

Here the marble paneling follows severe geometric lines, and the blind arcades
are extraordinarily classical in proportion and detail. The entire building, in fact, exudes so classical an air that the Florentines themselves came to believe, a lew hundred years
later, that it had originally been a temple of Mars. And even
today the controversy over its date has not yet been settled to
octagonal structure of impressive

everyone's satisfaction.
tistery a

number

We

shall

of times, since

size.

have
it

to

return to this bap-

was destined

to play

is

even more

as-

tonishing than the architectural achievements of the Ro-

after the fifth century; stone relief survived only in the

had long passed when it might be thought undesirable for a

church to compete with the outward splendor of classical

S.

monumental stone sculpture

and color very different from the

austerely simple Early Christian exteriors. But then the time

BAPTISTERY OF

revival of

it

was revived) only

combined with

The

manesque era, since neither Carolinian nor Ottonian art

had shown any tendencies in this direction. Free-standing
statues, we will recall, all but disappeared from Western art

This practice, familiar

times, survived (or

lacelike richness of texture

SCULPTURE

318).

an

form

ornament or surface decoration, with the

depth of the carving reduced to a minimum. Thus the only
continuous sculptural tradition in early medieval art was
that of sculpture-in-miniature: small reliefs, and occasional
statuettes, in metal or ivory. Ottonian art, in works such as
the bronze doors of Bishop Bernward (see fig. 407), had
enlarged the scale of this tradition but not its spirit; and its
of architectural

sculptural

large-scale

truly

impressive Gero Crucifix

represented

efforts,

(fig.

by

the

402), were limited almost en-

wood. What little stone carving there was in western

Europe before the mid-eleventh century hardly went
beyond the artistic and technical level of the Sigvald relief
tirely to

390).

(fig.

Southwestern France
Fifty years later, the situation

when and where

Just

we cannot
claim

had changed dramatically.

the revival of stone sculpture began

say with assurance, but

to priority

it

if

any one area has a

southwestern France and northern

is

Spain, along the pilgrimage roads leading to Santiago de

important role in the Renaissance.

Compostela. The link with the pilgrimage

cal

enough,

traffic

seems

for architectural sculpture, especially

plied to the exterior of a church,

worshiper rather than

to the

is

meant

members

to

appeal

logi-

when
to

ap-

the lay

of a closed monastic

community.

ST-SFRNIN, TOULOUSF.

Romanesque

Like

architec-

the rapid development of stone sculpture between

ture,

1050 and

100 reflects the growth of religious fervor

among

the lay population in the decades before the First Crusade.

St.-Sernin at Toulouse contains several important examples

probably carved about 1090, including the Apostle in figure

432. This panel
tion

now

is

remains uncertain

Be

altar.

that as

it

in the

ambulatory;

perhaps

it

its

original loca-

decorated the front of an

may, the figure (which

is

somewhat more

was not intended for viewing at close

range only. Its impressive bulk and weight "carry" over a
considerable distance. This emphasis on massive volume
hints at what may well have been the main impulse behind
the revival of large-scale sculpture: a stone-caned image,
being tangible and three-dimensional, is far more "real"
than a painted one. To the mind of a cleric steeped in the
abstractions ol theology, this might seem irrelevant, or even
than half

lifesize)

dangerous.

St.

Bernard of Clairvaux, writing

in

1127, de-

nounced the sculptured decoration of churches as a vain folly and diversion that tempts us "to read in the marble rather
than in our books." His was a voice not very much heeded,
however;

lor the

unsophisticated layman, any large piece

sculpture inevitably had something of the quality of an

431. Baptistery

ROM

i\/

sor/

"I

\i:i

s Giovanni, Florence,

c.

1060-1150

and

il

was

this very fact that

gave

it

of

idol,

such great appeal.

close-fitting cap, the bod) severe

has. in fact,

much

sculpture

Arc

oi

the

li.uc

same

and

direc

Another important

Romanesque sculpture was

tance north of Toulouse.
a

bloc klike

Our Apostle
mess .is the

(.recce

ST-PIERRE \K)lss\(

carved

and

dignit)

the abbe)

at

earl) centeroi

Moissac

The south portal of

some

its

dis-

church.

generation later than the Apostle from St.-Sernin

displays a richness of invention that would have made- St

Bernard wince
in figure

The parts of the medie\

435.) In figure 433

we

portal are

al

show

see the magnificent tru-

meau the center post supporting the lintel and the western
jamb. Both have a scalloped profile apparend) a bit of
I

Moorish influence see

I

columns applied
pattern as
tube.

432. APOSTLE

But

let

us return

have we seen

its like

C.

1090. Stone. St.-Scrnin. Toulouse

to

the Apostle from St.-Sernin.

if

Human

to

fig.

368

and the shafts

jambs and trumeau

ol

the hall-

follow this sc alloped

they had been squeezed from a giant pastry

and animal forms are treated with the same

Where

before? The solidity of the forms has a

air, indicating that our artist must have

had a close look at late Roman sculpture of which there are
considerable remains m southern France). The design as a
whole, on the other hand
the solemn frontalitv of the

strongly classical

figure,

its

placement

in

from a Byzantine source,

the architectural frame

in all likelihood

scended from the Archangel Michael

enlarging such
reinllated

it:

derives

an ivory panel de-

in figure 332. Yet in

miniature, the carver of our relief has also

the niche

is

a real cavity,

the hair a round,

AVA South

portal (portion), Si -Pierre, Moissac

Early 12th century

ROMANESQl

Mil

14

cannot

account

fully

presence

lor their

Moissac

at

in

terms

of their effectiveness as ornament.

family of savage or
that retain their

compelled

They belong to a vast

monstrous creatures in Romanesque art

demoniacal

even though they are

vitality

perform a supporting func(Similar examples may be seen in figs. 433 and 439).

tion.

like

Their purpose

is

our lions

thus not merely decorative but expressive;

embody dark

they

to

fixed

lor

holds

to a position that

however much they may

eternity,

all

been domesticated into

forces that have

guardian figures or banished

them

snarl in

protest.

The

Moissac

portal proper at

we see,

preceded by

is

On

with lavishly sculptured sides.

deep porch,

the east Hank

434)

(fig.

within the arcade, the Annunciation and Visitation,

as well as the Adoration of the Magi. Other events from the

early

life

of Christ are

same

find the

shown on the frieze above. Here we

same eloquent gestures we

thin limbs, the

on the trumeau note especially the wonhands in the Visitution and Annuciation);
only the proportions of the bodies and the size of the figures

saw

in the prophet

derful play of

vary with the architectural context.

What

matters

is

the viv-

idness of the narrative, rather than consistency of treatment.

Burgundy
AUTUN CATHEDRAL. The tympanum
the lintel) of the

main

portal of

(the lunette above

Romanesque churches

(see

435) is usually given over to a composition centered on

the Enthroned Christ, most often the Apocalyptic Vision or

fig.

awesome scene

the Last Judgment, the most

art.

Autun Cathedral, the

At

latter subject

ized with singularly expressive force.

shows

part of the right half of the

weighing of the
434. East flank, south portal,

St. -Pierre,

(the angel of the Annunciation, bottom

some

souls cling like children to the

incredible flexibility, so that the spidery prophet on the side

trumeau seems

how

perfectly adapted to his precarious

he, too, has

been

fitted into

from their

the scalloped

outline).

man

like

thighs,

He even remains free to cross his legs in a dancemovement and to turn his head toward the interior of

at

hem

the other.

The saved

of the angel's

garment

in

while the

general outline but with spidery, birdlike legs, furry

tails,

pointed ears, and enormous, savage mouths.

the church as he unfurls his scroll.

But their violence, unlike that of the animal monsters,

But what of the crossed lions that Conn a symmetrical zigdo they have a meaning?
zag on the face of the trumeau

checked; they enjoy themselves

So

fat as

we know,

fate

condemned are seized by grinning

devils and cast into the mouth of Hell. These devils betray
the same nightmarish imagination we observed in the Romanesque animal world; they are composite creatures, hufor protection,

perch (notice

rise

quite literally hangs in the balance, with devils yanking at

modern)

one end of the scales and angels

of the

dead

are already beset by

snakes or gripped by huge, clawlike hands. Above, their

Moissac

left, is

Our detail (fig. 436)

tympanum, with the

souls. At the bottom, the

graves in fear and trembling;

of Christian

has been visual-

they simply "animate" the shaft as the

cupation.

No

speak with

St.

visitor,

to the lull in their

having "read

Bernard), could

fail

in the
to

is

un-

grim oc-

marble" here

(to

enter the church in a

(whose descendants
compartments assigned to them. In
manuscript illumination, this tradition had never died out;

chastened

our sculpture has undoubtedly been influenced by

Romanesque tympanums is that of Ste. -Madeleine

in Vezelav, not far from Autun in Burgundy (fig. 437). Its
subject, the Mission of the Apostles, bad a special meaning

interlacing beasts of Irish miniatures

spirit.

they are) animate the

the agitated
in

movement

of the prophet has

miniature painting see

<

fig,

111

).

its

it,

just as

ultimate origin

The crossed lions, howwe find theni in Persian

another source as well;

metalwork (although not in this towerlike formation),
u bene e they can be traced back to the confronted animals of

ever, reflect

ancienl Neai Eastern

i44

ROMANESQUl

\l:l

art

(see bus.

113 and 152). Yet

we

STE.-MADELEINE, VEZELAY

Perhaps the most beauti-

ful of all

for this

age of crusades, since

it

proclaims the duty of every

Christian to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

(be bands of the majestic ascending Christ
of the Holv Spirit pouring clown

upon the

we

From

see the rays

apostles,

all

of

I.

mill

figures

II

ill

St.ll

ROMANESQUE PORTAL

GOTHN PORTAI

435. Romanesque and High Gothic portal ensembles

them equipped with copies

of the Scriptures in token of their

mission. The lintel and the

tral

group arc

compartments around the cen-

with representatives

filled

the heathen

ol

world, a veritable encyclopedia of medieval anthropology

whieh includes

all

sorts of legendary races

archivolt (the arch framing the

438

fit;.

1.

On

the

tympanum) we recognize

the signs of the zodiac and the labors appropriate to every

month
is

of the year, to indicate that the preaching of the Faith

as unlimited in time as

it

is

space.

Romanesque Classicism
PROVENCE.

The portal sculpture

Moissac, Autun. and

at

Ve/ela\. although varied in style, has

many

qualities in common: intense expression, unbridled fantasy, and a nervous

agility of form that owes more to manuscript illumination
and metalwork than to the sculptural tradition ol antiquity

The Apostle from St.-Sernm.

with

its

stoutlv

monuments

is

"Roman"

in contrast,

flavor.

had impressed us

The influence of classical

particularly strong

Provence, the coastal

region of southeastern France (which had been part

Graeco-Roman world
and

is lull

Perhaps

far

of splendid
this

lor

longer than the rest

Roman remains
the

reason

church

436.

Ms; JUDGMENT (detail),

Autun Cathedral

c.

west
I

tympanum

130-35

at

style persisted

St.-Gilles-du-Gard (fig

the great masterpieces of

Romanesque

art.

the

hah

as well as in

Romanesque

longer in these areas than elsevt here Looking

portal of the

ol

the country

ol

the

at

139),

we

entei

one

ol

are struck

immediately by the classical flavor of the architectural

framework, with
terns,
c

and

its

flesh} .u

free-standing columns

arved almost in the round, have a

ume

akin to that

being
ness

hall a

ol

detail

meander

pat-

anlhus ornament

of

The two huge statues

sense ol weight and vol-

the Apostle from St -Scrum, although

entury later

in date, they also display

we have observed

in the

the rich-

intervening

ko\m\/-s<vi

monu-

uti

\4S

437.

THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES, tympanum

of

center portal of narthex, Ste. -Madeleine, Vezelay. 1120-32

438. PIG-SNOUTED ETHIOPIANS, portion of tympanum,

Ste.-Madeleine, Vezelay

ments. They stand on brackets supported by crouching

beasts of prey, and these, too, show a Roman massiveness,
while the small figures on the base (Cain and Abel) recall
the style of Moissac.

FIDENZA CATHEDRAL. The

akin

to

two statues

at St.-Gilles are

the splendid figure of King David from the facade of

Fidenza Cathedral

in

Lombardy

(fig.

440), by Benedetto An-

telami, the greatest sculptor of Italian

we should know

his

name

is

a considerable

art.

That

artists'

Romanesque

what
shows

signatures are far from rare in

makes Antelami exceptional

Romanesque

not surprising in itself

is

times;

the fact that bis work

degree of individuality, so

that, for the first

time since the ancient Creeks, we can begin

to

speak

(though with some hesitation) of a personal style. And his

David, too, approaches the ideal of the self-sufficient statue
more closely than any medieval work we have seen so far.
The Apostle from St.-Sernin is one of a series of figures, all of
them immutably fixed to their niches, while Antelami's David stands physically free and even shows an attempt to recapture the Classical contrapposto. To be sure, he would

awkward if placed on a pedestal m isolation; he demands the architectural framework for which he was made.

look

146

i:o\l\\l so/

\iu

59.

North jamb, center

Second quarter

440.

portal. St.-Gilles-du-Gard.

hut certainly to a far lesser extent than do the two statues at

St.-Gilles.
ries; his

Nor

only

is

he subject

companion

er side of the portal.

especially

if

we consider

dred vears separate

to

the group discipline of a se-

second niche statue on the othAn extraordinary achievement indeed,

is

it

much more

that not

than a hun-

from the beginnings of the sculptural

the north,

The Meuse
The emergence
twelfth century

of distinct
is

Valley

artistic

phenomenon

edged, perhaps because

to

confined

the vallev

oi

the

Mouse

River,

c.

it

that

is

Antclami

is

rarely

in

the

acknowl-

contravenes the widespread as-

not an isolated case: he cannot even

he the earliest. Nor

to Italy.

We

also find

is
it

the revival of individuality

1180-90.

which runs from

This region

had been the home of the "Reims style" in Carolingian times

see fis. 399 and 400), and that awareness o| classu.il

its art during the Romanesque period

Here again, then, interesting!) enough, the revival ol indi-

sources pervades

art.

although

monumental

influence did not produce works on a

Mosan" Romanesque sculpture excelled in metalel 1107-18 in

iegi
fig. 141), which is also the masterpiece of the earliest
among the mdiv iduallv know n artists of the region, Renier
scale

personalities

sumption th.tt all medieval art is anonymous. It does not

happen very often, of course, hut it is no less significant foi
claim

northeastern France into Belgium and Holland

this

that

KING DAVID
West facade. Fiden/.a Cathedral

viduality is linked with the influence ol ancient

revival.

all

BENEDETTO ANTELAM

the 12th century

of

one particular region

ol

work, such as the splendid baptismal loot

I

of lluv

The vessel icsis on twelve oxen (symbols ol the

like Solomon's basin in the Temple at Jeru-

twelve apostles

salem as described in the Bible. The reliefs make an instru<

live contrast w ith those ol Rernward's doors see fig
107
sum e thev are about the same height. Instead

l)\!\\l

s(ji

I,

the rough

ol

uti

147

expressive power of the Ottoman panel,

we

find here a har-

monious balance of design, a subtle control of the sculptured surfaces, and an understanding of organic structure
that, in

medieval terms, are amazingly

classical.

seen from the back (beyond the tree on the

ture), with its graceful

turning

The

left in

movement and

figure

our

pic-

Greek-look-

ing drapery, might almost be taken for an ancient work.

Germany
The one monumental
art

free-standing statue of

Romanesque

perhaps not the only one made, but the only one that

has survived

is

that of

an animal, and in a secular rather

than a religious context: the lifesized bronze lion on top of a

tall

shaft that

Duke Henry

front of his palace at

the Lion of Saxony had placed in

Brunswick

in

166

(fig.

442).

The won-

derfully ferocious beast (which, of course, personifies the

duke, or

him
ic

his

at least that

aspect of his personality that earned

nickname) reminds us

bronze she-wolf of

Rome

in a curious

(see

fig.

way of the archa-

248). Perhaps the re-

semblance is not entirely coincidental, since the she-wolf

was on public view in Rome at that time and must have had

Romanesque artists.
The more immediate relatives of the Brunswick

a strong appeal for

ever, are the countless

dragons,

griffins,

twelfth century for the ritual

RENIER OF HUY.

Baptismal Font. 1107-18.

Bronze, height 25" (63.5 cm). St.-Barthelemy, Liege

442. Lion Monument. 1166. Bronze, length

c.

6' (1.8

Cathedral Square, Brunswick, Germany

>,-iH-l)\l\\l

\(JI

Mil

m).

how-

and such, that came into use in the

washing of the priest's hands
during Mass. These vessels another instance of monsters
doing menial service for the Lord were of Near Eastern inspiration. The beguiling specimen reproduced in figure 443
still betrays its descent from the winged beasts of Persian
art, transmitted to the West through trade with the Islamic
lions,

441.

lion,

bronze water ewers in the shape of

world.

dimensional aspects

ol

the

pi<

ture are reduced to overlapped

Even Ottoman painting

planes.

see figs. 408 and 409)

seems ill usior ustu in omparison. Yet by sacrifi( ing the las)
remnants of modeling in terms of light and shade, the Romanesque artist has endowed Ins work with an abstract clarity and precision that had not been possible m Carolingian 01
Ottoman limes; only now can we truly sav that the representational, the symbolic, and the decorative elements of the dec

sign are knit together into a single, unified structure.

This style of rhythmic lines and planes eschews .ill effects

might he termed specifically pictorial
not only tonal

that

values hut the rendering of textures and highlights such as

we

still

Ottoman painting

find in

gains a new

universality

ol

and

scale.

because

ol

this

ii

The evangelists of the

Ebho Gospels, the drawings of the Utreckl Psalter, and the

miniatures in the Gospel Hook of Otto III are made up of
open, spontaneous flicks and dashes of brush or pen that

443. Ewer. Mosan.

Victoria

&

Albert

c.

1130. Gilt bronze, height

Museum, London (Crown

PAINTING

7W'

(18.5 cm).

copyright reserved)

AND METALWORK

Unlike architecture and sculpture, Romanesque painting

shows no sudden revolutionary developments

that set

it

Nor does it
look more "Roman" than Carolingian or Ottoman painting.
This does not mean, however, that in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries painting was any less important than it
had been during the earlier Middle Ages; it merely emphaapart immediately from Carolingian or Ottoman.

sizes the greater continuity of the pictorial tradition, espe-

manuscript illumination.

cially in

France
GOSPEL BOOK, CORBIE. Nevertheless,
year 1000

we

find the

soon alter the

beginnings of a painting style that cor-

to
and often anticipates the monumental qualRomanesque sculpture. The new attitude is clearly
evident in the St. Mark fig. 144 from a Gospel Book prob-

responds

ities

of

i,

done toward 1050 at the monastery of Corbie m northern France. The twisting and turning movement of the
lines, which pervades not only the figure of the Evangelist
but the winged lion, the scroll, and the curtain, recalls Carolingian miniatures of the Reims School such as the Ebbo
Gospels (see fig. 399). This very resemblance helps us see
the differences between the two works: in the Corbie manuably

every trace of classical illusionism has disappeared;

script,

Reims School, with its suggestion

and space, has been replaced by firmly drawn con-

the fluid modeling of the

of light

tours

filled

in

with bright, solid colors, so that the three-

111
at

Corbie

s/
<

MARK, from a Gospel Book produced

1050 Bibliotheque Municipale, Amiens

/.'mm/

so/

\Ki

149

445.

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS.

Detail of the

BAYEUX TAPESTRY,

height 20" (50.7 cm). Centre Guillaume

le

c.

1073-83. Wool embroidery on linen,

Conquerant, Bayeux, France

fv

S8

146

r><)-

nil BUILDING OF

ROMANESQl

Mtl

III!

rOWEROf BABEL

'

'

'

^^^^^^^^^^

Detail of painting Oil the nave vault. Si .-Savin-sur-Gartempe Karly 12th century

have an intimate, hand-written

if copied

strange

on

.1

would look

they

flavor;

larger scale or in another medium.

The

Corbie miniature, on the contrary, might be translated into a

mural, a stained-glass window.

without losing any of

its

BAYEUX TAPESTRY
in

the Vezelay

,1

tapestry, or a relief panel

essential qualities.

This monumentally

tympanum

(fit;.

437).

the

is

same

as

where much the same

pleated drapery patterns are rendered in sculptural terms; or

in the so-called
feet

Baveu.x Tapestry, an embroidered frieze 230

long illustrating William the Conqueror's invasion of

England. Our detail

tings,

has

stylistic

in the lively

like the

liu.

445), portraying the Battle of Has-

kinship with the Corbie manuscript even

somersaults of the

pose of the lion

in the

Fallin g

horses, so strikingly

we marvel

miniature. Again

.it

which the designer has integrated narrative

and ornament: the main scene is enclosed by two border
the ease with

perform their framing function equally well, although the upper one is purely decorative while the other
consists of dead warriors and horses and thus forms part of
strips that

the story.

Sf-SAVIN-SUR-CARTEMPE. Firm
sense

of

outlines and a strong

pattern are equally characteristic

Romanesque

of

The Building of the Tower of Babel (fi^. 446)

is taken from the most impressive surviving cycle, on the
nave vault of the church at St.-Savin-sur-Gartempe (com415). It is an intensely dramatic design, crowded
pare fi
with strenuous action; the Lord Himself, on the far left, parwall painting.

tz..

He

ticipates directly in the narrative as

ers of the colossal structure.

He

is

addresses the build-

counterbalanced, on the

Nimrod, the leader of the enterprise, who

hands blocks of stone to the masons atop the
tower, so that the entire scene becomes a great test of
strength between God and man. The heavy dark contours
and the emphatic play of gestures make the composition
eminently readable from a distance, vet these same qualities
occur in the illuminated manuscripts of the region, which
can be equally monumental despite their small scale.
right, bv the giant

frantically

The Channel Region

southern England. The works produced

it

is at

in this

area are so

times impossible

on which side of the English Channel

JOHN mi: evangelist, from

the Gospel Book oj

Abbot Wedricus. Shortly before

11 -17

Socicte Archeologique ct Historique.

Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Frani e

of the composition into a coherent whole. ITus quality

While Romanesque painting, like architecture and sculpture, developed a wide variety of regional styles throughout
western Europe, its greatest achievements emerged from
the monastic scriptoria of northern France, Belgium, and
closely related in style that

447. sr

a given

to

be sure

manuscript

belongs.

betrays

still

tage;

if

of line

ultimate source, the Celtic-Germanic heri-

its

we compare our miniature

with the Lindisfarne Gos-

387 we see how mm h the interlai ing patterns ol

the Dark Ages have contributed to the design ol the St John
page, fhe drapery folds aiu\ the (.lusters ol floral ornament
have an impulsive vet disciplined aliveness that ec hoes the
intertwined snakelike monsters ol the animal stvle. even
though the foliage is derived from the lassital acanthus and
the hum. m figures are based on
arolingian and Byzantine
models fhe unit) ol the entire page, however, is conveyed
pels

fig.

l,

COSPEL BOOK OF ABBOT WEDRICUS. Thus

of the wonderful miniature of St John

(fig.

the style

447) has been

linked with both C ambrai and Canterbury, fhe abstract Im

ear draftsmanship of the Corbie manuscript

fi<>.

444

has

been influenced by Byzantine Style note the ropelike loops

of drapery, w hose origin can be traced back to such works is
1

fig.

332) but without losing

its

energetic rhythm.

It

is

the

dynamics of every contour, both m the

the frame, th.it unite the v aned elements

not

onh

bv the

remove him from it

Ins
fered by the donor ol the manus( ript, \bboi Wedric us
source of inspiration the dove ol the oh spun in the hand
ol Cod
01 his identifying symbol, the eagle.
he other meI

1,

precisely controlled

dallions,

main figure and

scenes horn the

in

fhe Evanframe in SU< h a wa) that we ould not

w ithout cutting oil his ink supplv prof-

forms but bv the content as well

gelist "inhabits" the

less direcU)
lile ol

linked with the

St

mam

(mure

show

John.

/fo\n\/

s(,K

\/;/

;-,/

clothed in rippling, "wet" draperies familiar to us from

countless classical statues, have achieved so high a degree

of organic body structure

tend

to

think of

them

as the final phase of the

to call

it,

and freedom of movement that we

as harbingers of Gothic art rather than

Romanesque. Whatever we choose

the style of the Klostemeuburg Altar was to have a

profound impact upon both painting and sculpture during

the next

years (see

fifty

figs.

The astonishing humanity

496 and 497).

of Nicholas of Verdun's art

must be understood against the background of a general

reawakening of interest in man and the natural world
throughout northwestern Europe. This attitude could express itself in various ways: as a

new

regard for classical

lit-

erature and mythology, an appreciation of the beauty of

ancient works

of art, or

simply as a greater readiness

to ac-

knowledge the enjoyment of sensuous experience.

CARMINA BURANA. The latter aspect is reflected particusuch lighthearted poetry as the well-known Carmina
Burana, composed during the later twelfth century and preserved in an illuminated manuscript of the early thirteenth.
That a collection of verse devoted largely and at times all
to the delights of nature, love, and drinking
too frankly
larly in

448. PORTRAIT

OF A PHYSICIAN, from a medical

1160. British Museum, London

C.

PORTRAIT OF A PHYSICIAN. Soon

treatise.

should have been embellished with illustrations

after the

is signif-

middle of

the twelfth century, an important change of style began to

make

itself felt in

Romanesque

painting on either side of the

English Channel. The Portrait of a Physician (fig. 448),

from a medical manuscript of about 1 160, is surprisingly dif-

John miniature, although

ferent from the St.

duced

in the

same

it

was

pro-

region. Instead of abstract patterns,

we

suddenly find lines that have regained the ability to describe

three-dimensional shapes; the drapery folds no longer lead

an ornamental

ume
est

pictorial

own

but suggest the rounded vol-

even a renewed interthen, we meet the

counterpart of that classicism which we saw earlier

Here

at

baptismal font of Renier of

In fact,
its

of their

foreshortening.

in

in the

life

the body underneath; there

of

in metal, rather

Liege (see

at

if

fig.

441).

at Liege, too,

and

they had been engraved

than drawn with pen or brush.

NICHOLAS OF VERDUN.
should have originated
it

Huy

our miniature was probably done

sharp, deliberate lines look as

than

is

last,

might seem

in

That a new painting

metalwork

at first, lor

is

perhaps

style

less strange

the style's essential qualities

are sculptural rather than pictorial; moreover, metalwork

(which includes not only cast or embossed sculpture but

;ilso engraving, enameling, and goldsmithing) had been a
high!) developed art in the Mouse valley area since Carolingian times

Nicholas

ol

Its

greatest practitioner after Renier of

Verdun,

in

whose work the

dimensional style of draftsmanship reaches

The engraved and enameled plaques

Huy was

classicizing, threelull

maturity.

of the Klostemeuburg

which he completed in 1181 (fig. 449 shows one of

them The Crossing oj the Red Sea), clearly belong to the
\l(.n

same

tradition

\OMANESQl

as

the

Liege miniature,

but

the figures,

449.

NICHOLAS OF VLHDUN. THE CROSSING OF THE RED SEA.

1181.

Enamel on

gold plaque, from the

KLQSTERNEUBURG ALTAR,

height

5W (14 cm).

Klostemeuburg Abbey, Austria

450. Pase

witii

SUMMER LANDSCAPE,

Carmina Burana. Early

from a manuscript of

13th century. 7 x 4 7A"

17.8 x 12.5 cm).

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich

We arc even more surprised, however, to find

one of the miniatures (fig. 450), coupled with a poem

icant in itself

theonh wax

that

of anthology

praising spring, represents a landscape

we know,

in

Western

art

the

first,

so far as

Echoes of ancient landscape painting, derived from Early

Christian and Byzantine sources, can be found in Carolinian art (see fi<j,s. 399 and 400), but only as background for
tlie human figure. Later on
these remnants had been reduced still further, even when the subject required a land
scape setting; the Garden of Eden on Bernward's doors see
fig. 407) is no mori' than a lew strangely twisted stems a\h\
bits of foliage. Thus the Carmina Burana illustrator, called
upon to depict the life of nature in summertime, must have
found his task a rather perplexing one lie has solved it in
i

page with a sort

ornament interspersed

by filling his

plant

with birds and animals

The

since late classical times.

<>l

him
Romanesque

possible for

trees, vines,

and flowers remain so abstract

that

we

cannot identify a single spec ies the birds and animals, probably copied from a zoological treatise, are lai more realistic
-

I,

vet the)

have an uncanny

them seem

to

\italit\

sprout and unfold as

season were compressed into

of their
il

own

that

makes

the growth of an entire

a lew frantic

moments

hese

exuberance oi early summer, of

stored energy suddenly released, far more intensely than
any normal vegetation could Our artist has created a fairygianl seedlings convey the

tale lands<

ape but his enc banted world nevertheless evokes

essential aspe<

t^ ol

reality

no\i\\i soi

\i:i

153

CHAPTER FOUR

GOTHIC
ART

Time and space, we have been taught, arc interdependent.

Yet we tend to think of history as the unfolding of events in
time without sufficient awareness of then

space we

visualize

unfolding

in

as a stack of chronological layers, or

it

periods, each layer having a specific depth that corresponds

duration, lor the

to its

more remote

where our sources

simple image works reason-

of information are scanty, this

ably well.

It

past,

becomes less and less adequate as we draw closand our knowledge grows more precise.

this unity

breaks apari

north of the Alps

ing position

with Florence in the lead ere

Italy

new art

ates a radically

that of the Early Renaissance while

landers assumes an ec|uallv

command-

the development of Fate Cothic painting and

in

A centurv later, fmallv. the Italian Renaissance

becomes the lusis of another international stvle With this
skeleton outline to guide US, we can now explore the unfoldsculpture.

ing of Cothic art in greater detail.

er to the present

Thus we cannot define the Gothic era in terms of time .done;

we must consider the changing surface area of the layer as
well as

its

ARCHITECTURE

depth.

At the start, about

140. this area

braced only the province

known

was small indeed.

em-

It

as the Ile-de-France (that

and vicinity the royal domain of the French kings.

A hundred years later, most of Europe had "gone Gothic,"
Paris

is,

from

I,

Sicily to Iceland, with only a lew

Romanesque pockets

here and there; through the crusaders, the new stvle

had even been introduced to the Near East. About 1450, the

left

Gothic area had

Italy

begun

and by about

The Gothic

1550

layer, then,

it

no

longer including

had disappeared almost

entirely.

has a rather complicated shape,

depth varying from close

minimum

shrink

to

400 years

to

in

some

its

places to a

of 150 in others. This shape, moreover, does not

emerge with equal clarity in all the visual arts.

The term "Gothic" was first coined lor architecture, and
in

is

architecture that the characteristics of the stvle are

certainty about the exact limits of the Gothic stvle in these

This evolution of our concept of Gothic

art

suuuests

way the new stvle actually grew: it began with architecand for a centuryfrom about 1150 to 1250, during
the Age of the Great Cathedrals architecture retained its
dominant role. Gothic sculpture, at first severely architecthe

ture,

tended

become

and less so alter 1200;

its greatest achievements are between the years 1220 and
1420. Painting, in turn, reached a climax of creative endeavor between 1300 and 1350 in central Italy. North of the Alps.
it became the leading art from about 1400 on. We thus find,
tural in spirit,

to

Origin of no previous stvle

less

.is

the city of Paris.

we

can pinpoint the

th.it

of Gothic.

was

It

in the rebuilding, by

Church

Suger, of the royal Abbey

We

exactly as

horn between 1137 and 1144

Abbot

of St. -Denis just outside

how Cothic archihappened to come into being at this particular spot.

we must first acquaint ourselves with the special relationship between St. -Denis. Suger, and the French monarchy
I'he kms of France derived their claim to authority from
the Carolinian tradition, although they belonged to the CaIf

are to understand

tecture

Hugh Capet

petian line (founded hv

it

most easily recognized. And although we speak of Gothic

sculpture and painting, there is. as we shall see, some unfields.

Fiance
ST-DENIS AND ABBOT SUGER.

Carolinian

last

in

)87

w ho.

that of the nobles

I.

alter the death of the

But their power was eclipsed by

theory, were then vassals; the only

area they ruled directly was the ile-de-France, and they

of-

ten found their authority challenged even there. Not until

the early twelfth centurv did the royal power begin

pand; and Suger, as chief adviser

to

ex-

to

Fouis VI, played

a kev

It was he who forged the alliance between the monarchy and the Church, which brought the
bishops of France (and the cities under their authority) to

role in this process.

the kind's side, while the king,

in its

struggle against the

Suger, however,
the plane

ol

m turn, supported

championed the monarchy

practical politics hut

ficance, by glorifying

as the strong right

it

not onlv on

on that of "spiritual

by investing the royal office with

tics";

the pap.u

German emperors

arm

poli-

signi-

religious

of justice,

he

surveying the Gothic era as a whole, a gradual shift of

emphasis from architecture to painting or. better perhaps,

sought

from architectural

context, lor the church, founded in the late eighth centurv

in

to pictorial qualities.

Characteristic

enough, Early Gothic sculpture and painting both

discipline of their

monumental

allv

reflect the

setting, while Late Gothic

to rail)

the nation behind the

plans lor the Abbe) of

enjoyed

St.

it

lis

architec tural

made

was the shrine

it

ideall)

of

France,

the sac red protector of the realm as well as the chief

rather than clarity or firmness).

rial

Overlving this broad pattern

cal

development

from there
conies

to

(modern

to

he
or

centurv. the

in

is

another one; international

independence Starting as

the ile-de-France. Gothic art radiates

the rest of France and to

known

a lo-

as opus

all

modemum

Europe, where
or

it

francigenum

French work). In the course of the thirteenth

new stvle gradually loses its "imported" flavor;

regional variety begins to reassert itself toward the middle

of the fourteenth century,

we

notice a growing tendency lor

these regional achievements to influence each other until,

about

1400.

,i

surprisingly

homogeneous

"International

Gothic" stvle prevails almost everywhere. Shortly thereafter.

of the Carolingian dynasty

father, Pepin,

the Bald
ter of

i.

memo-

both Charlemagne and his

had been consecrated kin^s there, and

also the burial place of Charles

Suger wanted

to

make

this

suitable for

of the Apostle

architecture and sculpture strive for "picturesque" effects

diffusion as against regional

-Denis must he understood

dual prestige that

Suger's purpose:

kimj,.

M artel,

it

was

Pepin, and Charles

the abbe) the spiritual cen

France, a pilgrimage church

to

outshine the splendoi

the others the local point of religious as well as patriot-

of

all

ic

emotion hut

in

order

to

become

the visihle

embodiment

of such a goal, the old edifice had to he enlarged and rebuilt.

file great
in

abbot himself has desc nhed the entire campaign

such eloquent

west lacade and

we know more ahout what he

we do ahout the final result lor the

detail that

desired to achieve than

its si

ulptuie are sadlv mutilated todav. and

the choir, w hie h Suger regarded as the most important part

aoiiiu

\i:i

{55

ambulatory, and ribbed groined vaulting based on the pointis employed throughout (in the Romanesque pilgrimage choir, only the ambulatory had been groin-vaulted
As a result, the entire plan is held together by a new kind of
geometric order: it consists of seven identical wedge-shaped

ed arch

).

units fanning out from the center of the apse. We experience this double ambulatory not as a series of separate compartments but as a continuous (though articulated) space,
whose shape is outlined lor us by the network of slender
arches, ribs, and columns that sustains the vaults.
What distinguishes this interior immediately from its preis its lightness, in both senses; the architectural
forms seem graceful, almost weightless as against the massive solidity of the Romanesque, and the windows have been

decessors

enlarged to the point that they are no longer openings cut

they fill the entire wall area, so that they theminto a wall

selves

walls. If we now examine the

we realize what makes this abundance of
The outward pressure of the vaults is con-

become translucent

plan once more,

light possible.

tained by heavy buttresses jutting out between the chapels

(in the plan, they look like stubby black

ward the center of the

apse).

arrows pointing

The main weight

of the

ry construction is concentrated there, visible only

outside.

to-

mason-

from the

then, that the interior appears so amaz-

No wonder,

and weightless, since the heaviest members of the

beyond our view. The same impression would be even more striking if we could see all of
Suger's choir, for the upper part of the apse, rising above the
double ambulatory, had very large, tall windows (the effect,
from the nave, must have been similar to that of the somewhat later choir of Notre-Dame in Paris; see fig. 454).
ingly airy

structural skeleton are

451. Ambulatory, Abbey Church of St.-Denis,

Paris.

1140-44

SUGER AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.

Suger's choir,

we have

In describing

also described the essentials of Goth-

none of the individual elements that enis really new; the pilgrimage choir plan,
the pointed arch, and the ribbed groined vault are familiar to
us from the various regional schools of the French (and

ic

architecture. Yet

tered into

its

design

Anglo-Norman) Romanesque, even though we never encounter them all combined in the same building until
St.-Denis. The lle-de-France had failed to develop a Romanesque tradition of its own. so that Suger as he himself
tells

us had

to

bring together artisans from

We must

regions for his project.

many

different

not conclude from this,

however, that Gothic architecture originated as a mere synthesis of Romanesque traits. If it were no more than that, we

would be hard pressed

452. Plan of the choir and ambulatory of St.-Denis
(after

us so forcibly

Sumner Crosby)

at

to explain the

new

spirit that strikes

St.-Denis: the emphasis on strict geometric

planning and the quest

lor luminosity.

Suger's account of

the rebuilding of his church insistently stresses both of

these as the highest values achieved in the new structure.

of the enterprise, retains

ambulatory

(figs,

its

original

appearance only

in the

451 and 452).

we recognize familiar elements of the

Romanesque pilgrimage choir (compare fig. 412), with an
Looking

at

the plan,

arcaded apse surrounded by an ambulatory and radiating

chapels Yel these elements have been integrated m Strikingly novel fashion; the chapels, instead of remaining separate entities

an

JilllH

Mil

merged

so as to form, in effect, a second

"Harmony"

(that

is,

the perfect relationship

among

parts in

terms of mathematical proportions or ratios) is the source of

which
all beauty, since it exemplifies the laws according to
divine reason has constructed the universe; the "miraculous'' light that Hoods the choir through the "most sacred"

windows becomes
the

spirit of

the Light Divine, a mystic revelation of

God.

This symbolic interpretation of light and of numerical har-

mony had been

thought.

It

established over the centuries in Christian

derived from the writings of a fifth-century

Creek theologian who, in the Middle Ages, was believed to

have been Dionysius the Areopagite, an Athenian disciple of
St. Paul. Through this identification, the works or the fifthcentury writer,

known

as the Pseudo-Dionysius,

came

to

be

vested with great authority. In Carolingian France, however,

Dionysius the disciple

Paul was identified both with

ol St.

the author of the Pseudo-Dionvsian writings and with

)enis, the

St.

Apostle of France and the special protector of the

realm.

The

monarchic power during the

revival of

century gave new importance

Dionysius, attributed

to St.

to

early twelfth

the theology of the Pseudo-

Denis and therefore regarded as

France's very own. For Suger, the light-and-number sym-

bolism

ol'

Dionysian thought must have had a particularly

We can well understand why his own mind

Strong appeal.

and why he wanted to give it visible exrebuilt the church of the royal patron
That he succeeded is proved not only by the inherent

was steeped
pression
saint.

it,

when he

qualities of his choir design but also by

pact; every visitor to St. -Denis,

it

had spread

far

conundrum

church, alter

space with

.1

the chicken and the egg

ol

he fun<

minimum

tion ol

maximum

not merely to enclose a

is

all,

who

of material; for the mastei

ol

built

the choir of St. -Denis under Suger's supervision the techni-

problems of vaulting must have been inextru ably bound

up with considerations ol form that is. of beauty, harmony,
fitness, and so forth
As a matter of lac l. bis design includes
various elements that express function without ai lual v per-

cal

I.

forming

seem

it.

Such as the slender shafts

responds

ailed

the weight of the vaults to the

thai

hurch floor.
Bui 111 order to know what constituted beauty hannonv.
and fitness the medieval architect needed the guidance ol
to carry

Such guidance might be

ecclesiastical authority.

some

directive to follow

established model

simple

m the case ol

or,

patron as actively concerned with architectural aesthetic

Suger.

it

process.
is

as

might amount to lull participation in the designing

Thus Suger's desire to "build Dionysian theology"

likely to

have been a decisive factor from the very begin-

shaped

his mental image of the kind of structure he

wanted, we may assume, and determined his choice of a

ning:

it

seems, was overwhelmed

master of Norman background as the chief architect This

man, a great artist, must have been singularly responsive to

new

the abbot's ideas and instructions. Between them, the two

its

extraordinary im-

by Suger's achievement, and within a few decades the

stvle

the
a

beyond the confines of the

Ile-de-

together created the Gothic

stvle.

France.

NOTRE-DAME,

SUGFR AND THE MFD1FVAL ARCH1TFCT The

how

and why of Suger's success are a good deal more difficult to

Here we encounter a controversy we have met sev-

explain.
eral

times before

that

of

form versus function. To the advo-

was an abbey,
towns rather
than in rural monastic communities. There had been a vigorous revival of urban life, we will recall, since the early elevPARIS. Although

St. -Denis

the future of Gothic architecture

enth century;

this

in the

lav

movement continued

at

an accelerated

cates of the functionalist approach, Gothic architecture has

pace, and the growing weight

seemed the result of advances in architectural engineering,

which made it possible to build more efficient vaults, to con-

only economically and politically but in countless other w.ivs

as well: bishops and the city clergy rose to

centrate their thrust at a few critical points, and thus elimi-

cathedral schools and universities took the place of monas-

nate the solid walls of the Romanesque. Suger, they would

was fortunate

argue,

who

in

securing the services of an architect

evidently understood the principles of ribbed groined

vaulting better than anybody else at that time.

II'

the abbot

chose to interpret the resulting structure as symbolic of Dionysian theology, he was simply expressing his enthusiasm
over it m the abstract language of the churchman; his account does not help us

to

understand the origin of the new

perfectly true, of course, that the choir of St. -Denis

It is

is

planned and constructed than any Romanesque church. The pointed arch (which can be "stretched"'
rationally

reach any desired height regardless of the width of its

base) has now become an integral part of the ribbed groined

to

As a result, these vaults are no longer restricted to

square or near-square compartments; they have gained a
flexibility that permits them to cover areas of almost anv
vault.

shape such as the trapezoids and pentagons of the ambulatorv

The buttressing of the vaults, too, is more fully under(

I.

stood than before.

have led

to

low could the theological ideas of Suger

these technical advances, unless

we

are willing

assume that he was a professionally trained architect? II

we grant that he was not. can he claim anv credit at all for
the stvle of what he so proudly calls "his" new chuK h ? Perhaps the question poses a false alternative, somewhat like
to

made

itself felt not

new importance;

teries as centers of learning, while the artistic efforts of the

age culminated

the great cathedrals. That

("Our Ladv," the Virgin Mary)

at

ol

Notre-Dame

Pans, begun in

1163,

more

direct-

reflects the salient features of Suger's St. -Denis

ly

than anv other

The
axis,

plan

fig.

of major

its emphasis on the longitudinal

compact and unified as against that

with

I,

extraordinarily

is

453-57).

(figs.

453

Romanesque churches;

the double ambulator)

ol

the choir continues directly into the aisles, and the stubby

style.

more

the cities

ol

transept barely exceeds the width

rior (fig.

454

we

still

galleries

ol

the facade. In the inte-

echoes of the Norman Roman-

nave vaults over squarish

sexpartite

esque:

find

above the inner

aisles

The columns

and

bays,

of the nave

11

cade are another conservative- feature. Vet the large clerestory windows and the lightness and slendemess of the
forms create an unmistakably Gothic effect note how thin
the nave walls are made to seem
Gothic, too, is the
"vcrticalism"

the interior spa<

ol

proportions of the

actual

naves are equallv

tall,

constant accenting

wnb which
teriors
effort

In

ol

the sense

such as

required

fig.

in

Notre-Dame

e.

nave

bis

for

relative to their

depends

less

on the

some Romanesque
width

than

on the

the verticals and on the soaring ease

ol

height

is

attained.

413), bv contrast,

Romanesque

in-

emphasize the great

supporting the weight of the vaults

as

Suger's choir, the buttresses

coiliK

Mil

the

157

453. Plan

of

Notrc-Dame,

Paris.

1163-c. 1250

454. (right) Nave and choir, Notre4Dame, Paris

455. (below) Notre-Dame (view from the southeast), Paris

fVitd

u "*

GOTHIC Mtl

">HfrAfcu^

Rii

(St''&r

Much more

important than these resemblances are the

qualities that distinguish the facade ol Notre

Romanesque

ancestors, foremost

among

Dame

these

from

its

the waj

is

all the details have been integrated into a

wonderful!) balanced and oherent whole, the meaning ol Suger's emphasis on harmony geometric ordei and proportion becomes
i

evident here even more strikingly than in St.-Denis itseli

Ibis formal discipline also embraces the sculpture, u hit b is

no longer permitted the spontaneous

trolled

growth so characteristic

ol

the

and often uncon-

Romanesque

but has

been assigned a precisely defined role within the an

nit al framework. At the same time, the cubic solidit)
facade of St.-Etienne

at

very opposite; lacelike

hite<
ol

the

Caen has been transformed into its

arcades, huge portals and windows

dissolve the continuity of the wall surfaces, so that the total

approximates that of a weightless openwork screen.

advanced during the first half of
the thirteenth century can be seen by comparing the west

effect

How

rapidly this tendency

facade

ol

Notre-Dame with the somewh.it

south transept, visible

window

in

the center

in figure

is still

later

lacade

ol

the

455. In the former the rose

deeply recessed and. as a result,

the stone tracery that subdivides the opening

is

clearly set

456. Flying buttresses. Notre-Dame, Paris

"heav v hones" of the structural skeleton are not visible from

)

the inside. The plan

shows them

as massive hlotks of

ma-

sonry that stick out from the building like a row of teeth.

Above the

aisles,

these piers turn into flying buttresses

arched bridges that reach upward

to

the critical spots be-

tween the clerestory windows where the outward thrust of

the nave vault

is

concentrated

(fig.

455). This

method

of

an-

choring vaults, a characteristic feature of Gothic architecture, certainly

Even the
ly
i

owed

its

origin to functional considerations.

flying buttress, however, soon

important as well, and

its

apart from actually providing

cording

to

became

aesthetical-

shape could express support

it)

in a variety of ways, ac-

the designer's sense of Style

The most monumental aspect

fig.

456

I.

of the exterior of Notre-

Dame is the west facade fig. 457). Except for its sculpture.
which suffered heavily during the French Revolution and is
lor the most part restored, it retains its original appearance.
I

Fhe design reflects the general disposition of the facade <>l

which in turn had been derived from Norman Ro-

St. -Denis,

manesque facades such as that of St.-F.tienne at Caen (see

fig. 417). Comparing the latter with Notre-Dame. we note
the persistence of some basic features: the pier buttresses
that reinforce the corners of the towers
into three
Story

mam

and divide the facade

parts; the placing of the portals; the three-

arrangement, fhe rich sculptural decoration, however,

France (see fi'j, 416) and

recalls the facades of the west of

the elaborately

caned

portals of Burgundy.

15'

West facade Notre-Dame

I'.ms

(.oillH

Mil

(59

surrounding wall surface; on the transept fawe can no longer distinguish the rose win-

off against the

cade, in contrast,
clow

from

its

frame

a single network of tracery covers the

entire area.

CHARTRES CATHEDRAL.
Chartres,

began

who

to rebuild bis

later, all

Toward 1145 the bishop

of

befriended Abbot Sugerand shared his ideas,

cathedral in the

new

style. Fifty

years

but the west facade, which provided the main en-

trance to the church, and the east crypt were destroyed by a

fire for sculpture of the west portals, see figs. 493
and 494); a second rebuilding was begun in 1 194 (fig. 458),
and as the result of a huge campaign was largely accomplished within the astonishingly brief span of twenty-six
years. The basic design is so unified that it must have been
planned by a single master builder. However, because the
construction proceeded in several stages and was never entirely finished, the church incorporates an evolutionary,
rather than a systematic, harmony. For example, the two
west towers, though similar, are by no means identical.

disastrous

Moreover, their spires are radically different: the north spire

on the left dates from the early sixteenth century, nearly

three hundred years later than the other.
The church was erected on the highest point in town and
the spires can be seen for miles in the surrounding farmland
(fig. 459). Had the seven other spires been completed as
originally planned, Chartres would convey a less insistent
directionality.

Both arms of the transept have three deeply

recessed portals lavishly embellished with sculpture and

458. West facade, Chartres Cathedral
(north spire

is

16th century). 1145-1220

surmounted by an immense rose window over five smaller

lancets (fig. 460). Perhaps the most striking feature of the

159. Chartres Cathedral (aenal view)

',<><)(;<

HUH

Mil

460. Portals, north transept, Chartres Cathedral

flanks

is

whose massing lends

the flying buttresses,

presence

erfully organic

to

the semicircular apse

461. Transverse section of

end, with
Chartres Cathedral

seven subsidiary chapels

its

The impressive west

(after Acland)

three, is a

(figs.

at

pow-

the east

459 and 461

).

facade, divided into units of two and

model of lucidity.

Its

soaring verticalitv and punc-

tuated surface are important in shaping our expectations

about the

we

interior.

will first

The shape

of the doors tells us. too. that

chamber As soon

be ushered into a low

enter the narthex. as the covered anteroom

have

left

is

as

called,

the temporal world completely behind.

It

we
we

takes

some time for our eyes to adjust to the darkness of the interior. The noise of daily life has been shut out as well; at first,
sounds are
the void.

eerily muffled, as

Once we

if

swallowed up with

light b\

recover from the disorienting effect

strangely cavernous realm,

we become aware

ing light, which guides us into the

full

of this

of a glimmer-

height of the chore

h.

Conceived one generation after the nave of Notre-Dame

in Pans, the rebuilt nave fig. 462 represents the first masterpiece of the mature, or High Gothic, style. The openings
of the pointed nave arcade are taller and narrower (see fig.
)

454).

They

are joined to a clerestory

of

the

same height by

which have now

Responds have been added

short triforium screening the galleries,

been reduced to a narrow wall.

the columnar supports, so as to stress the continuity of the
vertical lines and guide our eve upward to the quadripartite
vaults, which seem like diaphanous webs stretched across
to

the slender ribs

terior

nate.

space
It

is

ol

Because there are so lew

Chartres Cathedral

made

to

seem even

initially

walls, the vast in-

seems indetermi-

larger by

the sense

of

disembodied sound l'he elicit is so striking that it would

seem to have been thought of from the beginning with music in

mind, both antiphonal choirs and large pipe organs,

in use lor over (wo centuries in

which had alreadv been

some

parts of Europe.

(.oiHK

w;

The alternating sequence of round and octagonal piers

demark each bay marches down the nave toward the

that

apse

the east end

of

the church

where the liturgy

is

per-

Beneath the apse is the crypt, which houses

Chartres' most important possession: remnants of the robe
formed.

said to

thedral
ly

462. Nave and choir,

Chartres Cathedral
463. (above right) Plan,
Chartres Cathedral

464. (below right) Clerestory

wall of the nave,

Chartres Cathedral.

l62COTH/<

l/(/

have been worn by the Virgin Marv,

is

dedicated.

survived the great

The venerable
fire

of

194,

relic,

to

whom

the ca-

which miraculous-

drew pilgrims from

all

over

Europe. In order

to

accommodate

large

numbers

oi visitors

ing

it

with the poetic and symbolic values

the "mirac ulous

without disturbing worshipers, the church incorporates a

light"

wide

ethereal light, which dissolves the physical solidity

running the length of the nave and around the

transept; it is joined at the choir by a second aisle, forming
an ambulatory that connects the apsidal chapels see plan.
aisle

fig.

463

).

among all major Gothic cathedrals, Chartres still remost of its more than 180 original stained-glass windows. The magic of the colored liy.li streaming down from
the clerestory through the large windows is unforgettable to
anyone who has experienced their intense, jewellike hues
on the spot {tig. 464). The windows admit far less light than
one mi^ht expect; they act mainly as multicolored diffusing
Alone

tains

filters that

change the quality of ordinary

daylight,

lt)5

Choir

endow

vault.

so highly praised h\ Abbot Suger.

he sensation
oi

of

the

church and. hence, the distinction between the temporal

and the divine realms, creates the intensely mystical experience that lies at the heart of Gothic spirituality. The aisles
however, are considerably darker because the stained-glass
windows on the outer walls, though relatively large, are at

ground

level,

where they admit much

less light

than

at

the

clerestory level.

AMIENS CATHEDRAL. The

Chartres reaches
of

its

High Gothic style defined at

climax a generation later in the interior

Amiens Cathedral

<

figs.

465 and 466). Breathtaking

Amiens Cathedral. bVnun 1220

col

IK

Iftl

466. Nave and side

see

fig.

most precarious

The inner

limits.

membranes, and

which now includes the triibrium so

(.titer

Acland)

and

carried to

system

vaults, taut

window

the expanded

above the nave arcade becomes

is

logic of the

shape of the

in

467. Transverse section, Amiens Cathedral

technically

467); skeletal construction

forcefully asserts itself in the

thin as

Amiens Cathedral

become the dominant aim, both

height has

aesthetically
its

aisle,

and

area,

that the entire wall

a clerestory (fig. 466).

REIMS CATHEDRAL. The same emphasis on vertically

and translucency can be traced in the development of the
High Gothic facade. The most famous of these, at Reims Cathedral

4(i8).

(fig.

makes an

west facade of Notre-Dame

instructive contrast with the

Paris,

even though

design was conceived only about thirty years

the

same elements

Cathedral of the

common

are

kin<j,s

to

of France,

later.

its

basic

Many

of

both (as the Coronation

Reims was

closely linked

but in the younger structure they have been re-

to Paris),

shaped into

ensemble. The portals, instead

a very different

being recessed, are projected forward as gabled pore lies,

wuli windows in place ol tympanums above the doorways;

ol

the gallen

royal statues,

ol

horizontal between the

raised until
tail

ii

which in Paris forms an incisive

and second stones, has been

first

merges with the third-story arcade; every dewindow has become taller and narrower
and a multitude of pinnacles further accentu-

e\i epi the lose

than before;

ates die teslless upw.ird

dec oration

nl

UK

b\

far the

Mil

nut ii

i'j,

movement.

most lavish of

its

be sculptural

kind (see

figs.

497

468, West facade, Reims Cathedral,

c.

1225-99

im*ite?
^ftifktr&.ti
**

469. Comparison

of

nave elevations in same

3)

Reims Cathedral;

4)

scale.

Notre-Dame,

Amiens Cathedral

(after

^Mm&

Chartres Cathedral,

Paris; 2)

Grodecki)

470. Axonometric projection of a High Gothic cathedral

(after Acland).

Bay; 2) Nave; 3) Side aisle;

4) Nave arcade; 5) Trilonum. 6) Clerestory; 7) Pier;

8) Compound pier; 9) Sexpartite vault. 10 Buttress
1

Flying buttress; 12) Flying arch; 13) Hoof (after Acland)

and 498

no longer remains

).

has now spread

mam

to so

in clearl)

marked-off /ones

hitherto unacc

it

ustomed perches,

not only on the facade but on the flanks as well, that the exterior of the cathedra]
in's.

The

begins

to look like a

dm ecote

for stat-

swift progression toward verticalit)

relative!)

in

French Gothic cathedral architecture is clearl) seen in

figure 469, while figure 170 shows how both height and
large expanses ol window wore at hieved toward the end ol
this

development,

latep run;

ih-ckmi ky comic,

rhe High

Gothic cathedrals of France represenl a concentrated expenditure ol effort sin h as the world lias rarel) soon before
or since.

mense

Hie) are trul) national

cost

was borne

countr) .md from

sion

ol

that

all

b)

monuments, whose im-

donations collected

merging

ol

religious

all

over the

The tangible expres-

lasses ol so< iet)

and

patriotit

fervor that

Abbot Suger As we approach the

second hall ol the thirteenth century, we sense thai this
wave Ol enthusiasm has passed Us crest work on the \asl
structures begun during the firsi hall now proceeds al a

had been the goal

slower pa<

e;

new

ol

proje< is are lower

and generall) on

a far

ambitious scale; and the high]) organized teams ol

masons and S( ulptOTS thai had developed at the sites ol the
less

(.olllH

\i:i

471. St.-Urbain, Troyes. 1261-75

great cathedrals during the preceding decades gradually

break up into smaller units.

church of the later years of the century,

(figs. 471 and 472). leaves no doubt
that the "heroic age" of the Gothic style is past. Refinement
of detail, rather than toweling monumentality, has been the
designer's chief concern; by eliminating the triforium and
simplifying the plan, he has created a delicate cage of glass
'in the choir the windows begin ten feet above the floor),
characteristic

St.-Urbain in Troyes

sustained by flying buttresses so thin as to be hardly noticeable.

The same spiny, attenuated elegance can be

felt in

the

architectural ornament.

FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC.

In

some

respects. St.-Urbain

is

prophetic of the Late, or Flamboyant, phase of Gothic architecture.

The beginnings

of

Flamboyant Gothic do indeed

seem to go hack to the late thirteenth century, but its growth

was delayed by the Hundred Years' War with England, so
that we do not meet any full-fledged examples of it until the
early fifteenth, lis name, which means flamelike, refers to
the undulating patterns of curve and countercurve that are a

prevalent feature of Late Gothic tracery, as

Rouen

fig.

at

St.-Maclou

473). Structurally, Flamboyant Gothic

in

shows no

developments of its own; what distinguishes St.Maclou from such chur< ties as St.-Urbain in Troyes is the
luxuriant profusion of ornament. The architect has turned
signifii ant

into a virtuoso

well

dl

who

overlays the structural skeleton with a

dei oration so

\66'GOTHI(

\i:i

dense and fanciful as

to

obscure

it

al-

[nterior toward northeast,

St.-Urbain

the great strut ture behind

it

has

far

more the

palace than of a fortress, Symmetrical!)

square court,
famil)

it

hara< ter

laid oui

provided comfortable quarters

and household note the countless

i

II

the exterior

ol

the second Louvre

court displayed a
sculpture.

ol

conveys

has some

still

well

.is

(Figure 544

another miniature from the same manuscript

good impression ol such a hall
forbidding qualities

.1

for the royal

himneys

as lavishly decorated halls lor state occasions

ol a

around

the

ol

Stronghold, the sides toward the

wealth

architectural

ornament and

The same contrast also appears

in the house' ol

Jacques Coeurin Bourges.

ol

unit in die

We

IK is

as a house, not a palace, onl\ because Jacques

speak

ol

Oeur was

it

silversmith and merchant, rather than a nobleman. Since

however, he also was one of the richest

men

he

of his da\

could well afford an establishment ob\ iously modeled on the

mansions of the
its

The courtyard

aristocracy.

high-pitched roofs,

its

silicosis the picturesque qualities familiar to us

boyant church architecture

473. St.-Maclou, Rouen. Begun 1434

(fig.

an echo of the Louvre court

473). That

dle class during the later Middle

most completely.
locate

to

It

becomes

a fascinating

the "hones'' of the

picturesque tangle of

game

hom

the-

Amon

Vges.

the astonishing things about Gothic art

is the enthuresponse this "royal French style of the Tans region"

evoked abroad. Even more remarkable was its ability to ac-

is

gious structures, the most ambitious as well as the most rep-

Secular building, indeed,

resentative efforts of the age.

same general

trends, but these are often ob-

M\

scured by the diversity of types, ranging from bridges and

fortifications

royal

to

from barns

palaces,

to

town

halls.

Moreover, social, economic, and practical factors play a

more important
useful

life of

church design, so that the

much briefer and their

part here than in

the buildings

is

apt to be

chance of preservation correspondingly less. fortifications,

indeed, are often made obsolete by even minor advances 111
the technology of warfare. As a consequence, our knowledge of secular structures of the pre-Gothic Middle Ages remains extremely fragmentary, and most of the surviving
examples from Gothic times belong to the latter half of the
|

period.

I'his fact,

however,

is

not without significance; non-

and public, became far

more elaborate during the fourteenth and fifteenth centur-

religious architecture, both private

ies

than

The

it

had been before.

history of the Lou\ re in

ple: the original building,

Pans prov ides

a telling

exam-

erected about 1200. followed the

severely functional plan of the castles of thai

timeit

con-

donjon or keep, surrounded by a heavy wall. In the 1360s, King Charles Y had it built
as a sumptuous royal residence
Although this second
sisted mainly of a stout tower, the

Louvre,
like

tur\

has now disappeared, we know what

looked
(me miniature painted in the early fifteenth cen-

too.

from
see

fig.

it

543).

There

is still

is

urban mid-

England

this

lines.

Since our account of medimainly concerned with the development

we have until now confined our attention to reli-

reflects the

find

of hide-and-

building within

SECULAR ARCHITECTURE.
of style,

with

Flam-

we should

siastic

eval architecture

1,

merchant's residence

in a

striking proof of the importance attained h\

seek

17

fig.

pinnacles and decoratix e can ings,

a defensive outer wall

hut

\,

Court

Housed

lacques Coeui Bourges

(.OIIIU

\l:

475. (left) Salisbury Cathedral. 1220-70

476. Plan of Salisbury Cathedral

477. (below) Nave and choir,

Salisbury Cathedral

climate itself to a variety of local conditions

fact, that

the Gothic

monuments

of

so much

so, in

England and Germany

have become objects of intense national pride in modern

times, and critics in both countries have acclaimed Gothic as
a peculiarly "native" style.

How

rapid spread of Gothic art?

cited, singly or in

are we to account for the

A number of factors might be

combination: the superior

skill

of

French

architects and stone carvers; the vast intellectual prestige of

French centers of learning, such as the Cathedral School of

of Paris; and the influence of
the Cistercians, the reformed monastic order founded by St.
Bernard of Clairvaux. He, we will recall, had violently denounced the fliubts of fancy of Romanesque sculpture see

Chartres and the University

page 333). In conformity with his ascetic

abbey chur< hes were

of any sort

was held

ideals, Cistercian

a distinctive, severe type

to a

minimum, and

decoration

square choir took

the place of apse, ambulatory, and radiating chapels. For

that very reason, however, Cistercian architects put special

emphasis on harmonious proportions and exact craftsmanship; and their "anti-Romanesque" outlook prompted them
to adopt certain basu features of the Gothic style. During
the latter half of the twelfth century, .is the reform movement gathered momentum, this austere Cistercian Gothic
i

.inn

to

be

\68*COTHH

known throughout western Europe.

Mil

Still,

one wonders whether any of the explanations we

have mentioned

go

really

the heart of the matter.

to

The

ulti-

mate reason for the international victory of Gothic art seems

to have been the extraordinary persuasive power of the Style
itself, its ability to

gious leeling even

kindle the imagination and to arouse

among

reli-

people far removed from the cul-

tural climate of the Ile-de-France.

That England should have proved particularly receptive to

new style is hardly surprising. Yet English Gothic did

the

not grow directly from Anglo-Norman Romanesque but

from the Gothic of the Ile-de-France introduced in 1 175 by
(

who

the French architect

rebuilt the choir of

Canterbury

Cathedral) and from that of the Cistercians. Within less

than fifty years, it developed a well-defined character of its

own, known as the Early English style, which dominated

the second quarter of the thirteenth century. Although there
was a great deal of building activity during those decades, it
consisted mostly of additions to

Anglo-Norman

structures.

many

English cathedrals had been begun about the

same time as Durham (see figs. 418-20) but remained unfinished; they were now completed or enlarged. As a consegreat

we

quence,

few churches that are designed in the Early

find

English style throughout.

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL. Among

bury meets this requirement

we

(figs.

realize immediately

cathedrals, only Salis-

475-77). Viewing the ex-

how

it is from its
would be to judge
it by French Gothic standards. Compactness and vertically
have given way to a long, low, sprawling look (the great
crossing tower, which provides a dramatic unifying accent,
was built a century later than the rest and is much taller

tenor,

counterparts in France

and how

different

futile

it

than originally planned). Since there

height, flying buttresses have

is no straining after
been introduced only as an

Characteristically enough,

afterthought.

478. Choir. Gloucester Cathedral. 1332-57

the west facade

has become a screen wall, wider than the church itself and
stratified by emphatic horizontal bands of ornament and
statuary, while the towers

The

plan, with

tains the

its

have shrunk

to

stubby turrets.

strongly projecting double transept, re-

segmented quality of Romanesque structures: the

square east end derives from Cistercian architecture.

As we enter the nave, we recognize the same elements
miliar to us from

Chartres (see

fig.

French

interiors of the time,

described as conservative

sense

in the positive

the French system but tones

down

its

it

so as to maintain a strong sense of continuity

Anglo-Norman

accepts

revolutionary aspects

with the

past

fa-

such as

462), but the English interpretation of

PERPENDICULAR STYLE. The

bold

upward

contrast

between

these elements produces a very different total effect. As on

horizontal progression throughout the rest

the facade, the horizontal divisions are stressed

thedral suggests dial English Gothic had developed in a

pense of

thi' vertical,

so that

we

at

the ex-

see the nave wall not as a

succession of bays but as a continuous series of arches and

supports.

These supports, carved

against the rest of the interior

special Function that

English

style.

the nave vault.

um

level,

is

and the

a method of Stressing then

one of the hallmarks of the Early

clerestory, as a result, gives the impression

among

the vaults. At Durham, more

same treatment had been a technecessity compare tig. 420 now it has become a mat-

than a century

earlier,

the

I;

ter of style,

Earl)

dark marble, stand out

Another insular feature is the steep curve of

The ribs ascend all the way from the trifori-

of being "tucked away"

nical

of

thoroughly

in

keeping with the character of

English (Gothic as a whole. This character might be

the

thrust of the crossing tower and the leisnielv

hundred

direction during the intervening

becomes very evident

it

we compare

ol

Salisbury Ca-

years.

new

hec hange

the interior ol Salisbury

with the choir of Gloucester Cathedral, built in the second

quarter of the next century

ample
The

of English

name

I.

eerlamlv

vertical accent thai

English stvle
line
lar

is

so

to

it

i.

his

would look
ol

is

a striking ex-

we now

find the

dominant

the Earl)

onspic uouslv absent

the floor

much more

he repetition

since

tits,

is

cludes so manv features

that

I7<s

fig.

note the responds running

from the vault

Gothic

ate Gothic, also called "Perpendicular."

verv

i.

in

an unbroken

In this respect Perpendicu-

akin to French source's, vet

we have come

much

out

ol

to

know

it

in-

as English

place on the Continent

small uniform tracerv panels recalls the

col UK

Mil

169

form an ornamental network that screens the boundaries

between the bays and thus makes the entire vault look like
one continuous surface. This, in turn, has the effect of emphasizing the unity of the interior space. Such decorative
elaboration of the "classic" quadripartite vault
tic

is

characteris-

of the Flamboyant style on the Continent as well, but the

and carried it to greater lengths.

amazing pendant vault oi
Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster Abbey, built in the early
years of the sixteenth century (figs. 479 and 480), with its
lanternlike knobs hanging from conical "fans." This fantastic scheme merges ribs and tracery patterns in a dazzling
English started

The ultimate

is

it

earlier

reached

in the

display of architectural pageantry.

Germany
In Germany, Gothic architecture took root a good deal more
slowly than in England. Until the mid-thirteenth century,

the

Romanesque

tradition,

with

its

persistent Ottonian rem-

iniscences, remained dominant, despite the growing accep-

tance

of

Early Gothic features.

From about 1250

on, the

High Gothic of the Ue-de-France had a strong impact on the

Rhineland; Cologne Cathedral (begun in 1248) represents
an ambitious attempt to carry the full-fledged French system beyond the stage of Amiens. Significantly enough, however, the building remained a fragment until it was finally
completed in modern times; nor did

it

have any successors.

479. Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, London

(view toward west). 1503-19

480. Diagram of vault construction. Chapel of Henry VII,

Westminster Abbey

(after

Swaan)

bands of Statuary on the west facade at Salisbury; the plan

simulates the square east end of earlier English churches;
.mil the upward curve of the vault is as steep as in the nave
dl

Salisbury.
I

be

ribs ol the vaults,

altogethei

370

(,()!

new

IK

\HI

role

on the other hand, have assumed an

they have been multiplied until they

481. Choir,

St.

Sebald, Nuremberg.

1361-72

HALL CHURCHES.
Gothic

Such churches

kirche.

height
(see

Far more characteristic of

German

the development of the hall church, or Iltilltu-

is

are

with

aisles

familiar to us from

and nave of the same

Romanesque

architecture

415). Lor reasons not yet well understood, the type

fig.

found particular favor on German soil, where its artistic poswere very fully explored. The large hall choir added

sihilities

1361-72

to the church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg fig.

one of many fine examples from central Germany.
The space here has a fluidity and expansiveness that enfold
us as if we were standing under a huge canopy; there is no
pressure, no directional command to prescribe our path.
And the unbroken lines of the pillars, formed by bundles of
shafts which gradually diverge as they turn into ribs, seem

in

481

to

is

echo the continuous movement that we

feel in the

space

itself

Italy
Italian

Gothic architecture stands apart from that of the rest

Judged by the formal criteria of the Ile-de-

of Europe.

France, most of

it hardly deserves to be called Gothic at all.

produced structures of singular beauty and impreseness that cannot be understood as mere continuations of

Yet
si\

it

Romanesque.

the local

We must

be careful, therefore,

to

avoid too rigid or technical a standard in approaching these

monuments,

we

lest

fail

to

do justice

to their

unique blend of
It was the Cis-

Gothic qualities and Mediterranean tradition.

tercians, rather than the cathedral builders of the Ile-de-

Lrance.

who

provided the chief exemplars on which Italian

482. Nave and choir. Abbey Church of Fossanova.

Consecrated 1208

architects based their conception of the Gothic style. As ear-

end of the twelfth century. Cistercian abbeys

and central Italy, their designs patterned directlv alter those of the French abbeys of the order.
ly

as the

sprang up

in both north

ABBLY CHURCH. FOSSANOVA. One

ings, at Lossanova,

some

consecrated in 1208

(figs.

its

location,

on

map

of the finest build-

Rome, was
482 and 483). Without knowing
we would be hard put to decide where to place it
it might as well be Burgundian or English; the
sixty miles south of

plan looks like a simplified version of Salisbury, and the

finely proportioned interior bears a strong family

blance

to all

resem-

Cistercian abbeys of the time. There are no

cade towers, only

a lantern

fa-

over the crossing, as befits the

The groined vaults, although

based on the pointed arch, have no diagonal ribs, the win-

Cistercian ideal of austerity.

dows

.ire

deal of

small,

and the architectural

Romanesque

solidity,

unmistakably Gothic.
Churches such as the one

detail retains a

good

but the flavor of the whole

lossanova made

at

is

deep im-

pression upon the Franciscans, the monastic order founded

In St. Francis of Assisi in the early thirteenth

mendicant
ity,

friars

century

\s

48:-!

Abbe)

Plan

Chun

ol

ol

the

Fossanova

dedicated to poverty, simplicity, and humil-

they were the spiritual

km

of

St.

Bernard, and the severe

beauty of Cistercian Gothic must have seemed to them to

express an ideal closelv related to theirs. Be that .is it may,
their churches from the first reflected Cistercian influence
and thus played a leading role in establishing Gothic archi-

tecture in Italy

(.OIHH

Mil

484. Nave and choir,

Sta. Croce, Florence.

Begun

c.

1295

485. Plan of Sta. Croce

CROCE, FLORENCE.

STA.

Sta.

aboul a century after Fossanova,

Croce

may

in Florence,

begun

well claim to be the

484 and 485); it is

also a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, even though it has
wooden ceilings instead of groined vaults. There can be no
greatest of all Franciscan structures (figs,

was a matter of deliberate choice, rather than

economic necessity a choice made not only
on the basis of local practice (we recall the wooden ceilings
or the
uscan Romanesque) but also perhaps from a desire
to evoke the simplicity of Early Christian basilicas and in

doubt that
dl te<

iii

this

aJ

or

doing so

to link

Franciscan poverty with the traditions of

the earl) Church.

(

tract

of the

The

plan, too,

liiisiian features.

Earl)

<

We

combines Cistercian and

shows no

note, however, that

lothic structural system,

COTHH Mil

except

it

for the groin-

vaulted choir; the walls remain intact as continuous surfaces (indeed, Sta. Croce owes part of its fame to its
in contrast to Fossanova, there are
no longer any buttresses, since the wooden ceilings do not
require them.
Why, then, do we speak of Sta. Croce as Gothic? Surely

wonderful murals) and,

the use of the pointed arch

is

not sufficient to justify the

term 7 A glance at the interior will dispel our misgivings.

For we sense immediately that this space creates an effect
fundamentally different from that of either Early Christian
or Romanesque architecture. The nave walls have the
weighdess, "transparent" quality we saw in northern Gothic
churches, and the dramatic massing of windows

cm

end conveys the dominant

at

the east-

role of light as forcefully as

486. Florence Cathedral

(S.

Maria del Fiore).

Begun by ARNOLFO DF CAMBIO. 1296;

dome by FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, 420-36
1

Abbot Suger's choir at

tional impact. Sta.

St. -Denis.

Croce

is

Judged

in

terms

profoundly Franciscan and Florentine in the

tal

means

simplicity of the

oJ its

Gothic beyond doubt;

In

which

this

emoalso

is

it

monumen-

impact has been

achieved.

FLORENCE CATHEDRAL.

Croce the architect's

If in Sta.

m. nn concern was an impressive

interioi

lorenci

was planned .is a monumental landmark to

towering above the entire city (figs 186 and 1ST

dral

nal design, h\ the

Sta
487.

Plat) of

Florence Cathedral

s(

ulptor Vrnolfo di

Iroce

known

not

is

in detail,

smaller than the present building,

same hasK

plan

based large!) on
over around
[agonal

mately

dome
<>l

late

'>

13.

tion

probabl)

design h\ Francesco

with

it

Roman

subsidiary
origin

hall

see figs

pride

rheorigi

was begun

at

showed the
howevei

it

who

lalenti,

he most striking feature

its

athe-

although somewh.it

he building as we know

ivi<

amino. whi< h dates

about the same time construe

from 1296

is

domes

the great
.i

motil

266 267 and

<.oiiih

\i:i

is

took
oi

ulti'>_!_!

488. Nave and choir, Florence Cathedra]

24 It may have been thought of at first as an oversize dome

above the crossing of nave and transept, but it soon grew
into a huge central pool of space that makes the nave look
).

an afterthought. The basic characteristics of the dome

were set by a committee of leading painters and sculptors in

like

1367; the actual construction, however, belongs to the early

fifteenth century (see

page 455).

Apart from the windows and the doorways, there is nothing Gothic about the exterior of Florence Cathedral (flying
buttresses to sustain the nave vault
but proved unnecessary).

The

may have been planned

solid walls,

encrusted with

geometric marble inlays, are a perfect match

The

for the

Roman-

on the other
hand, recalls Sta. C'roce, even though the dominant impression is one of chill solemnity rather than lightness and
grace. The ribbed groined vault of the nave rests directly on
the huge nave arcade, producing an emphasis on width instead of height, and the architectural detail throughout has

esque Baptistery (see

massive
188).

fig,

the spirit

solidity that

431).

fig.

interior,

seems more Romanesque than Gothic

Thus, the unvaulted interior of Sta. C'roce reflects

of the new style more faithfully than does the Ca-

thedral, which,

on the basis of its structural system, ought

to

be the more Gothic of the two.

I

ypically

enough,

facade

towers

the

churches.

It

a separate

familiar

campanile takes the place of

to

was begun by the

us

in

northern

Gothic

great painter Giotto,

who

and continued by the

si ulptor Andrea Pisano, son of Nicola Pisano(see page 386),
who was responsible for the niche /one. The rest represents

managed

tbe work
I

to finish

ol

only the

lalenti,

first story,

who completed

be west facade so dramatic

drals

never

)74'GOTHU

a<

hieved the

Mil

it

design

by about 1360.

a feature in

same importance

It

for

Museo

French cathe-

in Italy.

489.

is re-

BERNARDINO POCCETTI
of ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO'S

Drawing

the facade of Florence Cathedral,

dell'Opera di

S.

c.

1587.

Maria del Fiore, Florence

markable how few Italian Gothic facades were ever earned

to completion before the onset of the Renaissance, Chose ol
Sta.

Croce and Florence Cathedral both date from the nine-

teenth century. Fortunately. Arnolfo's design for the latter

preserved
fore

in

a drawing

made

by Bernardino Poccetti just be-

being demolished in 1587

half of the decorations

is

is

(fig.

shown

489). Only the bottom

in detail,

but

it

provides us

dispute between the

loi al architet is and consulting experts

from France and Germany Only the apse begun first i<

tains the original flavoi of the building whi< h belongs to the

Flamboyant phase ol Gothii architecture fig 190

Otherwise the decoration strikes us as an oveilv elaborate
piling up ol detail applied in mechanical fashion ovei the
late.

centuries without an)

iiiutv

SECULAR

ol

feeling

with a clear idea of what an Italian Gothic facade would have

looked

like,

though

devised an ornate

is

it

not without Liter alterations. Arnollo

scheme

of pilasters and niches with sculp-

which was further embelmust have been a

dazzling fusion of sculpture and architecture, classical severity' and Gothic splendor.
tures to articulate the surface,
lished by mosaics.

The

over-all effect

Gothic

There

\l((

lllll

hah convey
is

nothing

II

Ihe secular buildings

111

as distinct

,i

in the cities ol

the impressive grimness

ol

local flavor as

ol

thechun his

northern Europe

the Palazzo Vecchio

to

mat< h

fig

I'M

the town hall of Florence. Fortresslike stuntuics such as

tins reflect the factional strife among political parties so

and prominent families SO charac teristic ol life

ihe wealthy man's home oi
term denoting any large urban house) was quite

cial classes,

MILAN CATHFDRAL. Work

often continued for

hundreds

on

Italian

of years.

Gothic churches

Such was the case

withm

the Italian city-states,

palazzo, a

with Milan Cathedral, by far the largest Gothic church on

literally his castle,

designed both

one most nearly comparable to

Northern structures. Begun in 1386, it was completed only

and

Ihe Palazzo Vecand more elaborate, follows the same pat-

Italian soil as well as the

in

1910.

Its

structural design

was the subject

of a

famous

490. Milan Cathedral

to

chio. while larger

tern.

apse)

to

w ithsland armed assault

proclaim the owner's import. nice

Behind

Begun

its

battlemented walls, the

citv

government

>

l.OIHH

Mil

could

The

feel well

tall

protected from the wrath of angry crowds.

tower not only symbolizes civic pride but has an

eminently practical purpose; dominating the

the surrounding countryside,

it

city as well as

served as a lookout against

enemies from without or within.

Among

Italian cities

Venice alone was ruled by a mer-

chant aristocracy so firmly established that internal disturbances were the exception rather than the rule. As a

consequence, Venetian palazzi, unhampered by defensive

requirements, developed into graceful, ornate structures

such as the Ca' d'Oro

(fig.

492). There

is

more than a touch

of the Orient in the delicate latticework effect of this facade,

even though most of the decorative vocabulary derives from

the Late Gothic of northern Europe. Its rippling patterns,
ideally designed to be seen against their own reflection in
the water of the Grand Canal, have the

we

ity

from the exterior of

recall

St.

same

fairy-tale qual-

Mark's (see

fig.

350).

SCULPTURE
France
Although Abbot Suger's story of the rebuilding of
does not deal

at

St.

-Denis

length with the sculptural decoration of the

church, he must have attached considerable importance

to

fagade were far larger

The three portals of his west

and more richly carved than those of

Norman Romanesque

churches. Unhappily, their condition

this aspect of the enterprise.

491. Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Begun 1298

today

is

so poor that they do not

tell

us a great deal about

Suger's ideas of the role of sculpture within the total context

of the structure

C^JWffh

'''^ ff

^^fotn

**:

he had envisioned.

CHARTRES CATHEDRAL, WEST PORTALS. We may

assume, however, that Suger's ideas had prepared the way
for

the admirable west portals of Chartres Cathedral

(fig.

begun about 1145 under the influence of St. -Denis,

but even more ambitious. They probably represent the oldest full-fledged example of Early Gothic sculpture. Comparing them with Romanesque portals, we are impressed first
of all with a new sense of order, as if all the figures had sud493),

come

denly

to attention,

conscious of their responsibility

to

The dense crowding and the

movement of Romanesque sculpture have given way

the architectural framework.

frantic
to

an emphasis on symmetry and clarity; the figures on the

and tympanums are no longer entangled

lintels, archivolts,

with each other but stand out as separate entities, so that the
entire design carries much farther than that of previous
portals.

Particularly striking in this respect

of the
492. Cad'Oro, Venice. 1422-c. 1440

jambs

tached

to

(fig.

494),

which are

is

the novel treatment

lined with

tall

figures at-

columns. Similarly elongated figures, we

recall,

had occurred on the jambs ottrumeaux of Romanesque portals (see figs. 433 and 439), but they had been conceived as
reliefs

carved into

or protruding from the masonry of the

doorway. The Chartres

tially

least,

',?(,'

(iOIIIK

\m

jamb

figures, in contrast, are essen-

each with its own axis; they could, in theory at

be detached from their supports. Here, then, we wit-

statues,

493. West portal, Chartres Cathedral,

ness a development of truly revolutionary importance; the

first

basic step toward the reconquest of monumental sculp-

round since the end of classical antiquity. Apparcould be taken only by "borrowing" the rigid
cylindrical shape of the column for the human figure, with

with the theology

the result that these statues

Romanesque

seem more

abstract than their

predecessors. Yet they will not regain their im-

mobility and unnatural proportions lor long; the very fact

that they are

round endows them with

presence than anything

heads show
damentally

Realism

gende,

realistic
is,

in

more emphatic
Romanesque sculpture, and their

human

quality that betokens the fun-

trend of Gothic sculpture.

of course, a relative term

whose meaning

var-

gready according to circumstances. On the Chartres

west portals, it appears to spring from a reaction against the
ies

and demoniacal aspects of Romanesque art. reaction that may be seen not only in the calm, solemn spun oi
the figures and their increased physical bulk (compare the

fantasic

.1

Christ of the center

437) but

tympanum

with that

at

Vezelay,

fig.

the rational discipline of the symbolic program

underlying the entire scheme While die subtler aspects of

this program are accessible only to a mind full) conversant

the Chartres Cathedral School,

ol

its

mam

all

three

elements can be readily understood

fhe iamb statues,

ture in the

ently, this step

1145-70

c.

continuous sequence linking

portals, represent the prophets, kings,

ble; their

purpose

is

both

to

and queens

ol

the Bi-

acclaim the rulers of France as

the spiritual descendants of Old Testament rovaltv and to

harmony of secular and spiritual rule, of priests

and kmys an ideal insistend) put forward by
Abbot Suger Christ Himself appears enthroned above the
main doorway as Judge and Ruler of the Universe, flanked
stress the

or bishops

bv the sv mbols ol the lour evangelists, with the aposdes assembled below and the twentv-lour elders ol the \poc alvpse
in the archivolts. The right-hand tympanum shows His inthe Birth, the Presentation in the Temple, and
carnation
the Infant Christ on the lap ol the Virgin v\ ho also stands foi

the

Church I while

tions

in

the archivolts

and representatives

paying homage

to

hand tympanum,
Christ, the (bust

ol

ol

the

see the persomlic

wisdom of
we see die

W ension,

Christ

In the left-

timeless

Heavenly

trained bv the

si<_mis ol

the zodiac and then earthly counterparts, the labors

twelve months

the ever-repeating evile

a-

human wisdom

the liberal arts:

the divine
finally,

we

ol

o|

the

the yeai

comic

Mil

<77

By now, the symbiosis or statue and column has begun

columns are quite literally put in the shade
by the greater width of the figures, by the strongly projecting canopies above, and by the elaborately carved bases of
ture.

to dissolve: the

the statues.

on the right, we still find echoes of the

shape of Early Gothic jamb statues, but
even here the heads are no longer strictly in line with the
central axis of the body; and St. Theodore, the knight on the
In the three saints

rigid cylindrical

left,

already stands at ease, in a semblance of classical con-

trapposto. His feet rest on a horizontal platform, rather than

on a sloping shelf as before, and the axis of his body, instead

of being straight, describes a slight but perceptible S-curve.

Even more astonishing

is

the abundance of precisely ob-

the weapons,
mail and, above

served detail

chain
body.

all,

the texture of the tunic and

the organic structure of the

Roman

Not since imperial

times have

as thoroughly alive as this. Yet the

of the statue

is

not

anced image of

its

realism;

man which

it

we seen

a figure

most impressive quality

is,

rather, the serene, bal-

this realism conveys. In this

ideal portrait of the Christian Soldier, the spirit of the cru-

sades has been cast into

The
rectly

style of the St.

Jamb

most elevated form.

It

incorporates another, equally important tradition:

statues, west portal. Chartres Cathedral

GOTHIC CLASSICISM. When

Chartres Cathedral was

re-

built after the fire of 1195, the so-called Royal Portals of the

west

facade

fashioned

must

for that reason, the

large
I

Ik

in

and

have seemed

small
edifice.

and oldPerhaps

preceded by deep pore

lies

such as the group shown

represent an early phase of High (Jot hie sculp-

jamb statues of these

378'COTHK

new

two transept facades each received three

lavishly carved portals

figure IT),

rather

relation to the rest of the

\KI

portals,

di-

from the elongated columnar statues of Chartres' west

facade.

494.

its

Theodore could not have evolved

495.

Jamb

statues, south transept portal,

Chartres Cathedral,

c.

1215-20

Mcuse

which we traced in the

to Nicholas of Verdun
(compare figs. 441. 448. and 449). At the end of the twelfth
century this trend, hitherto confined to metalwork and minthe classicism of the

valley,

previous chapter from Renier of

iatures,
well,

began

to

appear

transforming

Gothic.

The

it

Huy

monumental stone sculpture

in

from Early Gothic

link with Nicholas of

Classic

to

Verdun

is

496.

DEATH OF THE VIRGIN, tympanum

the

of

south transept portaf. Strashourg Cathedraf.

c.

1220

as

High

striking in the

Death of the Virgin (fig. 496), a tympanum from Strasbourg

Cathedral contemporary with the Chartres transept portals;
here the draperies, the facial types, and the movements and
gestures have a classical flavor that immediately recalls the

Klosterneuburg Altar

What marks
other hand,
tire

scene.

figures,

an

is

We

it

449).

(fi^.

as Gothic rather than

the deeply

felt

sense a bond of shared emotion

ability to

has classical roots

among

the

communicate by glance and gesture

such as we have never met

too,

Romanesque, on the

tenderness pervading the en-

before.

we recall

its

This quality of pathos,

entering into Christian

in Byzantium (see fig.

how much warmer and more eloquent it is at
Strasbourg than at Daphne!
The climax of Gothic classicism is reached in some ol the
statues at Reims Cathedral, the most famous among them

art

during the Second Golden Age

355). But

being the Visitation group

jamb

fig.

497, right

lb

I.

have a pan

ol

figures enact a narrative scene such as this would

have been unthinkable

in Early

Gothic sculpture; the

fact

can do so now shows how far the sustaining column has receded into the background. Characteristicall)
enough, the S-curve, much more conspicuous than in the
that they

St.

Theodore, dominates the side view

view,

.is

and the physical hulk of the bod)

sized In horizontal folds pulled across the

well as the front

further emphaabdomen The re-

is

497. ANNUNCIATION and VISITATION, wist

Reims

athedral

1225

portal.

15

(,<)IUH

Mil

498.

MELCHIZEDEK AND ABRAHAM,

interior west wall,

Reims Cathedral. After 1251

two women shows the same human

warmth and sympathy we found in the Strasbourg tympanum, but their classicism is of a far more monumental

lationship of the

kind; they remind us so forcibly of ancient Roman matrons

(compare fig. 286) that we wonder if the artist could have
been inspired directly by large-scale Roman sculpture. The

influence of Nicholas of Verdun alone could hardly have

produced such firmly rounded,

The

solid

volumes.

program for Reims Cathecall upon the services of mas-

vast scale of the sculptural

had made it necessary to

and workshops from various other building sites, and so
we encounter several distinct styles among the Reims sculpdral
ters

ture.

Two of these

styles,

both clearly different from the clas-

sicism of the Visitation, appear

(fig.

197. left).

The

the Annunciation group

Virgin exhibits a severe manner, with a

body axis and straight, tubular folds meeting

sharp angles, a style probably invented about 1220 by the

rigidly vertical
at

sculptors of the west portals of Not re- Dame in Paris; from

there it traveled to Reims as well as Amiens (see fig. 500,

above

I.

note the
ic

conspicuously graceful: we
round lace framed by curly locks, the emphat-

flic angel, in contrast, is

tiny,

smile, the strong S-curv e of the slender body, the ample,

accented drapery. Ibis "elegant style," created

around 1240 by Parisian masters working for the royal court,
was lo spread far and wide during the following decades; it
richly

soon became,
sc

ulpture.

We

in

lad. the standard formula lor High Gothic

shall leel

lis

effect for

many

years to come, not

only in France hut abroad.

characteristic instance of the "elegant Style"

499.
is

the line

group of Melchizedek and Abraham, carved shortly alter the

middle ol (he century lor the interior west wall of Reims Ca-

380 'GOTHIC \HI

THE VIRCIN OF

PARIS. Early 14th century. Stone.

Notre- Dame, Paris

500. SIGNS

thedral

(tig.

knight,

still

OF THE ZODIAC and LABORS OF THE MONTHS

498).

Abraham,

in the

costume of

iJULY.

a medieval

recalls the vigorous realism of the St.

Theodore

Chartres; Melchizedek, however; shows clearly his de-

at

scent from the angel of the Reims Annunciation

his hair

and beard are even more elaborately curled, the draperies

more lavishly ample, so that the body almost disappears
among the rich play of folds. The deep recesses and sharply
projecting ridges betray a new awareness of effects of light
and shadow that seem more pictorial than sculptural; the
same may be said of the way the figures are placed in their
cavernous niches.

half century later every trace of classicism has disap-

human

figure itself

now

becomes strangely abstract. Thus the famous Virata oj'Parts (fig. 499) in Notre-Dame Cathedral consists largely of hollows, the projections basing been reduced to the point
where they are seen as lines rather than volumes. The statis

quite literally disembodied

>,

west facade. Amiens Cathedral.

the realism of Early and classic

spite the fact that the

new

why

1220-30

ligh Gothic sculptures. De-

style

was backed by the

court and thus had special authority,

plain

C.

we

find

it

hard

royal
to ex-

attenuated elegance and calligraphic, smoothly

flowing lines

came

dominate Gothic

to

ern Europe from about 1250

to

art

1400.

It

throughout northis

neverthe-

clear,

The Virgin of Paris represents neither a return to

the Romanesque nor a complete repudiation of the earlier

less, that

realistic trend.

Gothic realism had never been of the all-embrac ing sysit had been a "realism of particulars," locused
on specific details rather than on the over-all structure of the
visible world. Its most characteristic products are not the

tematic sort;

peared from Gothic sculpture. The

ue

AUGUST, SEPTEMBER

its

swaying stance no

classically oriented

iamb statues and tympanum composi-

tions of the early thirteenth century, but small-scale carv-

ings such as the Labors oj the

Months

on the facade of Amiens Cathedral

lightful observation of

everyday

(fig.

life

in quatreloil

frames

500), with their de-

Ibis intimate kind

of

longer bears any relationship to the classical contrapposto.

realism survives even within the abstract formal framework

to such unearthly grace, the angel of the Reims

Annunciation seems solid and tangible indeed, vet it con-

of

tains the seed of the very qualities so strikingly expressed in

ing the beholder, but as a thoroughly

Compared

The Virgin of Pans.

When we look back over the century and a halt that separates The Virgin of Paris from the Chartres west portals, we
cannot help wondering what brought about tins retreat from

The Virgin

oj

Pans, we see a

who

in the Infant Christ,

appears here not as the Sav iour-in-mini.ilure austerel)

with his mother's

veil

Our

human

statue thus retains an emotional

appeal thai links u to die Strasbourg Death

to

the Reims Visitation.

sicism

.is

such, that

is

It

fai

child playing

is

oj tin

Virgin and

this appeal, not realism or

the essence

ol

Cotbic

las-

ail

<.()////(

Mil

181

England
rhe spread of Gothic sculpture beyond the borders of

France began only toward 1200

the style of the Chartres

but, once under

west portals had hardly any echoes abroad

way,

it

may

proceeded

an astonishingly rapid pace. England

at

well have led the way, as

its own vermuch English

did in evolving

it

sion of Gothic architecture. Unfortunately, so

Gothic sculpture was destroyed during the Reformation that

we can study

development only with difficulty. Our

which did not arouse the

its

richest materials are the tombs,

iconoclastic zeal oi anti-Catholics.

trated by the splendid

example

They include a

type, illus-

in figure 501, that

deceased, not in quiet repose as does the vast

has no

shows the
majority of me-

counterpart on the other side of the Channel:

it

dieval tombs, but in violent action, a fallen hero, fighting to

the last breath. According to an old tradition, these dramatic

figures,

whose agony so oddly

224). honor the

fig.

memory

struggle for the Holy Land.

Christian Soldiers,

help

to

account

cany

for their

recalls the

If so,

who

died in the

they would, as the tombs of

meaning

a religious

that

might

compelling expressive power. In

any event, they are among the

lish

Dying Gaul (see

of crusaders

finest

achievements of Eng-

Gothic sculpture.

Germany
In Germany, the growth of Gothic sculpture can be traced

more

easily.

From

the 1220s on,

the sculptural workshops

transplanted the

man

new

of

German masters

trained in

the great French cathedrals

homeland, although Gerstill predominantly Ro-

style to their

502. CRUCIFIXION, on the choir screen,

was

architecture at that time

Naumburg

Cathedral,

1240-50. Stone

c.

manesque. However, even after the middle of the century,

Germany failed to emulate the vast statuary cycles of
France. As a consequence, German Gothic sculpture tended
to

be less closely linked with

its

architectural setting (the

work was often done for the interiors rather than the
exteriors of churches and this, in turn, permitted it to develop an individuality and expressive freedom greater than that
of its French models.
finest

ries of statues

Naumburg

All

ingly evident in the style of the

Naumburg

of real genius

these qualities are strik-

whose best-known work

is

Master, an artist

the magnificent se-

relief's

he carved, about 1240-1250,

The

Crucifixion

(fig.

for

502) forms the

central feature of the choir screen; enclosed by a deep, ga-

bled porch, the three figures frame the opening that links

the nave with the sanctuary. Placing the group as he did

(

THE NAUMBURG MASTER.

and

Cathedral.

rather than above the screen, in accordance with the usual

practice),
to

our sculptor has brought the sacred subject down

earth both physically and emotionally: the suffering of

Christ

becomes

the weight and

human

volume

reality

because of the emphasis on

of the Saviour's body,

and Mary and

John, pleading with the beholder, convey their grief more

eloquently than ever before.

The pathos of these figures

is

heroic and dramatic, as

against the lyricism of the Strasbourg

Reims

Visitation.

If

tympanum

or the

the Classic High Gothic sculpture of

France evokes comparison with Phidias, the Naumburg

Master might be termed the temperamental kin of Scopas
(sec pages

191-92).

The same

intensity of feeling domi-

nates the Passion scenes, such as The Kiss of Judas (fig.

503), with its unforgettable contrast between the meekness
of Christ

and the

violent,

sword-wielding

St.

Peter, finally

there are, attached to the responds inside the choir, the stat)i)l

Idinl) oi a

knight,

c.

1260, Stone

Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire

182

-col

IK

Mil

ues of nobles associated with the founding of the cathedral,

among them

the famous pair

Ekkehard and Uta

(fig.

504).

Although these

men and women were

not ol the artist's OW n

knew them onl\ as names in
hronii le
he has given each ol them a personality as distin< use and
forceful as if he had portrayed them Iron hie rhey make an
time, so that he

.1

instructive contrast with the St. Theodore

fig.

THE
so

at

far,

PIETA.

lot

art

we have come

hie sculpture, as

reflects a desire to

Christian

endow

see

new kind

devotion; a

know

it

ol

with an ever greater emotional appeal. Toward

\

gave

rise to

of religious imagery, designed to serve private

is

often referred to b>

dachtsbild, suite

opment.

to

the traditional themes

the end of the thirteenth century, this tendenc

a

Chartres

495

Germany

played

.1

the

German term An-

leading part in us devel-

The most characteristic and widespread type of

I'ictci (an Italian word derived from

Andachtsbild was the

the Latin pietas, the root word for hoth "pity" and "piet>

"

representation of the Virgin grieving over the dead Christ

No such scene occurs

in the scriptural

account of the Pas-

THE KISS Uh' JUDAS, on the choir screen.

Naumburs Cathedral, c. 1240-50. Stone

503.

505 in
504.

EKKEHARD IND

/i.e.

1240-50 Stone Naumburg Cathedral

Wood, height 34

87.5

,nl\

14th centurj

cm) Provinzialmuseum Bonn

(.oihh

w,\

506.

sion;

it

was invented, rather

when as a tragic
Madonna and Child.

or

CLAUS SLUTER.

Portal of the Chartreuse

we do not know exactly where

counterpart to the familiar motif of the

period as The Virgin of Paris; like most such groups, it is

carved of wood, with a vividly painted surface to enhance its

become purely

impact. Realism here has

sion

the

Claus

a vehicle of expres-

agonized faces; the blood-encrusted wounds of

Sluter, a sculptor of

the duke of

Burgundy

Champmol

de

The Pwtci reproduced in figure 505 dates from the same

de Champmol, Dijon. 1385-93. Stone

the

(fig.

monumental

Netherlandish origin working

at Dijon.

506),

The

for

portal of the Chartreuse

which he did

in

1385-93,

recalls

statuary on thirteenth-century cathedral

have grown so large and expansive

overpower their architectural framework.

portals, but the figures

that they almost

This effect

due not only

is

and the bold three-

to their size

dimensionality of the carving, but also to the fact that the

Christ that are enlarged and elaborated to an almost gro-

jamb

his wife,

accompa-

tesque degree; and the bodies and limbs, puppetlike in their

nied by their patron saints) are turned toward the

Madonna

thinness and

rigidity.

The purpose

of the work, clearly,

is

to

arouse so overwhelming a sense of horror and pity that the.

beholder

will identify his

of the Krief-stricken

own

feelings completely with those

Mother of God.
would seem

At a glance, our Pietd

mon

flavor of

century
find

Northern European

to the

is

art

have

little

newed impulse

in
to

Philip the Bold

on the trumeau, so that the

in

com-

five figures

we again

Champmol

portal did not

for a revival of architectural sculpture;

it

re-

isolated effort.

Sinter's other

works belong

for lack of a better

term

which
church furniture

to a different category,

we must

label

combining large-scale sculpThe most impressive of these is The Moses Well at the Chartreuse de
Champmol fig. 507), a symbolic well surrounded by statues
of Moses and other Old Testament prophets and once surmounted by a crucifix. The majestic Moses epitomizes the
(tombs, pulpits, and the

explore tangible reality

In both

Reims. Significantly enough, the

mained an

re-

Naumburg.

perimposed however skillfully on the shape of the doorway, not developed from it as at Chartres, Notre-Dame, or

from the

weight and volume, coupled with a

form a single, coher-

instances, the sculptural composition has simply been su-

pave the way

late thirteenth

and

ent unit, like the Crucifixion group at

the characteristic period

mid-fourteenth. Only after 1350 do

an interest

(Duke

to

with The Virgin of Paris. Yet they both share a lean,

"deflated" quality of form that

statues

like),

ture with a small-scale architectural setting.

The

International Style in the North

SLUTER, The climax of this new trend came around 1400,

during the period of the so-called International Style (see
pages 338-39 and 404-1

:',H4

-GOTHIC Mil

1 ),

and

its

greatest exponent

was

same
ly

qualities

we

find in Sluter's portal statues; soft, lavish-

draped garments envelop the heavy-set body

like

an am-

507.

CLAUS SLUTER. THE

height of figures

6'

c.

1.8

MOSES WELL 1395-1406. Stone,

Champmol. Dijon

m). Chartreuse de

seem to reach out into the

surrounding space, determined to capture as much of it as
possible note the outward cunt- of the scroll
pie shell, the swelling forms

).

hi the Isaiah, facing left in

of

our

rather,

artist's style
is

our

are less pronounced:

what

strikes us

the precise and masterful realism of every detail.

from the minutiae of the costume

kled skin.

illustration, these aspects

The

head, unlike

ualuv of a portrait. Nor

th.it

this

is

to

the texture

of Moses, has

ol

all

the wrin-

the indiv

impression deceiving,

id-

for the

Italy

We

have

last,

left a

lor here.

discussion of Italian Gothic sculpture

too.

as in Gothic architecture. Itah

apart from the rest of Europe. The earliest

inline

to

the

stands

sculpture

was proluhh produced in the extreme south,

in \pulia and Sicily, the domain of the German Emperor
Frederick II. who employed Frenchmen and Germans along
with native artists at Ins court Of the works he sponsored

on

Italian soil

sculptural development that culminated in Clans Sinter had

little

produced, from about 1350 on, the

vored a strongly classic style derived from the sculpture

first

since late Antiquity.

And

splendid examples

the heads of the

in

the Chartreuse portal.

and

It

is

genuine

Sluter himself has

this

left

portraits

us two

duke and due hess on

attachment

to

the tangible

specific that distinguishes his realism from that of the

thirteenth century.

has survived, hut there

is

evidence that his taste

fa-

of

the Chartres transept portals and the Visitation uroup at

Reims. This style not onlj provided a fittmu visual language

lei
il

a ruler

who

saw himseli as the heir of the Caesars of old;

also blended easih with the classical tendenc ies

Italian

Romanesque sculpture see above, page

(.aillH

\l<l

185

NICOLA PISANO.

508.

Pulpit.

509. NATIVITY, detail of the

1259-60. Marble

NICOLA PISANO. Such was

the background of Nicola Pisano, who came to Tuscany from southern Italy about 1250
(the year of Frederick IPs death). In 1260 he completed the

marble pulpit in the Baptistery of Pisa Cathedral (fig. 508).

His work has been well defined as that of "the greatest and
of medieval classicists." In the Pisa Bapin a sense the last
tistery pulpit the classical flavor is indeed so strong, whether
we look at the architectural framework or at the sculptured

parts, that the

Gothic elements are hard

we do

glance. But

find

such

NICOLA PISANO,

Pulpit by

height 15' (4.6 m). Baptistery, Pisa

to detect at first

elements in the design of the

sculptor, did a

marble pulpit

cludes a Nativity
things in

for Pisa Cathedral.

It,

too, in-

510). Both panels have a good

(fig.

common,

Baptistery, Pisa

we might

as

many

well expect, yet they also

sharp and instructive contrast. Giovanni's slenswaying figures, with their smoothly flowing draperies,
recall neither classical Antiquity nor the Visitation group at
offer a

der,

Reims; instead, they reflect the elegant style of the royal

become the standard Gothic formula

court at Paris that had

during the
there has

later thirteenth century.

come about

new

And with

treatment of

this

relief: to

as important as plastic form.

The

change

Giovanni

figures are

arches, in the shape of the capitals, and in the standing

Pisano, space

figures at the corners (which look like small-scale descen-

no longer tightly packed together; they are now spaced far

enough apart to let us see the landscape setting that contains them, and each figure has been allotted its own pocket

dants of the jamb statues on French Gothic cathedrals).

More striking, perhaps, is the Gothic quality of human

such as the Nativity

on the other hand,
(fig.
has no counterpart in northern Gothic sculpture (aside from
the Nativity the panel also shows the Annunciation and the
Feeling in the reliefs of narrative scenes

509). The dense crowding

oi figures,

shepherds

in the fields receiving the glad tidings of the birth

of Christ

Ibis treatment of the relief as a shallow box filled

).

almost to the bursting point with solid, convex shapes

tells

us that Nicola Pisano must have been thoroughly familiar

with

Roman

sarcophagi (compare

fig.

of space. If Nicola's Nativity strikes us as essentially a se-

quence of bulging, rounded masses, Giovanni's appears to

be made up mainly of cavities and shadows.
Giovanni Pisano, then, seems to follow the same trend toward "disembodiment" that we encountered north of the
Alps around 1300. He does so, however, only within limits.
Compared to The Virgin of Paris, his Madonna at Prato Cathedral (figs. 511 and 512) immediately evokes memories of*
Nicola's style.

329).

ing

GIOVANNI PISANO. Haifa

vanni

<

245/50-aftei

;h<>-<;<>iiik

\i;i

century later Nicola's son Gio-

1314),

who was an

is

equally gifted

is

The three-dimensional firmness

of the model-

further emphasized by the strong turn of the head and

the thrust-out
folds that

left

hip;

we

also note the heavy, buttresslike

anchor the figure

to its base. Yet

there can be no

510. (left)

GIOVANNI PISANO

(l.-t.ul ol

pulpil

$02

10

////

NATIvm

Marble

Pisa Cathedral

l^LPSmiQbHPiSIPT^NPi^sni
fi

511. 512.

CIOVANNI PISANO MADONNA

c.

1315.

Marble, height 11" (68.7 cm). Prato Cathedral

doubt that the Prato statue derives from a French prototype

which must have been rather like The Virgin of Paris. (The

back view, with

its

suggestion of "Gothic sway," reveals the

connection more clearly than the front view.

CHURCH

FACADES. The

churches, we

will recall,

do not

facades
rival

of

Italian

Gothic

those of the French ca-

thedrals as local points of architectural and sculptural endeavor. The

French Gothic

portal, with its jamb statues and

tympanum, never found favor in the south. Inwe often find a survival of Romanesque traditions of

richly carved
stead,

architectural sculpture, such as statues in niches or small-

compare fig. 440

Lorenzo Maitam (before 12701330) covered the wide pilasters between the portals with
relief carvings of such lacelike delicacy that we become
aware of them only if we see them at close range. The torscale reliefs overlaying the wall surfaces

At

1.

Orvieto Cathedral.

damned from The Last Judgment on the south513) make an instructive comparison
similar scenes
Romanesque art (such as fig, 436):

tures of the

ernmost
with

pilaster (fig.

it

the hellish monsters are as vicious as ever, hut the sinners

now evoke compassion rather than sheer horror. Even here,

we feel the spirit of human sympathy that distinguishes the Gothic from the Romanesque.

then,

TOMBS.

Gothic sculpture tailed to emulate the

programs of northern Europe, it excelled 111
the held which we have called church furniture, such as
II

Italian

Vast sculptural

513

LORENZO MAITAN1

rHE LAST judgmeni

from the facade of Orvieto Cathedral

detail

1320

(,<>llll<

\i;i

187

514.

EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF CAN GRANDE DELLA SCALA,

from his tomb. 1330. Stone. Museo

pulpits, screens, shrines,

most remarkable perhaps

and tombs. Among the

is

monument of
A tall structure

the

della Scala, the lord of Verona.

latter,

it

Alps, not only in architecture (see Milan Cathedral,

Can Grande

490), but in sculpture as well.

built out-of-

screen of

doors next to the church of Sta. Maria Antica (and

the courtyard of the Castelvecchio),

the

now

in

consists of a vaulted

canopy housing the sarcophagus and surmounted by a truncated pyramid which in turn supports an equestrian statue
of the deceased (fig. 514). The ruler, astride his richly caparisoned mount, is shown in full armor, sword in hand, as if
he were standing on a windswept hill at the head of his
troops; and, in a supreme display of self-confidence, he
wears a broad grin. Clearly, this is no Christian Soldier, no
crusading knight, no embodiment of the ideals of chivalry,

western Europe about 1400

GHIBERT1. The
ian sculpture

1455),

who

French

art.

to

vied himself "the Great Khan," thus asserting his claim

the absolute sovereignty of an Asiatic potentate. His free-

a form of monument traditionemperors conveys the same ambition

standing equestrian statue

ally

reserved

lor

in

visual terms.

The

International Style in the South

During the later fourteenth century, northern Italy proved

particularly hospitable to artistic influences from across the

388-COTHH

fig.

Apostles atop the choir

even though these qualities are not yet fully developed here.
With the Apostles from St. Mark's, we are on the threshold
of the international Style," which flourished throughout

Can Grande, remembered today mainly as the friend and

protector of Dante, was indeed an extraordinary figure; although be held Verona as a fief from the German emperor,
st

The

St. Mark's in Venice (fig. 515), carved by Jacobello

and Pierpaolo dalle Masegne about 1394, reflect the trend
toward greater realism and the renewed interest in weight
and volume that culminated in the work of Claus Sluter,

but a frank glorification of power.

be

Verona

di Castelvecchio,

won
for

style's

was

outstanding representative in Ital(c. 1381

a Florentine, Lorenzo Ghiberti

must have had

as a youth

We

to 1420.

first

encounter him

in

close contact with

1401-02,

when he

a competition for a pair of richly decorated bronze doors

the Baptistery of

Giovanni in Florence.

S.

(It

took

him

complete these doors, which fill

the north portal of the building. Each of the competing artists bad to submit a trial relief, in a Gothic quatrefoil frame,

more than two decades

to

representing the Sacrifice of Isaac. Ghiberti's panel

(fig.

with the perfection of its craftsmanship, vvhicb reflects bis training as a goldsmith. The
silkv shimmer of the surfaces, the wealth of beautifully ar-

516) strikes us

first

ticulated detail,

make

was awarded the

of

all

it

easy

prize. If the

to

understand

why

this entry

composition seems somewhat

lacking in dramatic force, that

ti's

calm,

lyrical

as characteristic

is

temper as of the

of

Ghibei

taste of the period, lor the

realism of the lnternation.il Slvledid not extend to the realm

of the emotions.

The

garments, retain an

figures, in then softl) draped,

air of courtly

elegance even

ample

when

the)

enact scenes of violence.

However much

his

work may owe

French influence,

to

Ghibertj proves himself thoroughly Italian in one respect

his admiration lor ancient sculpture, as

nude

beautiful

torso of Isaac,

tion of classicism

that

[ere

our

had reached

evidenced by the

artist revives a tradi-

highest point in

its

durm

Nicola Pisano hut had gradually died out

the four-

teenth century.

But Ghiberti

Nut nit

is

also the heir of Giovanni Pisano. In the lat-

fig. 510) we noted a bold new emphasis

on the spatial setting; the trial relief carries this same tendency a good deal further, achieving a far more natural
sense of recession. For the first time since classical antiqui-

ter's

ty,

we

are

not as a

if

panel

made
flat

to

experience the background of the panel

surface but as empty space from which the

sculptured forms emerge toward the beholder note particu(

larly the

angel in the upper right-hand corner). This "picto-

work to the painting of the

where we find a similar concern with
spatial depth and atmosphere (see below, pages 407-11
While not a revolutionary himself, he prepares the ground
for the great revolution that will mark the second decade of
the fifteenth century in Florentine art and that we call the
rial"

quality relates Ghiberti's

International Style,

).

515.

JACOBELLO

and

PIERPAOLO DALLE MASEGNE

APOSTLES, on the choir screen. 1394.

Marble, height

c.

53" (134.6 cm).

St.

Early Renaissance.

Mark's, Venice

516.

LORENZO GHIBERTI

THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

1401-02.
Gilt

bronze.

21 x 17" (53.3x43 4 cm).

Museo Nazionale

del Bargello.

Florence

i.oiHU

\ir

^^hbk,

PAINTING
France
STAINED CLASS.

Although

Gothic

sculpture began so dramatically

Gothic painting developed

stages.

The now

Suger gave

at a

at St.

and

architecture

-Denis and Chartres,

rather slow pace in

its

early

~?

ft

architectural style sponsored by Abbot

now conception of monumental sculpdemand any radical change

birth to a

ture almost at once but did not

of style in painting. Suger's account of the rebuilding of his

church,

be sure, places a great deal of emphasis on the

to

miraculous effect of stained-glass windows, whose "continuous light" Hooded the interior. Stained glass was thus an
integral

U arc %^v*\

element of Gothic architecture from the very begin-

ning. Yet the technique of stained-glass painting had

Romanesque

ready been perfected in

masters from different regions"

do the choir windows

task and a

at St.

more complex

whom

-Denis

times;

the

al-

"many

Suger assembled

may have

to

\7

During the next

came ever more

pictorial

hall century, as

skeletal

its

Gothic structures be-

and clerestory windows grew to

manuscript illumination as

HRTH

vast size, stained "lass displaced

the leading form of painting. Since the production of stained

was so intimately linked with the great cathedral workcame to be influenced more and more
by architectural sculpture, and in this way, about the year
1200, arrived at a distinctively Gothic style of their own.
The majestic lohel (Joel) of Bourges Cathedral (fig. 517),
one of a series of windows representing Old Testament
prophets, is the direct kin of the jamb statues on the
Chartres transept portals and of the Visitation at Reims. All
these works share a common ancestor, the classicizing style
of Nicholas of Verdun (compare
449), yet the Joel figure
glass

Ct)i

shops, the designers

resembles a statue projected onto a translucent screen rath-

Klosterneuburg

The window
small pieces

hundreds of
bound together by strips of lead.
these pieces was severely limited by

consists not of large panes but of

of tinted

The maximum

glass

size of

methods of medieval

the primitive
that the artist

enamel plaques of the

Altar.

who

glass manufacture, so

window could

created this

not simply

"paint on <jjass"; rather, he painted with glass, assembling

somewhat

his design,

the way one would a mosaic or a

saw puzzle, out of odd-shaped fragments which he cut

jig-

to

fit

the contours of the forms. Only the finer details, such as

eves ban. and drapery

ing

or

folds,

glass surfaces.

ornamental

While

style,

it

wore added by actually paintin black or gray on the

drawing

better perhaps,

this process

tends

encourages an abstract,

to resist

any attempt

to

render

three-dimensional effects. Yet in the hands of a great master

he maze ol lead snips could resolve itself into figures havi

ing the looming

monumentally

517. IOHEL
height

;'in.(,()illl(

Mil

c.

c.

of our lohel.

1220 Stained-glass window,

14' (4

!m) Bourges Cathedral

rtliH

"ii"r^,

mm

mWiMmLM

mm
i()

fit:,.

er than an enlarged figure from the

If

laced a larger

program than before, but

designs remained Romanesque.

the style of their

/if
\*/
v*/

M9BI&J

what

it

does

to

us

meant

it

filling

m an abstra<

with details based on direct observation.

If

framework

we now

turn bat k

once more to the firmly drawn, simplified outlines ol the

lohel, we cannot help wondering to what extent they, too
geometric scaffolding of

reflect a

some son

The period 1200-1250 might be termed the golden age

ol

stained glass. Alter that, as architectural activity declined

and the demand

for

si, lined

glass

began

to

script illumination gradually recaptured its

slacken,

manu-

former position

By then, however, miniature painting bad

been thoroughly affected by the influence ol both stained
glass and stone sculpture, the artistic pacemakers ol the first

of leadership.

half of the century.

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS. The

of style

is

scene

VILLARD DE HONNECOURT wheel of fortune.

C.

change

(St. Louis) of France. The

Samuel 1:2, in which Nahash the Ammonite threatens the Jews at Jabesh. We notice first of all
the careful symmetry of the framework, which consists of
flat, ornamented panels very much like those in the lohel
window, and of an architectural setting. The latter recalls
the canopies above the heads of jamb statues (see fin, 495

about 1260

518.

resulting

evident in figure 520. from a psalter done

fully

1240. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

King Louis IX

for

illustrates

and the arched twin niches enclosing the

edek and

Abraham

at

Reims

(fig.

relief of Melchiz-

498).

Against this emphatically two-dimensional background.

Apart from the peculiar

demands

who

stained-glass workers

medium, the
windows of the great

the figures are "relieved" by smooth and skillful modeling.

to face the difficulties arising

which are defined by heavy dark lines rather like the lead
strips in stained-glass windows. The figures themselves

filled

Gothic cathedrais also had

of their

the

from the enormous scale of their work.

upon

painter had ever been called

window

the lohel

bound

is

more than

to

No Romanesque

show

cover areas so vast

14 feet

tall

or

But their sculptural quality stops short

so firmly

all

at

the outer contours,

the characteristics of the elegant style originated

about twenty years before bv the sculptors of the royal court

an architectural framework. The task required a

for which the medieval paint-

into

technique of orderly planning

ing tradition could offer no precedent.

VILLARD DE HONNECOURT. Only

architects

and stone

masons knew how to deal with this problem, and it was their
methods that the stained-glass workers borrowed in mapping out their
sign, as

we

Denis (see

own

recall
figs.

compositions. Gothic architectural de-

from our discussion of the choir of

St.-

451 and 452), uses a system of geometric-

relationships; the

same

rules could be used to control the

design of a stained-glass window, or even of an individual

figure.

We

gain

some

insight into this procedure from the draw-

ings in a notebook compiled about 1240 by the architect Villard

de Honnecourt, such as the Wheel of Fortune fig. 518).

see here is not the final version of the design but
(

What we

(ft
i

the scaffolding of circles and triangles on

to

be constructed.

The pervasiveness

which the image

\nt buQcfel*

Una 6

.<

is

of these geometric

schemes is well illustrated by another drawing from the

same notebook, the Front View of a Lion (fig. 519). Accord-

jrfMfc

ing to the inscription. Villard has portrayed the animal from

life,

but a closer look

was able

to

at

do so only

the figure will coin nice us that he

after

he had

laid

down

geometric

between the eyes is its

center) and a second, larger circle for the body. To Villard,
then, drawing from life meant something far different from
pattern: a circle for the face (the dot

519.

VILLARD DE HONNECOURT

FRON1 VIEWOl

H>\

1240

Bibliotheque Nationale, I'.ms

(,()/;//<

\ki

191

Hi iik

\i:i

(compare the Annunciation angel

in figure

497 and Mel-

chizedek in figure 498): graceful gestures, swaying poses,

smiling faces, neatly waved strands of

hair.

Of the expres-

energy of Romanesque painting we find no trace

sive

(figs.

408 and 409); our miniature exemplifies the subtle and

refined taste that

made

the court art of Paris the standard for

Europe.

all

Until the thirteenth century, the production of illuminat-

ed manuscripts had been centered in the scriptoria of monasteries. Now, along with a great many other activities once
the special preserve of monasteries,

it

shifted ever

more

to

urban workshops organized by laymen, the ancestors of the

publishing houses of today. Here again the workshops of
sculptors and stained-glass painters may have set the
pattern.

Some members of tbis new, secular breed of illuminator

known to us by name, such as Master Honore of Paris,
who in 1295 did the miniatures in the Prayer Book of Philip
the Fair. Our sample fig. 521 shows him working in a style
are

derived from the Psalter of St, Louis. Significantly enough,

however, the framework no longer dominates the composi-

flat

become larger, and their relieflike

more emphatic; they are even permitted to overthe frame, a device that helps to detach them from the
pattern of the background and thus introduces a cer-

tain

though

the figures have

tion;

modeling
lap

is

very limited

spatial

range into the picture.

Italy

We must now

turn our attention to Italian painting, which

at

the end of the thirteenth century produced an explosion of

creative energy as spectacular,

pact

upon the

France.
will

and as far-reaching

in its im-

future, as the rise of the Gothic cathedral in

single glance at Giotto's

Lamentation

(fig.

528)

convince us that we are faced with a truly revolutionary

521.

development here. How, we wonder, could a work of such

intense dramatic power be conceived by a contemporary of
Master Honore? What were the conditions that made it pos-

Oddly enough, as we inquire into the background of

we find that it arose from the same "oldfashioned" attitudes we met in Italian Gothic architecture

MASTtR HONORE.

DAVID

AND GOLIATH,

from the Prayer Book of Philip the h'uir. 1295.

Bibliothcquc Nationale. Pans

sible?

Giotto's art.

Medieval
ait

appearance soon alter the conquest of Constantinople by the

armies of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 one thinks ol the
way Greek art had once captured (be taste ol die victorious

and sculpture.
Italy,

although strongly influenced by Northern

from Garolingian times on. nevertheless had always

Romans

of old.

He

.is it may, the Greek manner preend of the thirteenth century, so thai

that

maintained close contact with Byzantine civilization. As a

result, panel painting, mosaics, and murals
techniques

vailed almost until the

had never taken linn root north of the Alps were kept
alive on Italian soil; and at the very time when stained ulass

During tbis same periand sculptors followed a verv

different course; untouched by the Greek manner, they
were assimilating the Gothic style. Eventually, toward 1300.
Gothic influence spilled over into painting as well and it was

that

became

the dominant pictorial art in France, a

new wave

of

Byzantine influence overwhelmed the lingering Roman-

esque elements in Italian painting.

There is a certain irony m the fact that tbis neo-Rv/anline
style (or "Greek manner," as the Italians called it made its
I

Italian painters

were able

to

absorb die Byzantine tradition

far

more thoroughly than ever

od,

we

before.

recall. Italian architects

the interaction of tins element with the neo Bv /amine dial

produced the revolutionary

ne<v siv

le ol

hit

iiotto is

die

greatest exponent.

TKMPKRA
NAHASH llll- AMMONIT1
THREATENING THl II us [TJABESH,

520. (opposite)

from

tin-

Psalter of St. Louis

c.

1260.

Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

wood panel

Altarpieces
in

ol

die Gothic era were painted on

tempera, an egg-based

medium

quickly to form an extremelv tough surface.

that dries

The preparation

die panel was a omplev Imie-c OnSUIlling pnx ess Inst it

was planed and coated with a mixture ol plaster and glue

ol

i.oiiih

\ki

;';

522.

CIMABUE. MADONNA ENTHRONED,

1280-90. Tempera on panel,

c.

I2'7i"x7'4" (3.9x2.2 m). Galleria degli

known as gesso, which was sometimes reinforced with linOnce the design had been drawn, the background was

en.

almost invariably

filled in

with gold leaf over red sizing; then

Uffizi,

Florence

on such a monumental scale had never been attempted in

the East. Likewise un-Byzantine is the picture's gabled
shape, and the way the throne of inlaid wood seems to echo
this shape.

ment, was added. The image

chitectural style

layers of thin

itself

tempera with very

process that placed a

was executed

in multiple

fine brushes, a painstaking

premium on

the painters of the Greek manner, the

Florentine master Cimabue (c. 1250-after 1300), who may

have been Giotto's teacher, enjoyed special fame. His huge
.ih.

ii

panel.

Madonna Enthroned

(lit;.

522), rivals the finest

Byzantine icons or mosaics (compare figs. 345 and 358);

what distinguishes it from them is mainly a greater severity
ol design and expression, which befits its huge size. Panels

\94'GOTHU

\lil

ar-

431).

neatness, since few cor-

rections were possible.

CIMABUE. Among

fig.

inlays indeed, the throne's

remind us of the Florence Baptistery (see

The geometric

the underpainting, generally a green earth (terra verde) pig-

DUCCIO. The Madonna Enthroned

(fig.

century later by Duccio of Siena

1255-before 1319)

the

main

altar of

(c.

523), of a quarter
for

Siena Cathedral, makes an instructive

comparison with Cimabue's. The Sienese honored this pan"majesty" to identify the Virel by calling it the Maestd
gin's role here as the Queen of Heaven surrounded by her
celestial court of saints and angels. At first glance, the two

pictures
basic

may seem much

scheme;

yet

alike,

since both follow the

the differences are important.

same
They

523.

52-4.

of Siena

DUCCIO. \NNUNCIATI0N Of

gentleness of Duccio

but also the rapid evolution of

In Duccio's

zen, as

the

it

hands, the Greek

were: the

rigid,

in in \TH Of

is

characteristic

style.

manner has become

angular draperies have given waj

an undulating softness, the abstract shading-in-reverse

with lines of gold is reduced to a minimum, and the bodies,

and hands are beginning

dimensional

life.

we sense

it

naturalness

in
ol

is

or

submerged,

is

Duomo, Siena

virgin from the Maestd Altar

which the figures communicate with each other The chief

source of this Gothic influence must have been Giovanni
Pisano sec page 386 w ho was in Siena from 1285 to 1295
i,

as the sculptor-architect in charge of the cathedral facade

Apart

from the Madonna, the Maesta includes main

of Christ and

small compartments with scenes from the h\es

the Virgin. In these panels, the most mature works

ot

hu

mi's career, the cross-fertilization of Gothic and Byzantine

Hellenistic-Roman

elements has given rise to a development ot Fundamental

importance a new kind ol picture space The Annuncia-

Clearly, the heritage of

however dormant

more. But there

mi

dell'Opera del

with a subtle three-

to swell

illusionism that had always been part of the Byzantine tradition,

Museo

unfro-

to

laces,

center of the Maesta Altar.

panel, height 6T0'/2" (2.1 m).

two contrasting personalities and contrast-

reflect not only

ing local tastes

DUCCIO. madonxa ENTHRONED,

Tempera on

308-

asserting itself once

also a half-hidden Gothic

element here;

the fluency of the drapery folds, the appealing

the Infant Christ, and the tender glances by

tion of the Death oj the Virgin

we have never seen

fig

524 shows us something

i

before in the history

ol

painting: two

figures enclosed by an architectural interior.

\ncient painters (and then Byzantine successors)

(All

UK

\R1

wen

enough of the devices of Hellenistic-Roman illusionism to

let them render such a framework without draining it of its
three-dimensional qualities. Even in the outdoor scenes on
the back of the Maesta, such as Christ Entering Jerusalem
525), the architecture keeps

(fig.

movement

diagonal

tion: the

the figures

which

space-creating func-

its

conveyed not by

into depth is

have the same scale throughout

by the walls on either side of the road leading

to

the

but
by

city,

the gate that frames the welcoming crowd, and by the structures beyond.

Whatever the shortcomings of Duccio's

spective, his architecture again demonstrates

per-

capacity

its

to

contain and enclose, and for that very reason strikes us as

more

than similar vistas in ancient

intelligible

art

(compare

305).

fig.

GIOTTO. Turning from Duccio to Giotto 12677-1336/7),

we meet an artist of far bolder and more dramatic temper.
(

Ten to fifteen years younger, Giotto was less close to the

Greek manner from the start, despite his probable apprenticeship under Cimabue. As a Florentine, he fell heir to Cimabue's sense of monumental scale, which made him a wall
painter by instinct, rather than a panel painter.

Of

his sur-

viving murals, those in the Arena Chapel in Padua, done in

1305-6, are the best preserved as well as the most charac-

The decorations

teristic.

from the

life

are devoted principally to scenes

of Christ, laid in a carefully arranged program

consisting of three tiers of narrative scenes and culminating

in the Last

Judgment

Giotto includes

at

many

the east end of the chapel

of the

same subjects

that

(fig.

we

526).

find on

the reverse of Duccio's Maesta, such as Christ Entering Je-

rusalem (fig.527). The two versions have

common,

many elements

in

since they both ultimately derive from the

same

Byzantine source; but where Duccio has enriched the

tradi-

tional

scheme,

subjects

it

spatially as well as in narrative detail, Giotto

The

to a radical simplification.

action proceeds

and

parallel to the picture plane; landscape, architecture,

figures have been reduced to the essential

minimum. And

the sober technique of fresco painting (water-based paint

applied to the freshly plastered wall

DUCCIO. CHRIST ENTERING JERUSALEM,

525.

from the back of the Maesta Altar. 1308-1

Tempera on

panel, 40'/2 x 21

Museo

dell 'Opera del

1.

103 x 53.7 cm).

Duomo, Siena

quite unable to achieve this space; their architectural set-

which

ture,

on

a stage

they were taking place in an open-

without a

contrast, inhabit a space that

architecture, as
el.

Perhaps we

work:

it

if

will

is

Duccio's figures, in

roof.

created and defined by the

the artist had carved a niche into his pan-

recognize the origin of this spatial frame-

derives from the architectural "housing" of Gothic

sculpture (compare especially

Gothic painters,

too.

bad

tural settings, but they

figs.

tried to

498 and 502). Northern

reproduce these architec-

could do so only by flattening them

out completely (as in the Psaltei oj

St,

Lotus,

Italian painters of Duccio's generation,

fig.

520). The

on the other hand,

trained as they were in the Greek manner, had acquired

196

'GOTHIC

\ltl

limited range
of

is

executed in egg tempera on gold ground.

Yet Giotto's
it

work has

makes us

far the

more powerful impact

feel so close to the

event that

of

we have

sense of being participants rather than distant observers.

How

tings always stay behind the figures, so that their indoor

air theater,

its

(Note the sparkling colors of the Maesta panel in figure

the two;

to look as if

with

Giotto's art as against the jewellike brilliance of Duccio's pic-

525.

scenes tend

),

and intensity of tones, further emphasizes the austerity

does

does the

artist

so, first of all,

achieve this extraordinary effect?

He

by having the entire scene take place in

even more important by presenting

such a way that the beholder's eye-level falls within the
lower half of the picture. Thus we can imagine ourselves
standing on the same ground plane as these painted figures,
even though we see them from well below, while Duccio
the foreground and

it

in

makes us survey the scene from above

tive.

The consequences of

this

in bird's-eye perspec-

choice of viewpoint are truly

epoch-making; choice implies conscious awareness in

this case, awareness of a relationship in space between the
beholder and the picture
the

first to

and Giotto may well claim

to

be

have established such a relationship. Duccio, cer-

526.

Interior,

Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Padua

forceful that they

seem

as solid

and tangible as sculpture

in

the round.

With Giotto

it

is

the figures, rather than the architectural

framework, that create the picture space. As a result, this

space is more limited than Duccio's its depth extends no

further than the

combined volumes

ies in the picture

hut within

its

of the overlapping bod-

limits

is

it

very

much more

persuasive. To his contemporaries, the tactile quality of Giot-

must have seemed

praise him as

to's art

made them

a near-miracle;

was

it

this th.it

equal, or even superior, to the

greatest of the ancient painters, because his tonus looked so

litelike that

they could he mistaken tor reality

Equally

itself.

significant are the stories linkinu Giotto with the claim that

painting

is

superior

to

sculpture

not

an

idle boast, as

turned out. for Giotto does indeed mark the

might he called 'the era of

symbolic turning point

is

painting'' in

the year 1334,

start of

Western

it

what

art.

when he was

The
ap-

pointed the head of the Florence Cathedral workshop, an

honor and responsibility hitherto reserved

lor architects or

sculptors.
527.

GIOTTO. CHRIST ENTERING JERUSALEM

Yet Giotto's

1305-6.

Fresco. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, Padua

aim was not simpl)

to

transplant Gothic statu-

ary into painting. By creating a radically

new

kind of picture

space, he had also sharpened his awareness of the picture

surface.
tainlv,

docs not yet conceive his picture space

.is

continuous

with the beholder's space (hence we

vaguely Floating above the scene, rather than of knowing

have the sensation of

and even ancient painting .it its most illusionistic provides no more than a pseudo-continuity in this
respect (see page 235, discussion of figures 268. 288. and
289 Giotto, on the other hand, tells us where we stand, and
he also endows his forms w ith a three-dimensional reality so

where we

stand),

When we

look at a

and medieval predecessors

ments, as
leisurely

on

thi'

it

work by Duccio

we tend

to

(or his ancient

do so

were: our glance travels from detail

in

instill

to detail at a

pace until we have surveyed the entire area Giotto,

whole at one glance.

contrary, unites us to see the

His large, simple forms, the strong grouping ol his figures

all these l.u tors help to en-

the limited depth of his "stage,"

dow

his

scenes with an inner coherence such as

never found before

Notice how dramatical!)

the

(.()////(

we have
massed

\li:

verticals oi the "block" ol apostles

on the

left

are contrasted

with the upward slope formed In the welcoming crowd on

the right;

how

l Ihrist,

alone

in the center,

bridges the gull

between the two groups. The more we studv the composition, the more we come to realize its majestic firmness and
Giotto's

achievement as a master

emerge from any

si.

single work.

Only

ol
if

enes horn the Padua fresco cycle

perfectly the composition

emotional content

ol

m each

the subject

design does not

fully

we compare a number
do we understand how

instance

Thus

is

attuned

to the

the artist has

"'re-

phrased'" the traditional pattern ol Christ's Entry into Jeru-

salem

to stress

the solemnity ol the event as a triumphal

procession of the Prince of Peace, while the tragic

mood

of

The Lamentation fig. 528 is brought home to us by the formal rhythm ol the design as much as by the gestures and
expressions

ol

the participants.

The

very low center of grav-

and the hunched, bending figures communicate the

somber quality of the scene and arouse our compassion even
ity

before

angels, small

we have grasped

the specific

meaning

of the event

With extraordinary boldness. Giotto sets oil the

frozen grief of the human mourners against the frantic
mo\ ement of the weeping angels among the clouds, as if the

depicted.

528

GIOTTO
XniKi

"I

UK

Mil

lllh

and weighdess

Let us note. too.

ol

their collective

the composition while the

as birds,

the

how the impact

In the severely

do not share

this

acts as a unifying element

hill

of the

drama

is

height-

simple setting; the descending slope of

rects our glance toward the

and

at the

same time

di-

heads of Christ and the Virgin,

which are the

focal point of the scene.

twin function.

Its

Even the

tree has a

barrenness and isolation suggest that

all

of

somehow shares in the Saviour's death, vet it also invites us to ponder a more precise symbolic message. For it
as does Dante in a passage m the Divine Comalludes
nature

edy

to the

Tree of Knowledge, which the

Eve had caused

life through the

to

wither and which was

sacrificial

sm
to

ol

Adam

and

be restored

to

death of Christ.

The art of Giotto is so daringly original that its sources are

more difficult to trace than those of Duccio's style. Apart

far

from his Florentine background as represented by the Greek

manner

of

Cimabue. the young Giotto seems to have been

neo-Bvzantme painters of Rome: in that

familiar with the

city,

he probably also became acquainted with older monu-

ments

\\n\l\llo\

Scrovegni

ground were restrained by

burden

ened

clarity.

nt

figures on the

duty to maintain the stability

Early Christian and ancient

1305-6 Fresco

Chapel. Padua

Roman mural

decora-

529.

GIOTTO, madonna ENTHRONED

c.

1310.

10'8"x6'8" (3.3x2 m). Galleria degli

tion.

Classical sculpture, too,

More fundamental than any

fluence of the Pisanos

left

an impression on him

of these, however,

Nicola,

was the

in-

and especially Giovanni

They were the

the founders of Italian Gothic sculpture.

chief intermediaries through

whom

Giotto

came in conAnd the latter

first

with the world of Northern Gothic art.

remains the most important of all the elements that entered
into Giotto's style. Without the knowledge, direct or indirect.
tact

of Northern

works such as those

illustrated in figure 4

)(>

or

Tempera on panel

Uffizi,

Florence

figure 503, he could never have achieved the emotional im-

pact of his Lamentation.

What we have said of the Padua frescoes applies equally to

Madonna Enthroned (fig ~>2 )'. the most important
among the small number of panel paintings l>\ our master
Done about the same time as Duccio's Maestd, it illustrates
the

once again the difference between Florence and Siena, its

architectural severitj learl) derives from Cimabue see fig,
522 The figures, however, have the same overpowering
(

1.

(.oiiih

\ia

greatness, however, tended to dwarf the next generation of

Florentine painters, which produced only followers rather

new

than

leaders. Their contemporaries in Siena

were more

fortunate in this respect, since Duccio never had the

overpowering impact. As a consequence,

who

Florentines,

ment

who

ry

tinguished of Duccio's disciples.

his

Simone Martini (c. 1284Road to Calva-

painted the tiny but intense The

530) about 1340, may well claim

(fig.

town

in Avignon, the

life

same

they, not the

took the next decisive step in the develop-

of Italian Gothic painting.

1344),

was

it

He

to

be the most

spent the

last

dis-

years of

France that served

most of the

in southern

as the residence-in-exile of the popes during

Our

fourteenth century.

was probably done

tar,

In

panel, originally part of a small

al-

there.

sparkling colors, and especially in the architectural

its

background,

it

echoes the

still

The vigorous modeling

Duccio (see

art of

525).

and expressions, betray the

well as their dramatic gestures

influence of Giotto. While Simone Martini

cerned with spatial

fig.

of the figures, on the other hand, as

clarity,

he proves

to

is

not

much

con-

be an extraordinarily

acute observer; the sheer variety of costumes and physical

types and the wealth of

human

incident create a sense of

down-to-earth reality very different from both the lyricism of

Duccio and the grandeur of

Giotto.

THE LORENZETTI BROTHERS.

day

life

This closeness

work of the brothers

also appears in the

to every-

Pietro

and

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (both died 1348?), but on a more

monumental scale and coupled with a keen interest in problems of space. The boldest spatial experiment is Pietro's triptych of 1342, The Birth of the Virgin (fig. 531 ), where the
painted architecture has been correlated with the real architecture of the frame in such a way that the two are seen as a
single system. Moreover, the vaulted
530.

SIMONE MARTINI. THE ROAD TO CALVARY,

Panel, 9 7/8x6'/8" (25 x 15.5 cm).

Musee du Louvre,

birth takes place occupies

1340.

c.

two panels

chamber where

it

the

continues unbro-

ken behind the column that divides the center from the
right wing. The left wing represents an anteroom which
leads to a vast and only partially glimpsed architectural

Paris

space suggesting the interior of a Gothic church. What

Pietro Lorenzetti achieved here is the

sense of weight and volume

we saw

Arena Chapel, and the picture space

much

so

bodies in

so, in fact, that

in the frescoes in the

is

just as persuasive

the golden halos look like foreign

Italian

(compare

began three decades

fig.

525), but only

assume the quality

which not on which

now become a nichelike

Madonna on three sides and thus

we know from

Gothic architecture, has

structure that encloses the

"insulates" her from the gold background.

Its

lavish orna-

mentation includes one feature of special interest: the

col-

ored marble surfaces of the base and of the quatrefoil within

Such make-believe stone textures had been highdeveloped by ancient painters (see figs. 304 and 305), but

the gable.
ly

that

it.

Characteristically enough, the throne, of a design based

on

ment

the tradition had died out in Early Christian times.

Its

sud-

Yet

now does
transparent

the picture surface

window through

we perceive the same kind of space

daily experience.

Duccio's work alone

Pietro's astonishing
er,

of a

outcome of a developwork of Duccio

earlier in the

is

not

breakthrough;

it

sufficient

became

to

explain

possible, rath-

through a combination of the architectural picture space

and the sculptural picture space of Giotto. The

of Duccio

same procedure enabled Ambrogio Lorenzetti, in his frescoes of 1338-40 in the Siena city hall, to unfold a comprehensive view of the entire town before our eyes

Again we marvel

at

(fig.

532).

the distance that separates this precisely

den reappearance here

articulated "portrait" of Siena from Duccio's Jerusalem

familiarity with

525). Ambrogio's mural forms part of an elaborate allegorical

in

offers concrete evidence of Giotto's

whatever ancient murals could still be seen

medieval Rome.

program depicting the contrast of good and bad government; hence the artist, in order to show the life of a wellordered city-state, had to fill the streets and houses with
1

MARTINI. There
to

arc few artists in the entire history of art

equal the stature of Giotto as

400 -COTI IK Mil

a radical innovator.

His very

(fig.

teeming

activity.

531.

Tempera on

PIETRO LORENZETTI. THE BIRTH

panel, 6'l'/>"x 5'1

532.

S.il.i

'/>"

(1.9x

1.8 m).

Of

Museo

nil-

VIRGIN

dell'Opera del

dclla Pace, Palazzo I'uhbluo

1342.

Duomo, Siena

Siena

(.o////(

\/;/

-401

533.

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI. GOOD GOVERNMENT IN THE

CITY

1338-40. Fresco, width of entire wall 46' (14 m). Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

The

gay and busy crowd gives the architectural vista

striking reality by introducing the

human

On

scale.

its

the

beyond the margin of figure 533, the Good Government fresco provides a view of the Sienese countryside,
the
fringed by distant mountains. It is a true landscape
first since ancient Roman times
full of sweeping depth yet
distinguished from its classical predecessors (such as figure
right,

306) by an ingrained orderliness,

man

the presence of

is

domesticated

Here

air.

not accidental; he has taken

lull

pos-

ed crop failures, and in 1348 the epidemic of bubonic plague

throughout Europe, the Black Death, wiped out more than
half their urban population. The popular reaction to these
calamitous events was mixed.
as signs of divine wrath,

the fear of sudden death merely intensified the desire to en-

while there was yet time. These conflicting attitudes

theme of the Triumph of Death.

are reflected in the pictorial

a setting,

charac teristic

hundred

Ambrogio observes the peasants

I,

years,

BLA< K DEATH. The

llll

teenth
politic

.il

.iiiisiii

ries ol

enlin

first lour decades of the fourand Siena had been a period of

and economic expansion as well as of great

in F lorcnc e

Stability
a<

'

hievement. In the 1340s both

atastrophes whose echoes were

cities suffered a seto

be

felt

for

many

'

coiiih

\i:i

TRA1N1. The most impressive version of this subject is an

enormous fresco in the Camposanto, the cemetery building
next to Pisa Cathedral. From this work, attributed to the Pisan master Francesco Traini (documented c. 1321-1363),
we reproduce a particularly dramatic detail (fig. 535). The
elegantly

costumed men and women on horseback have

suddenly come upon three decaying corpses in open coffins;

even the animals are terrified by the sight and smell of rotting,

flesh.

Only the hermit, having renounced

all

earthly

in-

pleasures, calmly points out the lesson of the scene. But will

shook the government, there were repeat-

the living accept the lesson, or will they, like the characters

years banks and merchants went bankrupt by the score

ternal upheavals

life

at their

534 recording a rural Tuscan scene so

that it has hardly changed during the past six
fig.

to

Death engendered a mood of otherworldly exaltation. To

such as the gay company in Boccaccio's Decameron.

terning the valleys with the geometry of fields and pastures.

such

humanity

others,

joy

In

people regarded them

to a sinful

forsake the pleasures of this earth; in such people the Black

session of nature, terracing the hillsides with vineyards, pat-

seasonal labors

Many

warnings

534.

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI. GOOD government in

iiii

<

or.vy/n

Palazzo Pubbiico. Siena

535.

FRANCESCO TRAIN

I.

/;/;:

/k/i ui'iioi Di w/i

portion)

<

1325

50

Fresco

<

amposanto

Pisa

<.ni

mi

u:i

away from the shocking spectacle more

determined than ever to pursue their own hedonistic ways?
The artist's own sympathies seem curiously divided; his
of Boccaccio, (urn

from being otherworldly, recalls the realism of Am-

style, far

brogio Lorenzetti, although the forms are harsher

and more

expressive
In a fire that occurred in 1944, Traini's fresco was badly
damaged and had to be detached from the wall in order to
save what was left of it. This procedure exposed the first,

rough coat of plaster underneath, on which the artist had

(fig. 536). These drawings, of

sketched out his composition

are done in red, hence they

word derived from ancient Sinopc, in Asia Minor, which was famous as a source of brickred earth pigment); amazingly free and sweeping, they

the

same

size as the fresco

itself,

are called sinopie (an Italian

more directly than the painted

which was earned out with the aid of assistants.

reveal Traini's personal style

version,

Sinopie also serve

to

acquaint us with the standard tech-

nique of preparing frescoes in the fourteenth century.

Traini still retains a strong link with the great masters of
the second quarter of the century.

Tuscan painting

after the Black

More

characteristic of

Death are the

artists

who

reached maturity around the 1350s. None of them can compare with the men whose work we have discussed; their
style,

in

comparison, seems dry and formula-ridden. Yet

thev were capable,

mood
lano's

at their best,

memorable
(documented 1346-1369)

of

the time with

of expressing the
intensity.

somber

Giovanni da Mi-

Pietd panel of 1365

(fig.

6*1

537.

GIOVANNI DA MILANO.

48x22Ki" (122x57.5 cm).

537) has

all

(compare
clearly

the emotional appeal of a

fit!,.

felt

PlETA. 1365. Oil

on panel,

Galleria deU'Accademia, Florence

German Andachtsbild

505), although the heritage of Giotto can be

even here.

North of the Alps

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS. We are now
536.

FRANCESCO

TRAINI. Sinapia drawing

TRWMPHOl DEATH

tot -(.oiiik

\i:i

(detail)

Camposanto,

for the

Pisa

in a posi-

once more to Gothic painting north of the Alps.

What happened there during the latter half of the fourteenth
century was determined in large measure by the influence
tion to turn

538. J KAN PUCELLE. BETRAYAL Of CHRIST and ANNUNCIATION, from the

Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux. 1325-28. Tempera and gold leaf on parchment (shown a< tual
3'/2x2 7/k," (8.9x6.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The

Cloisters Collection. Purchase, 1954

Some examples

of this influence can be

such as The Annunciation (fig. 538)
from the private prayer book called "book of hours" illuminated by Jean Pucelle in Paris about 1325-28 for Jeanne

of the great Italians.

found even

earlier,

d'Evreux,

Queen
I

than twenty years

to

the

for the

had

to

52

style of the figures

)

still

re-

but the architectural inte-

(fig.

524).

It

fame of the Maesta

had taken less

to spread from

adapt

it

new

picture space, however, Jean Pu-

die special character of a manuscript

to

page, which lends itself far less readily than a panel to being

chamber no longer fills

the entire picture surface; it has become an ethereal cage
that floats on the blank parchment background (note the
supporting angel on the right) like the rest of the ornamentreated as a "window."

The

Virgin's

framework, so that the entire page forms a harmonious

unit. As we explore the details ol this framework, we realize
tal

most of them have nothing

that

to

is

but

surclv

who

seems
dril

to

meant

to

be Jeanne d'Evreux

could be the

man

with the

game

at

designs

(see

fig,

a characteristic feature ol Northei n

Gothic manuscripts. The) had originated more than

cen-

tury before Jean Pucelle in the regions along the English

Channel, whence they spread

to Paris

and

the other ten-

all

Their subject matter encompasses a vast

range of motifs: fantasy, fable, and grotesque humor, as well
ters of

Gothic

art.

as acutely observed scenes

which marks

playfulness,
artist
c

everyday

ol

it

.is

a special

dmlcnc is its
domain where the

enjoys almost unlimited freedom

omparable

jester, that

to

appear side by

life,

The essence

of

is

It

this

freedom,

the license traditionally claimed b) the

accounts

for the

wide appeal

ourl

drolerie during

ol

the later Middle Ages

FRESCOES AND PANEL PAINTINGS.

\s

we approach

the middle years of the fourteenth century, Italian influence

initial

her devotions,

(see page K)0). fhe delightful frest oes with scenes of coun-

next

to

her?

He

be listening to the lute player perched on the ten-

above him. The lour figures

playing a

stall

at

mammal

fanciful

or droleries are

becomes ever more important in Northern Gothic painting

Sometimes this influence was transmitted l>\ Italian .mists
working on northern soil: an example is Simone Martini

do with the religious pur-

pose of the manuscript: the kneeling queen inside the

DROLFRIF. These
538)

side with religious themes.

le-de- France.

In taking over the

celle

fig.

from Duccio

rior clearly derives

Tuscany

The

of France.

Master lonore see

calls

size)

the bottom of the page are

of tag outdoors; a rabbit peers from

its

row beneath the girl on the left; and among the foliage
ing up to the initial we find a monkey and a squirrel.

burlead

try life in

die Palace of the Popes

done by one

at

\\

ignon

fig

539 were

who must have been

of his Italian followers,

thoroughly familiar with the pioneer explorers oi landscape

lis work shows manv
in Sienese painting.

and deep space

of tbe qualities
l>\

we

re< all

from the Good Gox ernment fresco

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (see

fig

534

Another gateway

(.(HUH

\in

ol

-to',

539. Italian

Mower

of

SIMONE MARTINI (MATTEO GIOVANNETTI?).

SCENES OF COUNTRY LIFE

540.

(detail), c.

1345. Fresco. Palace of the Popes, Avignon

BOHEMIAN MASTER.

DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. 1350-60.

Tempera on panel, 39Vhx28" (100x 71 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

William Francis Warden Fund: Seth K. Sweetser Fund, The Henry C. and Martha B. Angell
Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection, Gift of Martin Brimmer, and
Mrs. Frederick Frothingham: by exchange

UK, -comic

Mil

Coll.

541.

MELCHIOR BROEDERLAM.

annunciation and

Oil on panel,

Italian influence

came

VISITATION, PRESENTATION IN

53% x 49'/."

was the city of Prague, which in 1347

Emperor Charles IV and rapidly

the residence of

THE TEMPLE; and FLICH1 INTO EGYP1

Musee de

136.5 x 125 cm).

la Ville.

1394-99.

Dijon

be-

The

de-

International Style

The Death of the Virgin (fig- 540), by an unknown

Bohemian painter of about 1360, again brings to mind the
achievements of the great Sienese masters, although these

ol Northern and Italian

had given rise to a single dominant style throughout western Europe. This International Style was not
confined to painting we have used the same term for the

were known

sculpture of the period

veloped into an international cultural center second only

to

Paris.

to

our

artist

only

at

second or third hand.

Its

glowing richness of color recalls Simone Martini (compare

figure 530),

and the carefully articulated architectur.il intedescent from such works as Pietro Loren/ct-

rior betrays its

ti's

Birth of the Virgin

(fig.

531), although

spaciousness of its Italian models.

it

lacks the

Italian, too, is the vigor-

ous modeling of the heads and the overlapping of the

figures, which reinforces the three-dimensional quality of

awkward question of what to do

we will remember, had laced the
Madonna Enthroned; compare fin.

the design but raises the

Toward the year 1400. the merging

traditions

main

role in

but

painters

learh

played the

development.

its

Anionu the most important was \lekhior

a Fleming who
1387 1409
c.
worked for the court of the duke ol Burgundy in Dijon Figshowing the panels ol a pan ol shutters for an altai
ure 5
shrine that he did in 1394 99 is really two pictures within
each frame; the temple ol the Presentation and the land
BIIOI' Dl' III..WI

Broederlam (flourished

with the halos. (Giotto,

scape of the Flight into Egypt stand abrupd) side

same problem

even though the artist has made a halfhearted effort to persuade us that the landscape extends around the building.

529).

Still,

the

in

his

Bohemian master's picture

is

not a

mere echo

of Italian painting. The gestures and facial expressions con-

Compared

vey an intensity of emotion that represents the finest heri-

picture space

tage of Northern Gothic

more akm
(fig.

to

art.

In this respect, our panel

the Death of the Virgin

490) than

to

any

Italian work.

at

is

far

Strasbourg Cathedral

to Pietro .\tn\
still

landscape are quite out

a Lit

side

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Broederlam's

strikes us as naive in

chitecture looks like a doll's house

panels convej

l>\

ol

main

and the

\\a\s

the ar-

details of the

stale with the figures. Vet the

stronger feeling

ol

depth than we have

I.OIHH

Iftl

found

any previous Northern work. The reason

in

for this is

the subtlety of the modeling; the softly rounded shapes and

the dark, velvety shadows create a sense of light and air that
more than makes up for any shortcomings of scale or perspective. The same soft, pictorial quality
a hallmark of the
International Style

appears in

the ample, loosely draped

garments with their fluid curvilinear patterns of folds, which

remind us of Sluter and Ghiberti (see figs. 507 and 509).

Our panels

also exemplify another characteristic of the In-

ternational Style:

its

"realism of particulars," the

we encountered

of realism

among

500) and somewhat later

manuscripts.

We find

first in

same kind

Gothic sculpture (see

fig.

the marginal droleries of

rendered foliage and

donkey (obviously drawn from
the rustic figure of St. Joseph, who looks and
a simple peasant and thus helps to emphasize
it

in the carefully

flowers, in the delightful

and

life),

behaves

in

like

the delicate, aristocratic beauty of the Virgin.

It is

this pains-

taking concentration on detail that gives Broederlam's work

the flavor of an enlarged miniature rather than of a large-

though the panels are more than

scale painting, even

feet

five

tall.

THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS.

That book illumination reEurope at

the time of the International Style, despite the growing im-

mained the leading form

of painting in northern

portance of panel painting,

well attested by the miniatures

is

Heures du Due de Berry. Produced for the

brother of the king of France, a man of far from admirable
character but the most lavish art patron of his day, this luxurious book of hours represents the most advanced phase of
the International Style. The artists were Pol de Limbourg
and his two brothers, a group of Flemings who, like Sluter
and Broederlam, had settled in France early in the fifteenth
century. They must have visited Italy as well, for their work
includes a great number of motifs and whole compositions
borrowed from the great masters of Tuscany.
The most remarkable pages of Les Tres Riches Heures are
ot'Les Tres Riches

542.

THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS.

those of the calendar, with their elaborate depiction of the

life

of

Such

man and

Musee Conde,

Chantilly,

Even such

intangible, evanescent things

cycles, originally consisting of twelve single figures

aspects of nature in addition to the labors of the months.

Limbourg

brothers, however, integrated

into a series of

panoramas of human

February miniature
in the history of

(fig.

Western

account of village

huddled together

life

life

all

in nature.

542), the earliest

art,

in the

The

these elements

Thus

the

snow landscape

gives an enchantingly lyrical

dead of winter, with the sheep

in their fold, birds hungrily scratching in

the barnyard, and a maid blowing on her frostbitten

as she hurries to join her

companions

in the

warm

hands

cottage

spheric space.

as the frozen breath of the maid, the

the chimney,

and the clouds

Our figure 543 shows the sowing of winter grain during

month of October. It is a bright, sunny day, and the fore-

the

ground figures
uity

cast

marvel
in the
soil

at

shadows on the ground. Once more we

the wealth of realistic detail such as the scarecrow

middle distance or the footprints of the sower in the

of the freshly plowed

go beyond mere description.

ized by the splendid castle

the

hills.

Here the promise

of

the Broederlam panels

ors,

and exteriors are harmoniously united

fulfilled,

COll IK Mil

as

it

were: landscape, architectural interiin deep,

atmo-

That sower

field.

is

memorable

in

other ways as well; his tattered clothing, his unhappy mien,

among

been

time since classical Antiq-

for the first

visible

figure, to

lias

smoke curling from

become

the sky have

in

"paintable."

the front wall has been omitted for our benefit), while in the
middle distance we see a villager cutting trees for firewood
and another driving bis laden donkey toward the houses
(

>

France

nature throughout the months of the year.

each performing an appropriate seasonal activity, had long

been an established tradition in medieval art (compare fig.
500). Jean Pucelle had enriched the margins of the calendar
pages of his books of hours by emphasizing the changing

408

February, from

Les Tres Riches Heures du Due de Berry. 1413-16.

peasantry in contrast to the

castle,

we

He

is

meant

to

be a pathetic

arouse our awareness of the miserable

life

lot

of the

of the aristocracy, as symbol-

on the

far

bank of the

will recall, is a "portrait" of the

most lavish structure of its kind

river.

(The

Gothic Louvre, the

at that time; see

page 367.)

^Uk*

*A~

543.

THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS.

Les

Tre.s

October, from

The most

interesting perhaps

ture, the only interior

duke
huge
ly,

fig.

544

).

fireplace, with a screen to protect

kind of secular halo that

le is

to

of the

seated next to a

him and.
sets him

the multitude of courtiers and attendants.

known

life

the January pic-

scene of the group, which shows the

of Berry at a banquet

to act as a

is

incidentaloff against

His features,

us also from other works of the period, have

all

the

distinctive qualities of a fine portrait, but the rest of the

except the youth and the cleric on the duke's

displays an odd lack of individuality. They are of

crowd
right

for

all

same type, in face as well as stature: aristocratic mannequins whose superhuman slenderness brings to mind then
the

feminine counterparts
day.

They

in the fashion

magazines

of our

own

and varibetween them and the

are differentiated only by the luxuriance

ety of their clothing. Surely the gulf

THE LIMBOURG BROTHERS. JANUARY,

melancholy peasant of the October miniature could not have

been greater in real life than it appears in these pictures!

GENTILE DA FABRIANO. From

January page
in

it

is

from

Due de Berry

Les Ires Riches Heures du

Several of the calendar pages are devoted to the

nobility.

544.

Riches Heures du Due de Bern/

the courtly throng of the

but a step to the three Magi and then train

the altarpiece by Gentile da Fabriano(c. 1370-1427), the

greatest Italian painter of the International Style

ifig.

545).

ample
and softlv rounded, .is in the North The Holy Family on the
left almost seems in danger of being overwhelmed b\ the
gay and festive pageant pouring down upon it from the hills
in the distance. Again we admire the marvelousb well
observed animals, which now include not only the familiar
ones but hunting leopards, amels. and monkeys. (Such
creatures were eagerly collected by the princes ol the period,
be Mental background
many of whom kept private zoos.
of the Mam is further emphasized by the Mongolian facial
cast of some of their companions. It is not these exotic
lout lies, however, that mark our picture as the work ol an
Italian master but something else, a greater sense ol weight,
ol physical substance, than we could hope to find among the

The costumes here

are as colorful, the draperies

is

COiniC

\RI

4(M

545.

GENTILE DA FABRIANO. THE adoration of THE

Oil on panel, 9'10'/8 "x9'3"

410- COIIIIC

Alii

(3x2.8 m).

MAGI. 1423.

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

546.

GENTILE DA FABRIANO. THE

1423.

Northern representatives of the International

Gentile, despite his love of fine detail,

er used to working

on a monumental

manuscript illuminator
to

is

cm). Galleria degli

Style.

scale, rather

than a

had command
of a miniaturist, as we see on

Tics Riches

(fig.

observed in the October page of Les

Hemes light

as an independent factor, sepa-

IG1

fields, their effect is as

etic

The Nativity
first

546) the new aware-

we

Till

of the angel bringing the glad tidings to the shepherds in the

ows

ness of light that

OF

Florence

from form and color dominates the entire picture

Even though the mam sources of illumination are the di\ me
radiance of the newborn Child "the light oi the world" and

the small panels decorating the hase, or predella,

of his altarpiece. In

Uifi/.i.

rate

obviously a paint-

at heart. Yet he, too,

of the delicate pictorial effects

turning

nativity, from the predella of the ,\IX)H,\T1()N

l2Ytx29W (31x75

as

il

natural

note the strong cast

shad-

the Virgin were kneeling by a campfire. The po-

intimacy of this night scene opens up a whole new world

were not to be fully

ol artistic possibilities, possibilities th.it

explored until two centuries

later.

COTHK

Mil

-J'/

ILLUSTRATED TIME CHART

POLITICAL HISTORY. RELIGION

II

LITERATURE. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

I.IK)

Golden Age of Ireland, 600-800

Mohammed (570-632)

Stirrup introduced into Western

Europe c. 600
China
Porcelain invented in China c. 700
Paper-making introduced into Near East
from China
Earliest cast iron in

Omayyad caliphs (Damascus) 661-750

Moslems invade Spain 711-718; defeated
by Franks, battle of Tours 732
Abbasid caliphate Baghdad) begins 750
St. Boniface (died 755) converts Germans
Pepin the Short crowned king of Franks
by St. Boniface 751; conquers Ravenna
and donates it to papacy 756
(

Moslem

state established in

Isidore of Seville, encyclopedist (died 636)

The Venerable Bede, English

historian

(673-735)
Beowulf epic, England, early 8th cent.

Spain 756

Viking invasions begin 794

Sigvald

rebel',

Cividale Cathedr

Charlemagne (r. 768-814) crowned Holy

Roman Emperor by Pope 800; empire
extends from northern Spain
Germany and northern Italy

to

Earliest version of 1001 Nights, Arabian stories

documented church organ, Aachen 822

Carolingian revival of Latin classics
Earliest printed book, China, 868
Earliest

western

Treaty of Verdun 843, split of Carolingian

empire: France, Germany, Lorraine

Horse

collar

adopted in Western Europe

efficient draft animals

makes horses

Rhabanus Maurus, German encyclopedist

Vikings discover Iceland 860

(784-856)
Alfred the Great

(r. 871-899?), AngloSaxon king of England, defeats Danish

invaders

Palace Chapel of Charlemagne,

Monastic order of Cluny founded 910

Normandy awarded to Vikings by king of
France 911
Otto

Oseberg ship-burial

documented use of windmills,

Near East

Earliest

Earliest application of water

crowned Holy Roman

Emperor by Pope 962
Otto II (r. 973-983) defeated by Moslems
I

Aachen

(the Great)

power

in

to in-

dustry

Vikings discover Greenland

c.

980

southern Italy
Ethelred the Unready
in

(r. 978-1016) buys

Danish invaders of England
Hugh Capet (r. 987-996) founds Cape-

off

tian

dynasty in France

Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim

1022)

Normans
Ban,

arrive in Italy 1016;

last

Sicily

(r.

993-

Leif Ericsoh sails to North America 1002

Avicenna (980-1037), chief medical authority in Middle Ages

conquer

Byzantine stronghold, 1071;

Hariri, Arabic writer

1072-92

Omar Khayyam,

Reconquest of Spain from Moslems begins 1085

(1054-1121)

Persian poet

Chanson de Roland, French

William the Conqueror (Norman) defeats

English king Harold at Battle of Has-

1066
Crusade 1095-99 takes Jerusalem
Cistercian order founded 1098; St. Bertings

First

nard

oi

Clairvaux (1090-1153) becomes

principal abbot

Gospel Book

412- TIME CHART

11

oj

On

BuycuK Tapestry

(fl.

c.

epic

c.

1100)
1098

PAINTING, SCULP

II R

I.

ARC HITECTU

Sutton Hon shlp-buiia] treasure

Lindisfame Gospels
Echternach Gospels
Sigvald

Palace

Cividale Cathedra]
Mshatta, Jordan

relief,

at

Damascus
Mosque at Cordova
Abbey Church of St.-Riquier
Mosaic, Great Mosque.

Lindisfame Gospels

Sutton linn ship-burial treasun

Palace Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen

^FSfS^^^fW^J:

Gospel Book of Charlemagne

Gospel Book of Ebbo of Reims
Utrecht Psalter

Monastery plan. St. Gall

Oseberg ship-burial

Mosque

Crucifixion
Mosque

ot

jo*!*

of Mutawakkil. Samarra. Iraq

relief,

cover of Lindau Gospels

Mutawakki], Samarra. Iraq

MonasU

ry plan

St.

Gall

Gero Crucifix, Cologne Cathedral

St. Pantaleon, Cologne

St

Pantaleon, Cologne

'

Gospel Book
St.

oj

Otto

rui it>\

Cologne

athedral

111

Michael's. Ilildesheim

Bronze doors of Benin aid. Ilildesheim

oj Cor hie

Gospel Book

Speyer Cathedral
Pisa Cathedral. Baptistery. Bell Towel
Baptistery. Florence

St.-Ktienne.

Caen

Bayeux Tapestry
St.-Sernin, Toulouse, and Apostle

S Ambrogio, Milan

Durham

Baptistery

lorei

Cathedral

lnulmis

IIMI

ll\KI

II ' -il

POL! IK AL HISTORY, RELIGION

Mediterranean made sate

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

commerce
Moslems
founded 1113; Temfor

Rise of universities

by Italian naval supremacy over

Knights Hospitalers
plars

and

Peter Abelard, French philosopher and

teacher (1079-1142)

(Duke Henry the Lion)

lohenstaufen emperors in

Norman Kingdom

of Naples

and

Louis the Fat of France (died

strengthens monarchy

Germany
Sicily

medicine, theol-

ogy

Teutonic Knights 1190

18;

Rivalry of Guelfs

Bologna, Paris, Ox-

ford); faculties of law,

Geoffrey of

139-1373

Monmouth, English

historian

(died 1154)

137)

Crossbow gains in use over bow and arrow

St. Bernard denounces sculpture in
churches 1127
Flowering of French vernacular literature

Portugal becomes independent 1143

Frederick

I
Barbarossa (r. 1155-90) titles himself
"Holy Roman Emperor," tries to dominate Italy
King Henry II founds Plantagenet line 1154

(epics, fables, chansons); troubadours

Mined

coal

supplements charcoal as fuel

magnetic compass for navi-

Earliest use of

gation

documented windmill

Earliest

in

Europe

1180

Lion

monument. Brunswick

ympanum.

center portal. Vezelav

Fourth Crusade (1202-4) conquers Con-

Nibelung,

stantinople
St.

Dominic (1170-1221) founds Domin-

epic

1205; minne-

c.

Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine

ican order; Inquisition established to

written

combat heresv
St.

German

singers

St.

Francis of Assisi (died 1226) founds

Franciscan order

Emperor Frederick

II
1 194-1250) neGermany, resides at Palermo
Magna Carta limits power of English
kings 1215
King Louis IX (St. Louis,
1226-70)
leads Seventh and Eighth Crusades

(1193-1280)
Roger Bacon, English philosopher and
scientist (Franciscan) (1214-1292)
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Divine
Comedi/ in Italian vernacular

r.

Mongol invasion

of Russia

1237

Italian scholastic

philosopher (died 1274)

Albertus Magnus, scholastic philosopher

glects

Sketchbook, Villard de Honnecourt

1266-83

Thomas Aquinas,

Madonna Enthroned,

hv

Omab

Interior west wall sculpture,

Reims Cathedral

Teutonic Knights colonize Prussia

Marco Polo travels

c. 1275-93

Edward

Arabic (actually Indian) numerals intro-

1272-1307) conquers Wales

1285-1314), king
France, humiliates Pope Boniface
1

(r.

Philip IV (the Fair,

of

r.

VI 1303

stronghold

TIME

in

Acre,

last

Christian

Holy Land. 1291

(II Mil

II

in

Europe

Spectacles invented
First

Moslems reconquer

~iN

duced

in

China and India

to

c.

documented use

1286
of spinning wheel

Europe 1298, replaces

spindle

distaff

and

FA

NT NG. SCULP]
I

1!

I.

ARC

II

A II R

I.

Nave auk murals, Si -Savin-surGartempe

South Portal. Moissac
\

&

Notre- Dame-la-Grande, Poitiers

.2i\.fc'<JSJ

Font, St.-Barthelemy, Liege, by Renier

of

Huv

Tournai Cathedral
Tympanum, center

portal.

Ye/elav

Judgment tympanum, Autun

Coronation Cloak of German Emperors
Abbey Church of St. -Denis. Pans
Last

Gospel Book of Wedricus

Portal sculpture. St.-Gilles-du-Gard

West

portals,

Chartres Cathedral

Notre- Dame, Paris

Lion monument. Brunswick

Klosterneuburg altar, by Nicholas of

Verdun
Fagade sculpture. Fidenza Cathedral, by
Antelami
Chartres Cathedral (rebuilding after

fire)

Abbey Church. Fossanova (Cistercian)

West

Notn

Dame

I'.ti

Stained glass, Chartres Cathedral

Canmnci Burana manuscript. Munich

Transept portals. Chartres Cathedral
Stained glass, Bourges Cathedral

South transept

portal.

Strasbourg Cathe-

dral

Amiens Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Illustrated Arabic Dioscorides

Reims Cathedral

Tomb

of a Knight, Dorchester Abbey

Sketchbook, Villard de Honnecourt

Choir screen and "portraits." Naumburg

Cathedral
Interior west wall sculpture. Reims Cathe-

Stained glass Bourges Cathedral

dral
Pulpit, Baptistery, Pisa, by Nicola Pisano

Psalter of St. Louis

St.-Urbam. Troves
Madonna Enthroned, by Cimabue
Prayer Book of Philip the hair. b\ Master

Honore
Sta. Croce,

Florence

Florence Cathedral
Choir screen and "portraits

Naumburg

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Cathedral

1300

ll\ll

ll\HI

II

-J/")

POLITICAL HISTORY,
RELIGION

LITER AT U RE, SCIENCE,

TECHNOLOGY

1300'

1309-76
War between England

Exile of papacy in Avignon

Hundred

Years'

First large-scale production of

Italy

and France begins 1337

Black Death throughout Europe 1347-50
Jacquerie (peasant) revolt in France 1358
Bridget of

Sweden

1303-1373)
Russians defeat Mongols at Kulikovo 1380
Wat Tyler leads peasant uprising in EngSt.

land 1381

English

paper in

Large-scale production of gunpowder;

earliest

known use

of cannon 1326
Europe

Master Eckhart, German mystic (died

1327)
William of Occam, English scholastic
philosopher

John Wycliffe (died 1384) challenges

church doctrine; translates Bible into

ARCHITECTURE

and Germany

Earliest cast iron in

Longbow

(c.

PAINTING, SCULPTURE,

1300-1349)

replaces crossbow. Battle of

Crecy, 1346
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer c. 1387
Decameron by Boccaccio 1387

Virgin of Paris, Notre Dame

Cathedral pulpit, Pisa, by Giovanni Pisano
Arena Chapel frescoes, Padua, by Giotto

Maestd

altar,

Siena, by Duccio

Bonn

Pietd {Andachtsbild),

Facade sculpture, Orvieto Cathedral

Triumph of Death, Pisa, by Traini
Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, by Jean Pucelle

Equestrian statue of Can Grande, Verona

Choir, Gloucester Cathedral

Good and Bad Government frescoes,

Siena, by Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Country Life fresco, Avignon
Alhambra Palace, Granada
Madrasah of Sultan Hasan, Cairo
Choir, St. Sebald,

Nuremberg

Portal of Chartreuse, Dijon, by

Sluter;

Claus

Moses Well

Altar wings, Dijon, by Broederlam

Pwta (Andachtsbild), Bonn

Madonna Enthroned,

by Giotto

Choir. Gloucester Cathedra]

1400.

Teutonic Knights beaten by Poles and

Lithuanians at Tannenberg 1410

Gutenberg invents printing with movable

type 1446-50

Competition

Jan Huss, Czech reformer, burned

stake for heresy 1415

Earliest account of sea quadrant in navi-

Tres Riches Heures du

at

gation 1456

Great Papal Schism (since 1378) settled

by election of Martin V at Council of

Constance 1417; Pope returns

to

relief for Baptistery doors,

Florence

Ca' d'Oro, Venice

Adoration of the Magi
Fabriano

Rome

Due de Berry, by

Limbourg brothers

St.-Maclou,

House

altar,

Rouen

of Jacques Coeur,

Chapel of Henry

VII,

Bourges
Westminster Abbey

u_i_
\doratiom

416' liwi

<

li

\l;i

II

oj tfa

Vagi

altai

l>\

Gentile da Fabrian

by Gentile da

Ca' d'Oro, Venice

BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING

Ins

English

in

Books with material

relc-

ant to several chapters are cited only under the

first head
have written other works on their
all volumes of which arc cited
here, are the Pelican History of Art and the World oj Art
series. Two excellent general bibliographies are Guide to the
Literature of Art History by E Amtzen and R Rainwater
American Library Association, 1980) and Art Books: A Basic
Bibliography by E L Lucas (New York Graphic Society.
968 Many libraries now have access to electronic data bases,
such as Art Bibliographies Modern and RLIN, which can help
\

PART ONE
THE ANCIENT WORLD

includes standard works and the most recent and

list

comprehensive books

Main authors

ing

Two

fields.

cited

to art historical

N.Y, 1975
A. Arrest and Movement.

GROENEWEGEN-FRANKEORT H

Univ. of Chicago Press, 1951; reprint. Hacker Art Books

the South Sea Islands.

Crown.

NY.

1962

The Dawn of European

Knopf NY. 1958

CHILDE. V

research

CORNET.

G.,

1972

&

ASHMOLE.

Art of the Ancient World. Abrams,

N.Y, 1975

NY.

Arl oj Africa. Phaidon.

J.,

NY,

Civilization. 6th ed.,

HAYES.

1971

DAVIES. O West Africa Before the Europeans: Archaeology

and Prehistory. Methuen, London, 1967
ELDER, N American Indian Art. Ahrams. NY. 1971
G1MBUTAS, M A.. The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe.
7000-3500 B C. Myths. Legends and Cult Images. Umv,

W.C., The Scepter of Egypt, 2 vols.. Harper, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. N.Y..

indicate

R. A. Cordingley. Scribner.

Methods and Resources by

Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.. c 1990)
titles available in paperback; for publishers, distributors, and the like, see Puperhound Books in
Print RR Bowker. annual).
Jones (3d ed

L. S.

Asterisks

Graphic Society, Greenwich, 1964

A., The Pyramids. 2d ed., Univ. of Chicago Press.
1962
FLETCHER, B, A History oj Architecture. 18th cd rev.

'BASCOM. W. R African Art ni Cultural Perspective. Norton NY, 1973

BUHLER. A T BARROW. & C. T. MOUNTFORD. The Art of

'Art Information: Research

is

Univ of California

Tutankhamen. New York

"FAKHRY.

ETHNOGRAPHIC
ART

).

vou find other works A useful guide

11-111,

Press. Berkeley, 1966-68

PREHISTORIC AND

1.

useful series, not

Studio Misr.. Giza, 1954. Vols

DESROCHES-NOBLECOURT. C

1953-59

LANGE. K & M. H1RMER, Egypt

Architecture. Scitlplur

1974

of California Press, Berkeley.

GRAND. P M Prehistoric Art: Paleolithic Painting andSculpture. New York Graphic Society. Greenwich, 1967

Painting

in

Three Thousand Years. 4th

ed.,

Phaidon. Lon-

don, 1968

"MEKH1TAR1AN, A, Egyptian
Rizzoli, NY. 1977

NY.

Painting. Skira.

1954;

GRAZIOSI.

GU1DONI. E

INTRODUCTION
ARNHEIM. R

Art

..

GUNDON,

and Visual Perception. 2d

ed..

HEYDEN.

Univ of

California Press. Berkeley. 1974

Visual Thinking, Univ. of California Press. Berkeley.

CAHN. W.

Architectural Styles. Praeger.

of

DICKIE,

and

Art

Institutional Analy-

Cornell Univ. Press. Ithaca. 1974

Beacon

"/ Art,

Press. Boston.

1963

Phaidon Oxford. 1979

The Sen^e of Order a
Cornell Uni\

MEGAW,

S Art
Row. N.Y. 1970

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800-1200. new ed Pelican History ol Art Penguin Noruii h 1974

BOLOGNA.

F. Early Italian Paint inq

Romanesque and Early

Medieval Art, Van Nostrand, Princeton, 1964

BRAUNFELS. W. Monasteries of Western Europe: The Architecture oj the Orders. 3ded.. Princeton Univ. Press. 1972

CAHN.

Romanesque

W..

Bible Illumination, Cornell Univ,

1982

Press. Ithaca.

FRISCH.

Early Medieval Art

and Documents

100

USO-.Sources

Englewood Cliffs 1971

DODWELL
R Painting in Europe 800 1200 Pelican
Histor) "l An Penguin, Harmondsworth, Baltimore 1971
Hl'RI G History oj Medieval \n 980 1440 new
vol
ed sku.i Rizzoii Geneva N )
1986
trlii, \ii
FINLAV
Introduction Faber&Fabei LonPrentice-Hall

don

I-

Pen-

Gothit Art

T. G..

140-1450 Sources and Docu-

ments. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

1971
i

den

G. D. S..

Gothic Style and Civilization, Pen-

1957

City.

"JANTZEN, H

High Gothk The Classic Cathedrals vj

and Amiens. Pantheon. N Y. 1962
KRAUTHEIMER, R & T KRAUTHEIMER-HESS, Lorenzo
Ghiberti. 2d ed Princeton Univ Press. 1970
LARNER. L., Culture and Society in Italy. 1290-1420.
..

Chartres, Rheims,

NY.

Scribner.

"MALE, E The
S

J.

LEJEUNE. & J. ST1ENNON. A

Treasury of Romanesque Art, Metalwork, Illumination and

Sculpture from the Valley of the Meuse, Phaidon,N.X, 1972
DEMUS, O. Romanesque Mural Painting, Abrams, NY. 1971
DUBY, G The Age oj the Cathedrals Art and Society,

980-1420. Univ. of Chicago Press. 1981

J., The Romanesque Architecture of
Cluny 2d ed., AMS Press. N.Y. 1972

EVANS.

Order

ol

1971

Gothic Image: Religious Art

MARLE. R VAN. The Development

Painting. 19

vols, (reprint.

MARTINDALE.

MF.ISS,

The Art and Architecture oj the Crusadei

Stutes Univ. of Wisconsin Press. Madison. 1977
KAUFMANN. C. M., Romanesque Manuscripts 1066-1190
(Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles. Ill),
New York Graphic Society Boston 1978
KUBACH. II E Romanesque Architecture Abrams, N.Y.

OK FURTHER READING

ed

1975
H.. Medieval Cities

Braziller

SCHAPIRO, M

1968
N.Y 1977

N.Y.,

Romanesque Art, Braziller,

Art and Architecture in Medieval France,
Harper 8t Row N V, 1972
SWARZENSKI, II Monuments of Romanesque Art The An

STODDARD

I (

ol

hurt h Treasures in North-Western Europe. 2d ed., Univ,

Chicago Press

WEBB
ed.

(.

1967
The Middle Ages 2d
Penguin Baltimore. 1965

Architecture in Britain

Pi4k.hi History of Art

<

Romanesque \n Universe Books, N.Y, 1971

oj the

of the Italian Schools

923-38 ed). Hacker. N.Y. 1971

NY,

Paint mil in Florence

and Siena

after the Black Death.

Princeton Univ Press, 1951

lion

WILSON. Women

and Reappraisal from

POPE-HENNESSY
Phaidon. NY, 1970

Artists

Recogjfj

the Early Middle Aqes to the

&

Row. N.Y. 1976

VV, Italian Gothit Sculpture. 2d ed.,

ROWLEY, G Ambrogio

Lorenzetti, 2 vols., Princeton Univ.

Puss, 1958

SAUERLANDER, W, Gothic Sculpture inFrance, 1140-1279

Abrams, NY, 1973
STUBBLEBINE H. DucciodiBuoninsegnaandHisSchaA
I

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WATSON,

SAALMAN.

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the

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1967
Giotto and Assist Norton. N.Y. 1967
A..

PETERSEN. K. &.
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in

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the

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GRABAR. A Romanesque Painting from the Eleventh to

ZARNECK1

1973

420 -BOOKS

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1977
GRODECKI. L. Gothit Architecture, Abrams, N
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DAVIS-WEYER.

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Abrams.

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Insular Manuscripts, 6th to the 9th

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.1

P.Golhii Architet lure. Pelican History

*HOLT

ROMANESQUE ART

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I)

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(.
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E..

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RUSSELL,

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WHITE.
.

.1

GLOSSARY

ABACI'S A
CAPITAL

slab ol stone al the top ol a classi<

\IK

the

111

A\

al

religious

monks

the

CHOIR

large

especially

nuns

or

ACADEMY. A

place

provide space

to

122

fig

foi

word coming
garden neai Athens

from the Creek name ol a

Plain and lain Platonic philosophers
hold philosophical discussions from the 5th
the 6th century

to

AD. The

firsi

academy ol lino arts, properlj speaking, was

the Academy ol Drawing lounded 1563 in
Florence

Important

Giorgio Vasari

l>\

latei

academies were the Royal Academy ol Painting and Sculpture in Pans founded 16 18, and
the Royal Academy ol Arts in London, founded

was

1768. Their purpose

and occasionally
A<

the arts by

to foster

teaching, exhibitions, discussion

systematic

Willis

by financial assistance

Mediterranean plani having

spun or toothed leaves 2) Vn architectural ornament resembling the leaves ol this plant.
used on MOLDINGS FRIEZES and Corin\

CAPITALS (figs 151 164)

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE See PERSPECTIVE.
\IS1
See SIDE VISLE
thian

PRIMA A
PIGMENTS are

little

or

no

painting technique
laid

on

one

in

in

which

applic ation with

UNDERPAINTING

ALLAH The unique and personal God ol the

MOSLE M faith
\l TAR
I) A mound or structure on which sa<
ri-

made

fices oi offerings are

deity

2'

In

Catholic

in

the worship

church

structure used in celebrating the

Mass

A painted oi carved work

placed behind and above the ALTAR
i

hurc h

orplate 59) or a

It

m.n be

or a

art

ol

ol

a single panel

TRIPTYCH

ol a

table-like

ALTARPIECE
Christian

a
ol-

<

POLYPTYC

II

having hinged wings painted on both sides

(fig 494). Also called a reredos oi retable
ALTERNATE SYSTEM A system developed in

Romanesque church

architecture

to

SIDE-AISLE bays. ["hePIERSol thenave

size;

in

the heavier

AR-

COM

POl M) puis support the mam nave vaults

where the IIIKl'Sl is concentrated and
smaller usually cylindrical purs support the
side-aisle vaults
\\1
in

AZON One

figs

19]

196

female warriors said

dwell near the Blai k Sea

ol a tribe ol

Greek legend

(fig

to

\ covered walkway
In a BA
SILICAN church, the semicirculai passage
2
In a CEN
around the APSE (fig 122
[HAL-PLAN cfiurch the ring-shaped AISL1
I

>

and

seals

ill

oval
.u

ess

Grei

large

dish

lh<

i.

fi

in

BISHOPol

hiel

an

membei

he lowermost
\BI.\ll Rl
Le
I

classical

tow.ud the base; tWO handles extend from

stone blocks thai rest direcdy on the

below the

\\1A(

the shouldi

lip to

lllslill

German

.1)

JUSI

UMNS

devotional pic-

foi

A picture oi sculpture

ture

figs

\l!(

TYMPANl M
\IIKK

\l i;ii

Mi

Hie front end ol a wall ol a

Greek temple, thickened to produce a PILASTemples having COL
TER-like member
UMNS between the antae are said to be in
antis"

APOCALYPSE
hook

rhe Book

Revelation the

ol

In

Judas IscariOt Matthew Pelei Philip Siinnn

["haddeus
oi
Jud
the Canaanite
Thomas In an howevei the same twelve are
not always represented since "aposde" was
hristians
sometimes applied to othei early
I

\psl

semicircular or polygonal niche

both ends

oi

2
\
Unman BASH
figs 246
is usually plat ed al the
him h
the nave beyond the TRANS1 PI
it

289

fig
ol

transept

AQl
in

1.1)1
i.il

aims
aim
1

hannel

also

is

oi

ter-

in a

lu.it h'nslian

l<

the

ol

sometimes used

oi

at

ol

HOIR

the end

foi

duct

walei

Ol

\n

aiti

transporting watet

foi

overground
structure which carries the conduit across val
Irom
le\s

distant

ii\els

Pll

ADE
RS

oi

hed

in a

\i;<

i.

10

soun

eli

fig

series

ol

e.

he

AR<

III

fig

these form a

S supported
when
290
blind an .^U

by
at

ing

\l

curved structure used

Masonry arches

blocks

ire built

called voussoirs

set

figs

span an openof wedge-shaped

to

with their narrow

opt rung so that they link tohe topmost voussoii is

226 234

side toward thi

gethei

Al

ABLAT1

oi

289

figs

mam

building
w inilows and PI \S

ten deioialed w ith

ol

RS
RIGNA<

II

Rl

ol

An adjective used

describ

foi

ol
UK ul
ppei I'M
an
the
iiue preceding the M AGDALI NIAN;
wind comes from Aurignac Haute-Garonne),
a sue m southern France where such work
ing aitilai

is ol

was found

BACCHAN

tem

BA(

fig

USTRADE

to

railing

any low parapet

i;\PI is

R\

oi

Greek

in

who wen- sunn

male followers

maenads

priesl

oroni of hisecstatii fetunes called

mythology Dionysus

BA1

IIWI

wine god Bacchus

priestess of the

supported

slum

by

Occasionally applied

figs

building

oi

a pari ol a

church,

often round oi o< (agonal in whic h thi

fig
mi
ol baptism is administered
foni a rei eptat leol stone
ioni.il ns
baptism

il

oi

metal whit h holds the walei

BARR1
,

VAUL1

BASI

lln

foi

in

fig

I'll

set

VAUL1

Set

The lowermost

In

n ol a

sll Al

in. nil tin

he lowest

lement

ol

PRI

DOM

wall

oi

A\

oi

painting

DELLA

In ancient

Roman

architectun

building used as a hall

MN

COLl

figs

onally "I a statui

BASILK
and

oi

fig

II

church

ol

low uppei story pla< ed above the

ORNIC1

buildii

COLl MNS
wall

hum

in

112

onduil

end

east

COLONNADED

sometimes

Roman house
rt. 2) An

ourl ol a

pillars called balusters

Paul

minating one

It

and

last

Evangelist describes Ins visions experienced

on the island ol Patmos ol heaven the future
ol mankind, and the Last Judgment
APOSTLE One oi the twelve disciples hosen by
Christ to accompany him in Ins lifetime and to
he tradispread the GOSPEL altei Ins death
10 1-1 iiu hides Andrew
tional list in Mali
Bartholomew, .lames the Greatet sun ol Zebeess sun ol Upllaells John
dee James ill.

sin h as Si

entral

us open en

195
\l

John the

St

it

SINOPIA

In

oi

\DI

\IU

New Testament

the

oi

open court

160

fig

often decorated with sculpture

10 See

247

fig

ANTA(pl. ANTAE)

sin h

ol

108

fig

VAUU1

OL

hand framing an
hands framing 3

molded

ol

161

sines

ni

ring-shaped form, especially an annulai

barrel

159

figs

Inst
agery intended loi private devotion
developed in northern E urope
ANNl LAR From the Latin word for ring Signi
lies a

HIVOL1

\l!(

with a type of im-

ni

fig

ARCHITRAVE

Islamit

diffi

in h

lothil

require support from othei

n;i ssi s

astii al

\l

STILTED

the

oi

the pointed

in

HBISHOP

\i;<

1.

as

all

BI

ol

WIPIIol;

pi

an mini

lors

figs

in

but

consisting

plan

in

shapes

lurtyard

nil Mil;

An hes may lake

d the keystone

illi

oi

storage vase with an oval body usually tapering

AR<

194)

AMBULATORS

tiers

usually

central theatei .m.i

provide

adequate support foi a GROIN VAULTED

NAVE having BAYS twice as long as the
CADI-, alternate

building

AD1 D

open d

thi

double

In a

ONN

01

walk around

AMPHITHE Mil;

10'

fig

the covi red

ALI.A

ill

\1

entral spat e

<

11

AMPHORA

study, the

ol

where

century B.C.

LOISTI

\K(

community headed l>\ an

abbot or abbess 2) rhe buildings which house
tin
ommunity An abbe) church often has an
I

around the
(

n.

159,

(figs

ABBEY

beneath

just

ol

justit

a
i

meeting place generally having

s
slid
and one oi more
AISI

public

\PS| s

fig

2 16

in

hiisii.in

architecture

church derived Irom thi

basilica and having a nave apse two oi foui
hapels .mil sometimes a
side aisles in side
Miidm.il

GLOSSARY- 4J/

NARTHEX
churches

One

Rome

oi

side the Walls, Si

church

other

seven

the

oi

main

recognized

Out-

nnds

Peter's, St. I'aul

(St.

John Lateran,

accorded

etc.),

same

die

or an-

religious

pri\ ileges

BATTLEMENT

A parapet consisting of alterparts and open spaces designed

defense and later used for decora-

nating solid
originally for

454

tion (fig

the interior space of a

of

bounded by con-

building, usually in a series

time architectural supports.

BENEDICTINE ORDER. Founded

at Subiaco
Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-c. 543). Less austere than other
earl) ORDERS, it spread throughout much oi'
western Europe and England in the next two

near

Rome

529 AD. by

in

St.

centuries.

BISHOP The

number

spiritual overseer of a

churches or

of

His throne, or cathedra,

a diocese.

placed in the principal church of the diocese,

designates

BLIND ARCADE.
BOOK. A

written work of

CODEX.
BOOK COVER. The

stiff

bound pages of

outer covers protecting

BOOK.

In the medieval

period, frequently covered with precious metal

and elaborately embellished with jewels, embossed decoration,

etc. (colorplate

BOOK OF HOURS. A

41

).

private prayer book con-

taining the devotions for the seven canonical

hours

Roman

the

of

Catholic church (matins,

liturgies for local saints, and

sometimes a calendar (colorplate 58). They
were often elaborately ILLUMINATED for

vespers, etc.

),

persons of high rank, whose names are attached to certain extant examples (fig. 500).

BRACKET. A

wooden, or metal support

stone,

projecting from a wall and having a

The lower

410).

(fig.

form of a

SCROLL:

it

is

fiat

top to

CORNICE, beam,

bear the weight of a statue,

etc.

part

may

take the

then called a

scroll

BROKEN PEDIMENT.

See PEDIMENT.
copper and tin, used since
sculpture. See BRONZE ACE,

alloy of

early times for

CI RE-PERDU.

BRONZE AGE. The

BRONZE was used

earliest

period in

which

and weapons. In
Age succeeded
the NEOLITHIC period in c. 3500 B.C., and
preceded the Iron Age, which commenced c
1900 B.C.
for tools

the Middle East, the Bronze

BUTTRESS.

1)

projecting

support

built

against an external wall, usually to counteract

the lateral

THRUST

within

425). 2)

(fig.

VAULT or ARCH
FLYING BUTTRESS. An
of a

arched bridge above the aisle roof that extends

from the upper nave wall, where the lateral
thrust of the
solid pier (fig

beau-

for

mam

vault

is

greatest,

down

to a

427).

City on the Sea of Marmara.

founded by the ancient Greeks and renamed
Constantinople In 330
Today called Istan-

AD

I.

and used

letters,

form a pattern (colorplates

to

CAMPACNA. Italian word for countryside.

usually refers to the
When capitalized,
countryside near Rome
CAMPANILE. From the Italian word campana,
it

meaning

bell.

tower, either round or

bell

square in plan, and sometimes freestanding

word for holy field. A

cemetery near a church, and often enclosed.
CANOPY. In architecture, an ornamental, roofItalian

like projection or

object

cover above a statue or sacred

458).

(fig.

COLARCHI-

of a

the

the

Roman

Catholic church, a

of the Sacred College, the ecclesiastibody which elects the pope and constitutes

his advisory council.

Originally a 12th-centu-

hermitage claimed to descend from a community of hermits established by the Prophet

Elijah on Mt. Carmel, Palestine. In the early
13th century it spread to Europe and England,
where it was reformed by St. Simon Stock and
became one of the three great mendicant or-

ry

FRANCISCAN, DOMINICAN).
CARTHUSIAN ORDER. See CHARTREUSE
The

the additive technique of

contrasted

to

ELING.

A work executed

2)

in this

MOD-

technique

figure used as
an architectural support (figs. 154, 174). A
similar male figure is an atlas (pi. atlantes).

duplicating a work of

of

sculpture by pouring a hardening substance

such as plaster or molten metal into a mold.

See CIRE-PERDU.
CATACOMBS. The underground burial places
the early Christians, consisting of passages
services.

CATHEDRA, CATHEDRAL.
1

The

The

the naos. 2)
tinct

from

room

of a tem-

182). Also called

(fig.

entire body of a temple as dis-

CENTERING. A wooden framework

ARCH, VAULT,

support an
its

or

built

DOME

to

during

construction.

CENTRAL-PLAN CHURCH.
ing four arms of equal length.
often covered with a

A church havThe CROSSING

1)

DOME.

(fig.

The surname ol the Roman dictator,

( .ics.ir
subsequently used as the
tide of an emperor; hence the German Kaiser,
.md the Russian zai tsai
M.IPII \ Moslem ruler; the firsl caliph sucS\li

<

eeded

and

IHAMME D

and

laimed

political

religious authority by his descent from the

Prophet

422

\1<

Subsequently three caliphates were

GLOSSARY

France

1)

worship. 2)

finely
in

ground

GESSO.

to
It

ar-

make a
may be

CHOIR.
private or subordinate place of

A place

of worship that

monastery
sian

1030
1081

ORDER
I

It

I'll
is

French word

was founded by
at

in

in

ORDER, and
life

reasserting

its

original ideals of a

of severe simplicity.

An autonomous

CITY-STATE.

unit

political

and the surrounding coun-

city

CLERESTORY. A row

of

windows

upper

in the

part of a wall that rises above an adjoining roof;

BASIL-

built to provide direct lighting, as in a

ICA

or

church (colorplate
1)

47).

place of religious seclusion

such as a monastery or nunnery. 2) An open

court attached to a church or monastery and

surrounded by a covered

AMBULATORY,
Used

as

ARCADED

Salisbury

in

for study, meditation,

CODEX (pi. CODICES).

and exercise.

A manuscript

in

form made possible by the use of

MENT instead of PAPYRUS.

4th centuries A.D.,

SCROLL

or

t)

walk or

Cathedral.

BOOK

PARCH-

During the

1st to

gradually replaced the

it

previously used for written

small chest or casket. 2)

re-

cessed, geometrically shaped panel in a ceiling.

ceiling decorated with these panels

said to be coffered

COLUMNS

(fig.

series

supporting a

LATURE (fig.
COLUMN. An

is

239).

spaced

of regularly

LINTEL

or

ENTAB-

76).

approximately cylindrical, up-

right architectural support, usually consisting

of a long, relatively slender

a

CAPITAL

in a wall,

175).

it

figs.
is

SHAFT,

159, 161

called an

).

BASE,

When

imbed-

engaged column
spiral RE-

Columns decorated with

LIEFS were used occasionally as free-standcommemorative monuments (fig. 265).

ing

COMPOUND

PIER. See PIER.

mixture of sand or gravel with

CONCRETE. A

mortar and rubble, invented in the ancient

Near East and further developed by the Ro-

mans

digs. 235, 236).

CONTRAPPOSTO.

Carthusian

the body are placed asymmetrically in opposi-

part of a

St.

Bruno

(c.

Chartreuse near Grenoble in

an eremetic order, the hie of the
i

with molten

The Carthu-

lor a

Italian, Certosa).

(in

filled

is

Italian word for set against.

A method developed by the Greeks to represent
freedom of movement in a figure. The parts of

is

church, but separately dedicated.

CHARTREUSE.

mold

1098 by Robert of'Molesme with the

objective of reforming the BENEDICTINE

(fig.

carbonate, either natural or

prepared,

lost-wax process

BRONZE) or liquid plaster.

CISTERCIAN ORDER. Founded at Citeaux

hav-

(figs.

CHAPEL.

CHOIR
TRANSEPT

metal (often

306-8).

A church

ing a circular or polygonal plan.

See

or

CASTING. A method in which an original is

MODELED in wax or coated with wax, then
covered with clay. When the wax is melted

and
ded

322). Also

called a Greek-cross church. 2)

CHALK. Calcium

NAVE

of

COLONNADE. A

external parts.

its

screen, frequently orna-

323, 465).
In
Orthodox Christian
churches it is decorated with ICONS, and thus
called an iconostasis (fig. 320).

COFFER,

See BISHOP.

principal enclosed

house an image

ple, to

CHOIR

sculpture, separating the

church from the

ROLL

CHANCEL
.mis Julius

mented with
of a

usually

is

Also called the chancel. See PIL-

GRIMAGE CHOIR.
CHOIR SCREEN. A

documents.

CELLA.

reserved for the

is

It

by steps, a railing, or a

off

commemorative

pressed in sticks and used in its white form, or

mixed with colored pigments to make pastels.
\1

marked

with niches for tombs, and small chapels for

white substance used

TRANSEPT.

or

CLOISTER.

206).

CARYATID. A sculptured female

of

NAVE

clergy and the singing choir, and

tryside.

cutting of a figure or design

out of a solid material such as stone or wood, as

(figs. 55,

church architecture, a square or rectangular area between the APSE and the
In

comprising a

ders (see

).

CHOIR

out, the resulting

CARMELITE ORDER.

In Gothic architecture, the term for

developed and unified east end of a
church, including choir, apse, ambulatory,
and radiating chapels (fig. 431

the

CIRE-PERDU PROCESS. The

159. 173).

member

CARVING

2)

raw bronze

finish a

to

tools.

(figs.

PILLAR supporting

or

TRAVE (figs.
CARDINAL. In

ornamenting

of

CHEVET

SCREEN.

291, 395).

(figs.

CAMPOSANTO.

tificially

A technique

1)

metal surface by the use of various

cast.

is

BYZANTIUM.

CHASING

The procedure used

CASTING. A method

bracket

BRONZE. An

word

the Creek

Decorative or formal hand-

with a brush (colorplates 28, 29; figs. 299,

351
2) A design derived from or resembling

cal

and aus-

of silence, prayer,

writing executed with a quill or reed pen, or

UMN

ARCADE

See

some length on consecutive sheets oi PAPER, PARCHMENT, etc.,

fastened or bound together in a volume. See

the

writing

CAPITAL. The uppermost member

as a cathedral

it

monks being one

terity.

CALLIGRAPHY. From
tiful

Fati-

37, 38).

i.

BAY A subdivision
se<

Omayyids, Abbasids, and

tion to

each other around a central

careful attention

is

axis,

and

paid to the distribution of

the weight (figs. 178, 179).

CORINTHIAN ORDER. See ORDER, AR< III

TECTURAL
lie projecting, framing members
CORNICE
including the horioi a classical PEDIMEN
l

probably the setting

DOL-

religious

foi

ere-

TRANSEPT

crosses

emphasized hv
tower

the

DOMK

NAVE,
fin

NAVE

wedge-shaped
by the ancient Mesthe

characters written on clay

ELEVA1 Ion

unhewn

with large,

\n

stones,

fig.

131).

ii

techniques

from the Frenc h

11 10
drawing pre-

the

Two
"champlev6"
in w hi* h the

dug

out

i,

The

the Greek word for entreaty.

representation of Christ enthroned between

Mary and

the Virgin

St.

John the

Baptist, fre-

quent in Byzantine MOSAICS (colorplate 30)

and depictions of the Last Judgment refers to
the roles of the Virgin Mary and St. John as intercessors for mankind.
DIORITE An igneous rock, extremely hard and
usually black or dark graj in color

DIPTYCH.

Originally

used

tor

writing,

CARVINGS

or

PANEL

tablet

hinged together

(fig.

fig

>7

ENTABLATURE.

CORNICE(figs

UMN

hinged two-leaved

pair

of ivory

paintings,

usually

2)

CORNK

Christ.

large,

more

the vision

ol

Mark
to

for

ulpture

and

ol

oi

New

the

is
I

he triangulai area framed bv the

eaves ol a building and the slop-

hiteclure

decorative element

the

ol

STORY fig 424

pan ELEVATION

DIMI N

shape

ol simil.u

man or

162

sin h as

PORTALS

133

fig

01

<

below

Lamb m

a winged

i,

foul

from those

01

In classi-

176

fig

called a PI

is

it

and sometimes at
the top ol a Gothic picture frame
GALLERY ^ second stor) placed ovei the SIDI
MSI IS ol a church and below the CLER1

and death of

1.

fig

II

in

the triangular structures above the

COL-

ol a

Luke

life

27

lattei ol

159).

fig

in

il

gelists (colorplate

thi

frieze

ing sides of a pitched rool

Rl

be the authors

lour books

Revelation (4:7
4-14
E/eku
I

the

frieze consists of alternat-

Vn Ionic
166)
dei mated with continuous

cornk

Matthew fig 651 a winged lion for

Mark fig 372 a winged ox foi Luke coloi
plate 42 and an eagle for John (colorplate 1";
These symbols ma) also represent the van

of

ENTABLA

ARCHITRAVE and

the

V Doric

In a

259) 2

154

pan of the

the

USUall)

GABLE

usu-

They are usuall) shown with theit sym-

the Book

angel

thought to be a prehistoric tomb fig $2

A true dome is a VAULTED roof of
circular, polygonal, or elliptical plan, formed
with hemispherical or ovoidal curvature Ma)
be supported hv a circular wall or DRUM fig
238), and b) PENDENTIVES (fig 309) or reslab,

\1

beasts surrounding the throne

upright stones capped by a horizontal

DOME

first

pari oi

rest a

ten sculptured (fig

sc

the enthis

which are probabl) derived horn the

bols,

structure formed by two or

Testament, which recount the

funerary vase with

were poured to the dead fig. 135). Named for

the cemetery near Athens where the vases
were lound
\

the

Omes

be<

ofa Gothic church

Matthew

GOSPELS,

the

rRIGLYPHSand Ml fOPl

ing

II
/I
and
The same struc-

2)

the si

ol

olot plate

RE between

II

162. 166

(figs.

classical building

ol a classical style

John, tradition. ilh thought

holes in the bottom through which libations

DOLMEN

swelling

COLUMNS;

159, 161

an) building

EVANGELISTS

303)

DIPVLON VASE. A Greek

ture

True fresco is

ol

(colorplate 25)

In a classical ordei

for fresh

COLl M\

ARClll TRAVI

includes

ally

ENTASIS

See

structure above the

tire

wax

hot

the poor.

iii

word

.Ml NTS
absorbed b\ the plaslei and

MENTS dissolved in
ENGAGED COLUMN

mendi

.,

The monks

1226

181 82

as

Francis of Assisi Giovanni

sculptured decoration (figs

DEESIS From

ounded

a public

and "cloisonne' from the F rench foi partitioned in whit h ompartments oi

loisons
to be filled are made on the surface with thin
metal strips. 2) A work executed in eithei tei h
nique bus 357 120
ENCAUSTIC. A technique oi painting with PIGt

it)

lb.

lors
the tei hnique ol painting with the sa
on div plasiei 2 \ painting done in eithei ol
these u-c hniques
\
ontinuous band iii painted 01
RIEZ1

face;

).

h w.is

painting on moist plastei wiih

mound III walei SO tli.it thl

hnique

the wall useli

the metal sur-

ol

tec

Italian

I'll

is

by firing

it

held

for raised

be treated are

areas to

to

ORDI

the spiritual needs

FRESCO

Re\

developed

oi

om

aim was to imitate the life of Christ in its povei

tv and humility
to preach and to ministei to

projected on a vertical

metal surface and fused

to a

IS<

ORDER by St

Bemardone

di

el

Ms

ln<

vv

and business .nuviiv and

gath

RAN<

plane parallel to one of its sides 2 Term used

m describing the virtu al plane ol a building
ENAMEL 1) Colored glass) substances either
opaque or translucent applied in powdei form

thought by the

legendary race of one-eyed giants

God

ol

\n architec tural

senting a building as

masonry

(.reeks to have been built by the Cyclopes, a

the

159

mam
adjec tive describing

figs

<

opotamians

CYCLOPEAN An

\BM US

squan

publil

judicial

ol

of Romanesque and Gothic churches fig 156

are those des< ribed b) St John the
vangelisl
in his vision ol heaven
lad in while and sr.,i

379)
CUNEIFORM Describes

mini

cant

ed around the throne

(fig

ORD1

Tuscan

oi

the

,,,i(l

400). or crossing

See SECTION
church, a VAULTED space beneath the CHOIR, causing the Boor ol the
choir to be raised above the level ol that of the
In

\1

strip

and

orinthian

cushion-like element between the top

the si

lonit

narrow

positi

FOI R Thetwent) foui

deis frequent!) represented on the POR

frequently

CROSS SECTION
CRYPT.

In the Dorii

ELDERS rWl

383).

(fig.

tin

in

in th<

FLYING Bl TIKI ss Sei Bl 1TRI ss

lo\l s,, BAPTIST! R>
ORl M pi OR \ In an ancient Roman

162)

be separati d bv

is

lb,

ol

sharp edge as

el in a

mi

>1

supp

wall

)l

England figs
CROSSING. The area in a church where the
prehistoric

iO

ol

fig

round

circle of large upright stones, or

MENS,

245

169

UT

SH

section ol the

figs

DOME

concave

monies

1)
'

ECHINUS

decorative purposes

m
I

horizon-

it

CRENELATED See BATTLEMENT

ROMLECH From the Welsh foi
stone.

tRVINGSon

<

mime

UMN

one beneath and the two sloping or

"raking" ones above (figs 159 161) 2) \nv
projecting, horizontal element surmounting a
tally for

in

DRl M.

zontal

wall or othei structure, or dividing

and occasionally in wood

(00
t

hint b with a four-

IRIIORH M

the

\\
and above the
\R( Mil which supports it on lis open side
M K in
,1 SS(
\ smooth mi Mine of ground (
M
plaster and glue, used as the basis foi
PERA PAINTING and Im OIL PAINTING on
I

PANEL
GILDING

V coat

substance
c

hemic

that

allv to

is

of gold or of a gold-colored
applied mechanical!) or

surfaces

ol a

painting

sc

ulptun

architectural decoration (colorplati

oi

The process of applying same

\ thm lavei ol translucent
GLAZI

lated constructions

ORDER
1206

Dominic

St

by

in

Toulouse about

Latin word for house

laiia

with

garden and surrounded

a
oi

private Tamil)

COLONNAD1

was

b\

the

for

2 17

fig

DONJON
DONOR

See KEEP
The patron or clienl at whose order a
work ol art was exet uted. the donor ma\ be depicted in the work fig 169
DORIC ORDER See ORDER \RCIIITK
i

rURAL
DROLERIES

WARE

for jests Used to deand small figures m

medieval manuscripts fig

French word

the margins ol late

oi

made

in

the

the present Civil

inhabitants

its

Potter)

Falerii

known

as

the

mis

alls,

ol

the 6th
V clasp

buckle

biooc h

oi

often

oma

relative!)

terminating

(.Mil

small
I

decorative element

l'l\\

01

ol

damn

the like

mation

dei

id

oi

ORl

Th<

In

an

Intel lure

ol

radiant
(

it

GOI D LEA1
II

thl

grooves channeled vertical!) into the SHA1

MN 01 I'll \su 1; fig 169 The)
ol a ( ol
I

circlt

hrisl
around the head or figures of God
the Virgin Mar) or a saint When it surrounds
the head on!) it is called a halo or nimbus col
surrounds the enure figorplate 56); when
ure with a large ova! figs 128 156 it is called
amandorla the Italian word for almond It iniIk atesdivinit) oi holiness, though original!)
was pi.H ni around the heads ol kings and u<kK
as a mark ol distmc lion

light

S1LV1 R

II

Into very thin sheets oi

l\(.

wolk before firing

and often as

as a protective seal

it

mented

EINIAL A

a plei

GLORIOLI
(

FIB! LA

the kiln

111

painted surface or to parts () it

iihkIiIv the tone 2
\ glass) coating

applied to
applied In

astel-

III R< H
Earl) teachers
Mill lis OF 1111
and defenders ol the ( hristian faith. Those
most frequent]) represented .uc the lour Latin
Vu
lathers Si Jerome St Ambrose and St
gustine all ol the Ithcentur) and Si Gregor)

(fig

scribe the live!) animals

192

fig

taining and conducting business, the second

PERISTYLE

oi

ordei to

iv

around one. or frequend) two open courts

The first, the ATRIUM was used for enter-

the front

oi

building

Rom. m detached, one-famil] house with rooms grouped

usuall)

The principal lace

FALIS( \N

16

DOM US,

FACADE

color

oil

DOMINICAN ORDER Founded as a mendicant

Ml\ Ml D MAN!

paintings

lure. or to the

S<

olorplati

back

the J.iss

ol

Gold beaten

'andappbedto
RIFTS and PAN

leaves

II

to sculp
SSI

GLOSS WO

KM

423

is,

MOSAICS

in

,1

vei

leal

(colorplates 27. 29). 2) Sil-

though ultimately

also used,

is

tar-

it

nishes (colorplate 28). Sometimes called gold

silver

foil,
i

foil.

IRI ION. In Greek mythology, one of three hideous female monsters with large heads, and
snakes for hair ifig. 152). Their glance turned

.<

men

to stone.

these, usually called a Gospel Book, often rich-

ILLUMINATED (figs. 370, 372).

GREEK-CROSS CHURCH. See CENTRALPLAN CHURCH.
GROIN VAULT See VAULT
ly

GROUND

architectural drawing pre-

456,

figs.

cut horizontally at the

ENTABLATURE,

In a Doric

peglike projections above the

ERIEZE;

from pegs originally used

en construction

HALL CHURCH, HALL CHOIR.

German

possi-

wood-

for

hall

NAVE and

same

are of the

See HAL-

word

church. A church in which the

SIDE AISLES

in

159, 161).

(figs.

LENKIRCHE.
HALLENKIRCHE.

small

height.

the

The

was developed in Romanesque architecture, and occurs especially frequently in German Gothic churches (figs. 388, 444).
type

which

been turned black either

said to have

is

by the tears of pilgrims, or by the sins of those

who have touched it.

The innermost and

KEEP.

picture of a figure, animal, or

object, standing for a word, syllable, or sound.

or central tower of a medieval castle,

some-

times used as living quarters, as well as for defense. Also called a donjon colorplate 58 2) A

medieval

ALLAH

vealed by

to

the

MOSLEMS,

MOHAMMED

at

re-

Mecca

LABORS OF THE MONTHS. The various occupations suitable to the

months

of the year.

illustrating these

represented

were

fre-

ILLUMINATED

in

LANTERN. A relatively small structure crowning a DOME, roof, or tower, frequently open to
ICON. From the Greek word for image. A PANEL painting of one or more sacred personages
such as Christ, the Virgin, a
ticularly

venerated in the

saint, etc., par-

ORTHODOX Catho-

church (colorplate 34).

ICONOSTASIS. See CHOIR
lic

SCREEN.

SCRIPT

decorated with drawings (fig. 373) or

with paintings in TEMPERA colors (colorIn artistic terms, the technique

of manipulating pictorial or other

means

in

order to cause the eye to perceive a particular

reality. May be used in architecture and sculpture

220), as well as in painting (color-

(fig.

277-279).
IN ANTIS. See ANI'A
plate 23; figs.

INSULA
1)

An

INSULAE).

(pi

ancient

Roman

Latin word for island.

city block. 2)

A Roman

"apartment house" a CONCRETE and brick

building or chain of buildings around a central
court, up lo five stones high. The ground floor
contained shops, and above were living quarlers

IONN

248)

fig

ORDER

rURAL.
ISLAM. The

religion ol the

on the submission

ALLAH

,is

ibis

MOHAMMED
I

ho adjei

424

ORDER. ARCHITEC-

See

tival

"I

MOSLEMS,

and recorded

GLOSSARY

based

the faithful to die will of

was revealed

form

is

an enclosed area below

to

Islamii

to

the Prophet

the

KORAN

for

343).

MAESTA. Italian word for majesty, applied in

the Nth and 15th centuries to representations
of the Madonna and Child enthroned, and surgels

celestial court of saints

and an-

487).

(fig.

MAGDALENIAN. An

adjective used for describ-

ing artifacts of the latest culture of the Upper

PALEOLITHIC; the word comes from La

Madeleine (Dordogne), a site in southwestern

France where such work was found.
MAGUS (pi. MAGI). A member of the priestly
caste of ancient Media and Persia. In Christian
literature (Matt. 2:1-12). one of the three
Wise Men or Kings who came from the East
bearing gifts to the newborn Jesus (fig. 507,
)

See GLORIOLE.
MANUSCRIPT. From the Latin word

for handbook written

by hand, as distinguished from such a work in
print (i.e., after c. 1450). 2) A book produced in
the Middle Ages, frequently ILLUMINATED.

written.

A document,

MASTABA. An

scroll, or

ancient Egyptian tomb, rectan-

gular in shape, with sloping sides and a

roof.

flat

covered a chapel for offerings and a

It

shaft to the burial

MAUSOLEUM.

1)

chamber (fig. 56).

The huge tomb erected

at

Halicarnassus in Asia Minor in the 4th century

B.C. by King Mausolus and his wife Artemisia

193). 2)

(fig.

generic term for any large fu-

monument.
MEANDER. From the name Maeander (modern
nerary

(fig.

for stone of

A deep-blue stone used first for ornamenpurposes (colorplate 9), or, after the 12th
century, for preparing the blue PIGMENT
blue.

known

as ultramarine.

LAPITH. A member

of a mythical Greek tribe

that defeated the centaurs in a battle, scenes

vase

which are frequently represented in

painting
and sculpture (colorplate

14, fig. 182).

LEKYTHOS

LEKYTHOI). A Greek

oil jug
narrow neck, a
flanged mouth, a curved handle extending
from below the lip to the shoulder, and a narrow base terminating m a foot. It was used
chiefly for ointments and funerary offerings

(pi.

with an ellipsoidal

(colorplate

body,

to Plato,

Traditionally

thought

go

to

they comprised the intellectual

disciplines considered suitable or necessary to

complete education, and included Grammar,

Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry,
and Astronomy. During the Middle Ages and
the Renaissance, they were often represented
a

allegorically

sculpture

(fig.

Sea.

decorative

MEGALITH. A huge

stone such as those used in

CROMLECHS and DOLMENS.

MEGARON (pi. MEGARONS, or MEGARA).
From

the Greek word for large.

The

central au-

dience hall in a Minoan or Mycenaean palace

or home (fig.
MESOLITHIC.

Age,

118).

Transitional period of the Stone

between the PALEOLITHIC and the

NEOLITHIC.

METOPE.

In a Doric

GLYPHS.

FRIEZE, one of the

Originally

it

panels,

between the TR1-

probably covered the

empty spaces between the ends of the wooden

ceiling beams (figs. 159-66).
MIHRAB. The small niche which marks the
QIBLA wall of a mosque showing the direction
of Mecca.

MINARET. A

tall, slender tower with balconies

from which Moslems are summoned to prayer
by the chant of the MUEZZIN (fig. 346).
MINIATURE. 1) A single illustration in an ILLUMINATED manuscript (colorplates 36-

39). 2)
trait

on

very small painting, especially a por-

ivory, glass, or

MINOTAUR.

metal

(fig.

285).

Greek mythology, a monster

having the head of a bull and the body of a

man, who

In

lived in the Labyrinth of the palace

of Knossos on Crete.

1(>).

LIBERAL ARTS.
back

Aegean

motif of intricate, rectilinear character, applied

to architecture and sculpture (figs. 261, 410).

either decorated or plain,

LAPIS LAZULI. From the Latin

from

plates 42, 45).

ILLUSIONISM.

admit light
322).

tal

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT. A MANU-

(fig.

the-

quarters

living

Menderes). a winding river in western Turkey

manuscripts (colorplate 58, fig. 504); sometimes with the symbols of the ZODIAC signs,
CARVED around the PORTALS of Romanesque and Gothic churches (figs. 456, 463).

See RELIEF.

students

with

that flows into the

Scenes or figures

73).

school,

colorplate 59).

140).

quently

(fig.

ological

MANDORLA.

and Medina, and transcribed by the Prophet

himself, or by one of his associates. The text
was established 651-52 A.D.
KORE (pi. KORAI). Greek word for maiden. An
archaic Greek statue of a clothed, standing female (fig. 150).
KOUROS (pi. KOUROI). Greek word for male
youth. An archaic Greek statue of a standing,
nude youth (fig. 146).
KYLIX. In Greek and Roman antiquity, a shallow
drinking cup with two horizontal handles, often set on a stem terminating in a foot (fig.

monuments

HIGH RELIEF.

A combi-

Mohammedan mosque and

).

castle.

KEYSTONE. See ARCH.

KORAN. The scriptures of

These symbols are found on ancient Egyptian

as well as in their written records

Arabic for place of study.

nation of a

strongest structure

1 )

HALO. See GLORIOLE.

HIEROGLYPH. A

MADRASAH.

rounded by her

KAABA. An ancient Arabic SANCTUARY in the

Great Mosque at Mecca which became the
most sacred shrine of the MOSLEMS. The
small building in the mosque contains a stone

fortified
if

floor level.

bly derived

surface for sculptural decoration

457).

PLAN. An

senting a building as

GUTTAE.

doors and windows are often cut on a slant outward, or "splayed," thus providing a broader

Medusa, the most famous of the

Gorgons, was killed by Perseus only with help

from the gods.
The first four books of the New TesGOSPEL.
tament They tell the story of Christ's life and
death, and are ascribed to the EVANGELISTS
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 2) A copy of
1

JAMBS. The vertical sides of an opening. In Romanesque and Gothic churches, the jambs of

in

painting,

engravings,

and

456).

LINTEL. See POST

AND

MODEL.

The preliminary form

of a sculpture,

often finished in itself but preceding the final

CASTING

or CARVING. 2) Preliminary or reconstructed form of a building, made to scale

(figs.

231. 369). 3)

A person who poses

for

an

artist (fig. 7).

MODELING.

In sculpture, the building

a figure or design in a soft

clay or

wax

up of

substance such as

(colorplate 19). 2) In painting

and

LINTEL.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION. See SECTION.

drawing, producing a three-dimensional effect

by changes m color, the use of light and shade,

LOW

etc.

RELIEF. See RELIEF

MOHAMMED

Muhammad

Arab prophet
570 632
His
first revelations were
610 and continued
his
throughout
lifetime; collected and recorded, these form the basis of the KORAN Mowas
forced to Bee from Men a Ins
hammed
birthplace, to Medina in (>22; the date oi tins
"Hegira" marks the beginning oi the Islamii
also

and the founder

ISLAM

oi

(<

<

In architecture, any oi various long

mu

narrow, ornamental bands ha\

shade

a distinctive

which project from the surface

structure and give variety

means

the

oi

the surface In

t<>

and

of their patterned contrasts of lighl

154

262)
Decorative work

(figs

MOSAIC

loi walls
VAULTS.
composed of small pieces oi

ceilings, or floors,

TESSERAE)

colored materials (called

set

in

plaster or CONCRETE The Romans, whose

work was mostly lor floors, used regularly
shaped pieces of marble in its natural colors

(colorplate

pieces

The
whose

brilliant

glittering effect (color-

different,

plates 27. 29). See also

MOSLEM
1

An

GOLD

Muslim)

(also

ISLAM

braced
2

used

hues mi hiding
irregular surfaces produced

slightly

entirely

Christians

early

21).

glass

oi

and

gold,

an

One who

follower

LEAF.
has em-

MOHAMMED

oi

adjective for the religion, law, or civiliza-

MOUNDS

Enormous

pries of earth erected by

exported

sin< e

othi

to

part of a building.

ORCHES1

the round spae e

se.iis

tin- tiers ol

176)

in

ORDER

the stage .mil

reserved

lna Roman

ol

foi

theatei

the

I"

li

horns

a similai

MANI

fig

spai e

important guests

foi

murus A

the Latin word lor wall,

on a wall FRESCO or done separateand affixed to it.

MUSKS, In Greek mythology, the nine goddesses who presided over various arts and sciences. Thev are led bv Apollo as god ol music
and poetry, and usually include Calliope Muse
directly

ly

Muse

of Epic Poetry; Clio,

History; Erato,

of

Museol Love Poetry; Euterpe, Museol Musk;

Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy; Polyhvmnia.
Muse of Sacred Music; Terpsichore, Muse of
Dancing; Thalia, Muse of Comedy; and
Urania.

Muse

of Astronomv.

<

NICAN, FRANCISCAN.
ORTHODOX From the Greek word

NARTHEX

The

transverse entrance hall of a

RUM

ICA, as distinguished from the

I

fig

'

called

the

Byzantine church

The same

have begun
etv to live

or

TRANSEPT

I'he

fig.

settled

Ihe

Communities,

cate animals, and to cultivate crops,

beginning

ol

mam

ning, weaving,

new

skills

and building

lii

to
it

si

soc

saw the

such as spin-

fig

with Victoria

winged

she

woman

Athena and
is

Romans

usually represented as a

windblown draperies

with

19, 189 206

s See GLORIOl

le.is

b\ the

ol

buildings

fig.

Refers either

i.

454

).

to

or to important pri-

PALKOLITHIC. Ihe Old Stone Age:

usually di-

vided into Lower, Middle, and Upper (which

\ soc iety ol nomadbegan about 35,000 B.Q.
ic hunters who used stone implements later
developing ones of bone and flint Some lived
in caves, which they decorated during the latat
ter stages of the age (colorplate 2. fig
5
which time they also produced small CARVINGS m bone, horn and stone figs 19, 20).
PALKTTK.
A thm. usually oval or oblong
board with a thumb hole at one end. used by
painters to hold and mix then colors 2
he
range of colors used bv a particular painter
In Kgyptian art a slate slab, usualh dc< orated
with sculpture in low Rf LII
he small ones
with a recessed circular area on one side are
thought to have been used loi eve makeup
fhe largei ones wen' ommemoi ali\< objo ts
I

tall,

tapering, four-sided stone shall

pyramidal top

Inst

constructed

as

ii

with

filled

53

(figs

PANKL.

34).
1

moie

PAN

II

eiihei

round or

w indow

t]

used

suil.ni'

painting,

foi

TEMPERA, and prepared before

a layer ol GESSO Large Ml \l!

require the joining togethei

ION

temple dedu ated

ol

two

oi

the uods

to all

238 139 or housing tombs of the illustrious dead ol a nation or memorials to them

(figs

PANTOCRATOR

broken pediment

ailed a

hie

1\

in.

On

ol

2 19

fig

fi

or

the

to

representation

ol

picture

snn.i

and

tall

plant

aquatic

ihe Neai

asl

paperlike material

Romans

SCROLL

116

160

Rom.,,, house oi

2)

.!.~>J.

ol

thai

gypl

ihe pith

ol

mows

by

laying

this plant

\n

am

gyptians

lent

document

written on this material

Ol

A colonnade around a

160).

(fig.

the

surface on which a

flat

painted

is

OH

il

compound

called a
I'll,

word

Italian

resentation

^ rep-

When used in a seem

ailed a

591).

fig

both pity and piety

moment after the (

ing a specific

usualh

pica

for

the Virgin griei tag ovei the dead

ol

Christ: bn 468

anient. ilion"

rucifixion n
fig

is

I'll

N
olored substanc es found in organii
and inorganic sources Pigment finely divided
and suspended in a liquid medium bee nines a
mk it. s,e II Ml'! i;\ PAIN ll\(.
paint

I'K .Ml-

\l

\s

OR

ER( oi

SCO

Rl

element projecting
and normally having a
a
.md
\l'l
\l
It has general
BAS1 SHA1
K a dec orative rather than strut tural purpose
I'll GRIM V.I
IIOIR
lu unit m a Roman
esque bun b composed "I the APSE \MI'.l
\|UK1 and II \IU\II\(.
HUM
I'll

vertical

flat

wall suit. hi-

from

18

PILLAR. A general term loi a vertical architectural support which iih bides (OH MNS
I'll lis
and I'll VSTI RS

PINNvil-

decorative structure cap

small

IKI ss or othei
and used especially

owe, I'll i;
(hiteiiui.il membei
ping

Gothic buildings

\N s,e

M
I

i.

tall

Roman

"i

Boor

sm
POLYPTY<

figs

ol

134

at

in

PLAN

i;oi \|>

fhe

nose an

and Vbys

mule

DOMl S
a COL

by

PIER. An upright architectural support, usually

rectangular and sometimes with CAPITAL
and BAS1
MNS PI
220 When
fig
LASTKRS. or SHAFTS are attac bed to as m
many Romanesque and Gothic ihurthes it is

bust as

121)
\

in

fig

rURl PLANE

I'K

PciDli

oi

(figs

lna

building or court

PI

abundantly

si

round BAS1
the supporting DRf M
bus

ONNADE

churches

PAPYRUS

ovei

spiii in al

hieve the transition

.H

COLONNADE

universe whie h appeals frequendy

in the DOMEoi M'si MOSAK Sol Byzantine
(fig

oil

oi

<

A wooden

bo. nils
I

reliel

fij

ing material by the ani ienl

with

I'

hori-

.i

320)

OBELISK A

be

low

,1

framed l>\
and iwo ral

PEPLOS An outer garmenl worn draped in folds

K
by women in anc ienl
Ireec e
fig
PERIPTERAL Vn adjective describing a build
in>j, surrounded by a single row ol
OI.UM NS

and then soaking pressing and dryi

whole
he resultant sheets were used as win

line

llllei

,1,

luently

DOME

large

vate town houses.

togethei thin strips

NIMBI

CORNIC1

polygonal opening

rulei of the

2.',

NEV\ STON1 \(.l See NEOLITHIC

NIKE. The ancient Creek goddess of victor)
ten identified With

domesti-

See ENCAUSTIC, FRESCO, TEMPKRA PAINTING. VYATKRCOLOR

PALAZZO (pi. PALAZZI). Italian word for pal-

PIECES

289).

Age, thought to

9000 8000 B C

III

New Stone

is

it

PAINT

usuallv in

to the APSE
NEOLITHIC

.1

I.1SSH

an open garden court surrounded

hand with

ol a

III

ol

in pic torial

al fo

PERISTYLE

official

vents

typic ally triangulai

dooi

or

Christian

section

the

e.u:'

on he Whi n
cornice are either turned at an angle oi broken

Sometimes

patriarch.

church extending from the entrance

246). 2)

basilican

SIDE AISLES

membei
a

for right in

Orthodox
hurch
which split from the Western Catholic Church
during the 5th century A I) and transferred its
allegiance from the pope in Rome to the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople and Ins ap-

church, sometimes enclosed but often open on

one side to a preceding \I
fig 289)
NAVE
The central aisle of a Roman BASIL-

events

PENDE N

Eastern

I'he

ihesi

musii

terms

si istii

mils

See BENEDICTINE, CARMELCHARTREUSE, CISTERCIAN DOMI-

opinion,

Ineccli

week on

zontal

set ol rules

ITE,

\KI

whose

religious society

colorpl

s last

PEDIMI N

together undei an established

live

il

mi:

,1

sculpture

CELLA

See

ol a

allskn

members

from

POSED ORDER
ORDER, MONASTIC

IS

(bust
nun oi

R1PTS

S(

lum

PASSION

.'.

NAOS

name

ihe
;

this in

Hill
If RAL \n archi
s\slem based on the COLUMN and lis
\
TABLATURE in which the form ol the elements themselves (< AIM \l sii \|
BAS1
and then relationships to each othei are
et<
spccilicaJh defined Ihe live classical orders
are the Doric hum Corinthian fuscan and
Composite fig 159) See also SUPERIM\i:<

ace (in French, palais

large painting or decoration, either executed

Asia Minoi

d m the 2nd
m. nen. ,1 made from thm bleat bed anim
bides used extensively in ihe Middle

for a

RKT or high
MURAL. From

tmum
when

in

il\

like

Mound

Builders, as a grave and/or

temple or other structure Sometimes m the form of an animal (fig. 35).
MUEZZIN. In Mohammedan countries, a crier
who calls the faithful to prayer from a MINA-

BASK

'

ti

See PALEOLITHIC
In an am leui Greek theati

\(.l

the Indians of the central United States, the

so tailed

.n

tries

OLDSTON1

pointed

tion of Islam.

PAR< IIMl \

lis in ancient Egypt

examples

usually reserved

calendar.

MOLDING.
profile,

MEGA1
lain

base upon which rests an

temple fig

building

made

to n

h a has.

work

oi

II

\n

an made

\l

ol

rplate 51

Mil'll

devotional

several panels joined

often

to-

hit

PORCH General term lor an exterioi appendage

to a building w hit h forms a
overed approai h
i

PORTH o

loi

GLOSSARY 425

porches consisting of columns.

for door or gate

PORTA. Latin word

PORTAL. A door or

gate, usually a

226).

monumental

one with elaborate sculptural decoration

(fins.

TABLATURE

often

and

ap-

227).

(fig.

monumental covered entrance

provides a

ing

steps

of

an EN-

a roof or

PEDIMENT,

and

proached by a number
building,

It

to a

a link with the space surround-

which two

basic system of con-

more uprights, the

"posts." support a horizontal member, the "lintel." The lintel may be the topmost element
struction in

or

33. 34), or support a wall or roof (fig

PREDELLA. The

base of an

ALTARPIECE,

of-

which are reof the main panel or

ten decorated with small scenes

lated in subject to that

One

PRONAOS.

In a Greek or

open vestibule

Roman

temple, an

CELLA

in front of the

(fig.

COLONNADE

(fig. 249) which echo or "recolumns, but are largely decora-

to" the

One

3)

tive.

which seems

PROPYLAEA).

(pi.

1)

The

en-

trance to a temple or other enclosure, especial-

when

an elaborate structure. 2) The

monumental entry gate at the western end of
the Acropolis in Athens (figs. 169).
PSALTER. 1 ) The book of Psalms in the Old Testament, thought to have been written in part
is

it

by David, king of ancient Israel. 2) A copy of

the Psalms, sometimes arranged for liturgical

and often

or devotional use,

NATED

richly

ILLUMI-

(colorplate 33).

PULPIT. A raised platform in a church from

which the clergyman delivers a sermon or conducts the service.

Its railing or

may be elaborately
PYLON. Greek word

decorated

PIER

The monu-

to

wall with sloping sides pierced by a doorway,

or of two

such walls flanking

2)

(fig. 76).

tall

a central

gateway

structure at either side of a

gate, bridge, or avenue,

marking an approach

to

394, 430).

(figs.

RHYTON. An

made from

ancient drinking horn

and frequently having a base

or animal head fig. 1 12).

human

formed by a

A slender, projecting archlike member

which supports a VAULT either transversely
fig. 386
or at the GROINS, thus dividing the

RIB.

),

surface into sections

(fig.

394). In late Gothic

purpose is often primarily

namental (fig. 441
RIBBED VAULT. See VAULT

or-

its

).

PAPYRUS

ROLL. A long

sheet of
with a written

illus-

used as a book before the introduction

trated,

CODEX.

of the

PARCH-

or

sometimes

text,

Also called a

SCROLL,

and, in

by the

MIHRAB (niche) in

the"qibla

wall."

QUARTZITE. An

extremely compact, granular

rock, consisting essentially of quartz (fig. 72).
QUATREFOIL. An ornamental element composed of four lobes radiating from a common
center (figs. 463, 479).

FACADES and

used on

SEPTS

CHAPELS
arranged around the AMBULATORY (and
sometimes the TRANSEPT) of a medieval

RADIATING CHAPELS. Term

(figs.

for

A room

1)

hall of a

for

refreshment. 2)

monastery, college, or oth-

The

projection of a figure or part of a

design from the background or plane on which

li
is CARVED or MODELED Sculpture done

manner is described as "high relief" or

"low relief" depending on the height of the profigs. 55. 265). 2) The apparent projecjet Hon
in this

of forms

represented in a painting or

drawing

RESPOND

frequently

ends of

TRAN-

for

ramming

Roman FORUM,

the enemy. 2) In the

the

raised platform decorated with the beaks of

captured ships, from which speeches were debvered (fig. 274). 3) A platform, stage, or the

used

like

for

pubhc speaking.

half-PIER,

PILASTER,

or simi-

element projecting from a wall to support a

or an ARCH whose other side is sup-

LINTEL,

GLOSSARY

BASE and

the

COLUMN

CAPITAL

SIDE AISLE. A passageway running parallel to

the NAVE of a Roman BASILICA or Christian
church, separated from

COLONNADE

it

by an

ARCADE

altar of a

church, or a small building attached to a

church, where the vessels and vestments required for the service are kept. Also called a

be
one on either side of the nave, or two, an inner

and outer.
SILENI. A class of minor woodland gods in the
entourage of the wine god, Dionysus (or Bacchus). Like Silenus, the wine god's tutor and
drinking companion, they are thick-lipped and
snub-nosed, and fond of wine. Similar to SA-

TYRS,

they are basically

cept for horse's

tails

human

in

form ex-

and ears (colorplate

SILVER LEAF. See GOLD LEAF.

SINOP1A (pi. SINOPIE). Italian word
which was famous

FRESCO

In

1 )

buildbuild-

24).

taken

Minor

city in Asia

for its brick-red

PIGMENT.

paintings, a full-sized, prelimi-

nary sketch done in this color on the

first

rough coat of plaster or "arriccio" (fig. 498).

SKENE. See THEATER.
SPANDREL. The area between the exterior
curves of two adjoining ARCHES, or, in the
case of a single arch, the area around its outside curve from its springing to its keystone
273, 304).

SPHINX.

In ancient Egypt, a creature having

1 )

man, animal,

the head of a

and the

or bird,

body of a lion; frequently sculpted in monumental form (fig. 64). 2) In Greek mythology, a
creature usually represented as having the
head and breasts of a woman, the body of a
lion, and the wings of an eagle. It appears in
classical. Renaissance, and Neoclassical art.
(fig.

CARVED

or gray-

125).

STELE. From the Greek word

block. An upright stone slab or

for

standing
with a

pillar

commemorative design

or inscrip-

tion (figs. 95, 190).

STEREOBATE. The

vestry.

SANCTUARY.
A sacred or holy place or
ing. 2) An especially holy place within a

or

may

246, 289). There

(figs.

ish-green in color

SACRISTY. A room near the main

(fig.

159).

STEATITE. Soapstone, commonly gray

substructure of a classical
Greek temple (fig. 159).

building, especially a

STOA.

In Greek architecture, a covered

COL-

ONNADE,

stone coffin usually decorated with sculpture

sometimes detached and of considerable length, used as a meeting place or

promenade.
STOIC. A school of philosophy founded by Zeno
about 300 B.C., and named after the STOA in
Athens where he taught. Its main thesis is that

and/or inscriptions (figs. 216, 301). The term

is derived from two Greek words meaning flesh

man should be free of all passions.

STUCCO. 1) A CONCRETE or cement

SARCOPHAGUS

(pi.

SARCOPHAGI). A

and eating, which were applied

to a

large

kind of

limestone in ancient Greece, since the stone

was said to turn flesh to dust.

SATYR. One of a class of woodland gods thought
to be the lascivious companions of Dionysus,
of

wine

counterpart).

room

(pi.

STEREOBATE

SCRIPTORIA). A workfor

copying and

MANUSCRIPTS.

DERS
text:

of

An

for

159).

the Latin word stilus, a pointed

instrument used in ancient times for writing

on tablets of a soft material such as clay.
SUPERIMPOSED ORDERS. Two or more rows
of

COLUMNS,

PIERS, or PILASTERS placed

above each other on the wall of a building

(fig.

architectural

a partially unrolled spiral, as

(figs.

see

STYLUS. From

forming the foundation

236).

ornament with the

on the
CAPITALS of the Ionic and Corinthian ORform

such as

COLUMNS of a classical temple (fig.

monastery reserved

illustrating

decorations

the

202).

in a

architectural

CORNICES, MOLDINGS, etc., (fig. 342) or

for sculptured RELIEFS (figs. 220, 262).
STYLOBATE. A platform or masonry floor above
the

having the legs and tail of a goat, the body of a

a head with horns and pointed ears.
A youthful satvr is also called a faun (colorplate
fig.

for

to

of plaster

Bacchus, his Ro-

man, and
24,

used

used

A kind

coat the walls of'a building. 2)

are represented as

(or of

They

A form

BRACKET.

to

house the Ark

architectural drawing presenting

26

).

ROLL.

a building as

A place or house of worship.

A CANOPIED niche or recess built for an
image. 3) The portable shrine used by the Jews

2)

SCROLL BRACKET
SECTION. An

TABERNACLE.

of written

159, 174). 2)

if

See

cut across the vertical plane,

at

Cross section: a cut along the transverse axis. Longitudinal section: a cut along the longitudinal axis.
SEXPARTITE VAULT. See VAULT.
right angles to the horizontal plane.

1 )

In architecture, the part of'a

between the

(figs.

projection from the

prow of an ancient warship, used

SCROLL

er large institution.
1

at the

A beak-hke

1)

SCRIPTORIUM

383. 423. 434).

REFECTORY.

RELIEF

window with

TRACERY,

of Gothic churches (figs. 426, 429).

ROSTRUM.

man

The dining

CHOIR SCREEN.

large, circular

stained glass and stone

the Greek god

church

See

ROSE WINDOW. A

such as the CELLA of a temple, or the part

of a church around the altar.
SANGUINE. A reddish-brown CHALK stick
used for drawing.

QIBLA. The direction of Mecca, toward which

Moslems turn when praying. It is indicated in

mosque

ROOD SCREEN.

SHAFT.

from Sinope, the ancient

ing,

or entrance.

of

471).

an Egyptian temple or forecourt, consisting either of a massive

426

shafts

medieval church
carry the weight of the VAULT
a

in

enclosing wall

(fig.

for gateway.

mental entrance building

lar

slender

the

of

COMPOUND

Latin, a rotulus (fig. 219).

160).

PROPYLAEUM

tion

or pier, as

(colorplate 27).

of several pilasters on a wall behind a

MENT

panels (colorplate 59).

ARCADE

an

of

architecture,

131).

ly

the end

potterv or metal,

it.

POST AND LINTEL. A

(figs.

at

spond

456, 469).

PORTICO. A porch supporting

COLUMN

ported by a free-standing
fig.

TABLINUM. From

of

the Covenant (colorplate

the

Latin

word meaning

writing tablet, or written record. In a

house, a small room

at

Roman

the far end of the ATRI-

UM, or between it and the second courtyard.

was used for keeping family records.

It

FEMPERA PAINTING
A painting made with
PIGMENTS mixed wall egg yolk and watei In
i

the

15th centuries,

1th ,ukI

PANELS which had

coating

GESSO;

oi

LEAF .md

was applied

to

tral
I'll

it

the application

ol

(.oil)

underpainting in green oi brow n

preceded the actual tempera painting (color~>
plates 54,
2) The technique ol executing
l

1)

GLAZED

word

Used

lor pottery,

this material

fired

sculpture, or as a building

An

material or decoration. 2)
.5

lor

various colors and

in

Color

made

object

ol

the natural material.

of

A small pun e of col

pi. TESSERAE
ored stone, marble, glass, or gold-backed glass

(TESSERA

used

I.

MOSAIC

THEATER.
lor
lar

275
an outdoor pi, ice

(coiorplate 29. fig

In ancient Greece,

dramatic performances, usually semicircuin plan and provided with tiers ol seats, the

ORCHESTRA, and
scenerv

the skene, or support lor

AMPHITHE-

See also

176).

(fig.

ATER.

THERMAE. A

public bathing establishment

Romans which

the ancient

and

ious types of baths

ol

consisted of var-

social

and gymnastic

In classical architecture,

a circular

building ultimately derived from early tombs

175).

fig.

THRUST. The lateral pressure exerted by an

ARCH. VAULT or DOME, which must be
counteracted

point of greatest concentra-

at its

thickness of the wall or by

tion either by the

some form

of

BUTTRESS.

a single, long piece of material

draped

in a variety of

ways

which could be

fig.

255).

assumed as the emblem of a tribe or family, or the representation

of it, such as those CARVED on the posts or
natural object or animal

TRACERY

solid

devotional

oi

\l si

pii

painted with

TRIUMPHAL ARCH
sometimes

in

art

ommemora

these deeds

III

III

ALTAR and APSE and

from the main bodv ol the hun h

quently decorated with MOSAICS or
paintings (coiorplate 27, fig. 290).
c

TROPHY

In ancient

them

separates

Rome arms

is

li

fre-

commemoration

or decoration.

triangular wooden or metal support

which may be left exposed m the in-

be covered by a

terior (figs. 290, 447), or

TUNIC.

.',7'),

ceil-

402).

Rome,

In classical Greece and

a loose

knee-length garment worn by both sexes It

could have sleeves or not, and was generally

worn unbelted.
TLiRRFd'
A small tower,
1

have been cut through the

A small tower at an angle ol a building.

frequently beginning some distance from the

etc

and applied

figs

TRANSEPT A

to walls, shrines, fa-

arm

cross

BASILICAN
to the NAVE,

church, placed at right angles

and usually separating it from the

APSE

(fig.

CHOIR

or

289).

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. The

tree

the Gar-

Eden from which Adam and Eve ate the

forbidden fruit which destroyed their inno-

den

ol

cence (Gen.

2:9. 17).

lite;

in

A tree in the Garden ol Eden

was reputed to give everlasting
medieval ail it was frequently used as

svmhol

fruit

,i

ol

Chrisl (Gen. 2 9, 3:22).

17'

It

UNDERPAINTING.

TEMPERA

See

PAINT-

ING

frequentl)

consists

ol

,i

walls
ol

Doric

FR1EZ1

Separating two consecutive METOPES, and

being divided In channels (or glyphs) into
three sections I'lobablv an imitation in stone

wooden

celling

CAPITALS

227) but also used decoratively on

174

FAQADES and
VOUSSOIR See ARCH.
building

interiors

WATERCOLOR PAINTING Painting, usually

on paper, in PIGMENTS suspended in watei
WESTWORK. From the German word Westwerh

In Carolingian

Romanesque

Ottoman and German

a
monumental

architecture,

western front of a church, treated as a tower or

combination ol lowers, and containing an entrance and vestibule below, and a CHAPEI

and GALLERIES above. Later examples often

added a TRANSEPT and a CROSSING tower
376).

WING. The

side

panel

ALTARPIECE

an

of

iiu

and thus twelve divisions called sinus

which have been associated with the months

lations

lion;

VAULT. An arched

of stone, brick, or

CONCRETE

at

the point

THRUST is concentrated
semic vlindncal structure
sive VRCHES (fig 388)

ANNULAR in plan (fig

is

the result

ol

need

lateral

A barrel vault is a

balance.

represented around the

PORTALS

esque and Gothic churches

of succes-

with the

may be

straight or

408. 16

294) 2

the

Capricorn the goat; Aquarius, the water-bearhev are frequently

er, and I'isces
the fish

all

where the

the intersection

Libra,

Several dis-

made up
[t

the virgin.

Scorpio the scorpion. Sagittarius, the archer;

have been developed,

BUTTRESSING

Virgo,

made

root or ceiling usually

in

ol

Roman

conjunction

ABORS OF THE MONTHS

(figs

Agroinvaull
two barrel

ol

which produces a BAY of

compartments with sharp edges, or
"groins," where the two meet liu 237
ribbed groin vault is one in which RIBS are
added to the groins, for Strut tural strength and
vaults of equal size

nlis are

Ing form
I

391)

When

the diagonal

onslriK led as hall circles, the resultis

domical ribbed vault dig. 396).

Sexp.iitiic vault

ribbed

groin

vault

vault

of

and

element found

notably on Ionic and Composite

(figs

ripts

signs are: Aries, the ram; Taurus, the bull,

Gemini, the twins. Cancer, the crab. Leo, the

being between the gallery and clerestory It

ma\ also occur in the FRANSEPT and the

,i

Fhe element

spiral architectural

femper-

The

which each bav is divided into six compartments bv the addition ol transverse rib ac loss
the center (fig
194)
5) The norma] Gothic

CHOIR

Prudence Justice Fortitude and

e were frequent!) repn see
lv
partii ul.iilv in medieval manusi

VOLUTE. A

aith

An imaginary belt circling the heavludmg the paths of the sun. moon, and
major planets, and containing twelve constel-

BLIND ARCADE with three openings in eat h

hav When the GALLERY is also present,
Four-storj ELEVATION results, the triforium

TRIGLYPII

ZODIAC

for decoration (fig

TRIFORIUM rhesa tionol a N WE wall above

the ARCADE and below the CLERESTORl
(coiorplate

theoli

and the four cardinal ones,

four

TREE OF LIFE
whose

barit)

408).

In classical architecture, the

1)

recessed, usually triangular area, also called a

tinct varieties
in

thre

hi
<

PEDIMENT often decorated with sculpture

161). 2) In medieval architecture
an
arched area between an ARCH and the LINTEL of a door or window, frequently caned
with RELIEF sculpture (coiorplate 49, fig.

TYMPANUM

figs

436, 455).

Hope and

house

countr)

large

which is frequently decorated on both sides

and also hinged, so that it may be shown either
open or closed.
ZIGGURAT From the Assyrian word ziqqurulu
meaning mountain top or height. In ancient
Assyria and Babylonia, a pyramidal tower built
of mud brick and forming the BASE of a temple; it was either stepped or had a broad ascent
winding around it which gave it the appearance ol being stepped (figs. 86, 89).

ture. 2)

434, 435) 2) Similar ornamentation using var-

DOMl

VIRTUES

fig

part of a larger struc-

stone coiorplate 47). In "bar tracery" the

ious materials

See

sculpture.

Gothic PORTAL, where it was frequently

decorated with sculpture digs. 405, 469).
lor a roof

loin see MKl

VILLA Original])

or other

TRUMEAU. A central post supporting tin LIN

TEL of a large doorway, as in a Romanesque or
TRUSS A

sllllsli

.ini

from a defeated enemv and publicly displayed on a tree, PILLAR, etc. 2) A representation of these objects, and others symbolic
ton, as a

on-

the)

others so. h as Injustii e an somi timi

MURAL

spoils taken

ol vie

vi<
I

sculpture (fig 273), 2) The great transverse

aid) .11 the eastern end ol ,1
lime li whic h

frames

In

VIRTUES

Wrath Gluttony, Unand ln< on

Foil)

toaria

Luxur)

hastit)

hes

and usuallv d&

lion ol his milit.irv exploits,

ol

three

ol

Roman emperor

ere< ted b) a

ARCH

monumental

combination

Pride

gorii all)

till

en
Includi

glass predominates, the slender pieces of Stone

cades,

I'd
See s\t RJSTi
is Often represented

fij

in Gothic-

having been added within the windows

l<

ens

earlier or "plate tracery," the

to

"i

of their dwellings.

Ornamental stone work

windows. In the
windows appear

ED

(fig.

the Indians of North America, a

"totem poles" in front

\KNI

ground

TOGA. A garment worn by ancient Roman citizens when appearing in public. It consisted of

TOTEM. Among

\l

\l!\

panel and two hinged wings

ing (figs

facilities.

TIIOLOS

eithei

rated with scenes

cooked earth
Earthenware, naturally reddish-brown but

often

ink

been prepared with a

ol

smh a painting.
TERRACOTTA. Italian

TRIPTYCH An

beam ends

figs

159, 166).

.1

quadripartite with

is

all

the

arc lies point

ed to some degree fig 120 6 V fan vault is

an elaboration ol a ribbed groin vault with elements ol IHU ER\ using conelike forms It
was developed bv the English 111 the 15th en
lurv. and was employed fol decorative purc

poses

figs

VELUM

in
PAW HVU \l

142,

See

GLOSSARY 427

INDEX

Works ascribed to a specific artist are indexed

under the artist's name, shown in CAPITAL letters. Insofar as possible, unascribed works, including buildings and archaeological remains,

are indexed by

See references

site.

(e.g.. Bull's

Head, see Picasso; Colosseum, see Rome) are

provided

to assist in

finding the correct

Illustration references,

site.

shown

name

or

in italic tvpe,

numbers rather than page numbers;

but when a figure is also shown on a color plate
page, that page number is given with the figure
number (e.g., 358 and p. 9).
are to figure

Akkad, Iraq, 123, 125

Akkadian art, 123-24
Alaska: Eskimo mask, 93; 66; Tlingit war helmet, 94; 67
Album of the Conqueror (Sultan Mohammed II):
calligraphic page, 311; 384; Summer Landscape, 308; 381
Alexander the Great, 132, 178, 190-91, 196,
198, 233, 243-44, 252, 331; see also Battle of
Issus

Alexander the Great with

coin, 203, 233;

Amun

256

ALEXANDROS OF ATHENS,
Alhambra

Granada
Ephesus
Allah, calligraphic name, 311; 384
al-Mutawakkil, sec Mutawakkil
Altamira, Spain, cave

Spirit

Man

Spearing

Abu Temple,

see Tell

89

Adams County,

Ohio, Great Serpent

54
Addaura, cave

Monte

of,

Ritual Dance

Sicily,

(?),

Mound,

86;

Pellegrino (Palermo),

77-79, 92; 35

Adoration of the Magi, Florence, see Gentile da

Fabnano
Adoration of the Magi.

St. -Pierre,

see Moissac

aecumanus, 214
Aegean art, 139-48
Aegina, Greece, Temple of Aphaia, 165, 172; east
pediment: drawing of; 165; 178; Dying Warrior,

165, 180, 182-83, 185, 196; 179; Hera-

fefes,

165,

180,

182-83; 180, sectional view,

187
Aeneas, 201
Aeolian capital, sec Larissa

Aesop

123

42

Baluba carving. 92; 62;

Bamenda mask, 93; 64; Kola guardian figures,
88-89, 231; 58, 5.9; Nigerian bronzes, 90, 231;

African

tribal

art

60, 61

AGESANDER

see also Laocoon

Croup

Mahal 301, 302; 373

Ottoman sultan. Mosque

Agra. India

Mimed

201

laj

of.

see

Istanbul

\mc uliolep IV

\klienalen

111

II

428

127;

17

portrait of

INDEX

klngof Egypt, 110

The Daughters of,
14; 102;

100

of,

see

Greek

coin, see Herakleidas

art,

75, 77, 79;

and Daphne,

see Bernini

Masegne
Apoxyomenos (Scraper),
applied arts, denned, 49
Apostles, see

Wounded

Bison, 75; 30

Apulia,

393-94

Ara

see Lysippus

385

Italy,

Rome

Pacis, see

Arabic script, 295, 311

Arabs, 255, 291, 295, 303, 304, 324

229

alto (high) relief, 61

arcade,

al-Walid, see Walid

Archaic smile, 161, 164, 180, 207

ambulatory, 326, 333; double, 356

Archaic style: Etruscan, 207-9, 212-13; Greek,

154-65, 172, 175, 183, 185, 203, 331, 343

AmenhotepIII, king of Egypt, 111, 113, 114; colonnade and court of, see Luxor
Amenhotep IV, see Akhenaten
American art, sec Colonial American art; Indian

Anastasis, Kariye Camii, see Istanbul

ancestor worship, 81, 86-89, 178-79, 231

Near Eastern art, 119-36, 218;

compared to: Greek, 153, 154, 175; Islamic,
304; Mycenaean, 147; Roman, 217, 233; Romanesque, 344, 348
Andacktsbild Pietd), see Bonn
Anglo-Norman Romanesque art, 356, 357, 359,
369
Animal Head, see Oseberg Ship-Burial
Animal 1 1 mil, see Catal Hiiyiik
animals, sacred, 122-23
animal style: Celtic-Germanic, 313-14, 316;
Persian. 131-32
Ancient

Ankh-Haf, Egyptian prince, bust of, sec Giza

Annunciation, Dijon, sec Broederlam
Annunciation, from the Hours oj Jeanne d'Evreu

Archangel Michael, The, Early Christian ivory,

266, 268, 343, 351; 332
arches, 215; 252; and columns, 229; of Constantine, see

art

Amiens, France, Cathedral, 363-64, 370; 465,

466, 467; comparative nave elevation, 469;
sculpture. Signs of the Zodiac and Labors of
the Months (July, August, September), 380,
381, 408; 500
Amorgos, Cyclades, Greece: Harpist (Orpheus),
43-44; 1; idol from, 139; 137 and p. 5
amphora, 151
Amun-Mut-Khonsu, Temple of, see Luxor

aesthetics, defined,

Temple

Apostle, St.-Sernin, see Toulouse

Augustus (Ara Pacis), see Rome; Early

Christian, 257-58; of Zeus, see Pergamum

Asmar

Apollo,

Apollo

altars: of

academic painters, 49
Achaemenian art, 132-35; goldrhyton, 135; 133
ACHILLES PAINTER, Muse and Maiden, lekythos, 188-90, 244; 2/4
Acropolis, see Athens
Adam and Eve Reproached by the Lord, see
Hildesheim

see Delphi;

of,

237

coin, 203;

Apollo Belvedere, 194, 201; 222

Harun

altarpieces, Gothic,

abstraction, in primitive art,

The Knucklebone

Palace, see

Abbeville, France, see St.-Riquier

Kangaroos, 79-80; 39

Istanbul

Antimachus of Bactria, Greek

Antioch, Turkey, 255
Aphaia, Temple of, see Aegina

Apollo, sculptures, see Olympia; Veii

Alkestis Leaving Hades, see

aborigines, Australian,

346, 347; King DaFidenza Cathedral, 346-47; 440

ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES, Hagia Sophia, see
vid,

Veu

303

Aachen, Germany, 291, 319, 321; Palace Chapel

of Charlemagne (Odo of Metz), 317-18; 391,
392
abacus, 167

al-Rashid, see

ANTELAMI, BENEDETTO,

Apollo, Sanctuary

Alexandria, Egypt, 255,

Players, 244;

Horns, Greek

236

Annunciation, St.-Pierre, see Moissac

Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin, see
Duccio
anta, 167

see I'm elle

Annunciation, Reims Cathedral, see Reims

Rome;

of Titus, see

Rome

architectural engineering, Etruscan,

214

Architectural View, see Boscoreale

architecture: as applied

art,

49; Classical orders,

165-66, 168, 175, 178, 179-80, 221, 227-29;

181; expressive forms,

103; megalithic, 84;

and space, 62-64

architrave, 167

Arena Chapel, see Padua; murals, see Giotto

ARNOLFO

DI

CAMBIO,

design

Florence

for

Cathedral facade, 373, 375; 489

Arringatore, see Aldus Metellus
Artemis, Temples

of,

see Corfu;

Ephesus

Artemisia, 191

and His Model, see De Andrea

Ascension of Mohammed, The, Persian miniature, 310-11; 383 and p. 10
Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, Palace of, see
Artist

Nineveh
Ashurbanipal

II,

king

of Assyria,

Palace

of,

see

Nimrud
Ashurbanipal

11

Killing Lions, see

Nimrud

Asia Minor, 139, 151, 178. 190, 205, 210,

255

Assur, Iraq, 127

Assyria, Assyrians, 127, 132, 134

Assyrian

art,

163, 191;

127-31, 133; compared

to:

Roman, 238

Athena and Alcyoneus, see Pergamum

Athena Nike, Temple of, see Athens

Greek,

ATHKNODORUS,

201; see also Laocoon

Group

Athens. Greece, 151, 154, 172, 175, 290

Acropolis, 162, 172-75, 187; 190

234, 290; 188, 189, 190; sculpture (Phid-

185-87,

209;

Horsemen.

Dionysus,

237;

187;

185-87;

Procession,

211;

234; 287; Three Goddesses, 186-87, 188;

2/0
Propylaea (Mnesicles).

174-75, 177; 190,

191, 192. 193

Standing Youth (Kritios Boy), 180-81; 20/
Temple of Athena Nike: architecture (Calli-

193;

177;

crates),

balustrade sculpture,

Nike, 187-88; 2/2

Monument

Vase,

151-52,

of Lysicrates. 178; 198

see

of,

Kretria

beehive tombs, 145

Belgium, 291, 347, 351
see

Hildesheim;

St.

St.

Mi-

Pantaleon,

see

Bushmen

Savin sin

107.

Roman-

79

Prince Ankh-Haf, see Giza

art,

161;

456 461 467

255, 267-82; compared

to: Italian

Gothic. 393, 394, 395-96. 398; Islamic. 295,

296, 298, 301. 302. 305; Ottoman, 325, 327;

Khnum-

Benin, Nigeria, Hornbloiver, 90; 6/

Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint, 342, 343, 344, 368,

371

BERNINI, GIANLORENZO,

Romanesque. 331, 333 34

Byzantine

Eastern

Roman

1,

351, 353

Empire, 255, 279.

291, 295, 299, 324

Byzantium. 255, 279, 291, 295; see aha ( lonstan
tinople; Istanbul

and Daph-

Apollo

Ca' d'Oro, see Venn e

325-26;

Bernward, bishop of Hildesheim,

bronze doors of, see Hildesheim

Caen. France

St ,-F.tienne.

335, 337, 339, 359;

4/7, 422

duke of, 409; Les Ires Riches Hemes of

Limbourg Brothers
Bible subjects, 261. 262-63, 314-15, 322; see
also Gospels; illuminated manuscripts; Old

Egypt, Madrasah

Cairo

see

atrium, 214, 226, 258

i'i

art,

Byzantine

Cologne
Beni Hasan, Egypt, 108-9; Tomb of
hotep. Feeding the Oryxes, 109; 92

Berry,

Mycenae

si

set

Gartempe
Bull's Head see Pit asso
buraq, 310
Burgundy France duke ol 184,
esque works. 334-35. 344-45

buttresses, 356; flying, 359,

Benedictine order, 314, abbey churches:

chael's,

Building of the Tower of Babel,

Bust

ne, 62; 2/

Cemetery, Dipylon
153, 154-55; J 56

Dipvlon

Atreus, Treasury

of

Cuth and Giants see Delphi

Battle oj the Creeks and Amazons, see Scopas
Bayeux Tapestry. 351; The Battle of Hastings
horn, 351; 445
Bedroom, see Hooch
Battle uj the

Erechtheum(Mnesicles), 175, 177-78; 190,

196; Porch of the Maidens, 178; 197
Kore figures, 162; 171, 172
Parthenon: architecture (Ictinus and Callicrates), 172-74, 175, 177, 187, 191, 192,
ias),

Pompeian mosaic. 233, 243-44,

Persians).

260; 302; see also Philoxenus

$01;

Sultan Hasan. 299-

ol

mausoleum,

171;

101

Calf-Bearer, Greek. 160-61, 162, 172, 256; 168

king of Pergamum, 196, 198

Attica, Greece, 154
Augustus, Roman emperor, 233, 266; Altar of
(Ara Pacis) and Forum of, see Rome

Bison, see La Madeleine

Parthenon and lempleol

Athens
calligraphy Arabic 311; 384
tailing <il St Matthev see Caravaggio

Augustus ofPrimaportu, 233, 234, 238; 284

Black Death, 402

CAM BIO,

black-figured style. 156-58

Cambrai Frani e 151

Cameroon, Bamenda area mask
Camposanto. Pisa, fresco, sec fraini
Can Grande della Scala, lord ol Verona Eques

Attalus

I,

Auius Metellus (L'Arringatore),

233; 28/

Aunnacian

Roman, 230,

Peteus

and

Thetis,

190;

2/5

Boccaccio. 402. 101

117, 163;

Autun, France, Cathedral, 334-35, 336; 414;

Last Judgment,

sculpture.

portal

344, 345,

387; 436

Lascaux Cave

279

Tower

of,

119. 120. 131. 297,

340

Babylon, Iraq, 125, 127, 131. 132, 290; Ishtar

Cue,

BOHEMIAN MASTER.

Death

oj

131; /25

Bonn. Germany, Pieta Andat htsbild

84. 404; 505

158,

383-

Bourges, France: Cathedral, stained-glass window, lohel (Joel), 390-91; 5/7. House ,,!

Jacques Coeur. court. 367; 474

Brakebill Mound, tennessee, mask, 94; 68
Brasilia, Brazil city plan (Niemeyer), 64; 21

Balkans, 280
Baluba carving, Kneeling Woman, 92; 62
Bamenda mask. 93; 64

Broadway Bougie Woogie,

258
Barherim Faun. Graeco- Roman, 196; 225
barrel vault, 215. 220. 221; 252
"Basilica," see Paestum
basilicas: Christian, 257-60, 268; Roman, 224
has low relief. 6
Battle of Hastings, see Bayeux Tapestry
baptisteries,

The Battle of Alexander and the

Hugh

apel

Capetian

<

Mondrian
407 8. Annun-

Visitation;

Presentation

the

Bronze Age. 119. 205

BRUNELLESCHI, FILIPPO,

ai di

2\

dome

ol

58;

Brittany

Cathedral, see Florence

Cologne, 325

Brunswick German) Lion Monument, 348; 442

192. Wuttsolus so Halicamassus
Buddhist an. influence on Islamic, 308, 311

Sumrnei Landscape

53;

France, dolmen 83; 50

317 23 326; and Ottoman

arl

Romanesque

125

153
(

of Florence

ordova

22
The Calling of Si Vattheu
A
67; David with the Headoj Goliath

ind

Temple and Flight into Egypt, 407-8; 54/

BRYAXIS

Baths

arai alia

CARAVAGGIO

Carolingian
see

355

de Villavit ms,i see

capital 167
Capitoline Mill see Borne

Carnai

BROEDERLAM. MELCHIOR.

ol

line.

151; Cathedral

Hugh Capet

see

lapilla

Museum, 172

Bruno, archbishop

1<

Verona

Curminu Burana, C>2

from 153; 450

England

ciation .mil

see

Canterbury, England

<

books. Earl) Christian, 262-63; see also illumi-

British

Cambio

see Arnolfo di

trian statue oj

Britain, see

<

Virgin,

407. 540

Babylonian art, 125-27, 135. 163

Baghdad, Iraq. 291

Battle of hsns.

the

Boscoreale,

Baalbek, Lebanon, Temple of Venus, 229; 278,

\t

sec

Canon. 181

nated manuscripts
Italy, Architectural View, wall painting. 246-48, 327, 396, 400; 305

follower of

Axial Gallery, see

Babel,

119

Avignon, France, 400, 405; Palace of the Popes.

405; fresco. Scenes of Country Life, see Marti-

I'

Bogazkoy, Anatolia, Turkey, Lion Gate. 127. 128,

Australia, see aborigines

ni,

Birth oj the Virgin, see Lorenzetti

Blowing Bubbles, see Chardin

AURORA PAINTER,

CALLICRATES
na Nike

Blinding oj Polyphemus, see F.lcusis

75

art,

Testament

.milium. in dynast)

355

bio, see Verona

ombs, 255. 256-57

.istehei
.it.u

291,

178

.m.ilicls.
i

Huvuk

82, 83; Animal Hunt,

Goddess si 45; houses and
shrines in terraces Bl;42;Twin Leopards B2
44. \ n,t oj Town and Volcano 82; 46 47
C. il. m.
Su il\ IpoUO COin sei llei.ikleid.is
Cat Stalking a Pheasant set Hagia friada

Catal
si

I;

turkey,

Fertility

/\/)/

V'42.9

Cattle lording a River, see Saqqara

cave

art,

columns: and arches, 229; styles: Doric, 167,

168; Egyptian. 102-3; Persian, 134

74-79

168
Celtic-Germanic style, 313-14, 315, 323, 331,
351
Celts, 255, 314, 315
Cemavoda, Romania, Fertility Goddess, 82-83,
cella, 167,

139; 48, 49
Cerveteri,

sarcophagus, 207, 209, 213:

of the Reliefs, burial chamber,

Italy:

239, 240;

Tomb

210; 245
drolerie, 405;

Roman'

CHARDIN, JEAN-BAPTISTE-SIMEON,

Blow-

ing Bubbles, 59-60; 16

Charioteer, see Delphi

Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor, 291, 313,

317, 324, 331, 340, 355; Gospel Book of, see
Gospel Book of Charlemagne; Palace Chapel of,

Aachen

Charles Martel, Frankish

ruler,

355

Charles the Bald, West Frankish king (Charles

II, Holy Roman emperor), 324, 355
Chartres, France, Cathedral, 290, 360-63, 369,

390; 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464; comparative nave elevation, 469; portal sculpture,
376-79, 382, 384, 385, 390, 391; 493, 494,

Theodore, 378, 379, 381, 383, 391;

495; School, 368, 377
Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, sculpture for,
St.

Greece,

Sanctuary

230;

of

Apollo:

Charioteer, 181-82, 230; 203; Treasury of the

Siphnians, 164-65; facade, 164, 177, 178,

concrete, 218

Consecration of the Tabernucle and

Its Priests,

Dura-Europas
Constantia, daughter of Constantine, 260
Constantine the Great, 241-42, 255, 257, 267,
268, 273, 317; Arch of and Basilica of, .see
Rome; head of, 241, 267; 299
see

299, 302, 393; see also Byzantium; Istanbul

continuous narration, 263

contrapposto, 180, 183, 242, 260, 346, 378
COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON, 68-69; Nathaniel Hurd, 69; 28; Paul Revere, 68-69; 27
Corbie, France, see Gospel Book from Corbie
Cordova, Spain, 331; Capillade Villaviciosa, 298,
299, 343; 368; Mosque, 297-99; 366, 367
Corfu, Greece,

Charles IV, Holy Roman emperor, 407

Charles V, king of France, 367

495;

58-60

Constantinople, 136, 255, 257, 267, 279, 291,

Channel region: Gothic

esque works, 351-53

see

composition,

203, 230; 231

Delphi,

Temple

of Artemis, 163-64, 165,

Gods

180, 187; 176; north frieze, Battle of the

and Giants, 164-65,

187, 198; 177; plan, 164,

167-68; 175

De Materia Medica (Discorides), 307

Demeter, see Cnidus
Denis, Saint (Apostle of France), 355, 357

Diana, Insula of the House

of,

see Ostia

Dijon, France, 407; Chartreuse de

portal

sculpture

Champmol,

and church furniture, see

Sluter
Diocletian,

ace

of,

Roman

emperor: Baths

of,

224; Pal-

see Spalato

Dionysius the Areopagite, 357

Dionysus, Parthenon, see Athens
Dionysus in a Boat, see Exekias
Dioscorides, 307

Corinthian order, 165; 181, capital, 178; 181,

195

Dipylon Vase, see Athens

Discobolus (Discus Thrower), see Myron
Divine Comedy (Dante), 398
dolmens, 83; 50

cornice, 167

domes: Roman, 224, 272; 269; Early Christian,

167, 168, 180, 185; J73, 174

Corinth, Greece, 154

Coronation cloak of the

German emperors,

304;

377

258-60
domus, 226, 227

craftsmen, 45-47, 69
creativity,

Dorchester Abbey, see Oxfordshire

44-47

Dorians, 151, 205

Crete, Cretans, 139, 140, 147; see also

Minoan

Doric order, 165-66, 167, 168-75; 181

168-75,

Doric temples,

art

179;

see also

Corfu;

Syria, Great Mosque, 295-96; landscape mosaic, 295-96, 303; 362

Danes, 324

Paestum
Doryphorus (Spear Bearer), see Polyclitus
DOURIS, Eos and Memnon, 158, 185; 164
drawings, 53
droleries, 405, 408
DUCCIO, 394-96, 397, 398, 400; Maestd Altar,
Siena Cathedral, 394-96, 405; Annunciation
of the Death of the Virgin. 395, 405; 524;
Christ Entering Jerusalem, 396-97, 400; 525;
Madonna Enthroned (Maestd), 394-95, 399;
523
Dura-Europas, Syria, 252; Synagogue, The Consecration of the Tabernacle and Its Priests,
252-53, 255-56, 257, 262; 314
Durham, England, Cathedra], 336-37, 338, 339,
369; 418, 419, 420
Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad), Iraq, Citadel of Sargon II, 128, 131, 133, 140, 215; 120; gate of,

cinerary urn, Etruscan, see Chiusi

Dante Alighieri, 388, 398

Daphne, Greece, monastery church mosaics:
The Crucifixion, 278, 282, 325, 379; 355;
dome, including Pantocrator, 257, 274, 278;
349

Dying
Dying
Dying
Dying

cire-perdu (lost-wax) process, 90

Darius

see Sluter

Chefren, 105; Pyramid

of,

see Giza

Crucifixion, Celtic-Germanic bronze, 316;

Chefren, see Giza

Cheops, Pyramid
chiaroscuro, 58

Crucifixion, Early Christian mosaic, see

of,

see Giza

Crucifixion, Gothic

China, 89, 97, 308

Chios, Greek island, Kore from, 162, 172; 172
Chiusi,

Italy,

cromlechs, 84
Crossing of the Red Sea, see Nicholas of Verdun

human-headed cinerary

urn, 205;

238

sculpture,

Naumburg

see

Master
Crusades, 279, 331, 344, 393
Ctesiphon, Iraq, Palace of Shapur
135

I,

135, 301;

cuneilbrm writing, 119

Christ, Hagia Sophia, see Istanbul

Cycladic

Christ Entering Jerusalem, Padua, see Giotto

Cyclopes, Cyclopean, 147, 163, 168

Christ Entering Jerusalem, Siena, see Duccio

Christ Enthroned, see Sarcophagus of Junius

Cyrus the Great, 132

Bassus
Christian

see Early Christian art

Christianity, 252, 255, 257, 295, 314, 324, 331

Christ Washing the Feet of Peter, see Gospel

Book of Otto

C1MABUE,

III

394, 396, 398, 399;

Madonna En-

throned, 394-95, 399; 522

Cistercian order,

368;

Gothic churches, 368,

369, 371, 372; see also Fossanova

Dur Sharrukm

Citadel of Sargon

II,

city planning, see

town planning

relief

see

Cathedra] Baptistry, balustrade

inscribed by Patriarch Sigvald, 317, 342;

Cividale,

139; see also

art,

Amorgos

Dacians, 237
art,

Christian Church, 255, 262, 265, 291

Italy,

390
Classical orders, see architecture

Classical style. 331: Greek, 180-90, 203; Etrus-

can, 210, 214; Early Christian, 265-66; Byzantine, 277-79, 280, 281, 282;

Romanesque,

345-48; Gothic, 378-81

224
Cnidian Aphrodite, see Praxiteles
Cnidus, Greek island, Demeter from, 192; 219
clerestory,

codex, 262

Damascus,

I,

Palace

Darius

of,

Xerxes

Giving

Audience,

Crucifix, 325, 327, 342; 402; St. Panta-

Colonial American

69
56-57; and light, 58

olosscum, see

430

INDEX

art,

Rome

403

Niobid, Greek, 184-85, 186; 208

Warrior, see Aegina

ic,

art,

255-67; compared

to:

Goth-

372, 379; Mycenaean, 148; Islamic, 295,

315;

Roman, 243, 252, 253; Romanesque,

331,

337, 339, 340, 342, 353

Early English style, 369

102
David, see Michelangelo

Early Gothic style, 337, 355, 370, 376, 379, 381

David and Goliath, see Master Honore

David Composing the Psalms, see Paris Psalter
David with the Head of Goliath, see Caravaggio
Dead Sea Scrolls, 252
DE ANDREA, JOHN, The Artist and His Model,

Early Medieval

50; 7

Death of the Virgin, panel, see Bohemian Master

Death of the Virgin, portal sculpture, see
Strasbourg

leon, 325; westwork. 319, 325;

Pergamum

Lioness, see Nineveh

297, 298, 305, 308, 311; Early Medieval, 313,

Persepolis

DE HOOCH,

see

el-Bahari,

earth

art,

86

Easter Island, stone images, 87-88, 231; 57

Eastern Orthodox Church, 255, 268, 277, 291

Eastern Roman Empire, see Byzantine Empire

Ebho Gospels, see Gospel Book of Archbishop
Ehbo of Reims
St.

Mark

from,

316, 322; 388

Hooch

Egypt, Egyptians, 71, 97, 98, 108, 110-11, 119,

Egypt,

DE KOONING WILLEM, Woman

Delos,

313-29

Echternach Gospels, Symbol of

Funerary Temple
Queen Hatshepsut, 111, 220; 93, 94
Dejeuner sur I'Herbe, see Manet
Deir

art,

Early Renaissance, 58, 355, 389

echinus, 167

Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, see Istanbul

see

Dark Ages, 313-17, 331

Daughters of Akhenaten, The, Egyptian, 114;

Decumeron (Boccaccio), 402

Gem

Gaul, see

Early Christian

see Persepolis

and

Coeur, Jacques, 367; House

of, see Bourges

203
Cologne, Germany, 325; Cathedral, 370; The

128, 131, 163, 310; 121

king of Persia, 132, 133, 135, 233, 244;

coins, Greek,

color,

389

Daphne

II, p.

Greek island, Portrait Head from,

of

30

90, 201,

127, 132, 140, 147, 191, 255, 262, 290, 291,

299, 314
art, 61, 97-117; compared to: Ancient
Near Eastern, 120-22, 123, 125, 129, 134; Ae-

Egyptian

gean, 143, 144, 145, 147; Early Christian, 258;

Etruscan, 207. 209, 215; Greek. 158-60, 163,

Roman, 217, 220, 230, 250

Ekkekard and Uta, Naumburg Cathedral,

see

Naumburg Master
Polyphemus
and Gorgons, amphora, 153-55, 156, 164; 158
Greece,

I'hc

Blinding

oj

Forum,

sec

Fossanova,

Emperor Justinian and His Attendants,

tale, see Ravenna
Empress Theodora and Her Attendants,
tale, see Ravenna
encaustic, 251, 280

S.

Vi-

S.

Vi-

Rome
Italy,

Abbey Church, 371, 372; 482,

PAINTER. Lapith and Centaur

158; 163

entasis, 171

frescoes, Gothic, 404,

282

Euripides,

Eutropius, Portrait of 267; 333

Evans, Sir Arthur. 139

Hours of, see Pucelle

ewer. Mosan, 348; 443
EXEKIAS, Dionysus m a Boat, 156, 209; 161
EYCK, JAN VAN, Wedding Portrait, p. 16
Evreux. Jeanne

d'.

tury portraits, 69; Gothic works,

405-7

Freud. Sigmund, 43
167

frieze, 164,

Front View

de llonnecourt

oj a Lion, see Villard

funerary chapels, 258

Gabon, Kota area, guardian

58, 59

figures,

88-89, 231;

GAINSBOROUGH, THOMAS. Mrs

Siddons,

p.

25

Gaul, Gauls. 196, 233, 238, 291

New

Britain,

mask, 93; 65

da Fabriano
Faivum, Egypt, portraits, 250-52; Portrait of a
Boy, 250-51, 279; 312
see Gentile

February, see Limbourg Brothers

Feeding the Oryxes, see Beni Hasan

Female Figure, Greek, 159-60, 161. 162; 165

Female Head, see Uruk
Fertility Goddess, see Cutal Hiiyuk; Cernavoda
Fidenza, Italy. Cathedral, King David, see
Antelami
Fifer. see

Manet

Golden Age, Byzantine, 267-73

Roman, 244
Flamboyant Gothic style. 366-67, 370, 375
Flanders, 355
Flight into Egypt, see Broederlam
Florence, Italy, 355, 400. 402
First Style,

GENTILE DA FABRIANO.

The Adoration

oj the

Maqi. 409-11; 545; The Nativity, 411; 546

Geometric style Greek. 151-53. 154. 158
coronation cloak. 304; 377

388-89; 516 and

p.

14

GUles and Four Other Characters from the Come-

-mat

hit

h. l.indau.

355-

131

Lindisfarne

II

252
compared to: By/. mm
Early Christian, 260-61, 264, 265-66
r
Ottoman, 327; Romanesqi
Gothic
o-< IrientaJ religions,
art.

279;

>;

345; see also Creek

art;

Roman

art

Granada, Spam Alhambra Palace, 298-99, 301;

Court ol the Lions. 298. 369; Hallo! the ["wo
Sisters, stucco decoration, 298-99; 370
graphic arts 49, 53
Grave Stele oj Hegeso, 188, 189-90, 235; 213
Great Mosques, see Damascus; Samarra
Great Serpent Mound, Adams County, Ohio. 86;
54
Great Sphinx, see Giza

GR1

Agony

o. EL, The

145,

Garden, 60; 18
152-53, 154. 156,

in the

151,

264; Egyptian. 103; Etruscan, 207. 209,

.

238 243-44, 250; Romanesque, 343, 348; see

Graeco-Roman

art

391,

groined vault, 215. 221, 224; 252; ribbed. 33637, 339, 356. 357. 421

GROS. ANTOINE-JEAN, Napoleon

at Arcole, p.

26

GRUNEWALD. MATTHIAS

Isenheim Altarpie< e, pp 18-19

Gudea. king of Lagash. 124-25; portrayals of see
Lagash
Gudea with Architectural Plan, sec Lagash
Guggenheim Museum, see Wright
guttae, 168

GIOTTO,

393. 394, 396-400, 404

Arena Chapel. Padua, frescoes. 396-99, 400;
526; Chnst

Entering Jerusalem, 396-98;

527; The Lamentation. 393, 398, 399; 528
Florence Cathedral: Campanile, 374; workshop, 397

Madonna Enthroned, 399-400, 407; 529

GIOVANNETTI, MATTEO. see Martini follow
er of

GIOVANNI UA MILANO.

Pietd, 404;

537

Prune Ankh-Haf,

Giza, Egypt, 111; Bust oj

Chefren,

glazes.

125;

105.

98,

84.

331-32

Harpist
44;

Head
Head

Vermeer
in

the

'ity,

see Lorenzetti,

Country

caliph

fifth

ester Vase

set

291

Hagia Iriada

el-Bahari

GOGH. VINCENT VAN. 56-57

in the

the Cycladi

Hasan Sultan Madrasah

SO Cairo
Hatshepsul queen of Egypt temple ol seeDeii

Goethe. Johann Wolfgang von, 194

Good Government
Good Government

in

ol

Gnostic ism, 252

set

from Amorgos

Han

Gloucester England, Cathedral, 369-70; 478

Law Code of, 127; 118

HarbaviUe Triptych, The Byzantin
Hariri manuscript, pen drawing, 307-8; 380

Harun al-Raslud

57

Gold Weigher,

I,

The (.nut
Si>lun\, 10 1. 83; Mycerinus and His Queen,
105. 159-60; 85; Prince Rahotep and His Wife
Nofret, 105. 125. 209; 86; Pyramids ol Mycerinus. Chefren. and Cheops, 103-5; 80, 81 82
107; 8H.

zetti

Hadrian. Roman emperor. 238. 242. 21

Hagia Sophia see Istanbul
Hagia Triada. Crete Cat Stalking a Pheasant
143. 165; 142; Harvester Vase, 144, 147; 146
Halicarnassus. Turkey, Tomb of Mausolus
Mausoleum). 178, 191. 237; 216. east frieze
Battle oj the Greeks ami Amazons Skopas?),
192; 217; Mausolus Bryaxis?), 192, 233. 218
s.^e 171
hall churches Hullenkm hen
Hamanu sack ol see Nineveh
Hammurabi, king of Babylon, 125-26; stele with
i

Glaber, Raoul,

168

Creek manner. Gothic. 393. 394. 395,

Greek Revival style, 194

of Isaac, for Florence Cathedral Baptis-

bronze doors lor, 388; see ulso Ghiberti

Campanile. 374
Cathedral (S. Maria del Fiore). 373-75; 486,
487, 488; design lor facade Arnolfo di Cambio), 375; 489; workshop, Giotto's appointment. 397
Palazzo Vecchio, 375-76; 491
Sta. Croce. 372-73. 374, 375; 484. 485
fluting, 167,

290

art

Graeco-Roman

also

Germanic style, sec Celtic-Germanic style

Germanic tribes, 255, 291
Germany, 291, 314, 324-25, 331, 355; Gothic
works, 358, 370-71, 382-84; Romanesque
works. 339-40, 348
Gero Crucifix. Cologne Cathedral, see Cologne
GHIBERTI, LORENZO, 388-89, 408; The Sac-

Baptistery (S. Giovanni), 342, 374, 394; 431;

Gothic

St.

393, 395, 396; Roman, 215,

216, 217, 218, 220. 227-30, 232, 233, 234 35,

Girl Before a Mirror, sec Picasso

First

Gospels, sec

408;

409

149;

13

210, 215; Gothic

dia deWArte, see Watteau

FABRIANO,

Feet oj PeU

',

tian,

Genghis Khan, 299

Genoa, Italy, 331

rifice

Wattheu

Si

Greek art, 49, 61-62, 151-203, 331; compared

to Aegean. 139; Bv/antmc. 255; F.arlv Chris-

Galatians. I'M,

German emperors,

Si

205, 217

Galatea, see Raphael

Gazelle Peninsula,

Reims

oj

327. 349-51; Christ

Otto Hi

oj

Washing the
Luke 129

Graec

the

197

Greece. Greeks,

tery doors,

:il

152

151

Gospel Booh oj Irchbishop Ebbo

Mark from 122 147 149 il
Gospel Book of Ckarlemagnt
121
Gospel Booh

France. 291, 314, 324, 355, 364, 366; 18th-cen-

English Late Gothic (Perpendicular style), 369

engraved back of a mirror. Etruscan. 214; 2.50
engravings, 49, 69
entablature, 167, 168

Eos and Metnnon, see Uouris

Ephesus, Turkey. 267; Ionic temples, 175; Temple of Artemis, lower column drum, Alkestis
Leaving Hades, 61-62; 19; see also Portrait of
Eutropios
Epidaurus, Greece, Theater, 179; 199. 200; Tholos, Corinthian capital, J 95
Equestrian Statue oj Can Grande delta Scala, see
Verona
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, Roman,
238-40; 296
Erasistratus and an Assistant, miniature from
Arabic translation of Dioscorides' De Materia
Medica, 307-8; 379
Erechtheum, see Athens
Erechtheus, king of Athens, 178
Erzurum. Turkey. Ulu Mosque, 302
Eskimo mask, 93; 66
ethnographic art, 43, 86-95
Etruria. Etruscans, 205-7, 214, see also Tuscany
Etruscan art, 155, 205-15; compared to Roman,
217-18, 226, 230

vangelist from

Iron,

355-67, 387,
390-93; Romanesque works, 333-35, 34244, 347, 349-51, 356
Franciscan order, 371; churches, 371, 372-73;
Sta. Croce see Florence
Francis of Assisi, Saint, 371
Franks, 291
Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor, 385, 386
French Revolution, 359

manesque works, 335-37

<

Fourth Style, Roman, 244

England. 314, 315, 324, 351, 366; 18th-century

portraits. 69; Gothic works, 367-70, 382; Ro-

Gorgon lempli ol Artemis si

ortu
Gorgons sn Eleusis
Gospel Book from
orbie Si
\iarh from
)1
149
444
Gospel Book at ibboi Wedricus st John

Tschumi

60-62

FOUNDRY

Greco

see

Pans, see

la Villette

483

Elgin Marbles. 172. 187

EL GRECO,

form,

de

Fortuna Primigenia, Sanctuary of, see Praeneste

"Fortuna Virilis, Temple ol
see Rome

elegant style (Gothic), 380

Eleusis,

467

living buttresses, 359, 361; 456, 461,

Folic P6, Pare

168;

sec

Loren-

oj

an Akkadian Rulei

oj

Gudea

Hegeso Grave
Helladic

art,

Hellenistic

see

I.,

see

Nineveh

mash

stele oj

188,

189 90 235; 21

139

art,

190

91

192

196

203,

224

l\l)l \

4 .1/

England Chapel

[enrj VII, king oi

of,

Westmin-

Abbey, see London

sii'i

duke of Saxony, 348;

of see Brunswick
"Hera" from Samos, 161-62. 164; 170
Henrj

the

Lion

Lion,

Monument

HERAKLEIDAS,

Herakles Strangling the

from: Hercules

and

Nemean

Lion, see Psiax

Telephus, 249; 309; Peach-

Hermes, see Praxiteles

Herodotus, 205

Tomb

Panel of and

of,

see

Saqqara

303-4

295-311; compared to: Egyptian,

117; Romanesque, 331, 334, 343, 348; Sassan-

Islamic

art,

Turkey,

Amiens Cathedral,

255;

see

also

Byzantium;

Constantinople

style,

314-16

Egypt,

98;

Hagia Sophia, 270-73, 290, 302; 340, 341,

Palette

of

King

Narmer, 98-101, 103, 105, 123; 72, 73; People, Boats, and Animals, 98, 164; 71
hieroglyphics, Egyptian, 98
style,

361, 363, 364, 365, 370, 378,

379, 380, 381, 382; axonometric projection of

470

342; capital, 273, 282, 296; 343; interior,

298; 344; Christ, from Deesis mosaic, 27879, 394; 345
Kariye Camii (Church of the Savior in Chora),

(St.

Michael's),

325-26,

333; 404, 405, 406; Bernward's

bronze doors for, 326; detail, Adam and Eve
Reproached by the Lord, 326-27, 342, 347,

Italy,

Gothic

style.

371-76, 385, 393-404, 407

291, 317, 324, 342, 345, 355

Ivan the Terrible, 274

265-66
Room, House of the

Hittites, 127, 147, 163;

see

Olympia

Lion Gate, see Bogazkoy

Pompeii

Roman Empire,

Holy

Homer, Homeric

324, 331

epics, 139, 153, 156, 160, 168

HONNECOURT, see Villard de Honnecourt

HONORE, see Master Honore
HOOCH, PIETER DE, The Bedroom, 59; 15
Horemheb, Tomb of, see Saqqara
Hornblower, see Benin
Horse, see Vogelherd Cave
Horsemen, Parthenon, see Athens
Hosios Loukas (St. Luke of Stiris), Greece, monastery churches, 273, 274; 346, 347, 348
Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux,

Hugh

see

PuceUe

Capet, king of France, 355

Hundred

Years' War,

Jacob Wrestling the Angel, see Vienna Genesis

Jahan, see Shah Jahan

January, see Limbourg Brothers

Jeanne d'Evreux, queen of France, Hours

Holland, see Netherlands

366

see

Jericho, Jordan, 80-81, 83; early Neolithic wail

and tower, 81, 97; 41; Neolithic plastered

skull, 80-81, 87, 90, 231; 40
Jerome, Saint, 69
Jerusalem, 310
Jewish art, 252-53, 255-56
Joel (lohel), Bourges Cathedral, see Bourges
JOHNS, JASPER, Target with Four Faces, 6768; 26
Judaism, 252, 295
Judgment of Paris, see Rairnondi

Forum

of.

220; 260

Solitary Combat of Prince Humay

and Princess Humayun, 308; 382

JUNYAD,
279, 280. 282, 303

Nigeria,

male

see

Athens

tendants,

60
405

Ihad (Homer). 139, 153

illuminated manuscripts; Carolingian, 321-23;
Early Christian, 262-63, 277; Gothic, 390,
391 93, 404-5, 408; Hiberno-Saxon, 314-16;
Islamic, 305-11; Ottoman, 327-29; Romanesque, 344. 349,

351-52

Early Christian. 260-61;

Islamic.

295; Italian Gothic, 395, 396; Roman, 244-49

102-3, 113; Funerary District of

IMHOTEP,
Zosei

sec

Saqqara

Imperial Procession, Ara Pacis, see

ini

Rome

ense burner from Khurasan, Iran, 304-5; 378

India, 191, 301,

308

art. North American, 86, 94-95; Great

Serpent Mound, 86; 54; mask, 94; 68; Navajo
sand painting, 94-95; 70; Nootka painting, 94;

Indian

69; Thngit war helmet, 94; 67

insula, 221)

27

Interioi "/ the Pantheon, see Pannini

lnicin.ninn.il Style, Gothic, 355,

432

INDEX

emperor, 255, 266,

S, Vitale,

see

and His

At-

Ravenna

384-85, 388-

Kaaba, see Mecca

Kariye Camii, see Istanbul
Kato Zakro, Crete, vase painting. Leaping Mountain Goat, 144; 145
Khnum-hotep, Tomb of, see Beni Hasan

Khurasan, Iran, incense burner, 304-5; 378

King David, see Antelami
kingship, concepts of, 89-90, 97, 1 10, 198, 233
Kinshasa, Baluba area, Zaire, Kneeling Woman,
92; 62
Kippcl, Lotschental, Switzerland, mask, 92; 63
Kiss of Judas,

Naumburg

Eyzies,

Dordogne,

48
Laocoon Group, The (after Agesander, Athenodorus, and Pblydorus of Rhodes?), 201; 230
Lapith and Centaur, see Foundry Painter

Lascaux

Cave, near Montignac, Dordogne,

France, 75-77, 79; 32, 33; Axial Gallery, 31
and p. 2

Last Judgment, Autun Cathedral, see Autun

Last Judgment, Orvieto Cathedral, see Maitani

"Late Classical" period, 190-91
Late Gothic

Cathedral, see

355,

style,

366-67

Leaping Mountain Goat, see Kato Zakro

lekythoi, 188
Leptis

Magna, Libya,

224; 273; plan,

basilica,

257; 274
Letter, see

Libyan

Vermeer

Sibyl, see

Michelangelo

Liege, Belgium, 352; St.-Barthelemy, baptismal

Renier of

Huy

58
Lightning Snake, Wolf and Thunder Bird on
Killer Whale, Nootka painting, 94; 69
LIMBOURG BROTHERS, Les Tres Riches

light.

Heures du Due de Berry, 408; calendar pages

p. 15; January,

from: February, 408; 542 and

367, 409; 544; October, 367, 408, 409, 411;

portrait head, 90, 231;

ile-de-France. 355, 356, 369, 370, 371,

illusionism:

Roman

267, 268, 270, 273, 278, 313, 317;

ICTINUS, Parthenon,
Iff.

Justinian, Eastern

279-81

icons,

Les

near

La Magdelaine Cave, Penne (Tarn), France,

Nude Woman, 77; 34
Lamentation, Arena Chapel, see Giotto

font, see

Junius Bassus, 264, 265; Sarcophagus of, 264,

386; 329; detail, Christ Enthroned, 278; 330

Iconoclasts, Iconoclastic Controversy, 277, 278,

Head of Gu-

dea, 125, 127; 116

Larissa, Greece, Aeolian capital, 177, 210; 194

of,

Pucelle

Julius Caesar, 220, 233, 238, 240;

Hungary, 331
Hurd, Nathaniel, portrait of, see Coplev
Hyksos, 108, 110, 125, 147

Architectural Plan, 125, 127; 117;

landscape painting: Gothic, 402; Roman, 244Vettii, see

353; 407

Hippodamia Attacked by a Centaur,

August, September),

Amiens

France, Bison, 79; 38

ivory diptychs,

Ixion

(July,

see

Luestrygonians Hurling Rocks at the Fleet of

Odysseus, The (Odyssey Landscape), 246,
402; 306
La Fontaine, 123
Lagash (Telloh), Iraq, 124-25; Gudea with

La Madeleine,

279; chapel fresco, Anastasis, 279; 356

of Ahmed I, 302; 374, 375, 376

Mosque
Italian

Hildesheim, Germany, Cathedral

Knucklebone Players, see Alexandras of Athens

Koran, 295, 303, 310, 311
Kore, from Chios (?), 162, 172; 172
Kore in Dorian Peplos, 162, 172; 171 and p. 5
Kore statues, 159-60, 161-62
Kostromskaya, Russia, Stag (Scythian), 132,
313; 128
Kota guardian figures, 88-99, 231; 58, 59
Kouros statues, 159-61, 166, 180
KRITIOS (?), Standing Youth (Kritios Boy),
180-81, 182; 201
Kroisos (Kouros from Anainjsos), 160, 161, 162,
180; 167
kylix, 156
Labors of the Months

Issus, Battle of see Battle of lssus

Istanbul,

Hibernians, 314

cathedral,

Istanbul
Islam, 252, 255, 291, 295,

ian Persian, 136

Portrait

High Gothic

131-32; see also Persia

324
Isenheim Altarpiece, see Griinewald
Ishtar Gate, see Babylon
ISIDORUS OF MILETUS, Hagia Sophia, see
Ireland, 314,

and Class Jar, 248, 249; 308; see also Alexandras of Athens
Hercules and Telephus, see Herculaneum

Hiberno-Saxon
Hierakonpohs.

203

Iran,

es

Hesy-ra,

Bourges Cathedral, see Bourges

Ionian architecture. 164, 175-78, 196-98; see
also Chios; Delphi
Ionic order, 165; 181

226, 243; wall paintings

Italy,

407-11

Ionians, Ionian Greece, 134, 135, 151, 164,

Apollo coin, 203; 235

Herakles, king of l'nvns. 154

Herakles, see Aegina

Herculaneum,

89,

lohel (Joel),

Naum-

burg Master
Klosterneuburg Altar, see Nicholas of Verdun
Kneeling Woman, see Kinshasa
Knight, Tomb of a, Dorchester Abbey, see
Oxfordshire
Knossos, Crete
Palace of Minos, 140; Queen's Megaron, 140.
143, 209; 139; staircase. 140; J 38
Snake Goddess (Priestess?), 142, 148; 140

543
Lindau Gospels, upper

cover, 323, 324, 325, 327;

401
Lindisfarne Gospels, Cross Page, 58, 315, 316,
322, 351; 387 and
line,

53-55;

p.

vs. color,

11

56

Linear B, 139, 147

linear perspective,

58-59

Lion Gates, see Bogazkoy; Mycenae

lion hunts,

Lion

129-31

Monument,

see

Brunswick

Livia, 233; Villa of, see

Primaporta

Lombards, 255, 291

Lombard Style, 317
Lombardy, Romanesque works, 337-39, 346-47
London, England: Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, 370; 479, 480; Royal Academy,
69; Sanctuary of Mithras, 217
Longfellow, Henrv Wadsworth, 68
LORENZETTI, AMBROGIO. 400-402, 404,
407; Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, frescoes, 400402; 532;

Good Government

in the City, 402;

533;

Good Government

in

the Country, 308,

Medieval
Gothic

402, 405; 534

LORENZETTI, PIETRO,

400, 407; The Birth of

see also Early

art

49

.ut;

Islamic art.

~>s

Medieval art;

Romanesque

Mediterranean, 290, 291

megabthic monuments 83, 88

Louis VI, king of France, 355

Louis IX (St. Louis), king of France, Psalter of
see Psalter of St. Louis

Melchizedek and Abraham, Reims Cathedral,

Louis the German, East Frankish king, 324

Louvre, sec Paris

Low Countries

Netherlands), 314, 340; see also

Belgium; Flanders; Netherlands (Holland)
Luke, Saint, 279
Luncheon on the Grass, see Manet
(

Luristan, Iran, bronzes, 132, 136; pole-top orna-

ment, 132, 134, 304, 313; 127

Amun-Mut-Khonsu.
111-13; court and pylon of Ramesses II and
colonnade and court of Amenhotep III, 111
Egypt, Temple of

Luxor,

134; 95, 96; plan, 120, 258;

13,

Lydia,

Monument of, see Athens

Lysimaehus, coin issued by, 203; 236
LYSIPPUS, 194-95, 196, 216; Apoxyomenos
Lysicrates,

after,

195; 223

Madonna, Prato Cathedral, see Pisano, G.

Madonna, Sta. Francesca Romana, see Rome
Madonna Enthroned, Byzantine, 280, 394; 358
and p. 9
Madonna Enthroned, Florence, see Cimabue

Madonna Enthroned, Padua, see Giotto

Madonna Enthroned, Siena Cathedral,

see

Duccio

Madonna with

the Long Neck, see Parmagianino

madrasah, 299-301, 302; of Sultan Hasan, see

Cairo

Muesta Altar, Siena Cathedral,

Magdalenian art, 75-77

see

Duccio

Magyars, 324. 331

MAITANI, LORENZO, The Last Judgment, Or5/3

Male Figure Surmounted by a Bird,
vieto Cathedral, 387;

see Sepik

Reims
Menander, Portrait of. see Pompeii
Mesopotamia, 71, 97, 119, 123, 124, 125, 127,
135, 191, 205, 214, 252, 299
Mesopotamian art, 1 19-31; compared to: Etruscan, 215; Islamic, 297, 310; Minoan, 142;
Neolithic, 80; Romanesque, 340; see also Ancient Near Eastern art
Meuse Valley, 347-48, 379
mezzo (middle) relief, 61
MICHELANGELO, 44-45, 55, 56, 201; David,
p 17. St Matthew. 45, 62; 3; Sistine Chapel:
Libyan Sibyl, 55; 10; study foe 53-55; 9

Milan,

Italy:

Cathedral, 375, 388; 490;

S.

Am-

337-39; 423, 424, 425

MILANO, see Giovanni da Milano
Miletus, Turkey, 178; Market Gate, 229, 246;
277
minaret, 297
miniatures: Early Christian, 262-63; 327, 328;
Islamic (Persian), 308-11; Irish, 344
Minoan art, 139-44, 147, 148; compared to:
brogio,

Etruscan, 209; Greek, 152, 154, 171

cheon on the Grass

47-49; 4

The

Eifer.

p.

27;

Lun-

Le Dejeuner sur 1'Herhe).

400, 405, 407; The

Road

MARTINI. SIMONE, ITALIAN FOLLOWER

OF (MATTEO GIOVANNETTI?), Palace of
the Popes, Scenes of Country Life. 308, 405;

539

MASEGNE, JACOBELLO and PIERPAOLO

Apostles, St. Mark's. Venice. 388;

5/5

masks, ethnographic, 92-94; Mycenaean, 145

mastabas, 101-2; 75, 76
MASTER HONORE, Prayer Book oj Philip the
Fair. 393. 405; David and Goliath from, 393,
405; 521
Mausolus. 191. 198; Tomb of, see Hahcarnassus
Maxmuanus, archbishop of Constantinople, 270
meaning, 4950; in context, 66-69
Mecca. Saudi Arabia, 295, 303; Kaaba, 303
portrait

of.

see

145, 147; Lion Gate

$9,

117

megaron, 147,
ol a lion s bead

145-47
Treasun

205

Mycenaean

rhree

19

Atreus,

ol

Deities
15

14548;

art,

17

17

ompared

and Ancient Near Eastern

147,
to

148

'.nek

163

163

168, 171

205

leans, 151, 152,

\I\<

enaean

ns,

ir)

154

Mycerinus, Pyramid ol see

Mycerinus and His Queen

(.i/.i

s,e

MYRON, Discobolus (Discus

Giza

Thro

Mysteries, Villa of, see Pompeii

mystery religions, 250, 252-53

Rubens

Nahash the Ammonite Threatening

labesh, see Psalter oj St

MNESICLES, Erechtheum and

sion

of,

Propylaea, see

291, 295, 303, 308, 310; The Ascenp. 10

310-11; 383 and

Mohammed

see

Sultan,

II.

Iran, 135; Shapur 1 TriumphEmperors Philippus the \>uh and

Naksh-i-Rustam.
ing over the

Valerian. 135, 240;

14

naos, 167

Napoleon at Arcole, see Gros

Naram-Sin, king of Akkad, 124; Vu lory Stele
124, 127, 128, 233; ZZ5
Narmer, king of Egypt, see Hierakonpolis

Album

the

of

St. -Pierre,

343; portal sculp-

343-44. 345, 346; on east Hank. Annunciation. Visitation, and Adoration oj the Magi,
344; 434; on trurncuu. 343-44, 376; 433
ture,

monasteries, 314, 319; standard plan, see Si

Reichenau

MONDRIAN, PIET Broadway

Boogie Woogie,

258

Pellegrino, see

mosaics, 260
Mosan sculpture,

N.

NAUMBURG MASTER,

Naumburg

382-83;

The Kiss of Judas, 382, 399; 503

Navajo Indians, sand painting ritual for a sit k
child. 94-95; 70
Naxos, Cyclades. Greece, coin from. SUenus,
203; 234
Near East, 295. 299, 314, 355; Neolithic art. 80
82; see also Ancient Near Eastern art
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 131
Neo-Babylonians, 131-32

neo-Byzanun.
Neolithic

393, 393, 394. 395-96, 398

art, 80-86, 87. 89;

style,

New Stone Age

compared

Cycladk

to:

i'l

Egyptian, 98. 107;

ethnographic, 86-87. 89
Neolithic Revolution. 80. 81, 82. 86, 97

Roman

Nerva,

emperor.

Forum

ol St

Basil,

274;

see

of,

Rome

'.17

Sepik River

see

see Neolithic art

352. 379. 380. 390;

Builders, Great Serpent

Nicomachi. 265-66

Ml MEYER OSCAR.

Brasilia. 64;

22

lemple ol Vthena Nike see Vthens

Nikeoj Samothrace 198 201 229 and p 7
Nimes France Pom du Gard, 220 21; 261
Nimrod. 351
Nike,

Mound.

Is-

St

Nimrud (Calah
\shurbanipal

mask, 94; 68

Iraq
II

Palace

ol

\shurbanipal II
129 11, 163;

Killing Lions.

Mrs. Siddons. see Gainsborough

Mshatta. Jordan. Palace at. 296, 298-99: facade

Nineveh (Kuyunjik

DyingLumess
Hnlei

296. 298. 30

muezzin, 297

MUNCH, I>\ \KD. The

MURRAY ELIZABETH

art,

New Testament 261

NICHOLAS OF VERDUN.

347-49

Mt. Vesuvius, 226, 243. 2

Guinea

New Stone Age

Moslems. 2<)5. 301 324, 131; see also Islam

mosques, see Cordova; Damascus. Erzurum;
tanbul; Samarra

31

(.

Nativity, Pisa Cathedral Baptistery, see Pisano,

Klostemeuburg Utai The Crossing of the Red

Sea, 152 179 390; 449

Moscow, Russia, 255; Cathedral

352
Moses Well, see Sluter

p.

Nativity, Pisa Cathedral, see Pisano

New

Addaura

Moorish style, 298

More Than You Know, see Muit.iv

Nativity, Florence, see Gentile da Fabriano

Netherlands (Holland), 291, 314,

58, 59. 14

Mound

Nefertiti, see Nofretete

Moissac, France,

Gall; see also

has

the

Louis

Cathedral sculpture: Cruulixion. 382, 384,

396; 502; Ekkehard and I'ta. 382-83; 504;

Mission of the Apostles, see Ve/elay

Mitannians, 127
Mithraism, 252
Mithras, Sanctuary of, see London

Monte

Calvary, 400, 407; 530

Medes, 131. 132

Medici. Mane de\

168

164

Nathaniel Hard, see Copley

Mongols, 299, 304, 308

Rubens

Market Gate, see Miletus

Martel, Charles, see Charles Martel

MARTINI, SIMONE.

Greece

215 144; 152

168; 153; rhyton in the shape
it,

narthex,

Conqueror

Manichaeism, 252
illuminated
illumination,
see
manuscript
manuscripts
Maqamat (Hariri), pen drawing from, 307-8;
380
Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, 238, 242,
243; Equestrian Statue of, 238-40; 296
Marie de'Medici, Queen of France, Landing in
Marseilles, see

Minoans, 139, 140, 147

Minoan script, 139
Minos, king of Crete, 139, 140; Palace of, see
Knossos
Minotaur, 140, 143
mirror. Etruscan, engraved back, 214; 250

Mohammed,

Mamelukes. 299, 301

MANET, EDOUARD.

aliph

Minoan-Mycenaean column. 168

Mogul dvnasty, 301

Mallia, Crete, palace at, 140

DALLE,

set

so Samarra

ni

Mycenai

1(>8

Athens

River

to

17

I'

l.iiquima
al-

'>!

Middle Ages. 290-91, 313, 340

mihrab, 297

97

205

(Scraper)

see Achilles

kiiis ai

Mutawakkil,

the Virgin, 400, 407; 53/

lost-wax (cire-perdu) process, 90

megaron

Muse and Maiden

Musk

art

Scream p 28
\jore Than You Know,

lie

pal,

124,

Iraq.

131; 124;

125;

128-29. 131

14; Palace ol

Sat k oj the City o\

132;

Head of an Akkadian
\shurbanip.il

llamanu by Ashurham-

128-29. 165. 233. 238; /22

Niode, 184
Nofrei

Egyptian princess portrait

ol

see Giza

INDEX

Nofretete,

quern

of Egypt, bust

of,

and

14; 101

Louvre:

first, 367; second, 367, 408; 543

Notre-Dame, 290, 356, 357-60, 361 453, 454,
455 and p. 13, 456; west fagade, 359-60,
364; 457; comparative nave elevation, 469;
;

Nootka Indians.

Lightning Snake. Wolf, and

on Killer Whale, 94; 69

Thunder Bud
Normans, Normandy. 255, 304, 324, 331, 337,
339; Romanesque works, 335, 337, 339
Norsemen, 324
North Africa, Islamic, 291, 295
Norway, Norwegians, 314, 324
Notre-Dame. see Paris
Notre-Dame-la-Grande, see Poitiers
Nude Woman, see La Magdelaine Cave
numismatics, 203
Nuremberg, Germany, St. Sebald, choir, 371;
481

sculpture, 359, 380, 384;

381, 384, 386-87; 499

Pare de

la Villette, Folie

P6, see

Tschumi

University

of,

368

Composing

Limbourg Brothers

re,

"Octopus Vase," see Palaikastro

ODO OF METZ, 317-18; Palace Chapel of
Charlemagne, see Aachen
Odyssey (Homer), 152, 153, 154
Odyssey Landscapes, 246, 402; 306
Old St. Peter's, see Rome
Old Stone Age, see Paleolithic art
Old Testament, 256, 262, 295
Old Testament Trinity, see Rublev
Olympia, Greece, 230; Temple of Zeus, 182;
west pediment: Apollo, 182; 204; Hippodamia
Attacked by a Centaur, 182; 205
Olympic Games, 151
Op Art, 56
opus modernum (opus francigenum), 355
orders. Classical, see architecture

Oriental

255, 317

art,

Orientalizing style, Greek, 153-54, 156, 158

Oriental mystery religions, 252
Orvieto,

Cathedra], The Last Judgment, see

Italy,

Maitani

Oseberg Ship-Burial, Animal Head, 314; 386

Ostia, Italy, 226; Insula of the

House

of Diana,

227; 276

with the Long

21

Rome

see

357

Italy,

71; 183, 184

of,

178,

p. 6;

"Temple of Poseidon,"

397

Florence

Notre-Dame-la-Grande

314;

335, 359; 416

perfume vase, Proto-Corinthian,

Pergamum, Turkey, 196, 233

La Magde-

154, 205;

159

195, 216; Doryphorus

Bearer), 180-81, 184; 202

196-98; Athena and Alcyoneus from Great Frieze, 198, 201, 233,
244; 228; plan, 227; west front, 196, 233226
Dying Gaul, 196, 233, 382; 224
331

period styles, 50

168

226

Perpendicular

style,

243, 256, 261, 262, 277, 295; The

Battle of Issus (Battle of Alexander and the
Persians), 233. 243-44, 260; 302; House of
Italy,

Menander, Portrait of Menander, 321; 398;

of the Silver Wedding, atrium, 214,

226; 275;

House

of the Vettii, Ixion

Room, 235,

244-46, 248, 400; 304; Villa of the Mysteries,

Scenes of a Dionysiac Mystery Cult, 249-50,
252-53; 310; detail. Woman with a Veil, 250;
311 and p. 8
Pond in a Garden, see Thebes
Pont du Gard, see Nimes
of,

see

Avignon

Porta Augusta, see Perugia

369-70

portal ensembles, 344;

Persepolis, Iran, Palace of Darius

134,

201; see also La-

ocoon Group
Pompeii,

Popes, Palace

peristyle, 168,

(Spear

House

Altar of Zeus, 178,

Hall,

135,

129; Treasury, Darius

134,

175;

and Xerxes,

140, 175; 130;

131; plan,

133;

and Xerxes Giving Au-

dience, 134-35, 163, 233; 132

131, 132, 154, 156, 172, 191,

198, 217,

perspective, one-point,

"Octopus Vase," 144, 152;

Perugia,

Palazzo Vecchio, see Florence

Paleolithic (Old

Italy,

58-59

Porta Augusta,

435

Portrait Head, Greek, see Delos

Portrait Head, Roman, probably Plotinus, 241,

267; 298
Portrait of a Boy, Etruscan, 213-14; 249
Portrait of a Boy, Roman, see Faiyum
Portrait of a Lady, Roman, 238; 294
Portrait of a

Man, Roman medallion, 252; 313

Romanesque, 352, 379;

327
beaked jug (Kamares
142, 144; 141; palace, 140
Crete:

PHIDIAS, 216, 382; Parthenon sculpture,

Philip the Fair, king of France, Prayer

see Master Honore

Palestrina, Italy, see Praeneste

Philippus the Arab,

Palette of King

Warmer, see Hierakonpolis

PANNINI, GIOVANNI PAOLO. The Interior of
the Pantheon, 224; 265
Pantheon, see Rome
Pantocrator, see Daphne
papyrus, 262
la Villette, Paris,

style),

see

Athens

Roman

Book

of,

emperor, portrait

of,

'

240-41, 252; 297; see also Naksh-i-Rustam

PHILOXFNUS OF FRETRIA,

Battle of Issus

233
Bull's Head, 44, 45, 47, 49,
67; 2; Girl Before a Mirror, 57; 12 and p. 29

France, 355. 393, 407. see ulso ilc-de-

80-81; Roman, 241

of, see Paestum
Poseidon (Zeus?), 183-84; 206
Post-Impressionists, 56
pottery, 49; see also vases

duke of Burgundy, 384

PICASSO, PABLO,

Tschumi

108; 18th century, 68-69; Greek, 192, 201;

Neolithic,

Phoenicia, Phoenicians, 158, 205

see

7,

Poseidon, Temple

Stone Age) art, 74-80, 81, 92;

compared to Cycladic, 139
Palermo, Sicily, 304 see ulso Addaura
Palestine, 256, 291
;

111, Egyptian, 108; 91

Portrait Panel of Hesy-Ra, see Saqqara
portraiture: Early Christian, 266; Egyptian, 105-

pharoahs, 97, 110

Phidian style, 187-88

Philip the Bold,

448

Portrait ofSesostris

214-15; 251

Peter, Saint, 255,

Phaistos,

375

INDEX

for the facade of

Portrait of a Roman, 230-31, 232; 282

Portrait of Eutropios, Early Christian, 267; 333
Portrait of Menander, see Pompeii

zetti, A.

France,

Poitiers,

Greek, 163; Romanesque, 344, 348; see ulso

Achaemenian art; Sassanian art
Persian wars, 156, 172

Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, frescoes, see Loren-

434

179,

Doric temples: "Basilica," 169-

and

144

I'rance

Cambrio's design

Portrait of a Physician,

Palaikastro, Crete,

Paris,

97

243-44, 252, 291, 295, 299, 304

Persian art, 131-36, 308-11; compared to:

Palace of the Popes, see Avignon

palazzo,

The Nativity, 386; 509

see

169-71, 172; 183, 185, 186

painting, era

175,

and Animals, see Hierakonpolis

Peparethus, Greek island, coin from, Winged
God, 203; 233
Pepin III, king of the Franks, 355

Persia, Persians,

Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, 526;

172,

Perseus, 154

also Giotto

Paestum,

151,

People, Boats,

133-34; Audience

Italy,

Madonna,

374, 386, 389, 399; Pisa

Cathedral Baptistery pulpit, 386, 408; 508; de-

POLYDORUS OF RHODES,

bull capital,

Tomb

Prato Cathedral,

Cathedral, 375; 489

Cave

Ottonian

Oxfordshire, England, Dorchester Abbey,

of a Knight, 382; 501

510;

POLYCLITUS,

Ottoman Turks, 299

art, 324-29; compared to: Gothic, 370;
Romanesque, 331, 339, 342, 349

389;

PISANO, NICOLA,

di

(Tarn), France, cave art, see

peripteral,

389, 395, 399;

Pisa Cathedral pulpit, 386; detail, The Nativity,

386,

POCCETTI, BERNARDINO, drawing of Arnolfo

pendentives, 272
laine

374

Pliny the Elder, 201, 233, 243, 244, 250

Plotinus, 241; Portrait Head, 241, 267; 298

Thetis, see Aurora Painter

Peloponnesian War,
187, 190

Penne

see

PISANO, GIOVANNI, 386-87,

Plato, 42,

pediment, 164

and

pulpit,

Plague, 402

Paul Revere, see Copley

Peaches and Glass Jar, see Herculaneum
Pearl Weigher, see Vermeer
Peleus

Cathedra]

Traini;

PISANO, ANDREA, Florence Cathedral Campa-

tail.

pathos, 185, 278

Paul, Saint,

see

Pisano, G.

386-87; 511,512; Siena Cathedra] fagade, 395

Pericles, 172, 174, 187,

Ostrogoths, 255, 267, 291

Otto I, Holy Roman emperor, 324, 325, 331
Otto II, Holy Roman emperor, 325
Otto III, Holy Roman emperor, 326; see also Gospel Book of Otto III

Pare de

Psalms

the

from, 277, 278; 353

PARMAGIANINO, The Madonna

p.

and
Campanile (Leaning Tower), 340-42, 402;
428, 429, 430 and p. 12; Baptistery pulpit, see
Pisano, N.; Camposanto, The Triumph
of

nile,

Paris Psalter, 282; David

Neck,

Pisa, Italy, 331, 342; Cathedral, Baptistery,

Death,

St.-Denis, 355-57, 359, 373, 376, 390, 391;

451, 452; sculpture, 376

Parthenon, see Athens

Parting of Lot and Abrahum.Hta. Maria Maggio-

October, see

Padua,

The Virgin of Paris,

pilgrimage churches, 333, 355

pinakotheka, 175; 192

Pietds, see Bonn, Giovanni da

Milano
Pig-Snouted Ethiopians, see Vezelay
pilgrimage choir, 333, 356

Praeneste (Palestrina), Italy, Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, 219-20; 257, 258, 259
Prague, Czechoslovakia, 407
Prato, Italy, Cathedra],

PRAXITELES,

Madonna,

see Pisano, G.

139, 192-93, 194, 195,216,238;

Cnidian Aphrodite, 192-93; 220; Hermes,

193; 221; Standing Youth (attr), 62; 20
Prayer Book of Philip the Fair, see Master

Honore
prehistoric art,

43

Presentation in the Temple, see Broederlam

Priestess of Bacchus, Early Christian, 265-66,
268; 331

Primaporta,

Italy, Villa

of Livia,

View of a Gar-

den, 246-48, 249-50; 307; see also Augustus

of Primaporta

ethnographic art
Prince Rahotep and His Wife Nofret. see Giza
primitive

prints,

art,

see

St

Georg<

Si

Gilles-de-Gard,

77. 379, 385. 387, 390, 393, 398,

58

Proto-Corinthian perfume vase, 154, 205; 759

Provence, France, 345-46

Psalter of St. Louis, 391, 393; Nahash the Ammonite Threatening the Jews at Jabesh from,

391-93, 396; 520

Pseudo-Dionysius, 357
PSIAX, Herakles Strangling the Nemean Lion,
155, 156-58, 160; J 62
PUCELLE, JEAN, Hours oj Jeanne d'Evreux,
405, 408; Annunciation from, 405; 538
purse cover, see Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial
pyramids, 102, 103-4, 290

295
and

Nofretete, Egyptian, 114; 101

p.

Rahotep, Prince, and His Wife Nofret, see Giza

RA1MONDI, MARCANTONIO, The Judgment

of Paris (after Raphael), 47; 5
Tree, see

His

oj

400

Republic

205,

St

Roman

S.

and frieze, 242-43, 253, 264; 301

Arch of Titus, 235-37, 238; reliefs: Spoils Jrom
the temple m Jerusalem, 235-37; 290; Triumph o} Vitus, 237; 291
Basilica of Constantine, 224, 273, 339; 270,

205. 212

Forums, 205, 220, 240, 243; 260

Old St. Peters, 257; plan, 257, 319; 317; reconstruction drawing, 333; 316
Pantheon, 223-24. 258, 272, 273, 373, 397;
265, 266, 267, 268, 269
Agnes Outside the Walls, 260

Ur

St.

Ramose, Tomb of, see Thebes

Rampm Head, The, Greek, 161, 172; 169
Rape ofEurona, see Titian
RAPHAEL, Galatea, p. 20; The Judgment of Paris, Raimondi's engraving after, 47-49; 5
Ravenna, Italy, 267, 317. 337; S. Apollinare in

Sta.

Sta.

Costanza, 258-60, 267-68. 272, 373-74;

322, 323, 324

Francesca Romana, Madonna, 279-80;

357
Sta.

Maria Maggiore, The Parting of Lot and

Abraham, 261-62; 326

St.

BaptJster) ol

see

Luke, see Gospel Booh

Luke-

Otto

"I

Church

St.-Maclou,
Ste.

see

of,

-Madeleine. Church

see Vc/<

St.

Michael's, Cathedral

St.

Pantaleon, Church

see Michelangelo

Hildesheim
see Cologne
Walls,
Basilica
Outside
the
Paul's

St.

see

St. Peter's

Old

Rome

Basilica, see

Abbey Church of. see Moissac

SS. Pietro e Marcellino, Catacomb of. see Rome
St.-Riquier (Centula), France, Abbey Church.
319, 326, 333, 340; 393, 394
St.-Savin-sur-Gartempe. France. Church of, 335,
351, 371; 4/5; nave vault, detail. The Budding
oj the Tower oj Babel, 335 351; 446
St. Sebald, Church of sn Nuremberg
St.-Semin, Church of. see Toulouse
Theodore. Chartres Cathedral, see Chartres
Church of, see Troves

St.-Urbain,

Church

S. Vitale.

of,

see

Ravenna
154, 233

235, 246, 397; 289

"Temple of Fortuna Virilis," 217-18, 223; 253,
254
Temple of Venus Genetrix, 220
Villa Medici, sarcophagus detail. River Gods,
49; 6

Salonica, Greece Si George,

Reformation, 382

ROUBIL1AC. LOUIS-FRANCOIS,

Reichenau Monastery, 327

Reims, France, Cathedral, 364-65; 468; comparative nave elevation, 469; sculpture, 36465, 379-81, 384; Annunciation and Visitation
groups, 352, 379-80, 381, 382, 385, 386. 390,
393; 497; Melchizedek and Abraham. 380-81,
391, 393, 396; 498
Reims School, 322-23, 349
Reims style, 347
relief, tvpes of, 60-61
REMBRANDT, 53; The Star of the Kings. 53; 8
also
Early
342;
see
Renaissance,
53,

Rouen, France, St.-Maclou, 366-67; 473

Roval Academv. London, 69

RUBENS, PETER PAUL,

Sat k of the City oj

347-48, 352, 379;

Saint:

441
of,

see

in

River Gods, from Roman sarcophagus. 49; 6

Road to Calvaru. see Martini

count of Sicily, 304

216-23; compared

art,

Carolingian.

321; Early Christian, 256, 260, 266; Early Medieval, 313; Gothic, 380;

Greek, 178; [slami(

295, 298; Romanesque, 333. 337, 339, 342,

Graeco-Roman

art

S.,

by Ashurbanipal, see

if

list

SS.. St., Sta.,

of

churches and

and

Ste. are alpha-

spelled Saint, entries for sainted

persons are

listed

elsewhere by

first

name

Francis of Assisi, Saint)

St Amies Outside the Walls, see Rome
S. Ambrogio. Church of, see Milan
(e.g.,

Classe Church of see Ravenna

St -Barthelemv. Church of Liege, see Reiner of
S

Apollinare

Huv
of see Moscow
(hurch of see Rome
Sta. Croce, Church of see Florence
St. -Denis. Abbe) Church of, see Pans
St.-Eticnne Church of see Caen
Sta. Francesca Rom. ma. Church of see Rome

St. Basil.
to:

following

the

betized as

Copley

Rhmeland, 339, 340, 370

rhvtons: Achaemenian, 135; 133; Mycenaean.
145-47; 149
rib vaults. 336-37, 339, 356. 357; 42/
Ritual Dance, see Addaura

343, 345; see also

Hamanu

Cathedral

Sta Costanza,

of.

England, Cathedral, 290. 369. 370,

371. 475. 476, 477

dome

mosaic, 260-

61; 325

Samaria.

Iraq,

Mosque

of al-Mutawakkil (Great

Mosque), 297; 364, 365

Samos, Greek island: Ionic temples, 175; Temple
of Hera. Hera" from. 161-62, 164; /70
sand painting, see Navajo Indians
Santiago de Compostela, Spain. 333, 342
Sappho. 155
Saqqara, Egypt
Funerarv District ol king Zoser (Imhotep),
102-3; papyrus half-columns. North P.ilac e,
103. 113. 168, 177; 79; plan. 102; 78; Step
Pyramid, 101, 102. 103. 104. 168; 76. 77, 78
Portrait Panel Oj llcsi/Ru 101. 107 123: 74
Seated

N<

Tomb

of

nhe. 107; 87

Horemheb. Workmen Carrying

Beam, 117, 144. 163; Z03

of Ti: Cattle Fording a Rner. 98. 108,

Tomb

artworks.

Revere, Paul, 68, 69; portrait

II,

de'Medici,

Sacrifice of Iphigenia, The, Byzantine, 282; 361

Sat rifice of Isaac, see Ghiberti

reproductions, 49

Roger

Mane

Nineveh
347. 352, 379; baptismal

font. St.-Barthelemy, Liege,

Roman

56;

Queen of France. Landing in Marseilles, p. 22

RUBLEV, ANDREI, 280-81; Old Testament
Trinity, 281; 359
Russia, 255, 274, 280-81
Russian Orthodox Church, 255

Renaissance

REN1ER OF HUY,

Portrait of

see Vispre

see

St.-Pierre.

Salisbury

red-figured style, 158, 160, 162

of.

Rome

268; 315
stucco decoration from the vault of a house,

408

i\

of,

260, 278, 339; 327; S. Vitale, 267-70,

dants. 268-70, 278, 280; 338, 339

Maria Antica. Church of. see Verona

S. Maria de Fiore, Cathedral, see Florence
Sta. Mana Maggiore. Basilic a ol see Rome
St. Mark, miniatures see Gospel Honk from Corbie; Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo o) Reims
St. Mark's Basilica, sec Venice
St. Matthew, miniature
see Gospel Book of

Salamis, Greece. Battle

realism, 50; Gothic. 381,

III

Sta.

St.

Paul Outside the Walls, 224, 257, 258, 333,

342; 318

dants and Empress Theodora and Her Atten-

\bbot

"I

Rouen

ol

SS. Pietro e Marccllino. catacomb ceiling, 256,

terior,

lor

Suns monastery churches seeHosios

of

Classe, 258, 261. 268, 337, 338; 319, 320; in-

272, 273, 317-18, 337; 334, 335, 336, 337;

mosaics. Emperor Justinian and His Atten-

St.

Colosseum, 221, 241, 280, 290, 333; 262, 263,

264
Column of Trajan, 237-38, 261-62; 292

king of Egypt, 1 13; court and pylori

of, see Luxor; Mortuary Temple of, see Thebes
Ramesses III, king of F.gypt, 110, 113

portal sculpture

ol

$4"

Charlemagne
Mat then, sculpture,

27), 272

II,

Church

Lou k. is

Ara Pacis, 233-35, 238; 285; allegorical and

ornamental panels. 235, 397; 288; Imperial
Procession, 234-35. 266, 380; 286
Arch of Constantine, 241-43; 300; medallions

Hill,

see Salonika

of

John the Ei angelist see Gospel Booh

Wedrii a

135, 151, 196, 201, 205-7, 212,

16,

liovanni

217

214, 255, 291, 317, 326. 331; see also

Empire; Roman Republic

Capitoline

hurch

344, 345

Am estors, A,

monaster) plan

Switzerland

Gall

395, 396

St.

Rome, Romans,

Propylaea, see Athens

Ramesses

Patrician u ith Rusts

Roman

Proto- Attic vases, 153-54;

Ram and

Romanesque art, 331-53; compared to Gothic

355,356,357,359, $68 169 $70, 371, 376-

231-32; 283

pronaos, 167

Queen

si

Roman

49

Procession, Parthenon, see Athens

qibla.

Roman Catholic Church. 255, 277. 291, 314, 355

Roman Empire, 255, 257, 290, 291, 313, 314

90; Ti Watching a Hippopotamus

Hunt. 98, 107-8, 163, 209; 89
165;

Etruscan, see Cerveteri; Roman, deRiver Gods. 49. 6. Early Christian, 264
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, Earls Christian
264, 386; 329; detail. Christ Enthroned, 278;

sarcophagi
tail.

330
Saruon. king ol \kk.uf 123. 121
Sargon II, king of \ss\ru i_!K, Citadel

of

s,

Dur Sharrukin
Sassanian art. 135-36; compared to Islamic
295. 296. 301. 303; woven silk. 136. 296, 317;
136
Saviour in Chora, (lunch
s.ivnis Saxony, 315, 321

Scandinavia
Scenes

o\ a

114

$24,

of,

see Istanbul

$31

Dionysiat Mystery Cult

Villa of die

Mysteries, see Pompeii

INDl

Scan*,

oj Country Life, see Martini, followei

Schliemann, Heinrich, 139

scientific perspective.

oi

SCOPAS. 191-92. 194. 382; Battle of the Greeks

and Amazons (attrib.), 192; 217
Scotland. 314
Scraper, see Lysippus
Scream, see Munch
scriptoria. 314

Romanesque

re-

342

plastered skull, 87, 231; 55

king of Egypt, Portrait

of,

108; 91

SEURAT, GEORGES, 56

artists,

43-44

pus

the

Rustam

Summer Landscape, Romanesque,

Temple of

Carmina

see

Tomb

of

Hunting and Fishing,

209; 241; wall painting from, 155; 242; Tomb

of the Lionesses, Musicians and Two Dancers,

243

155, 209;

Tell

Amiens

Cathedral,

Target with Four Faces, see Johns

coes, see Lorenzetti, A.

Asmar,

Patriarch,

relief

inscribed

by,

Abu Temple,

statues, 122, 125,

234
woven, Sassanian, 136, 296, 317; 736
Silver Wedding, House of, see Pompeii
sinupie, 404
Siphnian Treasury, see Delphi

Athens;

Corfu; Delphi; Ephesus; Olympia;

Paestum; Samos; Roman, see Baalbek; Rome;
Tivoli; Sumerian, see Uruk

Sistine Chapel, see Michelangelo

324

SLUTER, CLAUS, 384-85,

Champmol,

treuse de

388,

408;

Char-

Dijon: portal sculpture,

tesserae,

507
Snake Goddess (Priestess?), see Knossos
Solitary Combat oj Prince Humuy and Princess
Humayun, see Junyad
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, see Wright
space, 62-64

260

textiles, 136,

Tomb of Tutankhamen:
250;

104;

painted

wall painting fragment,

coffin cover, 117, 145.

chest,

Tutankhamen

A Pond

TSCHUMI, BERNARD,

Garden,

tus, see

art,
I

lie

79-80; 39
Temple in Jerusalem, Arch of Ti-

S. Vitale,

see

king of Ur, Ziggurat

Rome

Staq. Scythian, 132, 313; 128

Stained glass, French Gothic, 363, 390-91

Standing Youth, see Praxiteles
Standing Youth {Kouros), Greek, 159-60, 180

166
Star oj

218

of,

see

Saqqara

of a

tin

Kings, see

INDEX

Rembrandt

Tomb
Tomb

of

Ur

Roman

Knight,

Dorchester Cathedral, see

Hunting and Fishing,

emperor,

portrayal

of,

see

Naksh-i-Rustam

Minoan-Mycenaean,

147,

165;

150, 151
Vase Painter and Assistants, Crowned by Athena and Victories, A, Attic hydria, 155; 160
vases. Greek, 151-58; 155

TITIAN, 56-57; The Rape of Europa, 57; 11

Titus, Roman emperor, 201; Arch of, see Rome
Tivoli, Italy, "Temple of the Sibyl," 218, 223,
229; 255, 256
Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt, see Saqqara
Tlingit Indians, war helmet, 94; 67

Tomb

see

Iraq, 1 19; Female Head, 80, 120"White Temple," 119-20, 125; 106;
interior of its cella, 119; 108; plan, 107
Utrecht Psalter, 322-23, 347, 349-51, 353; 400

Vaphio Cups,

Oxfordshire

Standing Youth (Kritios Boy), see Kntios

436

Tomb

of,

Uruk (Warka),

Ravenna

Three Deities, see Mycenae

Three Goddesses, Parthenon, see Athens
Thucydides, 172
Ti,

inlay

1 12 and p. 4; Ziggurat of
King Urnammu. 120; 109
II, Pope, 331
urban planning, see town planning

Vandals, 255, 291

aboriginal

124-25;

Urban

Third Style, Roman, 244

Spoils from

Iraq, 119, 122,

stand, 122, 123, 132;

Spartans, 151

Sphinx, Great, see Giza

Man Spearing Kangaroos, A, Australian

la Vil-

panel from the soundbox of a lyre, 123, 132,

164, 313, 344; 113; Ram and Tree, offering

Valerian,

Spirit

de

22; 110;

theocratic socialism, 119

Theodora, Byzantine empress, 270; and Her At-

tholos, 178,

Folie P6, Pare

42, 372
Tutankhamen, Tomb of, see Thebes
Tutankhamen Hunting, see Thebes
Twin Leopards, see Catal Hiiyiik
tympanum, 344; 435

Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 267

thermae, 223

426

Rome

32

Spalato (Split). Yugoslavia, Palace of Diocletian,

peristyle, 229; 280

Spear Bearer, see Polyclitus

Speyer. Germany, Imperial Cathedral, 339, 340;

see

205

Troy, 201,

Urnammu,
in a

60; 17

tendants,

Pisa, see Traini

Trojan War, 147

Ur(El Muqeiar),

Hunting, 98, 117, 129; 105

Spain, 291

triumphal arch, 258

Triumph of Death, Camposanto,
Triumph of Titus, Arch of Titus,

Ulu Mosque, see Erzurum

304, 351

theaters, Greek, 179

Thebes, Egypt, 108, 110; Mortuary Temple of
Ramesses II, 114, 215; 98
Tomb of Ramose, 114; 99

384, 385; 506; The Moses Well, 384-85, 408;

364

triglyphs, 164, 167, 168

Tuscany,

Asmar; Thebes; Etruscan, 210; 246; see

also Veii; Greek, 167-78; 182; see also Aegina;

silk,

49

tradition,

Turks, 172, 255, 270, 279, 299-302, 304, 305

Italy, 205; Romanesque works, 340-

1 1

Tell

Silenus, coin from Naxos, 203;

see

TRAIN1, FRANCESCO, Camposanto, Pisa, The

Triumph of Death, 402-4; 535; sinopia drawing for, 404; 536
Trajan, Roman emperor, 237, 238, 242; Arch of,
Column of, and Forum of, see Rome; portrait
of, 90, 238; 295
Treasury of Atreus, see Mycenae
Tres Riches Heures du Due de Berry, see Lim-

lette, Paris, p.

el'Amarna, Egypt,
tempera, 393-94

see

427
Tower of Babel, 119, 120, 131, 297, 340
town planning: Etruscan, 214; Greek, 178;

trumeau, 343

Iraq,

127; 111

Cividale

tle, 342, 343, 345, 346; 432

Tournai, Belgium, Cathedral, 340;

Troyes, France, St.-Urbain, 366; 471, 472

51-52

temples: Egyptian, see Deir el-Bahari; Luxor;

Sigvald,

Toulouse, France, St.-Sernin, 333-34, 336, 356,

357; 410, 411, 412, 413; sculpture, 342; Apos-

bourg Brothers

Tarquinia, Italy:

taste,

Beni Hasan; Mausolus, see Halicarnassus; Ramose, see Thebes; Ti, see Saqqara; Tutankhamen, see Thebes; see also sarcophagi
tonalism, 56
"Toreador Fresco, The," Minoan, 143-44, 147143

triforium, 334,

373, 374

Tell

Italy,

of the Zodiac, Amiens Cathedral,

299

tablinum, 226

the," see Tivoli

47; of specific persons: Hesy-ra, see Saqqara;

Horemheb, see Saqqara; Khnum-hotep, see

also Brasilia

Taj Mahal, see Agra

400, 402. 407; Cathedral, 394; facade, see Pisano, G.; Maestd Altar, see Duccio;
Palazzo Pubblico, Sala della Pace, 532; fres-

Slavs,

see

Burana

304, 324, 385; see also Addaura

Siddons, Sarah, portrait of, see Gainsborough

Signs

the

Susa, Iran, 124; painted beaker 131-32; 126

Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, purse cover, 313, 314,
315, 316; 385

Sicily,

Siena,

Album of

Islamic, see

Conqueror

TALENTI, FRANCESCO, Florence

She-Wolf Etruscan, 212-13, 348; 248

Shipwreck, drawing after a Geometric vase, 15253, 156; 157
"Sibyl,

Summer Landscape,

to Early Chris-

see

of,

Triumphing over the Emperors PhilipArab and Valerian, see Naksh-i-

Rome, 220, 230

Sumerian art,
tian, 260

Syria, 158, 177, 256, 291, 295, 297,

king of Persia, 135, 252; Palace

Ctesiphon
I,

Shapur

Suger, Abbot, 355, 356-57, 359, 360, 363, 365,

373, 376, 377, 390

Symbol of St. Mark, see Echternach Gospels

symbols, 50
Symmachi, 266

Severe Style, Greek, 180, 181-83, 203

Shah Jahan, Mogul emperor, 301

Shapur

Michelangelo
331

Sumer, 119, 127

1 19-27; compared

Second Golden Age, Byzantine, 273-79, 280,

281, 282, 325, 379
Second Style, Roman, 244, 246, 250
Seljuk Turks, 299-302, 305
Sepik River, New Guinea, 87, 88; Male Figure
Surmounted by a Bird, 87, 88, 94, 231; 56;

shaman

Sibyl, see

of the Reliefs, see Cerveteri

tombs: Egyptian, 97-98, 101, 107-8; Etruscan,

207-10; Gothic, 387-88; Mycenaean, 145-

Strasbourg. France, Cathedral, portal sculpture.

Death of the Virgin, 352, 379, 380, 381, 382
399, 407; 496

Sulla, dictator of

Seated Scribe, see Saqqara

III,

En-

style(s), defined, 50; evolution of,

Scythians, 131, 132; Stag, 132, 313; 128

Sesostris

Tomb

Study for the Libyan

sculpture: categories, 60-62;

vival.

stoas, 178

Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain (Wiltshire),

gland, 84, 86; 51, 52, 53

58-59

Vatican, Sistine Chapel, see Michelangelo

Vatican Vergil, Early Christian, 262, 263; miniature from, 262; 327
vault, see groined vault
Veii, Italy,

Temple

of Apollo,

210-12; roof

statue,

247
201-3; 232

Apollo, 212, 213;

Veiled Dancer,

vellum, 262
see Tarquinia

of the Lionesses, see Tarquinia

Venice,
St.

Italy, 274, 331, 376; Ca' d'Oro, 376; 492;

Mark's, 274, 376; 350, 351; choir screen,

Apostles, see

Masegne; mosaic, Scenes from

Venus, cult

of.

139; Temple

Venus Genetrix, Temple

Venus

oj

of.

JAN, 66; The

191

519;

Wheel

Fortum

oj

sec

Rome

Visitation, Dijon, see Broederl.mi

Letter,

p.

23;

Woman

Reims Cathedral

Visitation,

Visitation, Si -Pierre

Statue of Can Grande delta Scala, 388; 514;

Sta. Maria Antica, church of, 388
Vespasian, Roman, 238; 293
Vettii, House of the, see Pompeii

Vogelherd Cave, Germany

France, Ste. -Madeleine, portal sculp-

The Mission of

the Apostles,

344-45,

351, 377; 437; Pig-Snouted Ethiopians, 345;

438
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, Akkadian. 124, 127,
128, 233; //5
Vienna, Austria. 314; Imperial Treasury, Gospel

Book, see Gospel Book of Charlemagne

Vienna Genesis, Earl) christian, 263; Jacob
Wrestling the Angel from, 263; 328
Vieu of a Garden, see Pnmaporta
Vikings, 314, 324. 331
Villa of the Mysteries, see Pompeii

VILLARDDFHONNFCOURT:

Front Vieu ofa

Francois Roubiliat

Reims

see

//nisi

Winckelmam

VVarka, see

79;

36

Woman
Woman

him

Holding a Balance
see

II

te

19

Vermeei

se<

U ith a Veil

see

Pomp

11

Beam, see Saqqara

Utamira
Sassanian, 136. 296, 317; 136

Wounded Bison
woven

silk
I

see

RANK LLOYD

Gug

Solomon R

genheim Museum
260

writing, 71

Uruk

WATTEAU, JEAN-AM (MM

Giiles and Four

Other Characters from the Comedia deU'Arte,
p. 24
Wedding Portrait, sec Eyck
Wedricus Gospel, see Gospel Book of Abbot

Wedru

49
Workmen Carrying

Caliph, 295, 296

wall mosaics. Early Christian,

nik

yvoodcuts,

29

215

al-,

<

mi the Conqueror. 32

WHICH
Walid

fiempli

hit)

Portrait oj Louis-

(attx), 69;

VITRUVIUS. 224
voussoirs,

Willi

bus, 203; 233

see Moissai

VISPRE, FRANCIS XAVIER,

ture:

518

see Baalbek

Holding a Balance (The Pearl Weigher; The

Cold Weigher), 66-67; 25
Verona, Italy: Castelvecchio, 388, Equestrian

Vezelay,

191;

of.

WiUendorf, Paleolithic, 79, 82, 139; 37

VERMEER,

Lion

Virgin of Paris, Notre-Dame< athedral see Paris

Visigoths, 255, 291

Genesis, 277-78; 354

Xerxes

king

of

Persia.

132;

Palace

ol

see

Persepolis

Youth and

Demon

oj

Death

tru-

244

us

Western Europe, 290, 291

Western Roman Empire, 255, 267, 331
Westminster Abbey, see London
westwork (Westwerk). 318. 319
Wheel of Fortune, see Villard de Hoimecourt
yvhite ground technique, 188-90

Zeus Vital ol see Pergamum; rempli

Olympia
ziggurats, 119-20. 290, 297, 340
Zoroaster, 132
Zoser, king

ol

Egypt, 101; Funeral] District and

Step Pyramid

of,

see

Saqqara

l\DI

OF CREDITS

LIST

The author and publisher wish to thank the libraries, museums, and private collectors for per-

Ancient Orient

mitting the reproduction in black-and-white and

N.J.:

prints, and drawings in

Photographs have been sup-

H. hranktort,

188,

I'he

Art

and Architecture of

the

107; Alison Frantz, Princeton,

196, 199, 346; A. Furtwangler

Gabinetto Fotografico Nazionale,

191,

in color of paintings,

(after):

their collections.

Rome: 298, 357; German Archaeological Institute, Rome: 6, 285, 273, 282, 293; Edward V.

whose courtesy

plied by the following,

is

grate-

acknowledged. Photographic sources

fully

Monuments

the Key

page number;

all

for

section are indicated by

others are figure numbers.

New

York: 352; Grinnell (after): 182; Gur-

(after):

341; Haeseler Art Publishers, La-

Gorn,
litt

178;

fayette, Calif.: 52;

Richard Harrier,

New

York:

Frederick Hartt, A History of Painting

Sculpture Architecture, 3rd edition, 1989: 452;
Andre Held, Switzerland: 356; Max Hirmer Ver217;

ACL

(copyright), Brussels: 427, 441; Alinari,

Florence: 242, 244, 251, 286, 290, 291, 296, 300,
423, 490, 491, 492, 515, 546; Altarocca, Terni,

245; American

Italy:
ry:

Museum

of Natural Histo-

Museum, Teheran,

70; Archaeological

Iran:

Planegg, West Germany: Page

133; Artothek,

22; Barsotti, Florence: 511, 512; Mitchell Beazley. Atlas of World Architecture, 1984: 279, 412;

143. 147, 149, 160, 165, 168, 174, 177, 189, 194,
204, 205, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 215, 218,
219, 233, 234, 235, 236, 239, 240, 287, 299, 325,
329, 330, 343; Walter Horn (courtesy Schmolz &

ture, 850-1200: 419; from N. Pevsner Outline

of European Architecture: 485, 487; Photographic Giraudon, Paris: Pages 18-19, 473, 494,
543; Photo MAS, Barcelona, Spain: 368, 370;
Photo Meyer, Vienna: 377; C. Picard, Cam-

bndge, England: 200; Josephine Powell,

R.M.N., Paris: Page 7, Page 24, Page 26, Page

27,4,38,87, 115, 117, 118, 159, 164, 165, 169,
170, 229, 530; Rheinisches Bildarchiv, Cologne,

West Germany: 403, 505; Jean Roubier,

mann, from France: 471;

mo,

burg/Lahn, West Germany: 195, 402, 434, 468,

472, 498, 499, 503; Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin. West Germany: Page 3, 100,

e Antichita Italiche, University of

Erwin Bohm: 109;

101. 125;

telalterliche .

.Toscana,

Udine, Cividale,

Italy:

Bundesamt

437, 439;

PI.

W Braunfels, Mit-

Ill:

429; Brisighelli-

390; Bulloz, Paris: 436,

fur Denkmalspflege, Aus-

449; Caisse Nationale des Monuments Hiset des Sites, Paris: 50, 126, 414, 433,
474, 506, 539; Cameraphoto, Piero Codato, Venice: 526; Ludovico Canali, Rome: Page 6, Page 8,
tria:

tonques

Page

12,

Page 20, 21, 136, 183, 184, 202, 207,

238, 247, 248, 253, 255, 270, 275. 283, 289, 294.
296, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310,
311, 322, 326. 334. 337, 338, 424, 430, 431, 484,
508, 509, 510, 523, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535; Can-

Page 14, 281, 516, 537, 545; Canali/

Codato: 351, 354; Canali/Rapuzzi: 162; Clarendon Press, Oxford, from K. A. C. Creswell, Early
Muslim Architecture: 362. 364, 365; Cleveland
ali/Bertoni:

Museum
SWB,
Etude
vich.

of Art:

28;

Colorphoto Hans Hinz,

Alschwil-Basel, Switzerland: Page

N de

Davies.

(Jans. Chicago: 97;

2,

31;

[)e Dartien,

F.

Lombarde.pl 29 425; Geza De FranccRome: 440; Deutscher Kunstverlag, Mu-

West (iermany: 37, 198, 277, 391, 406,

426, 502; Pierre Devinoy, Pans: 446; Jean Dieuzaide
[bulouse, France 410; Walter Drayer,
/inn h 250; Editions Arthaud, Pans, from S. N.
Kramer History Begins at Sumei 111. Eeva-Inkerl New York Page 31; Eliol Elisofon K'opynghl lime Inc. Nev\ York) (>(), Sir Banister
nich.

letcher

1987
delo

A History of Architecture, 9th edition,

1

187, FotoGrassi, Siena, Italy

525; FotoFototeca Unione, Rome: 185,

257. 258, 259, 260. 264, 276, 278. 288, 398; from

4 i

Rome

is

119

<>i

CREDITS

W. Janson, New York: 482; S. W. Kenyon, Wellington, England: 40, 41, 42; A. F Kersting, London: 321, 418, 478, 479; from Key Monuments in
the History of Art, Abrams, New York: 483;

E. Kidder-Smith, New York: 22, 24, 263, 292,

340, 342, 369. 372, 374, 376, 457; Nikos Kontos,
Athens: Page 5 (right), 1, 139, 141, 144, 146,

150, 151. 152, 154, 158, 167, 171, 172, 192, 193,

J. Schram (after):
Edwin Smith, Saffron Walden, England:
127; Soprintendenza ai Monumenti, Pisa,

62; Scala, Florence: 339, 527;

ale,

Rome: 246; H.

Paris:

261, 413. 415. 417, 454, 495, 497, 500; Royal

Museum of Central Africa, Terveuren, Belgium:

227;

Istitutodi Etruscologia

Rome

349, 355; Pubbli Aer Photo, Milan: 262, 350

Mano Quattrone, Florence: Page 21, 522, 529

Urich, Cologne, West Germany): 396; C. Huelsen (after): 271; Hurault, St.-Germain-en-Laye,
courtesy Jean M. Porcher: 432; Martin Hurli-

Beseler (after): 404, 405; Bibliotheque NationPans: 394, 518, 519; Bildarchiv Foto Mar-

Munich, West Germany: 74, 83, 89, 138,

lag,

68; Penguin Press, Baltimore, Md., from K. J. Conant, Carolmgian and Romanesque Architec-

124,

536; Soprintendenza all'Antichita, Paler-

Italy:

35; Soprintendenza Archeologica,

Beni Cultural! Ambientali: 249;
Soprintendenza Archeologica alJ'Etruria MeriItaly:

Ministero per

dionale: 241, 243; Staatliche

Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich, West Germany:

180; Staatliche Museen, Berlin, East Germany:
226, 363; Dr. Franz Stoedtner, Diisseldorf, West
Germany: 176; Studio C.N. B. &C, Bologna, Italy: 103; Studio Koppermann, Munich, West Germany: 161, 163, 179, 214; Studio R. Remy,

201, 203, 206, 221, 231; from R. Krautheimer,

Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture:
316, 317; F Krischen (after): 216; Herbert

Dijon,

Kuhn, Mainz: 30; Kunsthistorisches Museum,

Vienna: 333; Kurt Lange, Obersdorf/Allgau,

456, 466, 476, 481, 486, 489, 513, 514, 517;

West Germany: 72, 73, 94; Jacques Lathion,

Oslo, Norway: Page 28; J. P. Lauer (after): 78;
from A. W. Lawrence, Greek Architecture: 190;
Leiris, Galerie Louise, Paris: 2; Tony Linck, Fort
Lee, N.J.: 54; Magasins St.-Bernard, Vezelay,
France: 438; Barbara Malterm, Rome: 224;
Mansell Collection, London: 122; Alexander
Marshack, New York. Copyright: 36, 48, 49; Pe-

Lockhart, Persia): 135;

ter

Mauss/Fsto: Page 32; James Mellaart. Lon-

don from Qatal-Huyiik): 43, 44, 45, 46, 47; The

(

Metropolitan
142,

166;

Museum

88,

New

York: 5, 91,

Ministry of Works, London,

Copyright: 51;

Mexico

of Art,

Museo National de

City: 65;

Museum of
New

Foundation,

Museum
the

Crown

Antropologia,

of Fine Arts, Boston:

American lndian-Heye
Nippon Television

York: 66;

Network Corporation; 10; National Buildings

Record, London, Copyright: (F II. Crosslev
477;

I'he

DC:

266; Oriental Institute, University of Chi-

National Gallery of Art, Washington,

cago 92. Ill, 120. 121, 130, 1,32; Peabodv Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.:

Page

France: 541;

Wim

Swaan,

New

York:

13, 3, 77, 79, 80, 84, 90, 93, 95, 96, 98, 99,

104, 105, 131, 134, 197, 345, 373, 416, 428, 455,

Thames & Hudson, London (from Costa and

J. W. Thomas, Oxford,
England: 501; Marvin Trachtenberg, New York:
344, 348; UNESCO, from UNESCO World Art

Series, Australia, PI. XXII: 39; University

um, Philadelphia:

Muse-

13; University of Utrecht, Li-

brary: 400; Vatican Archives, Vatican

Museum,

Rome: 297; Jean Vertut: 32; Leonard von Matt,

Buochs, Switzerland: 145; Victoria & Albert Museum, London: 331; Warburg Institute, University of London: 442; Clarence Ward, Oberlin,
Ohio: 453, 455, 465; Hildesheim Wehmeyer:
407; David Wilkins, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Page 17;

Woodfin

Camp &

Associates, Inc.,

New

York: 57,

367, 459, 460, 464; Yale Center for British An,

Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven, Conn.: 29;
Van Photo Reportage, Toulouse, France: 34; Yugoslav State Tourist Office: 280.
Illustration

SPAUEM,

copyrights:

1991;

Beeldrecht/VAGA,
1991: 26.

Copvright

Page 29,
1991:

14;

ARS N.YV

Copyright
Copyright VAGA,

2,

12;

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HISTORY OF ART
A revised and expanded Introduction with a
new section on key formal elements line, col-

For three decades, Janson's History of Art has been the

all other art history surveys have been

book against which

eloquent text and

matchless quality of illustration have introduced the vast world of Western art to
several generations of students and have inspired millions of

measured.

Its

etchings, engravings, and lithographs

more

lavish,

more comprehensive, and more accessible than ever

before,

This revised and expanded Fourth Edition

many new

features added to

its

is

The intelligence and verve that have always characterized

History of Art remain. The narrative of art histor) is told
with majesty, balance, and wit enlarging our capacity to

unexcelled text and

format:

understand and appreciate the works of art themselves not

merely to accumulate data about them. From the earliesl

A completely new design

al

that encourages visucomparison of related works of art

250 magnificent
first

time

many

now

for the

with the text

with

color illustrations,

fully integrated

cave paintings

ments

four-color

all

Edition;

many

Key Monu-

new

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the discussion about

al

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them heightens

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16 improved architectural diagrams,

show developments from early

Greek temples through High Gothic basilicaform churches
Illustrations of major works in situ
An updated text that throughout reflects the
most current scholarship and critical thinking
labeled to

577 illustrations, including 250 in

I! maps; 2 illustrated time charts

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

H. W. Janson
versity

and

its

was Professor of Fine Arts

graduate center.

The

at

New

York Uni-

Institute of Fine Arts.

For more than twenty-five years he served as Glum of the

Department of Fine Arts

New
was

York University.

Washington Square College

at

Two

times a

Guggenheim

of

Fellow, he

honored by twice receiving the highest award of

also

the Gollege Art Association for 'the most distinguished work

of art historical scholarship.'' In

1962-65 he was

Editor-

in-Chief of the Art Bulletin, published by the College Art Association,

and served

organization

that

1970-72. Together with his

ing helped to shape the

first

wile.

as

President in

Dora Jane, whose think-

edition of History oj Art, Profes-

sor Janson made extraordinary contributions to a popular

understanding of art, beginning with The Story oj Painting

and Picture History of Painting in the earl) 1950s. Art hisJanson

torian, teacher, and museum curator Anthony
I

worked

closely with

Basic History of Art.

History

<>l

him

He

to revise

the highly successful A

has been responsible

Art since his lather's death

Printed

Japan

to

the pleasure of person-

Edition of History of Art

over, delight in,

Fourth

\nd the prox-

color and black-and-white

discovery.

The Fourth

of Western art

12 labeled diagrams that are

human

imity of all the illustrations

in the History of Art, that features criti-

cal turning points in

drawings

portfolio.

the refined manuscript painting

and comparisons among styles and cultures are exThe story of art becomes an adventure, as History
of Art follows the search for forms and techniques to satisfy
the ageless

31 -page,

to

tions,

Art.
line

Europe

plained.

full-page plates

327 rich duotones and

in

of the International Gothic Style, the connections, transi-

and scores of pictures

that have never before appeared in History of

Sections on techniques and processes, such as

tempera and fresco oil painting woodcuts

art lovers.

with

composition, form, and space

or. Iiuht,

its

in

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lor revising

full color:

0-13-388448-1