Discovering the humanities 3rd by henry m sayre 2016 chapter 06

Discovering the Humanities THIRD EDITION CHAPTER The Gothic and the Rebirth of Naturalism: Civic and Religious Life in an Age of Inquiry Discovering the Humanities, Third Edition Henry M Sayre Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc or its affiliates All Rights Reserved Learning Objectives Outline the ideas, technological innovations, and stylistic developments that distinguish the Gothic style in France Explain why the University of Paris was preeminent among medieval institutions of higher learning Define the Radiant style Learning Objectives Compare and contrast art and civic life in Siena and Florence Examine the spread of a vernacular literary style in European culture Architectural Panorama: Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris The Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Chartres, France ca 1134–1220 © Adam Woolfitt/Corbis [Fig 6.1] Moses window, Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France 1140–44 © Bednorz-images, Cologne [Fig 6.2] Saint-Denis and the Gothic Cathedral • The architectural style that came to be known as Gothic originated at the Abbey of Saint-Denis, just north of Paris • Saint-Denis was dedicated in 1144 • The building was the work of Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis Saint-Denis and the Gothic Cathedral • Abbot Suger wanted to bring prominence to the Ỵle-de-France by creating an architecture that surpassed all others in beauty and grandeur • He also added a new faỗade with twin towers and a triple portal • Soon many other cathedral buildings in France followed suit Architectural Panorama: Chartres Cathedral West facade, Chartres Cathedral, France ca 1134–1220; south spire ca 1160; north spire, 1507–13 © Bednorz-images, Cologne [Fig 6.3] Saint-Denis and the Gothic Cathedral • Abbot Suger was inspired by writings that interpreted light as the physical and material manifestation of the Divine Spirit • The church's beauty was designed to elevate the soul to the realm of God Stained Glass • The purpose of the stained-glass programs in all Gothic cathedrals was to tell the stories of the Bible to an audience that was largely illiterate • The stained-glass program at Chartres is immensely complex The Black Death and Its Aftermath • In December 1347, the bubonic plague arrived in Sicily • Within months, the disease spread northward throughout Europe • In Tuscany, the death rate in the cities ran about 60 percent Literature after the Black Death: Boccaccio's Decameron • The frank treatment of reality found in the visual arts carried over into literature • The direct language of the vernacular proved an especially appropriate vehicle for rendering truth Document: "The Tale of the Three Rings" from The Decameron by Giovanni Boccacci Jean Le Noir Pages with The Three Living (left) and The Three Dead (right) from the Psalter and Book of Hours of Bonne of Luxembourg Before 1349 Grisaille, color, gilt, and brown ink on vellum 5" × 3-1/2" The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Cloisters Collection, 1969 (69.86) Image copyright © The Museum/Art Resource/Photo Scala, Florence [Fig 6.23] Literature after the Black Death: Boccaccio's Decameron • One of the most remarkable accounts of the plague can be found in the Decameron ("Work of Ten Days") by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), who had survived the Black Death • The Florentine writer presents 100 stories as told by young noblemen and women who escaped plague-ridden Florence for the countryside Literature after the Black Death: Boccaccio's Decameron • Boccaccio introduces into Western literature a kind of social realism previously unexplored • Perhaps reflecting the reality of death that surrounds them, the stories depict daily life as it is truly lived Document: Letters to Cicero (14th c.) by Petrarch Andrea Del Castagno Francesco Petrarca ca 1450 Fresco transferred to wood 97-1/4" × 60-1/4" Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence Erich Lessing/akg-images [Fig 6.24] Petrarch's Sonnets • One of Boccaccio's best friends was the itinerant scholar and poet Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), known as Petrarch • Petrarch's sonnets, composed in memory of the poet's beloved Laura, inaugurate one of the most important poetic forms in Western literature Petrarch's Sonnets • These sonnets are mostly Italian sonnets, also known as Petrarchan sonnets due to the perfection of Petrarch's form Chaucer's Canterbury Tales • The first Englishman to translate Petrarch was the middle-class civil servant and diplomat Geoffrey Chaucer (ca 1342–1400) • Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are modeled on Boccaccio's Decameron Wife of Bath, from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ("The Ellesmere Chaucer") ca 1400–05 Illumination on vellum Victoria and Albert Museum, London The Art Archive/Victoria and Albert Museum London/Eileen Tweedy [Fig 6.25] Chaucer's Canterbury Tales • The Canterbury Tales is a framed collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims traveling from London to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury • Though it is based on the Decameron, it is written in verse, not prose, and composed in heroic couplets Christine de Pizan: An Early Feminist • When her father and husband died, Christine needed to support three children, a niece, and her mother, so she became the first female professional writer in Europe Anonymous, La Cité des Dames de Christine de Pizan ca 1410 Illumination on parchment, page size 4-3/4" × 7" Bibliothèque nationale de France [Fig 6.26] Continuity & Change • Humanism can be defined as the recovery, study, and spread of the art and literature of Greece and Rome, and the application of their principles to education, politics, social life, and the arts in general  This concept would come to define the Renaissance in the two centuries following Petrarch Dance of Death ca 1490 Woodcut Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D C Lessing J Rosenwald Collection [Fig 6.27] ... Growing Complexity • It was chiefly the work of the composers Léonin and Pérotin  Among their most significant innovations is their emphasis on counterpoint and the complex musical form of the three-... four-voice motet Music in the Gothic Cathedral: Growing Complexity • The quadrivium was a branch of the regular liberal arts curriculum associated with music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy •... decorating the tomb of a law professor at the University of Bologna ca 1200 Marble Museo Civico, Bologna, Italy/Giraudon/Bridgeman Images [Fig 6.13] The Education of Women • Some exceptions to the rule