File:History of mediæval art (1893) (14756848286).jpg

Identifier: historyofmedival00rebe (find matches)
Title: History of mediæval art
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Reber, Franz von, 1834-1919 Clarke, Joseph Thacher, d. 1920
Subjects: Art, Medieval
Publisher: New York : Harper & Bros.
Contributing Library: Boston Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library

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a of the proportions andforms of the human bodyis given up, the images areranged side by side with-out mutual relations, and,as had been the case twothousand years before inAssyria, all the character-istics of drapery were ig-nored in the treatment ofthe robes: the sack-likesurfaces being filled in withflat patterns of damask andembroidery. The composi-tion is entirely wanting inthe higher qualities of ar-tistic conception; the formsare stiff and mechanical,and the only tolerable feat-ures of the work are to befound in its mechanical ex-ecution,— the choice andemployment of colors be-ing good, and the detailsbeing rendered with much neatness and accuracy (Fig. 56). A similar decadence is also evident in monumental painting, andespecially in mosaic work, which soon lost the impetus given to itby the ascension to the throne of Basilius I. the Macedonian, in theyear 867. Few of the specimens now preserved can be accuratelydated; but historical accounts indicate an extensive production,
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Fig. 56.—The Emperor Manuel Palasologus, withthe Imperial Prince and Princess. Miniaturefrom a Byzantine Codex now in the Louvre. MODELS OF MOUNT ATHOS. 99 and, in some measure, an original style to have been maintainedtowards the close of the ninth century. This was particularly thecase with the representation of profane subjects, the walls of thepalaces being covered with historical scenes alternating with floraldecorations. The Church itself interfered with the further devel-opment of religious art: the second Council of Nicea issuing the de-cree that the design of sacred subjects should not be left to theinvention of the artist, who was required to imitate certain fixedmodels (probata legislatio), and strictly to follow the ecclesiasticaltraditions. This put an end to all original creation, and restrictedsacred painting to a schematic repetition of given recipes, reducingreligious art to a mere trade. The use of books of models, andpractical apprenticeship, took the place of tal

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