Those Medieval Monks Could Draw

NYTimes ^ | June 18, 2009

[Steelfish]

Those Medieval Monks Could Draw

By ROBERTA SMITH June 18, 2009

When you think of medieval art, drawing may not spring instantly to mind.

Medieval ivories and enamels? Definitely. Medieval sculpture, metalwork and stained glass? Sure.

Of course medieval artists — many of whom were anonymous monks working as scribes in scriptoria — drew. All those manuscript illuminations had to start somewhere. But did they actually make drawings that survived and were cherished as drawings, or that filled practical needs that only drawing can?

To most of us, European drawing before the Renaissance and its emphasis on individual genius and the artist’s hand is a dark, uncharted void. Which may explain why “Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art feels so startlingly full of light. You may even find yourself rubbing your eyes and blinking.

The 50 little-seen works on view span nearly five centuries and reveal medieval drawing to be vital, evolving, remarkably diverse and essential to the medium’s Renaissance blossoming. The medieval period is often compared with its successor and found lacking.

And the superficial clumsiness in some of these works may initially ratchet up your awe for the Renaissance and for the radical changes wrought by its embrace of antiquity and its obsession with the human body and linear perspective

[afraidfortherepublic]

So many people forget the thousand year run of the Byzantine world. I find it fascinating.

This is off-topic, but your comment made me think: Will the US run 1000 years, considering the strain put upon our civilization by those in charge right now?

[DieHard the Hunter]

> The distinction is important because in the true Medieval Period (1000 to 1300) EuropeansFreemasons built the great Cathedrals, using techniques the Romans never knew.

Whence came this knowledge? One thing is certain: it came from somewhere.

[colorado tanker]

I’m afraid our run won’t be 1000 years. Not that we won’t be around, but I think once China and India reach a certain level of development their sheer size will shift power from the U.S. and Western Europe to Asia.