Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in
the 12th century AD, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all
of Western Europe, and much of Northern, Southern and Central Europe, never quite effacing more
classical styles in Italy. In the late 14th century, the sophisticated court style of International
Gothic developed, which continued to evolve until the late 15th century. In many areas, especially
Germany, Late Gothic art continued well into the 16th century, before being subsumed
into Renaissance art. Primary media in the Gothic period included sculpture, panel painting, stained
glass, fresco and illuminated manuscripts. The easily recognizable shifts in architecture from
Romanesque to Gothic, and Gothic to Renaissance styles, are typically used to define the periods in
art in all media, although in many ways figurative art developed at a different pace.
The Martyrdom of Saint Eulalia (1445) by
Bernat Martorell
Artist Bernat Martorell (1390 – 1452)
Date 1445
Medium Tempera and gold leaf on wood
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya,
Location
Barcelona, Spain
This Gothic painting portrays the narrative of Eulalia, a 13-year-old girl from an
aristocratic family living near Barcelona. During Diocletian’s persecutions, governor
Dacian came to the city to implement the decrees. Eulalia later left her house, visited
the city, and challenged the governor about his ruthless persecution of Christians.
Unable to disregard a young girl’s articulate arguments, Dacian immediately had
Eulalia stripped practically nude and flagellated, followed by grimmer tortures
that would not stop until she recognized the mistake of her ways.
She fought till the last, pleading with God to take her to Heaven before succumbing to
her wounds. Following her death, a dove is said to have flown out of her lips. Then, like
a cloak, a sudden snowfall engulfed her. Her tortures are said to have concluded in her
crucifixion, and she is represented with this cross as the tool of her sacrifice.
It has been suggested, though, that she was publicly executed by torture and her
body was left on display, with artistic renderings of this contributing to the
subsequent notion that she was crucified.
Santa Lucia de’ Magnoli Altarpiece (1447) by
Domenico Veneziano
Artist Domenico Veneziano (1410 – 1461)
Date 1447
Medium Tempera on panel
Location Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
Domenico most likely painted this altarpiece in the second half of the 1440s, depicting
the Mother and Child with four saints and associated legends in the predella, which is
now divided among other museums. It depicts the mother and child, as well as Saints
John the Baptist, Francis, Lucy, and Zenobius. The sacra conversazione is set in a
thoroughly Renaissance architectural environment, where the viewpoint is enhanced by
the floor’s foreshortening.
The classic frame of Gothic paintings is turned into an
attractive loggia embellished with magnificent marble intarsia in the Magnoli
Altarpiece. The throne, with the Madonna and Child and four saints, is protected
by this structure.
Saint George Slaying the Dragon (1470) by
Carlo Crivelli
Artist Carlo Crivelli (1435 – 1495)
Date 1470
Medium Tempera and gold on panel
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston,
Location
United States
Saint George Slaying the Dragon is one of Carlo Crivelli’s finest, charged with intensity
and seething with spiky shapes. Even though the painter worked for more than 30 years
after creating it, he never produced something nearly as vibrant and imaginative.
What could be more striking than the juxtaposition of the rising horse, its head
twisted in dread, and the compassionate saint, his gaze fixated on the dragon he
is going to slaughter?
