At first, Christianity and Roman rule were contradictory. Politically, Christianity believes that Jesus is the son of God and the savior of the world, which will inevitably threaten the rule of Rome. From the social point of view, Christianity advocates fraternity and equality, which is a denial of the social order in Rome. Therefore, the Roman rulers took a firm repressive attitude towards Christianity. He not only crucified Jesus, but also slaughtered a large number of Christians in more than 200 years and forced them to go to the cemetery for secret activities. Later, on the one hand, Christianity tried to make its teachings compatible with Roman rule; On the other hand, Roman rulers gradually realized the role of Christianity and adopted a tolerant attitude towards Christianity. In 3 13, Constantine the Great promulgated the Milan Decree, declaring Christianity legal. Soon, Christianity was designated as the state religion, and even pagans were declared to be suppressed and executed. Finally, it is declared that religious power and monarchical power are two kinds of coexisting authorities, and religious power is higher than monarchical power. Monarchs should be judged by gods, and bishops in Rome are called popes. Since then, the whole of Rome, and even the whole of Europe, has been under the rule of Christianity.
The basic feature of the Middle Ages was the dominance of Christianity. It is this feature that determines the fundamental feature of European medieval art: the theme of works of art is God. In the eyes of people in the Middle Ages, God and man are opposites: God is eternal and man is temporary; God is omnipotent and man is weak; God is smart and man is stupid; God is the best and man is guilty. Therefore, art should express and praise God.
God in Christianity is the most perfect and sacred existence, and people are willing to give the best to God. Therefore, as the residence of the gods-the church, people spared no effort to repair it into the most perfect and sacred building at that time. Many cathedrals built in the middle ages are wonderful works in the history of architectural art.
Notre Dame de Paris is a classic of medieval churches. It is not only famous for Hugo's novel of the same name, but also because it is the oldest and grandest Catholic church in Paris. Notre Dame de Paris is located on Des Island in the Seine River in the center of Paris. It is the most magnificent building in the Middle Ages. Notre Dame de Paris is a typical Gothic church and an epoch-making symbol in the history of European architecture.
Its appearance, give us the most prominent impression is towering into the sky. Notre Dame de Paris has a bright spire. If a believer stands in front of the church, what he sees is a curve full of tension, which attracts their eyes to rise upward until the church's high spire. The sharp corners are towering and struggling to climb high. One is taller than the other. Only by reaching the highest spire can we embody the supreme spirit of Christianity and satisfy the feelings of believers to ascend to heaven for atonement. The distant bell on the main building aroused people's piety.
Let's look inside Notre Dame de Paris. The column stands upright and stretches upward, forming a pointed arch on the upper part, as if the stem of a plant grows upward, and it also rises upward like a festival fireworks and blooms in the night sky. Hegel described the pointed arch inside the church like this: "The eyes turn upward until they see the vault, just like the mind lifts itself to the gods, and the restless heart can rest in the arms of God." The walls of the building are made of stained glass, shining like rubies and emeralds. Those pillars, arch ribs and window sills also sparkle with decorative golden light. A believer who is addicted to this whole spectacle must feel that he is only one step away from realizing the holiness of the kingdom of heaven beyond matter. "
Gothic architecture is characterized by high spires pointing directly at the blue sky and sky, guiding your sight all the time, and that is where God lives! Gothic church takes you into paradise on earth. Inside it is a magnificent glass mosaic curtain wall, which is a magnificent temple. You seem to have entered heaven ... showing deep religious feelings.
In medieval painting, religiosity overwhelmed artistry. The form and content of creation were also strictly restricted, forming a single style of non-realism and planarization of painting art at that time. A large number of paintings with the theme of depicting the Bible have appeared. Even the real people in history are portrayed as deified figures who have got rid of secular feelings.
For example, the great Chadini and his attendants. Emperor Chadini was a famous Byzantine emperor in the Middle Ages. In the picture, Emperor Chadini wore a purple robe decorated with glittering ornaments and presented a treasure box to Jesus. On his right is Archbishop Maximilian. All the characters, with dull expressions, are elongated, as if on tiptoe, highlighting the deification of weightlessness. At that time, the painter's task was not to show the authenticity of the characters, but to show the sacredness of the characters.
Influenced by the realistic art view of the Renaissance, medieval art has not been fully recognized for a long time, and even been called "dark period" and denied. Is medieval art dark? No, that's not true. The development of art is much like the opening of flowers in nature. Spring, spring is open; In summer, lotus flowers are in full bloom; In autumn, chrysanthemums open; In winter, plum blossoms are in full bloom. In the history of art development, each period has its own brilliant side. Prehistoric art has mysterious and exquisite rock paintings; There are famous sculptures in ancient Greece; In the Middle Ages, there were magnificent churches.
Medieval churches are unprecedented, immortal and brilliant works of art. Let's revisit Hugo's praise of Notre Dame de Paris. He said: "There is no doubt that Notre Dame de Paris is still a magnificent building", "Every stone can be seen under the influence of talented artists, and a well-trained craftsman has come up with all kinds of fantastic ideas". Medieval churches, like Greek art, have eternal artistic charm, which is beyond the reach of future generations.
Don't think that a work of art is bright, it should exist; Other works of art are dark and should not exist. Everything that exists is reasonable; Everything that is reasonable exists. Besides, the great Renaissance art was born in the womb of the Middle Ages.
So we say that the medieval church architecture art, like that dazzling dawn, is dispelling the dark rule of the Middle Ages and radiating light in the sky of human art history.
Renaissance art has a remarkable feature: realism and humanism. Most Renaissance creations revolve around this theme. This includes people's senses, people's beliefs, people's sexual desire and people's world outlook. The works of this period all require breaking feudal theocracy and feudal asceticism. Break the feudal system's blockade of human spirit and even body. Most of the works in this period are mainly religious, and many comments say that religion is used as a shield. I object to this statement. Anyone who knows a little about the western world knows that religious beliefs occupy a large part of their lives in the west. In the final analysis, the religious art of the Renaissance can be said to be a kind of human religious art, not the religious art of the church under the feudal system. This point should be made clear first.
The characteristics of artistic techniques in the Renaissance are mainly reflected in the creation of expressive techniques based on scientific theory and practical investigation, such as human anatomy and perspective rules. Pay more attention to the harmony and naturalness of colors in style and technique, and don't stick to one model. In terms of architectural art, it takes the restoration of classical architectural tradition as the primary task and pays attention to the rational law of architectural aesthetic feeling.