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Medieval Period
Medieval Period (MIDDLE AGES)
-Transition period between Roman & Renaissance Period

FALL OF ROME

• Roman Empire was at a turning point.

Christians had been outlaws in Rome
Early since the reign of Augustus.

Christian • Three periods in Christianity:

& ⮚ Persecution
⮚ Recognition
Byzantine ⮚ Barbarian influence (Goth)
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• Roman Empire was at a turning

point. Christians had been outlaws
in Rome since the reign of
Augustus.

• Constantine became the first

Roman Emperor to tolerate the • This allowed Papal authority
Christian Religion. He created a
law legalizing Christianity in the to flourish in Rome.
Roman Empire.

• Temples to the Roman Gods were left to
deteriorate. The Pantheon was changed into a
Christian Church
• Created a new capital of the Roman Empire in
Byzantium, renamed as Constantinople (modern
day Istanbul, Turkey)
• The Byzantine Empire in the East focused on
itself rather than whole empire.
• Italy was broken down into a series of states
controlled by Gauls, Lombards, Goths, Huns
and Byzantines.
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• As emperors left Rome to settle elsewhere,

Popes that lived in the Empire until
Constantine’s reign lived in secrecy. Christians
practiced their faith in the underground
catacombs of Rome or outside of the city.
• Feudalism took over. Small kingdoms were created
from Spain to Russia and the practice of marriage
to form alliances became common.
• The Roman Empire fell completely in 476 C.E.

Early Christian

Architecture
• Adopted roman characteristic.
• BASILICA - a rectangular
assembly hall that could serve
as anything from market hall to
law court.

EARLY CHRISTIAN BASILICA PLAN
(OLD ST. PETER’S BASILICA PLAN)
Side Aisle- one of the corridors running parallel to the nave of
a church and separated from it by an arcade or colonnade.
Transept- in a cruciform church, the whole arm set at right
angles to the nave. The transept become a standard component
of the Christian church until the Carolingian period.
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Atrium- the forecourt of a church; as a rule enveloped by four
colonnaded porticoes.
Narthex- the entrance hall or porch proceeding the nave of a church.
Nave- the great central space in a church. In longitudinal churches, it
extends from the entrance to the apse (or only to the crossing if the
church has one) and is usually flanked by side aisles.
Apse- a recess, sometimes rectangular but usually semicircular,
in the wall at the end of a Roman basilica or Christian church. The
apse in the Roman basilica frequently contained an image of the
Emperor and was where the magistrate dispensed laws. In the
Early Christian basilica, the apses contained the "cathedra" or
throne of the bishop and the altar.
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Interior Characteristics: Interior Characteristics:

BASILICAN CHURCH
BASILICAN CHURCH
- had a high central nave suited to processions and the - Apse, was the altar and other arrangements for the

gathering of a congregation. The nave, higher than the aisles, clergy conducting a mass or other service.
was lighted by high clerestory windows and upper walls were - Aisles, in larger churches sometimes twin aisles, provided
supported by rows of closely spaced columns carrying lintels space for the public and for various shrines and
or arches. secondary functions.

Interior Characteristics: Interior Characteristics:

Christian era, elaboration developed in several ways.
- Columns were generally based on one of the Roman
- Floors were often paved with colored stones in geometric
orders, sometimes Ionic, most often Corinthian.
patterns and strong colors.
- The walls above the columns were often painted, the half
- Walls were constructed of masonry, the roofs spanned by
large wooden members. dome over the apse painted or lined with mosaics

- Most common material was stone, frequently marble of rich illustrating religious themes.
color.
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Interior Characteristics:
- Painted and mosaic decoration in rich color.
- Retained and further developed with skillful use of vaulting
and domed construction.
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OTHER EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OTHER EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

/ BASILICAS / BASILICAS

San. Paolo Fuori Le Mura St. Maria Maggiore St. Lorenzo Fuori Le Mura St. Apolinaire in Classe

EARLY CHRISTIAN - MARTYRIUM EARLY CHRISTIAN - BAPTISTERY

BAPTISTERY - a church of a specific architectural form, a sunken receptacle used for baptism
MARTYRIUM - a church of a specific architectural form, centered by total immersion. It is a planned structure surrounding the baptismal font.
on a central element and thus built on a central plan. It is a building or
chamber used by the early Christians as a burial place.
Baptismal Font – A stone, metal, or
wooden receptacle, usually
ornamented, for holding
baptismal water used
administration of the sacrament.

The Lateran Baptistery, Rome

Fenestella – a small opening going

from the altar-stone to the grave
itself
Battistero di San
Giovanni, Pisa
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CATACOMBS - a church of a specific architectural form, a

sunken receptacle used for baptism by total immersion. It is a planned
structure surrounding the baptismal font.

ICONOSTASIS - is a screen
or wall which serves as a stable
support for icons and marks
the boundary between
the nave and the altar or LOCULI – a burial niches (loculi),
which were sealed with a slab bearing
sanctuary. The term can also the name, age and the day of death.
refer to a folding, portable set
of icons. CATACOMBS OF PRISCILLA - ROME

DIPTYCH

TRIPTYCH
BOOK COVER PSALTER

• The Western Roman Empire fell, the eastern
portion of the empire survived. It became the
Byzantine Empire which survived for one
thousand years after the fall of Rome.
• The Byzantine Empire in the East focused on
itself rather than whole empire.
• Italy was broken down into a series of states
controlled by Gauls, Lombards, Goths, Huns
and Byzantines.
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BYZANTINE (and RAVENNA) PERIOD
• With the relocation of the Roman imperial
capital to Byzantium, renamed
Constantinople by the emperor Constantine,
and with the eventual break into separate
eastern and western Roman empires, a new
center of development was created.
• The influence of Byzantine architecture and
design developed in the east, flowed back to
Italy to mingle with the Early Christian work
evolving there at the same time.
• The Byzantines developed their own form of
Christianity, Orthodox Christianity.
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ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

EARLY CHRISTIAN &

BYZANTINE COLUMN

UMBRELLA DOME SERRATED DOME

BYZANTINE CONSTRUCTION
PENDENTIVES SQUINCHES MELON DOME ONION DOME

Hagia Sophia (BYZANTINE) HAGIA SOPHIA

The Hagia Sophia combines a longitudinal basilica and a centralized building in a

wholly original manner, with a huge 32-metre (105-foot) main dome supported
on pendentives and two semi-domes, one on either side of the longitudinal axis.
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HAGIA SOPHIA

ROMANESQUE PERIOD
• The term includes those phases of European
Architecture which were based on Roman Art. This
period was also called RIP VAN WINKLE Period.

Basilica de Sa Vitale (RAVENNA)

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• Tower engaged to façade and large transept TYPES OF ARCHITECTURE

tower.
- Churches
• Dome often over ‘apse’
- Monasteries
• Recessed doorways ornamented with sculpture & Monastic Church
large rose window on upper level Cloister court

• Grouped piers and thick clustered columns. Inner Court

- Castles

ARCHITECTURAL REATURES
ROMANESQUE CHURCH PORTAL

ROUND ARCH BUTTRESS

DOME

BARREL VAULT GROIN VAULT

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ROMANESQUE CHURCH PORTAL

The rose window represents an

architectural mandala ‘bringing
order out of chaos and giving
form to the unformed’ and can be
seen as ‘the key to one’s soul’
(COWEN, 1992/2005).

PARTS OF A
ROMANESQUE CHURCH

Abbey Church of Cluny

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GOTHIC PERIOD GOTHIC PERIOD

The Gothic style originated in the Ile-de-France region of •Flying Buttress

•Vaults (Rib Vault, Sexpartile Vault, Fan Vault)
northern France in the first half of the 12th century. This •Pointed Arches (Lancet & Ogee)
style is more inclined towards the darker and mysterious side •Pinnacles
•Choir
that includes something dramatic and sensational. Painting •Spires
the walls in black color is therefore considered to be common •Bays
•Highly-decorated Portals
in this design.
•Compound Piers & Engaged columns

MOTIFS & PATTERNS

FOILS
-Leaf-shaped, indented spaces
which are found especially in
the tracery of Gothic windows.
There are three kinds of such
stylized foliated decoration:
trefoil, quatrefoil, and cinquefoil.
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MOTIFS & PATTERNS MOTIFS & PATTERNS

MULTIFOILS

MOTIFS & PATTERNS MOTIFS & PATTERNS

LINENFOLD
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MOTIFS & PATTERNS TYPES OF TRACERY

TRACERY-the name for the leaf-shaped RAYONANT FLAMBOYANT

stonework supporting the glass in a gothic window. -characterized by radiating
tracery of the rose windows.
The word is French and
means literally ‘radiating’,
from the pattern of radiating
lights in the windows.
-marked by wavy flame-like
tracery and ornate
decoration. It exhibits
elaborate traceries, and
many crockets, pinnacles,
and canopied niches.

TRACERY PATTERNS GEOMETRIC TRACERY

- early type of tracery, achieved using only a pair
-Geometric of compasses. Hence all the outline shapes in the
tracery consist of circles or parts (arcs) of circles.
-Intersecting
-Reticulated
-Flowing
-Perpendicular

INTERSECTING TRACERY
- the mullions are simply
continued upwards in arcs
until they meet the window
arch. The intersections of
these arcs form a tracery of
lozenge-shaped openings.
FLOWING (CURVILINEAR) TRACERY
- characterized by
waving or flame-shaped
curves that is found in
English architecture of
the 14th century and in
the French flamboyant
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RETICULATED TRACERY
-A transition from
Geometrical tracery into
the Flowing style.
-A network of ogee tile
shapes can be formed to
fill a large expanse of
tracery. The effect is like
wire netting
PERPENDICULAR TRACERY
- Characterized by large
windows with a grid pattern
of mullions (uprights) and
transoms (horizontals).
Typically, the mullions now
pass uninterrupted to the
head of the arch. Also
known as panel tracery or
rectilinear tracery.
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MOTIFS & PATTERNS

•DAGGER – a motif shaped like a dagger

•FISH BLADDER –
An ornamental motif of the late Gothic tracery, reminiscen
t in form of the air-bladder of a fish.

•MOUCHETTE – a motif shaped like a curved

dagger or flame.

MOTIFS & PATTERNS MOTIFS & PATTERNS

CUSP ROSE WINDOW
-Point made by the intersection of two curved -or Catherine window is often
used as a generic term applied
lines, small arcs or foils in Gothic tracery. to a circular window, but is
especially used for those found
in churches of the Gothic
architectural style and being
divided into segments by stone
mullions and tracery.
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MOTIFS & PATTERNS MOTIFS & PATTERNS

STAINED GLASS
- the coloured glass used
for making decorative
windows and other objects
through which light passes.
GARGOYLES