Middle Ages Art and Culture

Middle ages art and culture

In this section arms and armor during the middle ages will be discussed.Arms and armor section of the museum included the high quality of the armor for man and also swords, horse, daggers, polearms, firearms , shields , crossbows and equestrian. During the middle ages, the production of arms and armor became a very important, for this purpose water and metal either from nearby natural supplies or through trade had to be available The origin of manufacture for most of the objects in that section was from Germany and Italy. There were also some French, English , Spanish and Islamic objects. Many of the armors goes back to the powerful rulers and Emprorers such as the Roman Emprorers and the kings of Spain. The production of steel in the middle ages must have been one of the main contribution and also their ability to produce pieces of appropriate size and quality to make plate armors. Armors were important because it was able to define one as a military unit or if they are part of a social class. A new middle class was produced from the craft of armor and weaponry production because it divided people from each other into different classes. Initially knights were not nobles but by 1300, the costs were too high for peasants to be knights. By 1300, the wealthiest citizens were merchants and bankers, not nobles. This new wealth brought social mobility in the society

In the museum, one thing that I noticed about the medieval armors was their height. The middle ages men's were shorter compared to the average human height. armor suits were very small compared to todays' average human height. This could have been because back then there was a lack of food and vitamin,

The breastplates of the suit of armors had various decorations and looked very elaborate. One of the breastplates of a suit of armor was decorated with etched figures of Saint Anthony, the virgin and saint Bernard. The breastplate of an armor suit made in Germany had bands along its edges and down the center of center of breast plates bear traces of etched and gilded flowers set against a fire-buled ground. The breastplate is struck with Deutsch's armors' mark. The helmet protected the knight's head and these had a small metal visor to cover their face. They also had shields, which were held in front of them to protect them during battle which had different designs on them. Decoration on the shield was their family emblem or crest with the family motto.

The development of firearms and armor had a big impact. One big impact was that soldiers had more protection. The breast plate protected the front while the back plate protected the back. There was a period during the middle ages at which more metallurgy advanced steel armour were used. Armor became obsolete because of firearms. Firearms caused a decline of plate armor on the battlefield. The introduction of new firearms changed the military role of many soldiers, specifically medieval knight during warfare. Plate armour was very expensive to make during middle ages and therefore it was only restricted to upper class people of the society. The upper class of the society lavishly decorated the suits of armour for their nobles and general to show that they come from upper classes. Plate armours weren't useful anymore after the introduction of firearms in the battlefield.

Amor, crossbows and firearms were richly decorated because they represented their families. This was important because if one were to win in battle and defeat the other they could keep their wardrobe or place it somewhere and people would know who the person was from the decorations and emblems. Today firearms are easier to carry and can come in different sized. There are guns that can be very heavy and yet some weapons can be very light and small. Comparing the firearms today to the firearms used back then show a large difference. Back then long swords were used as weapons which caused a lot of injury and people died slowly and painfully .Today guns are usually used as the firearms, these can kill people more quickly than using swords.

The Romanesque cloister is an arcaded walkway. In the middle of every monastery there is a cloister, which is an arcaded walkway, and it surrounds the courtyard. In the monastery religious people prayed in silence, meditated or read holy books. Medieval cloisters served as practical and spiritual purposes and they were usually open air , with a garden in the courtyard. The reason why monks often go there is because they could meditate and participate in private prayers. In the middle of the cloister, there was fountain. They drew the shapes of the room on the fountain, same arch and column pattern with similar designs. The design in the cloister was very interesting. Some of the main purpose that fountain was used for was washing clothes and shaving. Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata was a painting from Jan Van Eyck in Netherlands, which was painted in 1430-32. n this equisite painting , saint Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata , Jan van Eyck captured a moment of dramatic importance from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Van Eyck was one of most famous artist in the fifth century in Europe. The remarkably small scale of this work makes the massive information it contains amazing. Investigation of this painting has reveled a great deal about its origins and early history as well as Van Eyck's artistic techniques.

When I wore the magnifying glass, the guard explained the reason why is called a tiny masterpiece. The reason is because the painting is very small but with glass we can the seven men on the boat and it looks like they have the shape of humans. Another thing that can be seen with the magnifying glass is the birds on the tree and people in the city.This is very incredible , how the artist , Jan Van Eyck could draw the shapes and objects somehow that they can only be seen with the glass. The new pope took the name of St. Francis of Assisi because of his work for peace and the poor.

Abbey Church of Saint-Laurent sculpture was made during c.1120-50. This imposing portal originally was the main entrance to the small Augustinian abbey church of Saint-Laurent in central France, on one of the pilgrimage roads to the shrine of Santiago da Compostela in Spain. It presents bold abstract patterns on round arches and capitals with complicated intertwined branches, leaves, and birds characteristic