EARLY EUROPE & COLONIAL AMERICAS PART 1
200 CE - 1750 CE

Cultural Influences

• Medieval artistic traditions include late antique, early Christian, Byzantine, Islamic, migratory, Carolingian*, Romanesque, and Gothic, each named for their principal culture, religion, government, and/or artistic style.

• Medieval art (European, c. 300–1400 CE; Islamic, c. 300–1600 CE) derived from the requirements of worship (Jewish, Christian, or Islamic), elite or court culture, and learning. Elite religious and court cultures throughout the Middle Ages prioritized the study of theology, music, literary and poetic invention, and in the Islamic world, scientific and mathematical theory.

Materials & Techniques

• Developments in the form and use of visual elements, such as linear and atmospheric perspective, composition, color, figuration, and narrative, enhanced the illusion of naturalism.

Theories, Interpretations, & Cultural Interactions

• Continuities and exchanges between coexisting traditions in medieval Europe are evident in shared artistic forms, functions, and techniques. Medieval artists and architects were heavily influenced by earlier and contemporary cultures, including coexisting European cultures. Early medieval and Byzantine art was influenced by Roman art and by motifs and techniques brought by migratory tribes from eastern Europe, West Asia, and Scandinavia; high medieval art was influenced by Roman, Islamic, and migratory art; and European Islamic art was influenced by Roman, migratory, Byzantine, and West Asian art. Cultural and artistic exchanges were facilitated through trade and conquest.

• Audiences' periodic rejections of figural imagery on religious structures or objects on theological grounds were common to all three major medieval religions. These artworks could facilitate a connection with the divine through their iconography (icons) or contents (reliquaries).