Medieval Art

I feel that in the two works of Medieval Art I want to tackle is the “Woman Clothed with the Sun, the Morgan Beatus” and “Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus.” Both pieces, I feel, really demonstrate that stylized look. Both works of art stray away from naturalism to a degree but still hold the own of setting a realistic tone. For example, in both pieces, we see figures and actions that we can still constitute as recognizable events and people. However there are subtle differences in the two works that tackle the stylizing in different ways.

The Woman Clothed with the Sun, The Morgan Beatus, page 433 in our Medieval Art book, is a great example of abstract reality and stylized story. First off, we get a sense of chaos in the choice of colors by the artist Maius. This illustration is based the biblical text of the Apocalypse in Revelations 12:1-18. I like how anyone with any Christian biblical knowledge will easily recognize this scene. This aspect is naturalism and realistic, something we can relate to and see on paper. Where the stylized part comes in is where we see each individual part of the illustration. The top left hand corner depicts a woman wearing a robe with the sun emitting from it. There she is extending her arms towards this multi-headed beast. The realism in this scene is null; it is left to an individual’s faith and imagination to decide whether what is real or not. What I find most stylized is the top right hand corner of the illustration; there are four men set apart from the rest of page, one of the men is sitting on a throne. I’m going to depict this as God and the others are angels. I find it the most stylized because of the garb they are wearing and the way the angels’ wings are set; one wing is off to the side while the other is set above the top of the picture. All of their eyes seem to bug out and widen while they witness this scene. Another interesting part is the scene in the bottom right hand corner; angels are dropping naked people into what I’m interpreting as hell. Now this part is straightforward and “natural,” however I feel that what is stylized are the body positions of the people and how Satan is positioned as well. He seems to be lying down with his arms up; I’m not sure how to describe what I think of this but it is not something I had expected.

            Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus, page 452 in our books, greatly shows subtle stylization that I felt should be recognized. Firstly, we can see that these men greatly resemble a human in the sense of proportion, facial expressions, and hair. But it is in these features that I see the stylization. In the faces of these men, the eyes are again bulging and wide; there are not eyelids and very small under eyelids. The beards are very thick and “cartoonish,” very unrealistic and “stylized.” The way the mustaches fall perfectly over their beards is unappealing in the sense of recognizing a real beard. Also, their hair is reflected in the way the beards are perfectly assembled. I also feel that the mens’ robes are very detailed and unrealistic to that era. Christ was a poor man and his robes do not reflect that, I want to express that in my opinion, THAT is stylization…because Christ is a major and highly regarded religious figure the artist may have stylized his more to reflect his reputation.