Posted By admin on October 14, 2008

Medieval Era

how did the use of iconography affect the style of art produced during the medieval era?

Gothic art was a form of teaching, read by peasants who didn’t know how to read.
These iconographic symbols appeared in statues, in architecture, in the illuminated manuscripts, stained glass windows, and paintings. A medieval person could “read” the stained glass window without knowing how to read words.
For example Saints are often shown with some symbol to help the viewer identify them, Saint Katherin is with her wheel. An eagle with book is a symbol of John the Evangelist. As Lili has pointed out when you see a statue of a guy holding big keys figure that you are looking at St Peter.
As Lili has pointed out St Peter is the guy with the keys, or a giant key.
The Ichthys fish is a symbol used as a means of identifying or acknowledging a fellow believer in Christ without the need for any verbal communication being exchanged. http://www.plymouth-church.com/ichthus.html
A dove, especially when depicted with a three-barred halo, represents the Holy Spirit. When portrayed without a halo, you already knew that the dove is a symbol of peace.
An egg signifies fertility and new beginnings. For Christians, it also represents new beginnings: the resurrection of Christ and the new life of a Christian (baptisms often occur at Easter, hence the Easter Egg).
When you see a person with a halo around their head you already know they are a holy person. Halo (or nimbus) is the gold circle drawn behind the heads of figures in Christian art. Generally, the halo represents holiness. The circle represents eternity or eternal life. The halo with three bars has special significance since it signifies a member of the Trinity.

Find these and hundreds of other of the medieval symbols here:

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/a-z.htm

Lili is right. The question from your teacher is awkwardly worded. I hope that this helps you find whatever kind of answer that teacher is looking for in the assignment.

I now have a question... How in the heck did Lili get almost a thousand points in one week.
Congratulations Lili!!!
Impressive job.
Seriously, Wow!

EDIT: I just went to Lili's site. While she isn't accepting new contacts, her site is open and full of fascinating information.
Lili is a YA gift!!

Category: Antiques
Tags: clothing, costume, history, medieval, medieval era, medieval era art, medieval era music, medieval era names, medieval era timeline, renaissance