Coptic artCoptic art is the Christian art of the Byzantine-Greco-Roman Egypt and of Coptic Christian Churches. Coptic art is best known for its wall-paintings, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and metalwork, much of which survives in monasteries and churches. The artwork is often functional, as little distinction was drawn between artistry and craftsmanship, and includes tunics and tombstones as well as portraits of saints. The Coptic Museum in Coptic Cairo houses some of the world's most important examples of Coptic art.
Romanesque artRomanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 19th-century art historians, especially for Romanesque architecture, which retained many basic features of Roman architectural style – most notably round-headed arches, but also barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus-leaf decoration – but had also developed many very different characteristics.
TerracottaTerracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (ˌtɛrraˈkɔtta; baked earth; ), is a term used in some contexts for earthenware. That is to say it is a clay-based unglazed or glazed non-vitreous ceramic, fired at relatively low temperatures. Usage and definitions of the term varies, such as: In art, pottery, applied art, craft, construction and architecture, "terracotta" is a term often used for red-coloured earthenware sculptures or functional articles such as flower pots, water and waste water pipes, tableware, roofing tiles and surface embellishment on buildings.
Speculum Humanae SalvationisThe Speculum Humanae Salvationis or Mirror of Human Salvation was a bestselling anonymous illustrated work of popular theology in the late Middle Ages, part of the genre of encyclopedic speculum literature, in this case concentrating on the medieval theory of typology, whereby the events of the Old Testament prefigured, or foretold, the events of the New Testament. The original version is in rhyming Latin verse, and contains a series of New Testament events each with three Old Testament ones that prefigure it.
Limoges enamelLimoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal objects decorated in enamel using the champlevé technique, of which most of the survivals (estimated at around 7,500 pieces), and probably most of the original production, are religious objects such as reliquaries.
Ivory carvingIvory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, generally by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. Objects carved in ivory are often called "ivories". Humans have ornamentally carved ivory since prehistoric times, though until the 19th-century opening-up of the interior of Africa, it was usually a rare and expensive material used for small luxury products.
Gniezno DoorsThe Gniezno Doors (Drzwi Gnieźnieńskie, Porta Regia) are a pair of bronze doors placed at the entrance to Gniezno Cathedral in Gniezno, Poland. They are decorated with eighteen bas-relief scenes from the life of St. Adalbert (in Polish, Wojciech), whose remains had been purchased for their weight in gold and brought back to, and enshrined in, the cathedral. The cathedral is a Gothic building which the doors predate, having been carried over from an earlier temple.
Ancient Greek artAncient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which have to be essentially reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality, other than the distinct field of painted pottery.
Castelseprio (archaeological park)Castelseprio was the site of a Roman fort in antiquity, and a significant Lombard town in the early Middle Ages, before being destroyed and abandoned in 1287. It is today preserved as an archaeological park in the modern comune of Castelseprio, near the modern village of the same name. It is in the north of Italy, in the Province of Varese, about 50 km northwest of Milan. The fame of Castelseprio lies in the Early Medieval frescoes contained in the apse of the small Church of Santa Maria foris portas, which were only rediscovered in 1944.
Wilton DiptychThe Wilton Diptych (made 1395–1399) is a small portable diptych of two hinged panels, painted on both sides, now in the National Gallery, London. It is an extremely rare survival of a late medieval religious panel painting from England. The diptych was painted for King Richard II of England, who is depicted kneeling before the Virgin and Child in what is known as a donor portrait. He is presented to them by (left to right) the English saints King Edmund the Martyr, King Edward the Confessor and patron saint, John the Baptist.
