3 ms·

I'm fascinated and amazed that 11th century engineering was so advanced. But why couldn't they draw or paint worth shit? Art from the middle-ages looks like i

• rsj_hn 5y ago
  They had amazing art. What you may be referring to is the notion of craftsmanship. There was no mass reproduction, but individual people (of all skill levels) made by hand their own art, incorporating it into every day objects and adding decorations to even various bricks that make up a wall or putting reliefs in what (to us) would be random places. This can be seen with a little walk around Venice, for example. You'll see gargoyles staring at you from back alleys, from stones on the street, from awnings on houses, the tops of keyholes in gates or attached to lamps hanging in the street. Little bits of art everywhere, made by millions of people. Most of that would not meet the critera for realism and technical proficiency of academic art, but the overall effect is one of great beauty. You also see this with the painstaking illuminations on books -- the monks didn't just copy the books, they drew, adding their own art, throughout the book. Now maybe they were trained in copying and Latin and not in drawing, but they still drew everywhere they could draw. In the margins of pages, around letters, along the spine and between paragraphs. It was an explosion of art, from the carvings a carpenter would add to the handle of a water bucket to the carvings a smith added to the side of a spoon, or adding flowers to a dresser and turning door handles into bees or serpents, or the thousands of little statues and figurines filling churches. Then we have stained glass -- not even a simple window would do, the window had to be made with hundreds of drawings in it and different colored glass. The floors with different colors and carvings on tiles. Drapery with elaborate figures sown into it. Art, art, everywhere, there was art, only they considered it craftsmanship.
  • nate_meurer 5y ago
    No, I'm talking about drawings and paintings, just like I said. I share your appreciation for, say, the 12th century frescos in the Apse of Sant Climent de Taüll [1], but there's nothing remotely good about the draftsmanship in any way. The best of early medieval painters are solidly outclassed by the primary schoolers of the industrial revolution. Illuminations, you say? Like the famous drawings in the St. Albans Psalter? [2] Or the great Saxon Benedictional of St. Athelwold? [3] No sense of perspective, or even any recognition of a third dimension. And what the fuck is going on with the anatomy? Would you frame anything from the Babmurg Apocalypse and put it on your wall? The French [4] and the Germans [5] were no better, and things didn't improve in the 13th century [6]. And then, seemingly overnight, the Renaissance happened and we had masters like Michelangelo setting standards for the rest of history. Explain that? 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apse_of_Sant_Climent,_Ta%C3%BCll#/media/File:Meister_aus_Tahull_001.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apse_of_Sant_Climent,_Ta%C3%BC... 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Albans_Psalter#/media/File:Maria_Magdalena_berichtet_den_J%C3%BCngern.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Albans_Psalter#/media/File... 3 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictional_of_St._%C3%86thelwold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictional_of_St._%C3%86the... 4 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottonian_art#/media/File:11th-century_painters_-_Gospel_Book_of_Otto_III_-_WGA15919.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottonian_art#/media/File:11th-... 5 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_art#/media/File:Ebbo_Gospels_St_Mark.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_art#/media/File:Eb... 6 - https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/286 https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/286