“As Catholics, we receive tradition, but we grow, and develop, and build upon it.” Lessons Learned How do we revive the Gothic form as a living artistic tradition? What should we do? What should we avoid? We can learn some lessons from the revival of the Iconographic form. The revivalContinue Reading
“Sacred art is not about depicting peoples and events as they actually looked” Naturalism vs Abstraction The underlying foundation of the Gothic form is the Iconographic. That is, the Gothic form builds on the Iconographic. The artists of the Medieval period worked in a visual language that was partly receivedContinue Reading
“While we may no longer be an illiterate society, we are quickly becoming an aliterate one.” Teacher and Storyteller Artists can take on many roles. In the Middle Ages, artists working in the Gothic form often took on the roles of teachers and storytellers. There is perhaps no better exampleContinue Reading
“If the Iconographic shows man in Heaven, the Gothic shows man here on earth, still struggling, still on the pilgrim path that leads to Heaven.” The Iconographic vs The Gothic The Gothic form is sometimes regarded as a degradation of the Iconographic, a slippery slope that ends in aContinue Reading
“For the Gothic artist the clarity of the image, the truth that was depicted, was more important than an illusion of reality” Buildings in the Gothic Form The artist of the Gothic period strove for simplicity and clarity. They would often sacrifice realism in order to create a work thatContinue Reading
“The cycle of the rise and fall of man continues.” The Morgan Bible is unique in a number of ways not the least of which is the accompanying text that surrounds the images. Within about 100 years of its creation, Latin captions were added to the margins explaining the images.Continue Reading
“The story of Noah is the story of God uncreating the world in order to create it anew.” In terms of style and symbolism the Iconographic and the Gothic are closely related. The Gothic is sometimes referred to as a more naturalized version of the Iconographic. As contemporary artists rediscoverContinue Reading
“With the expulsion from the Garden we begin a cycle.” It can be difficult to formulate “rules” for an artistic form because we can almost always find an example that breaks the rule. There really are no rules when it comes to the Gothic form. There is received sacred traditionContinue Reading
“Man is different from all the other creatures” MS M.638, fol. 1v illustrates Genesis 1:20 to Genesis 3:6, the Fifth Day of Creation to the Forbidden Fruit. The angels continue to praise God during the creation of the fifth and sixth days. In the Iconographic tradition a gold background representsContinue Reading
“the Maciejowski Bible is a wonderful treasure, not only as a source of medieval iconography but also for its high level of artistic skill.” The Maciejowski Bible, also know as the Crusader Bible or the Morgan Bible is a 13th century illuminated manuscript held at the Morgan Library & MuseumContinue Reading