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330AD - 1500AD

With the fall of Rome a new era was emerging, as the West suffered noticeable decline in artistic productivity along with every other aspect of life, the East experienced a new era of productivity. Byzantium, the successor to Greece and Imperial Rome, demonstrated in their use of vaulting in the design of cupolas, and their more stylistic ornamentation.

Within Romanesque Art, the anonymity of the several schools is evidence of the religious conventions that were inspired by the monastic ruling. There was a tremendous amount of building activity along the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with castles, manor houses, churches, and monasteries being constructed at an amazing pace, considering the technology and materials which was used at the time. “Each people of Christendom rivaled with the other, to see which should worship in the finest buildings”(Radulphus Glaber, cited in Stokstad p.518)

The Early Christian Basilicas were the main inspiration for the Romanesque churches, with the exception of key advances made on the part of the Romanesque Architects themselves, such as the stone masonry vaulting that replace earlier wooden roofs, additions of ribs, and the list goes on and on. It can almost be described as a study of making something good perfect, and that is exactly what the Romanesque artists strived for. Towards the middle of the twelfth centuries, while most of Europe was working with the established Romanesque style, a new form began to emerge. This new style and building technique first appeared in France and was named the Gothic style or at one time “the French Style”. By the sixteenth century the Gothic style was well spread throughout western Europe. The Gothic architecture is envisioned as elegant, soaring buildings, “the light colors, and stained glass, and its linear qualities became more pronounced over time. The style was adapted to all types of structures-including town halls, meeting houses, market buildings, residences, Jewish synagogues, as well as churches and palaces”(%%%%%%%%)

The Gothic style spread wide and fast and to this day some of the most awe inspiring architecture seen today is credited to the Gothic period, from Paris’ Cathedral of Notre Dame to the Chartres Cathedral.