Photos of the Best Beautiful Gothic Art Painting & Sculpture

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Photos of the Best Beautiful Gothic Art Painting & Sculpture from the great museums of Europe . Photos by Photographer Paul E Williams.    (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Best Beautiful Gothic Art Painting & Sculpture

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Photos of Medieval Gothic Art, Paintings, Frescoes, and Sculptures Museum Antiquities.

Transition to Gothic Art Painting & Sculpture

Gothic art was a 12th century style of Medieval Art that developed in Northern France from earlier Romanesque art. It developed in tandem with the development of Gothic architecture. From Northern France the Gothic style spread throughout Europe.

The earliest Gothic art weree monumental sculptures, on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Gothic Christian art depicted the stories from the New Testament, the Bible side and Saints lives.

Gothic Paintings

Painting in a style that can be called Gothic did not appear until about 1200, nearly 50 years after the origins of Gothic architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic is very imprecise and not at all a clear break. Gothic ornamental detailing is often introduced before much change is seen in the style of figurative painting. Then figures become more animated and tend to be smaller in relation to the background of scenes. The compositions are arranged more freely in the pictorial space.

This transition occurs first in England and France around 1200, in Germany around 1220 and Italy around 1300.

Gothic Humanist Art Styles

Gothic art moved away from the conventions of earlier Romanesque art that had been shackled by the Eastern Orthodox fear of way religious figures were depicted. The fear of producing art that could be seen as Idolatrous was uppermost in Byzantine Romanesque Art.

The Gothic took a more Humanist Natural approach to art. The subjects were portrayed with emotions. Portrayals of happiness and sadness made Gothic art a more realistic than the two dimensional Romanesque. People were portrayed in settings and landscapes for the first time. The development of Gothic art paved the way for the later Renaissance art.

Gotic Depictions of the Virgin Mary

Depictions of the Virgin Mary were popular and the Gothic depictions took on a more human imagery of an affectionate mother. She was shown cuddling the infant Christ swaying from her hip. She was also dressed in the refined manner of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady. The Gothic depictions contrasted with earlier depictions based on rigid Byzantine iconic styles.

With the increased wealth of this period the demand for religious art increased but so, for the first time, did the demand for Secular Gothic art.