3.1 Byzantine & Medieval

Byzantine splendor

Byzantine art glorified the Christian empire. Hagia Sophia (Constantinople, 537) crowned a vast space with a pendentive dome seeming to float on light. Mosaics of gold covered church interiors.

Manuscripts

Monks made illuminated manuscripts — hand-painted sacred books. Early medieval art favored abstraction, pattern, and symbolism over naturalism.

Gothic light

Gothic cathedrals (like Chartres) rose high using the pointed arch, ribbed vault, and flying buttress, filled with stained glass — architecture reaching toward the divine.

Key terms

Hagia Sophia

Byzantine church, Constantinople — floating dome

Illuminated manuscript

hand-painted medieval sacred book

Byzantine mosaics

gold-ground images covering church interiors

Gothic

pointed arch, ribbed vault, flying buttress, stained glass

Chartres

great French Gothic cathedral

Try an AP-style question

Byzantine mosaics often use gold backgrounds to…

1. show realistic landscapes
2. depict daytime scenes
3. save money on materials
4. suggest a heavenly, timeless space