Christian Art, Architecture and Music

Home , Catholic art, Celtic chant, Christian art, Francis Petre

LEARNING STRAND: HUMAN EXPERIENCE

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

FOR CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND 12G TEACHER GUIDE THE LOGO The logo is an attempt to express Faith as an inward and outward journey.

This faith journey takes us into our own hearts, into the heart of the world and into the heart of Christ who is God’s love revealed.

In Christ, God transforms our lives. We can respond to his love for us by reaching out and loving one another.

The circle represents our world. White, the colour of light, represents God. Red is for the suffering of Christ. Red also represents the Holy Spirit. Yellow represents the risen Christ.

The direction of the lines is inwards except for the cross, which stretches outwards.

Our lives are embedded in and dependent upon our environment (green and blue) and our cultures (patterns and textures).

Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, is represented by the blue and white pattern.

The blue also represents the Pacific…

Annette Hanrahan RSCJ

Cover photograph: Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch / Diocese of Christchurch

UNDERSTANDING FAITH

YEAR 12

This book is the Teacher Guide to the following topic in the UNDERSTANDING FAITH series

12G CHRISTIAN ART, ARCHITECTURE AND MUSIC

TEACHER GUIDE

No part of this document may be reproduced in any way, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, without prior permission of the publishers.

Imprimatur: † Colin D Campbell DD Bishop of Dunedin Conference Deputy for Religious Studies October 2007

Authorised by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Published by: National Centre for Religious Studies Catholic Centre P O Box 1937 Wellington New Zealand

Printed by: Printlink 33-43 Jackson Street, Petone Private Bag, 39996 Wellington Mail Centre Lower Hutt 5045

Māori terms are italicised in the text. The first time a Māori term occurs its English meaning appears in brackets after it. A Māori glossary at the back of the book gives a more detailed explanation of these terms and provides a guide for their pronunciation.

CONTENTS

Introduction to the topic ...... 3

Part One: Christianity and the Arts ...... 27

Task One ...... 32 Task Two ...... 33 Task Three ...... 34 Task Four ...... 34

Part Two: The Early Church ...... 36

Task Five ...... 42 Task Six ...... 43 Task Seven ...... 46

Part Three: The Church Goes Public ...... 48

Task Eight ...... 51 Task Nine ...... 52 Task Ten ...... 55

Part Four: Byzantine Art, Architecture and Music ...... 58

Task Eleven ...... 69 Task Twelve ...... 70

Part Five: Barbarians and Reformers ...... 71

Task Thirteen ...... 83

Part Six: Gothic Art and Architecture ...... 90

Task Fourteen ...... 117 Task Fifteen ...... 118

Part Seven: The Renaissance ...... 121

Task Sixteen ...... 133 Task Seventeen ...... 134

Part Eight: Reformations ...... 136

Task Eighteen ...... 143 Task Nineteen ...... 144

Part Nine: Nineteenth Century Revivals ...... 147

Task Twenty ...... 151 Task Twenty-One ...... 152

Part Ten: Christian Art and Architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand – The First Century ...... 153

Task Twenty-Two ...... 168 Task Twenty-Three ...... 169

Part Eleven: After the Second Vatican Council ...... 170

Task Twenty-Four ...... 185

Floor Plans: ...... 186

Glossary of General Terms ...... 202

Glossary of Māori Terms ...... 212

Acknowledgements ...... 216

A number of resources in this Teacher Guide are available electronically from the FaithCentral website: www.faithcentral.net.nz

TOPIC 12G: CHRISTIAN ART, ARCHITECTURE AND MUSIC

LEARNING STRAND: HUMAN EXPERIENCE

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

This book contains teacher material and resources for classroom use – including OHT originals and supplementary articles, as well as activities and tasks that can be photocopied – for Topic 12G Christian Art, Architecture and Music which forms the Human Experience Strand of the Understanding Faith programme at year twelve.

The study of topics in the Human Experience Strand is intended to increase students’ awareness that it is essential for faith to be rooted in human experience and not to be seen as something that exists apart from their lives.

The material in this guide should be read alongside the following:

• The Religious Education Curriculum Statement for Catholic Secondary Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand • The student resource book for Topic 12G Christian Art, Architecture and Music • The supplementary material and activities on the FaithCentral website: www.faithcentral.net.nz

Topic 12G: Christian Art, Architecture and Music deals with expressions of Christian faith and practice throughout the centuries through art, architecture and music. It sets out to encourage an appreciation of the contribution of Christianity to the arts by exploring the relationship, in different times and cultures, between developments in theology and worship and developments in artistic expression.

This topic does not attempt to cover every aspect of Christian art, architecture and music through the ages. Rather, it offers insights into the theology and spirituality of the Church and Christian believers from early times through to the years following the Second Vatican Council.

The topic begins by introducing the theological insight that underpins the perspective that is developed in the material that follows. The idea that God is the greatest of artists, who hands on to human artists something of his own creativity:

We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life. (Ephesians 2:10)

As John Paul II puts it:

With loving regard, the divine Artist passes on to human artists a spark of his own surpassing wisdom, calling them to share in his creative power. . . . all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists, 1 and 2)

In this introductory section the Christian understanding of the artistic vocation is explored as are some of the recurring key themes of Christian art, architecture and music throughout the ages. An overview of the major stages of Christian history is provided.

The beginnings of Christian art are evident in the symbols of faith, left by early Christians, on the walls of the catacombs — underground cemeteries in Rome where, tradition tells us, Christians met secretly because of persecution.

As the persecutions declined, the images in the catacombs became more scriptural. Their purpose was to encourage, to teach and to assist Christians in their faith, as well as to remind them of their dead. Among the oldest – from the third century – was the image of Christ the Good Shepherd.

In the early centuries, Christians would gather in one another’s homes in order to celebrate the Eucharist. There were no buildings or churches set aside for this purpose. This changed, however, when under the Emperor Constantine (reigned 312-337), Christianity gained freedom of worship through the Edict of Milan (313), eventually becoming the official state religion of the Roman Empire under Theodosius I (reigned 379-395).

With increasing numbers of people wishing to convert to Christianity, bigger buildings that would hold larger assemblies were required for the celebration of the Eucharist. Local court houses known as basilicas were donated for Christian worship. From the fourth century onward, for many centuries, churches were built in basilican style, closely modelling features of the Roman halls of justice. Liturgies in the basilicas became more elaborate. The sense of intimacy that characterised the celebration of Eucharist in earlier centuries gave way to a sense of awe and splendour, with an emphasis on God’s transcendence.

When Constantine moved the Empire’s capital from Rome to Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople, he supported the building of churches as did many of his successors, notably Theodosius and Justinian (reigned 527-565). The churches of Constantinople were ornately decorated with high domes, beautiful mosaics and sculpted images of Christ, Mary and the saints. This style of art and architecture became known as Byzantine. It flourished in Ravenna in north-eastern Italy, where many of the best examples of Byzantine art can still be found. Apart from the Good Shepherd, another preferred image of Christ in the Byzantine style was that of Christ the Teacher.

In the fifth century, various invaders sacked and pillaged Rome, as well as villages, monasteries and cities throughout Europe. The style of church architecture which evolved from the fifth to the twelfth century was known as Romanesque – a style which developed from the early Christian basilican plan. Key features of the Romanesque style were the rounded Roman arch and masonry barrel-vaulted roofs. This required thick walls, with small windows to carry the weight. Elaborate exterior stone sculpting, with Apocalyptic scenes such as those of the Last Judgement, as well as images of Christ, Mary and the saints were frequent motifs.

Among the most well known monks of the fifth century was Saint Benedict (480-550), who founded the monastery at Monte Casino as well as the Benedictine congregation. During the Dark Ages of barbarian invasion, it was Benedictine and Celtic monks who kept learning alive. The Benedictines later developed plainsong or plainchant – a type of liturgical music that had its antecedents in Jewish chants sung in the synagogues and in the chants of the Eastern or Byzantine Church. The best known of the chants is Gregorian. True Gregorian Chant, while named after Gregory the Great (reigned 590- 604), was not invented by him and dates from the eighth or ninth century.

Monasteries such as Cluny developed choral prayer and influenced other western monasteries to adopt choral prayer.

The Church had a great influence on the lives and the values of the people of medieval Europe. This influence reached its peak in the architecture of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries – a period which is termed by some scholars as “The Age of Faith”. The magnificent Gothic abbeys and cathedrals of Saint Denis, Chartres, Notre Dame de Paris and Rheims, to name a few, are monuments to the strong faith of the people of that era. A key feature of Gothic architecture is the flying buttress which distributed the weight allowing for large windows. In the medieval mind, light was a privileged and mysterious mediator of God. The Gothic cathedral, with its large stained- glass windows, became a symbol of the divine presence on earth.

The Virgin Mary took on a new importance in the spirituality of the Middle Ages. She was portrayed as the principal intercessor for sinful humankind. Representations of her took on a new softness, and tenderness marked her manner and features.

The period known as the Renaissance, with its emphasis on humanism and naturalism, begins with developments in fourteenth century Italy which lead to the flowering of many great artists, including Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The Church supported new expressions of art, architecture and music. Popes, such as Sixtus IV (reigned 1471-1484) and Julius II (reigned 1503-1513), were great patrons of the arts – the former responsible for the rebuilding of the Sistine Chapel and the latter for initiating the construction of the new Saint Peter’s.

Dramatic changes to Christian art, architecture and music occurred as a result of the religious reform movements in sixteenth century Europe. The

Protestant Reformation challenged the very purpose and existence of religious art – images of Jesus, Mary and the saints were removed from many Protestant churches, and the Catholic musical tradition was adapted to fit plainer Protestant tastes. The Catholic Church’s desire to renew itself from within and to confidently affirm its identity led to Baroque styles of art, architecture and music which emphasised the mystery, holiness and grandeur of God.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, political, economic and social upheavals in Europe caused great instability. Christian art generally took refuge in the sentimental, and in architecture there was a return of older styles in the neo- Gothic and neo-classical revivals. During this period, music with Catholic themes, including settings of the Mass, tended to be written for the concert hall rather than for use in the Liturgy.

Meanwhile, in Aotearoa New Zealand, pre-European Māori people had a rich spirituality of their own which they expressed through their arts and crafts. With the conversion of many Māori to Christianity, Māori artists and craftspeople produced tukutuku (wall panels) and carvings, including Māori Madonna, which combined Māori and Christian ideas.

Christian churches and cathedrals are among the most common heritage buildings in New Zealand and of the highest quality. Architects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as William and Thomas Mahoney, Francis William Petre, and Frederick de Jersey Clere, made a lasting contribution to the Catholic heritage of New Zealand through the churches they designed.

The final section of this topic deals with the impact of the Second Vatican Council on the Catholic Church’s art, architecture and music. Catholics experienced the impact of the Council most directly through the liturgical reforms initiated by the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963), especially in the changes to the way the Mass was celebrated. Following the Council, the architecture, art and music of Catholic churches better emphasised the full and active participation by all the people in the liturgy.

The teacher guide and student text for the present topic does not deal to any extent with developments in Christian art, architecture and music in Aotearoa New Zealand since the middle of the twentieth century. Resources on the many artists, architects and musicians from this period, and on their works, will be available on the FaithCentral website: www.faithcentral.net.nz

LINKS WITH OTHER TOPICS IN UNDERSTANDING FAITH

The present topic builds on material studied and understandings gained in previous topics of the Understanding Faith programme, especially those which form the Sacrament and Worship and the Church History strands. For example, students were first introduced to patterns of early Christian worship and to the concept of sacred space in Topic 9C: The Eucharist and the Church’s Year.

Various aspects of Christian art, architecture and music have been explored – and their contexts established – in the following topics dealing with the Church’s story across the centuries:

• Topic 9D: The Church’s Story – The Beginnings • Topic 9F: The Beginnings of the Church in Aotearoa New Zealand • Topic 10D: The Church’s Story – The Middle Ages • Topic 11D: The Church’s Story – Reformation and Beyond • Topic 12C: The Church’s Story – The Modern Age

ACHIEVEMENT AIMS

In this topic students will gain and apply knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to understand:

1. Expressions of Christian faith and practice throughout the centuries through art, architecture and music. 2. The contribution of Christianity to the arts in different times and cultures. 3. The relationship between developments in theology and worship and developments in artistic expression.

ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

1. Recognise the Christian understanding of the vocation of the artist. 2. Recognise the place of the arts in the Christian tradition, including key themes in Christian art, architecture and music. 3. Explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council. 4. Develop an understanding of Christian art, architecture and music in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. 5. Investigate how developments in Christian theology and worship, especially those initiated by the Second Vatican Council, are reflected in the arts.

CHURCH TEACHINGS AND LINKS WITH CHURCH DOCUMENTS

Underpinning the five achievement objectives for the topic are important teachings of the Church. Where possible, direct links with the Catechism of the Catholic Church have been established and quotations used to highlight the relationship between the various achievement objectives and the Church teachings that they embody. Other Church documents, including the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and the Letter to Artists (1999) by John Paul II are referred to and quoted.

In all cases the official translations of Church documents have been used, but where necessary changes have been made so that the language is gender inclusive.

Achievement Objective 1

Students will be able to recognise the Christian understanding of the vocation of the artist.

Church Teachings

God – Creator and Artist

• God is the Creator who delights in all creation. • God takes special delight in human beings who are formed in God’s own image and likeness. • By giving men and women stewardship over the earth, God invites humankind to share in his creativity. • God, the greatest of artists, hands on to human artists something of his own artistry.

The Artistic Vocation

• Through their work artists reveal their personalities and communicate with others, enabling them to know their inner life. • Those with an artistic gift are obliged to develop their talent and to put it at the service of others. • Society needs artists to enrich the cultural heritage of each nation and to serve the common good. • The ethic or “spirituality” of artistic service contributes to the life and renewal of a people.

Church Document Links

God – Creator and Artist

Created “in the image of God,” human beings also express the truth of their relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of their artistic works. Indeed, art is a distinctively human form of expression; beyond the search for the necessities of life which is common to all living creatures, art is a freely given

superabundance of the human being's inner riches. Arising from talent given by the Creator and from their own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of humankind. (CCC 2501)

None can sense more deeply than ... artists, ingenious creators of beauty..., something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when – like the artists of every age – captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 1)

The opening page of the Bible presents God as a kind of exemplar of everyone who produces a work: the human craftsperson mirrors the image of God as Creator. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 1)

God therefore called humankind into existence, committing to human beings the craftsperson's task. Through their “artistic creativity” men and women appear more than ever “in the image of God”, and they accomplish this task above all in shaping the wondrous “material” of their own humanity and then exercising creative dominion over the universe which surrounds them. With loving regard, the divine Artist passes on to human artists a spark of his own surpassing wisdom, calling them to share in his creative power. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 1)

The Artistic Vocation

In producing a work, artists express themselves to the point where their work becomes a unique disclosure of their own being, of what they are and of how they are what they are. And there are endless examples of this in human history. In shaping a masterpiece, artists not only summon their work into being, but also in some way reveal their own personalities by means of it. For them art offers both a new dimension and an exceptional mode of expression for their spiritual growth. Through their works, artists speak to others and communicate with them. The history of art, therefore, is not only a story of works produced but also a story of men and women. Works of art speak of their authors; they enable us to know their inner life, and they reveal the original contribution which artists offer to the history of culture. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 2)

Those who perceive in themselves this kind of divine spark which is the artistic vocation – as poet, writer, sculptor, architect, musician, actor and so on – feel at the same time the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it at the service of their neighbour and of humanity as a whole. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 3)

Society needs artists, just as it needs scientists, technicians, workers, professional people, witnesses of the faith, teachers, fathers and mothers, who ensure the growth of the person and the development of the community by means of that supreme art form which is “the art of education”. Within the vast cultural panorama of each nation, artists have their unique place. Obedient to their inspiration in creating works both worthwhile and beautiful, they not only enrich the cultural heritage of each nation and of all humanity, but they also render an exceptional social service in favour of the common good. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 4)

The particular vocation of individual artists decides the arena in which they serve and points as well to the tasks they must assume, the hard work they must endure and the responsibility they must accept. Artists who are conscious of all this know too that they must labour without allowing themselves to be driven by the search for empty glory or the craving for cheap popularity, and still less by the calculation of some possible profit for themselves. There is therefore an ethic, even a “spirituality” of artistic service, which contributes in its way to the life and renewal of a people. It is precisely this to which Cyprian Norwid seems to allude in declaring that “beauty is to enthuse us for work, and work is to raise us up”. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 4)

Achievement Objective 2

Students will be able to recognise the place of the arts in the Christian tradition, including key themes in Christian art, architecture and music.

Church Teachings

Sacred Art

• The fine arts, especially sacred art, are among humanity’s noblest activities and highest achievements. • By their very nature, the arts are capable of expressing in some way the infinite beauty of God in the works of human hands. • The arts give praise and glory to God by directing people’s spirits towards God. • The Church has always encouraged the fine arts and the ministry of artists, especially to ensure the appropriateness, beauty, and worthiness of those things used in divine worship. • The Church sees itself as an arbiter of the arts, deciding which artistic works are consistent with faith and piety, and suitable for sacred use. • The Church has not adopted any one style of art as its own but has accepted styles from every period. • The Church’s treasury of art, which it has brought together over time, must be carefully preserved. • The art of our own time, from all countries and cultures, also has its place in the Church.

Sacred Scripture and the Representation of the Divine in Art

• The Old Testament explicitly forbids representation of the divine in images made by human hands because God transcends every material representation. • Through the Incarnation, God became visible in the person of Jesus Christ, opening the way to representations of the divine in human art. • Scripture is the great source from which Christian culture and art have drawn throughout the centuries. • The works of art inspired by Scripture are an important way of spreading the Gospel and deepening people’s faith.

Sacred Music

• The musical tradition of the Church is a treasure of the greatest value – more so than the other arts. • Sacred music – in combination with words – is an essential aspect of the liturgy. • The Church’s treasury of sacred music is to be carefully preserved and encouraged.

Church Document Links

Sacred Art

The fine arts are rightly classified among the noblest activities of human genius; this is especially true of religious art and of its highest achievement, sacred art. Of their nature the arts are directed toward expressing in some way the infinite beauty of God in works made by human hands. They are dedicated to God, they praise him and extend his glory to the extent that their only purpose is to turn people’s spirits devoutly toward God. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 122)

For that reason the Church has always been a friend of the fine arts, has ever sought their noble ministry and has trained artists. Its chief purpose has been to ensure that all things set apart for use in divine worship should be worthy, becoming and beautiful, signs and symbols of things supernatural. In fact the Church has always been an arbiter of the arts, deciding which of the works of artists are consistent with faith, piety and the traditional laws of religion, and are to be considered suitable for sacred use. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 122)

The Church has not adopted any particular style of art as its own, but guided by people’s temperaments and circumstances, and the needs of the various rites, it has admitted styles from every period. Thus in the course of the centuries it has brought into existence a treasury of art which must be very carefully preserved. The art of our own times from every race and country should also be given free scope in the Church, provided it bring to the task the reverence and honour due to the sacred buildings and rites. Thus it is

enabled to join its voice to that wonderful chorus of praise sung by the great masters in past ages of the Catholic faith. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 123)

Sacred Scripture and the Representation of the Divine in Art

The Law of the Old Testament explicitly forbids representation of the invisible and ineffable God by means of “graven or molten image” (Deuteronomy 27:15), because God transcends every material representation: “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 5)

Yet in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Son of God becomes visible in person: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son born of woman” (Galatians 4:4). God became man in Jesus Christ, who thus becomes the central point of reference for an understanding of the enigma of human existence, the created world and God himself. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 5)

This prime epiphany of “God who is Mystery” is both an encouragement and a challenge to Christians, also at the level of artistic creativity. From it has come a flowering of beauty which has drawn its sap precisely from the mystery of the Incarnation. In becoming man, the Son of God has introduced into human history all the evangelical wealth of the true and the good, and with this he has also unveiled a new dimension of beauty, of which the Gospel message is filled to the brim. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 5)

Sacred Scripture has thus become a sort of “immense vocabulary” (Paul Claudel) and “iconographic atlas” (Marc Chagall), from which both Christian culture and art have drawn. The Old Testament, read in the light of the New, has provided endless streams of inspiration. From the stories of the Creation and sin, the Flood, the cycle of the Patriarchs, the events of the Exodus to so many other episodes and characters in the history of salvation, the biblical text has fired the imagination of painters, poets, musicians, playwrights and film- makers. A figure like Job, to take but one example, with his searing and ever relevant question of suffering, still arouses an interest which is not just philosophical but literary and artistic as well. And what should we say of the New Testament? From the Nativity to Golgotha, from the Transfiguration to the Resurrection, from the miracles to the teachings of Christ, and on to the events recounted in the Acts of the Apostles or foreseen by the Apocalypse in an eschatological key, on countless occasions the biblical word has become image, music and poetry, evoking the mystery of “the Word made flesh” in the language of art. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 5)

In the history of human culture, all of this is a rich chapter of faith and beauty. Believers above all have gained from it in their experience of prayer and Christian living. Indeed for many of them, in times when few could read or write, representations of the Bible were a concrete mode of catechesis. But for everyone, believers or not, the works of art inspired by Scripture remain a reflection of the unfathomable mystery which engulfs and inhabits the world. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 5)

Sacred Music

The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre- eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 112)

The treasury of sacred music is to be preserved and cultivated with great care. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 114)

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council.

Church Teachings

The Origins of Christian Art

• The earliest Christian art developed within the context of the classical world. • Believers used Scripture-based signs that both expressed the mysteries of faith and served as a “symbolic code” by which they could distinguish and identify themselves in times of persecution.

Art, Architecture and Music following the Legalisation of Christianity

• Following the Edict of Milan (313) and the legalisation of Christianity, Christians were able to practise their faith freely and express it in art and architecture. • Basilicas were adapted and built to meet the demands of Christian worship. • Painting, sculpture and music were recognised as valid expressions of the Christian faith by theologians and writers.

The Icon Controversy

• Sacred icons principally represent Christ, but also Mary and the saints – they cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God. • As sacred images became more widespread, a violent conflict arose over their use in Christian devotion. • The Second Council of Nicaea (787) declared the legitimacy of sacred icons and their veneration on the grounds that whoever venerates the icon is venerating in it the person of the one depicted.

The Middle Ages

• The strength and simplicity of the Romanesque style of architecture was expressed in cathedrals and abbeys. • The Romanesque slowly evolved into the soaring Gothic style. • Gothic forms portray not only the genius of an artist but the soul of a people who experience God as mystery – both “awesome” and “alluring”.

Gregorian Chant

• Gregory the Great encouraged the development of a form of sacred music that takes its name after him. • Gregorian chant has a unique place in the history and liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Humanism and the Renaissance

• The extraordinary artistic flowering of the Renaissance had a significant impact on the way in which the artists of the period approached the religious theme. • Many of the finest artists produced masterpieces of great spiritual depth – including the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter’s Basilica – which enhanced the Church and assisted men and women in their search for God. • Humanism brought to sacred art a growing interest in everything human, in the world, and in history. • Many of the most inspired composers contributed to the Church’s tradition of sacred music in the period following the Renaissance.

Catholic Reform

• The Catholic reform, which sought to promote a doctrinal, moral and institutional reform of the Church and to counteract the spread of Protestantism, endorsed the complex cultural phenomenon of the Baroque. • The Baroque exercised a significant influence on the literary, artistic and musical expressions of Catholic piety in the period following the Council of Trent.

Popular Devotions

• Popular piety, which was seen as an antidote to rationalism and Jansenism, emphasised devotions, including those to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. • Certain days, such as “first Fridays”, gained a special devotional significance and there was a development of many popular hymns. • Popular cults associated with Marian miracles and apparitions were a phenomenon of the nineteenth century and the sites associated with them became centres of pilgrimage.

Church Document Links

The Origins of Christian Art

The art which Christianity encountered in its early days was the ripe fruit of the classical world, articulating its aesthetic canons and embodying its values. Not only in their way of living and thinking, but also in the field of art, faith obliged Christians to a discernment which did not allow an uncritical acceptance of this heritage. Art of Christian inspiration began therefore in a minor key, strictly tied to the need for believers to contrive Scripture-based signs to express both the mysteries of faith and a “symbolic code” by which they could distinguish and identify themselves, especially in the difficult times of persecution. Who does not recall the symbols which marked the first appearance of an art both pictorial and plastic? The fish, the loaves, the shepherd: in evoking the mystery, they became almost imperceptibly the first traces of a new art. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 7)

Art, Architecture and Music following the Legalisation of Christianity

When the Edict of Constantine allowed Christians to declare themselves in full freedom, art became a privileged means for the expression of faith. Majestic basilicas began to appear, and in them the architectural canons of the pagan world were reproduced and at the same time modified to meet the demands of the new form of worship. How can we fail to recall at least the old Saint Peter's Basilica and the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, both funded by Constantine himself? Or Constantinople's Hagia Sophia built by Justinian, with its splendours of Byzantine art? (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 7)

While architecture designed the space for worship, gradually the need to contemplate the mystery and to present it explicitly to the simple people led to the early forms of painting and sculpture. There appeared as well the first elements of art in word and sound. Among the many themes treated by Augustine we find De Musica; and Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose, Prudentius, Ephrem the Syrian, Gregory of Nazianzus and Paulinus of Nola, to mention but a few, promoted a Christian poetry which was often of high quality not just as theology but also as literature. Their poetic work valued forms inherited from the classical authors, but was nourished by the pure sap of the Gospel, as Paulinus of Nola put it succinctly: “Our only art is faith and our music Christ”. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 7)

The Icon Controversy

The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents Christ. It cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God, but the incarnation of the Son of God has ushered in a new "economy" of images:

Previously God, who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could not be represented by an image. But now that he has made himself visible in the flesh and has lived with men, I can make an image of

what I have seen of God . . . and contemplate the glory of the Lord, his face unveiled. (CCC 1159)

Precisely on the issue of depicting the Christian mystery, there arose in the early centuries a bitter controversy known to history as “the iconoclast crisis”. Sacred images, which were already widely used in Christian devotion, became the object of violent contention. The Council held at Nicaea in 787, which decreed the legitimacy of images and their veneration, was a historic event not just for the faith but for culture itself. The decisive argument to which the Bishops appealed in order to settle the controversy was the mystery of the Incarnation: if the Son of God had come into the world of visible realities – his humanity building a bridge between the visible and the invisible – then, by analogy, a representation of the mystery could be used, within the logic of signs, as a sensory evocation of the mystery. The icon is venerated not for its own sake, but points beyond to the subject which it represents. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 7)

At the same time the Church has always acknowledged that in the body of Jesus “we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see.” The individual characteristics of Christ's body express the divine person of God's Son. He has made the features of his human body his own, to the point that they can be venerated when portrayed in a holy image, for the believer “who venerates the icon is venerating in it the person of the one depicted”. (CCC 477)

The Middle Ages

In the West, artists start from the most varied viewpoints, depending also on the underlying convictions of the cultural world of their time. The artistic heritage built up over the centuries includes a vast array of sacred works of great inspiration, which still today leave the observer full of admiration. In the first place, there are the great buildings for worship, in which the functional is always wedded to the creative impulse inspired by a sense of the beautiful and an intuition of the mystery. From here came the various styles well known in the history of art. The strength and simplicity of the Romanesque, expressed in cathedrals and abbeys, slowly evolved into the soaring splendours of the Gothic. These forms portray not only the genius of an artist but the soul of a people. In the play of light and shadow, in forms at times massive, at times delicate, structural considerations certainly come into play, but so too do the tensions peculiar to the experience of God, the mystery both “awesome” and “alluring”. How is one to summarize with a few brief references to each of the many different art forms, the creative power of the centuries of the Christian Middle Ages? An entire culture, albeit with the inescapable limits of all that is human, had become imbued with the Gospel; and where theology produced the Summa of Saint Thomas, church art moulded matter in a way which led to adoration of the mystery, and a wonderful poet like Dante Alighieri could compose “the sacred poem, to which both heaven and earth have turned their hand”, as he himself described the Divine Comedy. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 8)

Gregorian Chant

. . . Gregory the Great compiled the Antiphonarium and thus laid the ground for the organic development of that most original sacred music which takes its name from him. Gregorian chant, with its inspired modulations, was to become down the centuries the music of the Church's faith in the liturgical celebration of the sacred mysteries. The “beautiful” was thus wedded to the “true”, so that through art too souls might be lifted up from the world of the senses to the eternal. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 7)

The Church recognises Gregorian chant as especially native to the Roman liturgy. Therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 116)

Humanism and the Renaissance

The favourable cultural climate that produced the extraordinary artistic flowering of Humanism and the Renaissance also had a significant impact on the way in which the artists of the period approached the religious theme. Naturally, their inspiration, like their style, varied greatly, at least among the best of them. But I do not intend to repeat things which you, as artists, know well. Writing from this Apostolic Palace, which is a mine of masterpieces perhaps unique in the world, I would rather give voice to the supreme artists who in this place lavished the wealth of their genius, often charged with great spiritual depth. From here can be heard the voice of Michelangelo who in the Sistine Chapel has presented the drama and mystery of the world from the Creation to the Last Judgement, giving a face to God the Father, to Christ the Judge, and to man on his arduous journey from the dawn to the consummation of history. Here speaks the delicate and profound genius of Raphael, highlighting in the array of his paintings, and especially in the “Dispute” in the Room of the Signatura, the mystery of the revelation of the Triune God, who in the Eucharist befriends man and sheds light on the questions and expectations of human intelligence. From this place, from the majestic Basilica dedicated to the Prince of the Apostles, from the Colonnade which spreads out from it like two arms open to welcome the whole human family, we still hear Bramante, Bernini, Borromini, Maderno, to name only the more important artists, all rendering visible the perception of the mystery which makes of the Church a universally hospitable community, mother and travelling companion to all men and women in their search for God.

This extraordinary complex is a remarkably powerful expression of sacred art, rising to heights of imperishable aesthetic and religious excellence. What has characterized sacred art more and more, under the impulse of Humanism and the Renaissance, and then of successive cultural and scientific trends, is a growing interest in everything human, in the world, and in the reality of history. In itself, such a concern is not at all a danger for Christian faith, centred on the mystery of the Incarnation and therefore on God's valuing of the human being. The great artists mentioned above are a demonstration of this. Suffice it to think of the way in which Michelangelo represents the beauty of the human body in his painting and sculpture. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists 9)

Catholic Reform

The Catholic reform, with its positive concern to promote a doctrinal, moral and institutional reform of the Church and to counteract the spread of Protestantism, in a certain sense endorsed the complex cultural phenomenon of the Baroque. This, in turn, exercised a considerable influence on the literary, artistic and musical expressions of Catholic piety. (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 41)

In the post Tridentine period, the relationship between Liturgy and popular piety acquires some new aspects: the Liturgy entered a static period of substantial uniformity while popular piety entered a period of extraordinary development. (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 41)

Popular Devotions

Popular piety, which had been effective in stemming the negative influences of Protestantism, now became an effective antidote to the corrosiveness of rationalism and to the baleful consequences of Jansenism within the Church. It emerged strengthened and enriched from this task and from the extensive development of the parish missions. Popular piety emphasised certain aspects of the Christian mystery in a new way, for example, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and new "days", such as the "first Friday of the month", gained importance in the piety of the faithful. (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 42)

The revival of the Liturgy was not the sole activity of the nineteenth century. Independently of that revival, popular piety experienced significant growth. The revival of liturgical song coincided with the development of many popular hymns, the widespread use of liturgical aids such as bilingual missals for the use of the faithful, and a proliferation of devotional booklets. (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 45)

The nineteenth century experienced a phenomenon of crucial significance: expressions of local cult arising from popular initiatives and often associated with prodigious events such as miracles and apparitions. Gradually, these received official approval as well as the favour and protection of the ecclesial authorities, and were eventually assumed into the Liturgy. Several Marian sanctuaries and centres of pilgrimages, and of Eucharistic and penitential Liturgies as well as Marian centres associated with popular piety are all emblematic of this phenomenon. (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 45)

Achievement Objective 4

Students will be able to develop an understanding of Christian art, architecture and music in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Church Teachings

Māori Culture and the Gospel

• From the earliest times, the peoples of Oceania were moved by God’s presence in the riches of nature and culture. • Religious practices and rituals were very much part of the daily life of Māori and thoroughly permeated their cultures. • It was not until the arrival of foreign missionaries that Oceania’s original inhabitants first heard of Jesus Christ – who does not cease to call them to faith and give them new life. • When the missionaries first brought the Gospel to Māori, they found people who already possessed a rich culture possessing an ancient and profound sense of the sacred. • The missionaries brought the truth of the Gospel, but at times some sought to impose elements which were culturally alien to the Māori people. • In a context where the process of colonisation and modernisation has blurred the line between the indigenous and the imported there is a need for careful discernment to see what is essential to the Gospel and what is less so. • Māori have a unique identity as members of God’s household – it is as Māori that they are called by Christ to belong to the Church, the one Body of Christ.

Preserving the Faith of European Settlers

• When European settlers came in greater numbers to Aotearoa New Zealand, priests and religious came as well and helped to maintain and develop the Church. • In colonial times, Catholic clergy and religious quickly established institutions to help European settlers in Aotearoa New Zealand to preserve and strengthen their faith.

Church Document Links

Māori Culture and Spirituality From the earliest times, the peoples of Oceania were moved by the divine presence in the riches of nature and culture. But it was not until foreign missionaries came in the latter half of the second millennium that these original inhabitants first heard of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. (The Church in Oceania 1)

In the course of history, thanks to the Church's extraordinary missionary and pastoral efforts, the peoples of Oceania have met Jesus Christ who does not cease to call them to faith and give them new life. . . . . Missionaries brought the Gospel to the original inhabitants of Oceania, inviting them to believe in Christ and find their true home in his Church. The people responded in great numbers to the call, became Christ's followers and began to live according to his word. (The Church in Oceania 4)

When the missionaries first brought the Gospel to Aboriginal or Māori people, or to the island nations, they found peoples who already possessed an ancient and profound sense of the sacred. Religious practices and rituals were very much part of their daily lives and thoroughly permeated their cultures. The missionaries brought the truth of the Gospel which is foreign to no one; but at times some sought to impose elements which were culturally alien to the people. There is a need now for careful discernment to see what is of the Gospel and what is not, what is essential and what is less so. Such a task, it must be said, is made more difficult because of the process of colonization and modernization, which has blurred the line between the indigenous and the imported. (The Church in Oceania 7)

A rich culture already existed in your country before the arrival of the Church or the many immigrants: the culture of the Māori people. This culture has in turn been strengthened and enriched by the uplifting and purifying power of the Gospel.

The strengths of Māori culture are often the very values which modern society is in danger of losing: an acknowledgment of the spiritual dimension in every aspect of life: a profound reverence for nature and the environment; a sense of community, assuring every individual that he or she belongs; loyalty to family and a great willingness to share; an acceptance of death as part of life and a capacity to grieve and mourn the dead in a human way.

As you rightly treasure your culture, let the Gospel of Christ continue to penetrate and permeate it, confirming your sense of identity as a unique part of God’s household. It is as Māori that the Lord calls you; it is as Māori that you belong to the Church, the one Body of Christ. (Homily of John Paul II, The Domain, Auckland, 22 November, 1986)

Preserving the Faith of European Settlers

Foreign missionaries first proclaimed the Gospel to the Māori people. Then when the European settlers came in greater numbers, priests and religious came as well and helped to maintain and develop the Church. (The Church in Oceania 6)

In colonial times, Catholic clergy and religious quickly established institutions to help the new settlers in Australia and New Zealand to preserve and strengthen their faith. (The Church in Oceania 4)

Achievement Objective 5

Students will be able to investigate how developments in Christian theology and worship, especially those initiated by the Second Vatican Council, are reflected in the arts.

Church Teachings

The Arts and the Second Vatican Council

• The Second Vatican Council laid the foundation for a renewed relationship – one of friendship, openness and dialogue – between the Church and culture, with direct implications for art. • The Second Vatican Council recognised that the world needs beauty in order to counteract despair. • The Council saw the arts are genuine sources of theology.

Buildings for Divine Worship

• Worship of God is not tied exclusively to any one place. • When Christians gather for worship they become the “living stones” to be “built into a spiritual house” by the Holy Spirit. • The buildings that Christians construct for divine worship are not simply gathering places but are visible signs of the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God among people. • A church is a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where the presence of Jesus Christ is worshipped in the sacrifice of the altar. • A church ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and the sacred ceremonies. • The various aspects of a church building should serve as signs that Christ is present and active in this place. • When churches are built they should be suitable for the celebration of liturgical services and for the active participation of the faithful. • A church must also be a space that invites us to the recollection and silent prayer that flows from the Eucharist. • Crossing the threshold of a church symbolises passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new Life. • The church is a symbol of the Father's house toward which the People of God are journeying. • The Church is the house of all God's people, therefore, churches should be open and welcoming. • Sacred images in churches awaken and nourish faith in Christ.

Church Furnishings

• The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should encourage adoration of Jesus Christ really present in the Blessed Sacrament. • The sacred chrism (myron), used in anointings as the sacramental sign of the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is traditionally reserved and venerated in a secure place in the sanctuary where the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick may also be placed. • The chair of the bishop (cathedra) or that of the priest should express his office of presiding over the assembly and of directing prayer. • The dignity of the Word of God requires the church to have a lectern (ambo), a suitable place for announcing God’s message so that the attention of the people may be easily directed to that place during the liturgy of the Word. • A church must have a place for the celebration of Baptism (baptistry) and for fostering remembrance of the baptismal promises (holy water font). • The renewal of the baptismal life requires penance. • A church requires an appropriate place where people may express repentance and receive forgiveness.

Liturgical Singing and Music

• Song and music are closely connected with liturgical action. • The criteria for the proper use of song and music in the liturgy are: they must be expressive of prayer, they must enable the participation of the assembly, and they must be sacred in character. • Singing by the faithful in liturgical services and devotions is to be encouraged and developed. • The texts that are sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine and should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources.

Church Document Links

The Arts and the Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council laid the foundation for a renewed relationship between the Church and culture, with immediate implications for the world of art. This is a relationship offered in friendship, openness and dialogue. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Fathers of the Council stressed “the great importance” of literature and the arts in human life: “They seek to probe the true nature of human beings, their problems and experiences, as they strive to know and perfect themselves and the world, to discover their place in history and the universe, to portray their miseries and joys, their needs and strengths, with a view to a better future”.

On this basis, at the end of the Council the Fathers addressed a greeting and an appeal to artists: “This world – they said – in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart

and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration!” In this spirit of profound respect for beauty, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium recalled the historic friendliness of the Church towards art and, referring more specifically to sacred art, the “summit” of religious art, did not hesitate to consider artists as having “a noble ministry” when their works reflect in some way the infinite beauty of God and raise people's minds to him. Thanks also to the help of artists “the knowledge of God can be better revealed and the preaching of the Gospel can become clearer to the human mind”. In this light, it comes as no surprise when Father Marie Dominique Chenu claims that the work of the historian of theology would be incomplete if he failed to give due attention to works of art, both literary and figurative, which are in their own way “not only aesthetic representations, but genuine 'sources' of theology”. (John Paul II - Letter to Artists 11)

Buildings for Divine Worship

The worship “in Spirit and in truth” of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. The whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men and women. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the “living stones,” gathered to be “built into a spiritual house.” For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple from which the source of living water springs forth: incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit, “we are the temple of the living God.” (CCC 1179)

When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted, Christians construct buildings for divine worship. These visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with people reconciled and united in Christ. (CCC 1180)

A church, a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Saviour, offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the faithful – this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place for prayer and sacred ceremonial. In this “house of God” the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show Christ to be present and active in this place. (CCC 1181)

And when churches are built let great care be taken that they are suitable for the celebration of liturgical services and for active participation of the faithful. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 124)

A church must also be a space that invites us to the recollection and silent prayer that extend and internalise the great prayer of the Eucharist. (CCC 1185)

Finally, the church has an eschatological significance. To enter into the house of God, we must cross a threshold, which symbolises passing from the world wounded by sin to the world of the new Life to which all people are called.

The visible church is a symbol of the Father's house toward which the People of God is journeying and where the Father "will wipe every tear from their eyes." Also for this reason, the Church is the house of all God's children, open and welcoming. (CCC 1186)

Church Furnishings

The altar of the New Covenant is the Lord's Cross, from which the sacraments of the Paschal mystery flow. On the altar, which is the centre of the church, the sacrifice of the Cross is made present under sacramental signs. The altar is also the table of the Lord, to which the People of God are invited. In certain Eastern liturgies, the altar is also the symbol of the tomb (Christ truly died and is truly risen). (CCC 1182)

The tabernacle is to be situated in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honour. The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. (CCC 1183)

The sacred chrism (myron), used in anointings as the sacramental sign of the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is traditionally reserved and venerated in a secure place in the sanctuary. The oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick may also be placed there. (CCC 1183)

The chair of the bishop (cathedra) or that of the priest should express his office of presiding over the assembly and of directing prayer. (CCC 1184)

The lectern (ambo): The dignity of the Word of God requires the church to have a suitable place for announcing his message so that the attention of the people may be easily directed to that place during the liturgy of the Word. (CCC 1184)

The gathering of the People of God begins with Baptism; a church must have a place for the celebration of Baptism (baptistry) and for fostering remembrance of the baptismal promises (holy water font). (CCC 1185)

The renewal of the baptismal life requires penance. A church, then, must lend itself to the expression of repentance and the reception of forgiveness, which requires an appropriate place to receive penitents. (CCC 1185)

Liturgical Singing and Music

Song and music are closely connected with the liturgical action. The criteria for their proper use are the beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly, and the sacred character of the celebration. (CCC 1191)

The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate. Hence religious singing by the faithful is to be

intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services, in conformity with the Church's norms, the voices of the faithful may be heard. But the texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources. (CCC 1158)

ORGANISATION OF THE TOPIC

For teaching purposes the material in this topic is organised into eleven sections each of which is linked to one of the achievement objectives:

Part One: Christianity and the Arts Achievement Objectives 1 and 2

Part Two: The Early Church Achievement Objective 3

Part Three: The Church Goes Public Achievement Objective 3

Part Four: Byzantine Art, Architecture and Music Achievement Objective 3

Part Five: Barbarians and Reformers Achievement Objective 3

Part Six: Gothic Art and Architecture Achievement Objective 3

Part Seven: The Renaissance Achievement Objective 3

Part Eight: Reformations Achievement Objective 3

Part Nine: Nineteenth Century Revivals Achievement Objective 3

Part Ten: Christian Art and Architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand – The First Century Achievement Objective 4

Part Eleven: After the Second Vatican Council Achievement Objective 5

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Each learning outcome for the topic is derived from one of the achievement objectives. The learning outcomes identify what students are expected to learn as they work through each section of the topic.

While teachers must ensure that the learning outcomes for the topic are covered so that all of the achievement objectives for the topic are met, it is not intended that students work through every task or activity, nor that every achievement objective is assessed.

Teachers should select a range of tasks appropriate for their students’ interests and abilities and well-matched to their own teaching style.

Learning outcomes for each of the eleven sections of the topic are listed at the beginning of the appropriate part.

MĀORI SPIRITUALITY IN THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CURRICULUM

In Aotearoa New Zealand Māori spirituality is an essential dimension of the Religious Education Curriculum.

Māori students in Catholic schools have a right, supported by Church teaching, to have the faith explained to them in a culturally relevant way, using those traditional Māori concepts, beliefs and values which are still part of the life of Māori today. For example, te ao wairua (the spiritual world), Atua, tapu (holiness), mana (spiritual power and authority), noa (free from tapu restrictions), hohou rongo (the restoring of tapu and mana), whānau (extended family), te wā (time). It is not sufficient to present the faith to them in wholly European terms while ignoring the riches of the Māori religious traditions and their belief system - this would be an alienating experience for Māori. John Paul II himself affirmed the authenticity and integrity of Māori spirituality when speaking to te tangata whenua (the people of the land) during his visit to this country in 1986:

It is as Māori that the Lord calls you, it is as Māori that you belong to the Church, the one body of Christ.

Since 1840 we have been a nation with two streams of culture as expressed in our founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Treaty of Waitangi. The partnership, communication and mutual respect implied in the Treaty can only exist if there is mutual understanding. For Pakeha, such an understanding is impossible without an appreciation of the Māori culture’s underlying spirituality. There is also great potential for the enrichment of the spirituality of Pakeha young people when they are given the chance to develop an awareness and understanding of the Māori faith vision and belief system. All young people in Catholic schools, therefore, should be given the opportunity to understand key aspects of the culture and spirituality of Māori.

THE USE OF MĀORI LANGUAGE IN THIS PROGRAMME

The first time a Māori word or phrase appears in a particular topic, either in the teacher material or the student texts, it is followed by its English equivalent which is placed inside brackets. In most cases the meaning of the Māori terms can be worked out from the context in which they appear.

A glossary which gathers together all the Māori terms used in a particular topic is provided. This glossary often explores the Māori concepts in greater depth than is possible in the brief descriptions that appear in the teacher material and student texts.

PART ONE: CHRISTIANITY AND THE ARTS

Achievement Objective 1

Students will be able to recognise the Christian understanding of the vocation of the artist.

Achievement Objective 2

Students will be able to recognise the place of the arts in the Christian tradition, including key themes in Christian art, architecture and music.

Church Teachings

God – Creator and Artist

The Artistic Vocation

Sacred Art

• The Church sees itself as an arbiter of the arts, deciding which artistic works are consistent with faith and piety, and suitable for sacred use. • The Church has not adopted any one style of art as its own but has accepted styles from every period. • The Church’s treasury of art, which it has brought together over time, must be carefully preserved. • The art of our own time, from all countries and cultures, also has its place in the Church.

Sacred Scripture and the Representation of the Divine in Art

Sacred Music

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section of the topic students will:

• Reflect on the Church’s understanding of the role and vocation of the artist. • Explain the Jewish attitude toward visual representations of the divine. • Find examples of works of art, architecture or music that link to common Christian themes. • Construct a timeline covering key developments in the tradition of Christian art, architecture and music

Teacher Background

Art and Religion Jean Clottes, an expert on prehistoric art, described his first impressions of the stone-age paintings of bears, horses, rhinoceroses, ibexes, and imaginary animals found deep within a cave at Lascaux, France, with these words:

I remember standing in front of the paintings of the horses facing the rhinos and being profoundly moved by the artistry. Tears were running down my cheeks. I was witnessing one of the world's great masterpieces.1

That human beings who lived thirty or forty thousand years ago were capable of creating paintings of such striking beauty is profoundly moving – so too is the fact that other human beings can respond so intensely to these ancient paintings so long after their creation.

Clottes’ response raises important questions about the relationship between religion and art. For, in his response to the cave paintings of Lascaux there is evidence of a deep religious experience. The cave itself seems to be a sort of religious shrine and the paintings in it are organised as if they have a religious significance. The fact that the paintings are hidden far beneath the earth, only to be approached by way of difficult and sometimes dangerous underground passages, emphasises their profound religious meaning.

The noted anthropologist, John Pfeiffer, has described the art that is found in caves such as Lascaux as “deep art” – “art located in utter darkness, far from daylight and twilight zones and living places, on wide expanses of wall or doubly hidden inside tiny chambers, caves within caves, secrets within secrets. . . . It suggests such things as intense rituals, ordeals, journeys underground for mystical reasons”.2

The caves of Lascaux, and others like them, suggest that our first human ancestors regarded religion as a fundamental dimension of art and art as a fundamental dimension of humanity. They suggest that art and religion spring from the same roots.

Art in the Christian Tradition In the Christian tradition God is understood as true, good and beautiful. Depending on God for our very existence, human beings need to experience something of God’s truth, goodness, and beauty if our lives are to have any meaning. As Saint Irenaeus puts it:

The glory of the Lord is the living human being, and the human being lives for the vision of God.

1 Jaroff, L. (1995 ). Window on the Stone Age. Time Magazine, 30 January, 80. 2 García-Rivera, A. (2003). A wounded innocence: Sketches for a theology of art. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 0814651127

Finite human creatures have the capacity for God – the ability to grow in intimacy with the infinite, transcendent Creator. One way in which we do this is by experiencing the truth, goodness and beauty of God that come to us through God’s creation and by reflecting these qualities in our own lives.

Over the centuries, many theologians have reflected on the truth and goodness of God – fewer Christian thinkers have taken time to consider God’s beauty and the ways in which human beings can come to know God and experience God’s love through an appreciation of all that is beautiful.

Nevertheless, within the Catholic tradition, there is a long held appreciation that human art can express something of what the Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, describes as the glory of being and the mystery of Otherness. Serious artistic expressions will always include both human and divine elements.

Yet mindful that the human horrors of the twentieth century – including two world wars, the Holocaust, nuclear destruction, ethnic cleansing, and ecological damage – have shaken humanity’s confidence not only in truthfulness and goodness, but also in the beautiful, von Balthasar gives the following warning:

No longer loved or fostered by religion, beauty is lifted from its face as a mask, and its absence exposes features on that face which threaten to become incomprehensible to man. We no longer dare to believe in beauty and we make of it a mere appearance in order the more easily to dispose of it . . . . We can be sure that whoever sneers at her name as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past – whether he admits it or not – can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love. 3

A number of commentators have suggested that some contemporary artists, art critics and philosophers have abandoned the conviction that art exists to serve the beautiful. Art has become more a self-conscious dialogue with its own history rather than the discovery of the beautiful.

Society tends to value the functional and the pragmatic rather than the truly beautiful – a perspective also apparent among many Christians. While some church buildings pay attention to the beautiful, many places of worship built in more recent times are less concerned with beauty than functionality.

The loss of the sense that human art has an intrinsic theological dimension is part of this failure to honour the truly beautiful. Most people have forgotten that human art has its origin in God’s own art, the natural beauty of Creation. Few are confident in their belief that men and women participate in that natural beauty – firstly, because they are created by God, and, secondly, because they have the ability to contemplate God’s art. Few take time to glimpse their own beauty in the context of the beauty of God’s work.

3 Balthasar, H. U. v. (1982). The glory of the Lord: A theological aesthetics. Vol. 1, Seeing the form (E. Leiva-Merikakis., Trans.). Edinburgh: T. E. T. Clark. 0567093239

The fact that our age has failed to recognise that the experience of the beautiful is a complex, intrinsically communal experience that cannot be easily categorised has also contributed towards the crisis in contemporary art. For example, the obviously beautiful moves the heart, but the apparently grotesque and unattractive can also reveal beauty. The experience of the beautiful is more than a private experience between an individual and a work of art – it also has an intrinsically communal dimension.

To see beauty in the grotesque and unattractive – for example, in the suffering flesh of a crucified man – requires a communal understanding, one that recognises that beauty and hope shine through the suffering of this world. Christian theology, which comes to us through the community that is the Church, sees hope in the face of the crucified Jesus and in the most tragic depictions of the human condition. Without the communal dimension of art, artistic depictions of suffering tend towards meaninglessness, despair, cynicism, or sadism.

The current angst in art, brought about by the loss of conviction that the beautiful exists, highlights the need to develop a much stronger relationship between art and theology. Art needs theology and theology needs art. Art is capable of teaching theology to “see”. Theology can guide and encourage art to look for the beautiful in the depths of the human mystery. It can also help art to restore its communal dimension, enabling the beautiful to shine through the violence and pain of this world.

John Paul II – Letter to Artists The most insightful recent statement by the Church on the relationship between theology and art is John Paul II’s Letter to Artists (1999), which can be downloaded from the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va

In this document, John Paul II acknowledges that while modern religious thought has often pointed to truth and goodness as attributes of the divine, it has been less attentive to beauty. Yet, for the ancient philosophers, as well as for the Church over many centuries, beauty has been recognised as revealing the truth of things – the truth of things that always points towards the one Truth, who is God. John Paul sees beauty as a pathway to God, and the artist, in creating beautiful things, as someone who can lead us to God.

John Paul II is not opposed to modern trends in art. However, he recognises that artistic forms and expressions can easily become corrupted by nihilism, proclaiming the utter meaningless of life. In his Letter to Artists, John Paul appeals to artists to rediscover the dignity of the artistic vocation, which has to do with beauty, which has to do with truth and goodness – which have to do with God.

Links with the Student Text

Something to Discuss Here students are asked to read through a list of the different things that art, architecture and music are capable of expressing. They are asked to identify particular works of art, buildings or pieces of music that fulfil any of these functions.

Art, architecture and music can:

• show us something of what God is like • be a way to human freedom • remind us of the infinite scope of the human imagination • be signs of hope • be sources of comfort for the suffering and the oppressed • fill the empty spaces in our homes, workplaces, routines, and lives • provide an escape from the present moment • give an insight into other times and other cultures • celebrate the human body and human desire

To stimulate students’ responses, the teacher may find it helpful to have at hand images of works of art and architecture, and recordings of music that fulfil some of the listed functions. Students may choose to focus on the various works of art around the school, in the local community, or even in their homes. The school’s library and art department will be important resources.

The teacher may find it useful to draw students’ attention to a particular well- known work of art and get the class to brainstorm about it.

Answers will vary from student to student.

Something to Think About Here students are asked to consider other aspects of human experience (those not listed above) that great works of art, great buildings or great pieces of music express. Possible answers include:

• political ideas and social attitudes • a desire to challenge and shock • a search for the new • the love of truth and / or beauty • a delight in technique

Task One This task asks students to explain in their own words what John Paul II is saying in this passage from his Letter to Artists.

life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece. (John Paul II – Letter to Artists, 1 and 2)

Key ideas in the passage include:

• God is “the divine Artist” – the source of all wisdom and creativity • Human beings are invited to share in God’s creative power • Human beings have the responsibility to shape their own lives so that they become “God’s work of art” (see Ephesians 2:10).

Task Two Here students are asked to consider how the following passage from the Old Testament helps explain the Jewish ban on visual representations of God:

. . . you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:3-6)

The Hebrew Scriptures regarded the visual representation of God as idolatry and did not allow human artists to make images of the divine out of materials such as wood, clay, stone or metal. Christianity, however, established a tradition of representing Jesus Christ – fully God and fully human – in its art.

Something to Do Here students are asked to choose one of the famous works of Christian art, architecture or music listed below and find out more about it:

• The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris (built between 1163 and1350) • Andre Rublev’s icon of the Trinity (around 1410) • The Pietà (1499) by Michelangelo • Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (built between 1506 and1626) • The Saint Matthew Passion (1729) by J. S. Bach

The point of this activity is not to get students to do a major project on their chosen work but to introduce them to researching aspects of Christian art, architecture and music. Search engines on the Internet provide many useful websites. The school library will also be useful.

Something to Think About Here students are asked to name other world-famous examples of Christian art, architecture or music.

This activity provides student with an opportunity to preview the material that appears in the following sections of the 12G Student Text.

Answers will vary from student to student.

Task Three Here students are asked to focus on one of the common themes of Christian art, architecture and music:

• The Creation • Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity • Jesus' Baptism, Adult Life and Ministry • Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Jesus’ Suffering and Death • Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension • The Holy Spirit and the Birth of the Church • Mary and the Saints • The Last Judgement

They are asked to find as many examples as they can of works of art, architecture or music that are linked to their chosen theme. Search engines on the Internet provide many useful websites and the school library will also be useful.

Something to Think About Here students are asked to consider whether there are any features that these examples of works on their chosen theme have in common.

Answers will vary from students to student depending on which common theme and which particular works of art, architecture or music they have chosen to deal with.

It is important for the teacher to emphasise that particular works of Christian art, architecture or music (whatever their theme) will usually:

• Use details from the Scriptures (especially the Gospels) and from Christian tradition • Present a particular Christian theme in the context of their own time, place and circumstances

Extension Activity Here students are asked to design a collage of images or sounds around their chosen theme based on the material they have found.

Students may work individually, in pairs or in small groups.

Task Four As students work through the following sections of the topic, they will learn more about the long tradition of Christian art, architecture and music. As they do so, students will find out about many important works of art, architecture and music and about the people and circumstances which produced them.

This task invites students to construct a timeline. On it they should indicate important dates, people, events, movements and works in the development of Christian art, architecture and music. Students should illustrate their timeline with appropriate images.

Teacher Resource: Major Periods of Church Architecture

300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

Byzantine

Romanesque

Gothic

Renaissance

Reformation

Baroque/Rococo

Modern

PART TWO: THE EARLY CHURCH

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council.

Church Teachings

The Origins of Christian Art

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section of the topic students will:

• Reflect on themes and images in early Christian art. • Explain aspects of early anti-Christian graffiti. • Show how the celebration of the Eucharist was organised in private houses. • Identify musical aspects of early Christian worship that remain important today.

Teacher Background

Images in Early Christianity Although the early Christians regarded the Hebrew Scriptures as divinely inspired and included them in the Bible as the Old Testament, Christian attitudes towards religious art were very different from those of the Jews. Judaism prohibited the pictorial representation of God, and, because of a fear of idolatry, was very suspicious of representational religious art. Texts such as Exodus 20:3-6 condemned the making and worshipping of idols – objects made by human hands, containing no divine essence and incapable of representing the divine:

However, key events in the Old Testament – the creation of the world, the “fall” of Adam and Eve, and the story of Moses leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt and receiving the Ten Commandments from God – together with the later writings that told of the life of Jesus Christ and of his followers, the Apostles, came to form the source material for much Christian art.

For the early Christians visual art was much less important than Scripture, and many early Christians – perhaps under Jewish influence – had no place for visual art. Clement, the bishop of Alexandria, who died around 215, told his community that although Christians were forbidden to make idols, as the pagans did, they were allowed to make signs, such as a fish or a ship, to indicate ownership or as a signature. Clement also allowed other images, for example, the dove or the anchor. The dove was a symbol of the Christian in the world:

See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

But Christianity, as it spread throughout the Mediterranean area and into Europe, also adopted and adapted ideas and artistic influences from the Graeco-Roman world, where it was acceptable to make visual images of the gods and their deeds. The emerging Christian Church went against Judaism's prohibition regarding images of the divine, and Jesus Christ – fully human and fully God – became the central focus of Christian art. The very existence of Christian art became a fundamental characteristic of Christianity.

Catacomb Art The earliest surviving Christian art is found in the Roman catacombs – elaborate underground chambers in which the Christian communities buried their dead. The Roman catacombs and the chapel at Dura-Europos, on the Euphrates, show that even before Constantine, Christians had evolved certain visual traditions.

There is some uncertainty as to the date of the earliest catacomb paintings, but according to current opinion, it seems that the earliest Christian catacombs and their wall-paintings – carried out in fresco and tempera – probably date from the third century. This visual material is relatively small- scale and the subjects chosen for representation tend to be those appropriate to private tombs. While there is an emphasis on hope and comfort, images of Jesus’ Crucifixion, which later became a central feature of Christian art, are rare in the catacombs. At this point in the Church’s history, the direct portrayal of Christ's own violent death seemed less suggestive of hope than other images that more generally symbolised protection and deliverance.

Old and New Testament images dealing with deliverance from and triumph over death are found throughout the catacombs. These include the stories of Daniel in the lion's den, the three men in the furnace, and Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead. The story of Jonah was a special favourite, because he was swallowed by a fish for three days before being thrown up on to the shore. Christians saw in this story echoes of baptism and resurrection.

The shepherd was a familiar figure in Greek art, with the god Hermes sometimes being portrayed carrying a sheep or a ram. Pagan imagery was adapted by Christians to form the image of Christ the Good Shepherd – one of the most popular images among early Christians, occurring more than one hundred times in the catacombs as a whole. The shepherd represents care and protection, as suggested in Psalm 23; The Lord is my shepherd...

As well as representations of the Good Shepherd, the catacombs also contain depictions of other New Testament narratives, including the Annunciation and the Last Supper. In the earliest depictions of Jesus, he is young and beardless – the nimbus or halo does not appear until the fourth century.

House Worship of the Early Christians Until the conversion of Constantine in the fourth century, when the Church in Rome and elsewhere in the Empire began to enjoy imperial patronage, Christians commonly met and worshipped in private homes, accommodating their liturgies to the size and style of the houses where they gathered.

The Acts of the Apostles records that the followers of Jesus met together in the upper room of a house for prayer:

When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. (Acts 1:13-14)

Clement of Alexandria, who died around 215, also wrote of worshipping in a house. Referring to a group of catechumens who had just completed the probationary period before being admitted to full membership of the Church, Clement says:

The memory of the simple but impressive ceremonial is still fresh in their minds. As night was falling on Easter Eve they had gone to the house, which through the generosity of a wealthy member of the congregation had been placed at the disposal of the Church as a place of worship.

In the early years, especially during times of persecution, it was desirable for the setting of worship, the sacraments and teaching to be inconspicuous. As was the case with other religions, spaces may have been rented in tenements or public buildings. It is likely that the large family homes of wealthier members of the Christian community were partially or wholly put at the disposal of the community.

Growing opposition from the Jewish authorities increased the importance of the domus ecclesiae or “house for gathering or assembly”. House-churches do not appear to have been given any special sanctity by the performance of religious rites in them, and there is no evidence of the existence of Christian religious art in them until the end of the second century.

Features typical of large Roman houses were:

• A main entrance from the street into the narthex or vestibule. • An atrium or large pillared hall with a tank of water or impluvium in the middle – the atrium was either open to the sky or lit by skylights. • Continuing along the main axis there was a room called the tablinum which was generally up a step or two but entirely open to the atrium. The tablinum had lean-to structures either side separated by columns or low walls. At the entrance to the tablinum always stood a stone table, the cartibulum. The tablinum housed the sacred fire and the household gods, and its side-rooms held the family trophies and memorials.

This type of building suited the requirements of the growing urban Christian community well.

• The narthex or vestibule became the place where the catechumens – those seeking baptism – gathered. • The pillared atrium was where full members of the Christian community assembled. • The impluvium or tank of water was used for baptism. • The bishop would sit in a large chair in the raised tablinum and preside at the celebration of the Eucharist using the stone table or cartibulum as an altar.

In Rome alone there are at least eighteen churches that according to tradition originated as house-churches that were handed over to Christian communities for their use. These include San Clemente, said to have been the palace of Titus Flavius Clemens, who was executed in 96 for 'superstition', and his wife Domitilla, who was exiled.

What appear to have been house-churches can still be seen in Rome, but they are not complete enough to indicate with any certainty how different rooms were used.

Dura Europos A private house in Dura Europos in present-day Syria which was excavated by archaeologists in the nineteen-twenties is the earliest surviving example of a domus ecclesiae.

Dura Europos was a Roman garrison town located at the edge of the Persian Empire. In 256 AD, when the Persians laid siege to it, the desperate inhabitants attempted to defend their town by piling mounds of dirt against the walls. In doing so, houses next to the west wall were buried and, thus, preserved until uncovered almost one thousand seven hundred years later.

Three of the covered homes had been renovated for use as religious buildings. One had become a Mithraeum, dedicated to the worship of the god Mithras. Another had undergone structural modifications to become a Jewish synagogue. The third home had been converted to a Christian church, with

one small room serving as the baptistry. This house was well hidden in a cluster of other similar houses, and its appearance remained exactly that of a private house even after its transformation into a Christian church. The Christians in the third century had every reason not to make their house of prayer conspicuous.

An examination of this building reveals much about early Christian liturgy. Artwork on the walls of the baptistry feature early Christian themes put there to impress the catechumens at their baptism. Images depicted include various miracles of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, Christ walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee, and the Resurrection. Painted little more than a hundred years after the writings of the New Testament were completed, such images linked the members of the Dura Europos house church to other Christian communities, already well- scattered.

Music in Early Christian Life and Worship During its first two or three centuries, the Christian Church absorbed some features from the music of Greece and from the mixed Oriental-Hellenistic societies around the eastern Mediterranean. However, Christians rejected the idea of cultivating music purely for enjoyment, and opposed types of music connected with great public spectacles such as festivals, competitions, and dramatic performances, as well as the music of more intimate social occasions. It was not that leaders of the Church disliked the music itself, but that they wanted to wean converts away from everything associated with their pagan past, even banning, for a time, all instrumental music.

Music historians long held that the ancient Christians modelled their worship services on those of the Jewish synagogue. Scholars now believe that Church and synagogue liturgies developed independently. Indeed, the early Christians may have deliberately avoided imitating Jewish services so as to highlight the distinct character of their own beliefs and rituals. The religious functions of the early synagogue differed greatly from those of the Jewish Temple. The second Temple of Jerusalem, which existed on the site of the original Temple of Solomon from 539 BC until its destruction by the Romans in 70 AD, was a place for public worship. The service consisted mainly of a ritual sacrifice, usually of a lamb, performed by priests, assisted by Levites – including musicians – and witnessed by lay Israelite citizens. Depending on the occasion, priests, and even lay worshippers, ate some of the “burned” animal. These sacrifices were celebrated twice daily, with additional services on Sabbaths and festivals. In the course of the ritual, a choir of at least twelve Levites sang a psalm specific for each day of the week, accompanied by stringed instruments. On important festivals, such as the eve of Passover, Psalms 113 to 118, which have Alleluia refrains, were sung while people offered their personal sacrifices; a wind instrument joined the string accompaniment. Individuals also prayed at the Temple, but most prayer was done at home or outdoors while facing in the direction of the Temple.

There are obvious parallels between the Temple sacrifice and the Christian Mass, which is a sacramental re-presentation of Christ’s sacrificial death on

the cross. But insofar as the Mass also commemorates the Last Supper, it imitates the festive Jewish Passover meal, which was accompanied by music in the form of psalm singing.

The synagogue was a centre for readings and homilies rather than sacrifice or prayer. There, at meetings or services, the Hebrew Scriptures were read and discussed. Certain readings were assigned to ordinary Sabbath mornings and to market days of Monday and Thursday, while readings proper to the occasion were required on pilgrimage festivals, minor festivals, fast days, and days of the new moon. After the destruction of the Temple, the synagogue service incorporated elements that substituted for the Temple sacrifices, but these developments probably occurred too late in the first and second centuries to serve as models for the Christians. What the Christian liturgy does owe to the synagogue is the practice of readings specific to a calendar and public commentary upon them in a meeting house.

Music and the Spread of Christianity As the early Church spread from Jerusalem through Asia Minor and westward into Africa and Europe, it continued to pick up musical elements from diverse areas. For example, the monasteries and churches of Syria were important in the development of psalm singing and the use of hymns. Both of these types of church song spread from Syria by way of Byzantium to Milan in Italy and to other Western centres. Hymn singing is the earliest recorded musical activity of the Christian Church (see Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). Pliny the Younger, the governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, in about the year 112, reported the Christian custom of singing “a song to Christ as if to a god”. He associated the Christians' singing with the act of binding themselves to their faith by an oath.

Links with the Student Text

Something to Think About Here students are asked to imagine that they have been commissioned to create a visual image or piece of music based on the theme of Jesus the Good Shepherd and using ideas and images from Psalm 23. They are asked to consider which ideas and images they would choose to emphasise.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

The purpose of this activity is to enable students to recognise that Christian artists and musicians – like their secular counterparts – are faced with decisions about what they will present and how they will do so.

Answers will vary from student to student, but once again, it is helpful to remind students that Christian artists and musicians, while relying on details from the Scriptures (especially the Gospel) and from Christian tradition, will present a particular Christian theme – such as Jesus the Good Shepherd – in the context of their own time, place and circumstances.

Task Five Here students are asked to study the graffito of “Alexamenos worshipping his god” and to answer the following questions.

a) Which figure is Alexamenos? b) Which figure is Alexamenos’ god? c) What is happening to the god of Alexamenos? d) Do you think Alexamenos is depicted as a Christian? Explain your answer. e) Who do you think might have scratched this graffito on the wall of a Roman bath-house?

The original graffito is housed at the Palatine Antiquarium, Rome. It is the most interesting and most widely celebrated graffito in a set discovered in 1857. The significance of this graffito is the portrayal (or caricature) of early Christianity by the average Roman. It obviously mocks a Christian, suggesting that his worship of Jesus Christ is ill founded. The human figure with the ass head on the cross is presumably Jesus, which may represent the old calumny against Jews that they worshipped an ass. Jesus appears to be tied to the cross, with his feet resting on a horizontal piece of board. To the left of the cross is the figure of the Christian youth Alexamenos, with his right arm raised in adoration of his crucified God.

The text of the graffito, which is Greek, reads:

ALEXAMENOS SEBETE QEON (THEON)

This is translated literally as: “Alexamenos worship God.”

The verb SEBETE is plural, suggesting that Alexamenos is being mocked for what Christians as a group do.

Task Six The early Christians worshipped, not in church buildings, but in the private homes of Christians – the floor plan of a typical Roman House appears in the student text and on the following pages.

This task requires students to identify on the floor plan of a typical Roman house, where they would arrange a celebration of the Eucharist for about fifty people on a fine day.

The largest area in the house was the peristyle – it was here that Eucharist for about fifty people (on a fine day) would be celebrated. A table would be appropriately placed – probably central with everyone able to encircle it.

In Roman architecture a peristyle is a colonaded porch or open colonade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden.

Dating from about 250, the earliest known church building is a Greek peristyle house in Dura-Europos, Syria. Suitable for a congregation of no more than sixty, this was a private home converted to liturgical use though it was devoid of decorations or architectural distinction.

In Christian church architecture that developed from Roman styles, a basilica, such as Old Saint Peter's in Rome, would stand behind a peristyle forecourt that sheltered it from the street. In time the cloister developed from the peristyle.

Teacher Resource

Floor Plan: Typical Roman House

Teacher Resource

BAKE SHOP HOUSE OFFICE SHOP SHOP WAGON SHED SHED WAGON

OVEN ALA SHOP OR CUBICULAE KITCHEN RECEPTION WING

ALA ROOM EXEDRAE OR WING PERISTYLE SHOP ATRIUM PORTICO

OECUS OR XYSTUS OR GARDEN PROTHYRUM TABLINUM IMPLUVIUM RECEPTION ROOM

SHOP IMPLUVIUM FAUCES GARDENER WINTER ALA TRILINIUM CUBICULAE OR SHOP WING DINING ROOM DINING OR TRICLUNIUM SEPARATE HOUSE SEPARATE HOUSE SHOP SEPARATE HOUSE

Floor Plan: Typical Roman House 45

Something to Discuss Here students are asked to identify some of the problems regarding behaviour during the celebration of the Eucharist that Saint Paul spoke of in his first letter to the Church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:17-22) and to consider what similar problems still arise today.

Paul points out at least three major problems that emerged when the Church in Corinth gathered together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper:

The first problem Paul identifies is that of divisions within the Church. People had differing opinions and demanded their own way, thus disrupting the unity of the Church.

The second problem Paul points out is that of selfishness. When he says that each person goes ahead without waiting for anybody else, he reveals how selfish and self-centred they had become. In the early church, the Lord’s Table was often a part of a larger feast – the agape meal (from the Greek for God’s love). At this meal, some people grabbed the food without waiting for others to get their share, taking it all for themselves. Some people were going hungry, others were getting drunk.

The third problem Paul points out is the problem of irreverence – showing contempt for the church of God.

The problems that Paul speaks of – divisions within the Christian community, selfishness and irreverence – still arise today.

Task Seven Here students are asked to identify three musical aspects of early Christian worship that remain important features of Christian liturgy today.

These are:

• The singing of psalms (a tradition that arose from the Jewish custom of singing psalms at important Jewish festivals, especially the feast of Passover) • The singing of the Alleluia (from the Jewish custom of singing Psalms 113 to 118 – all of which have Alleluia refrains) • The singing of hymns (following the practice of Jesus and his disciples who sang hymns on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was to be arrested – see Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26)

Something to Think About The early Church opposed the idea that music was purely for enjoyment and regarded some music (that associated with pagan festivals and practices) as unacceptable for use in Christian worship. The Church today continues to regard certain types of music as inappropriate for the celebration of the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates the criteria for appropriate liturgical music:

PART THREE: THE CHURCH GOES PUBLIC

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council.

Church Teachings

Art, Architecture and Music following the Legalisation of Christianity

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section of the topic students will:

• Explain why fourth century Christians began worshipping in public buildings. • Define and locate features typical of basilicas. • Present reasons put forward by Christian writers for and against the use of music in Christian life and worship.

Teacher Background

The Official Recognition of Christianity Following the official recognition, in 313, of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine, and the later establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Empire, the character and status of Christian art changed and developed. Under these early Christian emperors, the Roman Empire was centred on the city of Constantinople (now the Turkish city of Istanbul), founded by Constantine in 324. The original name of Constantinople was Byzantium, which gives the state and its rulers the name by which scholars refer to it today – Byzantium, or the Byzantine Empire.

In its early years, the Byzantine Empire included most of the territory around the Mediterranean. Changing political events and the personal circumstances of successive emperors meant that the administrative centre of the Empire shifted several times during the early phases of the development of Byzantium, with the result that the major monuments of early Christian art

from this period are found in several centres besides Constantinople, including the Italian cities of Milan and Ravenna.

The Need for Buildings for Public Worship Before the fourth century, there was no such thing as Christian architecture – the early Christians used any convenient structure for community worship.

However, with Constantine’s conversion and the change in Christianity’s status within the Empire, increasing numbers of people became Christians. Ceremonies became more elaborate, lasted longer and were more frequent. The unassuming and often secret meeting places that had been used for Christian worship in earlier times were no longer suitable. There was a need to construct larger and more sophisticated buildings for public worship.

The temple style of building was clearly unsuitable for Christian liturgy, not only because of its pagan associations, but also because pagan sacrifices occurred outdoors under the open sky in the sight of the gods with the temple serving as a back-drop. However, the architecture of the traditional Roman basilicas could be successfully adopted for buildings where Christians worshipped.

The first purpose-built churches, still recognisable today around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, were constructed in the style of basilica, the rectangular halls, colonnaded, with an elevated bema at one end, used by the Romans for public buildings such as tribunals or courts of law.

Traditional Roman Basilicas Roman basilicas were large roofed halls erected for transacting business and disposing of legal matters. Such buildings usually contained interior colonnades that divided the space, giving aisles or arcaded spaces at one or both sides, with an apse at one end, or less often at each end, where the magistrates sat, often on a slightly raised dais. The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, so that light could penetrate through the clerestory windows.

The oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, was built in Rome in 184 BC. Other early examples include the one at Pompeii which was established late in the second century BC. The most splendid Roman basilica was constructed during the reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and completed by Constantine after 313. Constantine first built his own basilica – later very easily adopted for use as a church by exchanging the imperial throne for an altar – in his palace complex at Trier.

The First Christian Basilicas The term basilica was first applied by Christians to the new Roman churches which Constantine established. These featured a centre nave with one aisle at each side and an apse at one end where the bishop and priests sat on a raised platform.

As early as 313, Constantine gave his old imperial palace of the Lateran to Militiades (reigned 311-314). Next to this he built a basilica, Saint John Lateran, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome. Constantine then arranged for the building of a basilica over Saint Peter’s tomb. He was also responsible for basilicas at Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Antioch and other Christian centres.

Basilicas of this type were built not only in Western Europe but in Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Palestine. Early examples of the architectural basilica are the sixth century Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, the fifth century church of Saint Elias at Thessalonica, and two great basilicas at Ravenna.

The first basilicas with transepts were built under the orders of Constantine in Rome and Constantinople. Around 380, Saint Gregory Nazianzen, describing Constantine’s Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, pointed out its resemblance to a cross. Because the cult of the cross was spreading at about the same time, this comparison was viewed very favourably.

A typical Christian basilica of the fourth or fifth century stood behind its entirely enclosed atrium or forecourt ringed with a colonnade or arcade. This forecourt was entered from outside through a range of buildings along the public street. This was the architectural ground-plan of Old Saint Peter's in Rome, until it was pulled down in the fifteenth century to make way for the present building.

In most basilicas the central nave is taller than the aisles, forming a row of windows called a clerestory. Some basilicas in the Near East have a central nave only slightly higher than the two aisles and a single pitched roof covering all three. The result is a much darker interior. This plan is known as the "oriental basilica."

Gradually in the early Middle Ages there emerged the massive Romanesque churches, which still retained the fundamental plan of the basilica.

The Church Fathers’ Attitudes Towards Music Following the legalisation of Christianity and its adoption as the official religion of the Roman Empire, influential Christian thinkers set down guidelines for the use of music within the Church. Some – Saint Basil (330-379) and Saint John Chrysostom (347-407) – wrote in Greek; others – Saint Ambrose (339-397), Saint Augustine (354-430), and Saint Jerome (345-420) – wrote in Latin.

These and other Christian thinkers believed that the importance of music lay in its power not only to inspire divine thoughts but also to influence, for good or evil, the character of its listeners. Philosophers and Church leaders did not consider that music was of value in itself because of any delight produced by the play of sounds. Rather, music existed to remind the listener of the divine and perfect beauty that belonged to God alone. Beautiful music that inspired only self-centred enjoyment was to be rejected.

Music was the servant of religion, and was of value only if it opened a person’s mind to Christian teachings and holy thoughts. On these grounds, instrumental music was initially excluded from public worship, though the faithful were allowed to use a lyre (a type of string instrument) for accompanying hymns and psalms in their homes and on informal occasions. The ban on instrumental music was difficult to justify since the Old Testament, especially the Book of Psalms, is full of references to the psaltery, harp, organ, and other musical instruments.

Excluding certain kinds of music from early church worship also had practical motives. The first converts associated elaborate singing, large choruses, instruments, and dancing with pagan spectacles. Until the pleasure attached to such music could somehow be transferred from the theatre and the marketplace to the church, music was distrusted.

While Saint Ambrose was proud to say, “Some claim that I have ensnared the people by the melodies of my hymns – I do not deny it,” some Church leaders despised music and tended to regard all art and culture as hostile to religion. Others, however, not only defended pagan art and literature but found themselves so deeply touched by them that they actually feared the pleasure they experienced in listening to music, even in church.

Music was an important concern of Saint Augustine, who in 387 began a treatise, On Music, completing six books during his lifetime. In his Confessions Saint Augustine expressed the ambivalence towards music that was common among Christians of the time:

When I remember the tears I shed at the psalmody of the Church, when I first recovered my faith, and how even now I am moved, not by the singing, but by what is sung, when it is sung with a clear voice and apt melody, I then acknowledge the great usefulness of this custom. Thus I hesitate between dangerous pleasure and approved wholesomeness, though I am inclined to approve of the use of singing in the church (yet I would not pronounce an irrevocable opinion upon the subject), so that the weaker minds may be stimulated to devout thoughts by the delights of the ear. Yet when I happen to be moved more by the singing than by what is sung, I confess to have sinned grievously, and then wish I had not heard the singing. See the state I am in! Weep with me, and weep for me, you who can control your inward feeling to good effect. As for those of you who do not react this way, this is not a concern of yours. But Thou, O Lord my God, listen, behold and see, and have mercy upon me and heal me – Thou, in whose sight I have become a problem to myself; and this is my weakness. (Confessions 10:33)

Links with the Student Text

Task Eight This task asks students to explain why in the fourth century Christians stopped celebrating the Eucharist in private houses and began worshipping in public buildings instead.

With the conversion of Constantine and the subsequent establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Empire, many more people wanted to become Christians. It was no longer practical for Christians to celebrate the Eucharist in private houses – much bigger public buildings where large numbers of people could assemble were needed.

In some cities, Christian leaders or governors donated local court houses or halls of justice for Christian worship. Soon these buildings, called basilicas, were being specially built for use as churches in Rome and throughout the Empire.

Something to Discuss Here students are asked to read for themselves or to listen to the script of From House to Basilica being read. The photocopy original for this is on the following page of the Teacher Guide.

In a small group they should discuss the following questions:

a) What aspects of worship are emphasised in house liturgies? b) What aspects of worship are emphasised in liturgies held in a basilica?

The aspects of worship emphasised in the house liturgies include:

• Intimacy, informality, warmth, personal friendship, the value of the human

The aspects of worship emphasised in the liturgies held in basilicas include:

• Pageantry, glory, formality, the grandeur and majesty of God, unity of belief, the universal character of Christianity, identity with the faith of many

Task Nine The following terms all describe features of a basilica:

apse atrium bema cathedra clerestory narthex nave transept

Students are required to:

a) Write definitions for each of these features. b) Locate the features on the various plans and illustrations of basilicas in this chapter of the student text or on the photocopy master provided.

Teacher Resource

From House to Basilica

Worshipping God in Grandeur: A 4th Century Challenge

For background: Basilica was the name for a style of Roman building used as courts of justice and places of public assembly. This secular architectural form played a large role in shaping the common western view of what a church building should look like.

Floor Plan of a Basilica

The characters:

Deacon Philip Bishop Thomas

Deacon Philip: Have you heard the news, Bishop Thomas? The government is donating a local court house to us for use as a church.

Bishop Thomas: Yes, Deacon Philip, but I never thought I’d see the day when we would be using a basilica, of all things, as a place to worship God.

Deacon Philip: Our young liberals are quite excited by the idea. They say it is about time we had a way of introducing pageantry and glory into the worship of God.

Bishop Thomas: That’s true, Philip, but you can expect some trouble from the old guard in the Church. They have been worshipping God at home all their lives. They are not going to be too thrilled by this new way of doing things.

Deacon Philip: Some of it can hardly be avoided, Bishop. Ever since Constantine granted freedom of religion, there has been a massive increase in our Church population. Sheer numbers alone demand some larger gathering place.

Bishop Thomas: I’m with you on that, Philip, but I can foresee that something beautiful will be lost if we move completely away from the old-fashioned home Liturgies. Once we get into the basilica, we are going to get more formal. The old sense of intimacy and friendship will fade away. I’m sorry to say it, but the new worship will be an event in which most of the participants will be strangers to one another.

Deacon Philip: But everybody will be united in the same belief.

Bishop Thomas: Granted, but believing the same Gospel is not the same as knowing the person beside you.

Deacon Philip: Bishop, you said something beautiful would be lost, but won’t you admit something magnificent will be gained by moving to public Liturgy?

Bishop Thomas: Well, yes, Philip, that’s true. In that great hall, with an immense throng before the high altar, all of us will be inclined to sense the grandeur of God. The basilica gathering will teach us about God’s majesty.

Deacon Philip: I think it will also help Christians experience themselves as part of a larger gathering. The narrow confines of a home Liturgy have a way of obscuring the universal character of Christianity.

Bishop Thomas: No quarrel with that, Philip. With home Liturgy, people tend to close in on their own little groups. Basilica worship should help them identify with the whole Church. Remember that we, the ‘light of nations’, must not hide our lamps under a bushel . . . .

Deacon Philip: Probably house Liturgies will die out within a few generations.

Bishop Thomas: I hope they don’t. The home Liturgy preserves something the Church will always need, the feeling of personal friendship that is central to the Eucharist. I think the Church is big enough for both kinds of Liturgy. One highlights the value of the human. The other extols the grandeur of God.

Deacon Philip: Without home Liturgy, we may lose the message of friendship implicit in the Eucharistic celebration. Without basilica Liturgy, we could lose our sense of identity with the faith of many. Each form of worship has a role to play. God grant that our future allows for both kinds.

Bishop Thomas: There is a time for everything, a time for hearthside warmth, a time for breathtaking majesty. Our God is both friend and Lord. The two styles of Liturgy, Philip, will help you and me remember that.

Adapted from: The Story of the Church, by Alfred McBride, pp. 18-19 St Anthony Messenger Press, 1983

Apse – a semi-circular area opposite the end which formed the main entrance of the basilica.

Atrium – a forecourt, surrounded by a covered walkway, through which people entered the main entrance of the basilica.

Bema – a raised platform in front of the apse, and running the length of the transept, upon which the altar was positioned.

Cathedra – the bishop’s seat, positioned in the apse behind the altar on either side of which were arranged seats for the priests or presbyters.

Clerestories – windows for lighting purposes in the wall of the middle nave above the slanting roof of the side naves.

Narthex – the back portion of the church at the entrance end, frequently separated from the rest of the church by a balustrade, that was for catechumens and the excommunicated.

Naves – the main areas of the basilica (usually three but up to five), often with aisles either side marked by a series of columns.

Transept – an intersecting aisle that crossed the east end of the nave, forming a Latin Cross.

Task Ten Here students are asked to imagine they are an important Christian writer who has been commissioned to investigate reasons for and against the use of music in Christian life and worship. They should list the ideas that they would present: Reasons for the use of music include:

• Beautiful music points to the perfect beauty of God • Music is able to open a person’s mind to Christian teaching and holy thoughts

Reasons against the use of music include:

• Music is capable of inspiring self-centred enjoyment • The strong emotions aroused by music can lead to evil

Teacher Resource

Floor Plan: Roman Basilica

Teacher Resource

AISLE

NARTHEX NARTHEX BEMA APSE ATRIUM NAVE

AISLE

Floor Plan: Roman Basilica 57

PART FOUR: BYZANTINE ART, ARCHITECTURE AND MUSIC

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council.

Church Teachings

The Icon Controversy

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section of the topic students will:

• Explain why the conversion of Constantine was important for the development of Christian art and worship. • Recognise arguments that were put forward during the icon controversy for and against the veneration of icons. • Give reasons why the bishops came out in support of the veneration of icons at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). • Reflect on features of Byzantine art and music.

Teacher Background

Mosaics Much of the most significant Christian art of the Byzantine period takes the form of mosaics used to decorate the major new Christian churches built by Constantine and the Christian emperors who followed him. The most outstanding of these include the huge church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), established in Constantinople by Emperor Justinian, and the churches of Saint Apollinare and Saint Vitalis in Ravenna, Italy.

The art in these churches differs significantly from the catacomb paintings in both form and content. It is large-scale, monumental, and authoritative, often linking Christian themes and motifs with official and imperial imagery. Yet like the catacomb paintings, the decoration in the Byzantine churches rejects the image of the crucified Christ which was later to dominate western European Christianity.

The central image in Byzantine churches tended to be that of the blessing Christ, placed in the inside of the dome over the centre of the church, or in the curved apse of the sanctuary. In Saint Vitalis, the blessing Christ over the altar is approached by the patron saint of the church, Vitale, and by the church's founder, Bishop Ecclesius, each of whom receives a crown of virtue from Christ. Below the Christ mosaic, to left and right, are framed mosaic panels depicting processions including the Emperor Justinian and his wife, the Empress Theodora. The Emperor Justinian (in the centre, wearing the imperial crown) is accompanied by members of his court and the military. Although the image of the Emperor Justinian is frontal, facing outwards, parallel to the picture plane, there are suggestions that the procession moves from left to right, towards the altar, as though taking part in church ceremonial. The soldiers at the far left of the image are turned to the right, and the figures, who stand between them and the Emperor, lean to the right. The Emperor's hands, with the offering of gold plate that he is making to the church, point to the right, where we see Bishop Maximianus (labelled by the inscription above his head) and his religious attendants. The slight turn of the bodies of these figures, and the gesturing hand of the person on the far right, lead the observer's eye to the right, towards the altar.

The other feature which early Christian art absorbed from imperial Rome was the trappings of the court. In iconographic terms, it is tempting to speak of a "conversion of Christianity" to a wholesale embrace of Roman and specifically imperial concepts and images. Settings became more theatrical, the imperial purple was used more and more for holy figures, and important personages were rendered bigger than anyone else, often larger than life-size. In the mausoleum of Galla Placida at Ravenna Jesus is no longer dressed as a shepherd, but mantled in a purple tunic with golden stripes as Jesus Pantocrator (the ruler of all). In other images at Ravenna he is shown receiving acclaim from the apostles as an emperor receives tribute from his subjects.

From the early fourth century on, the enthroned image of the Christian God suddenly becomes a central element of Christian iconography. This idea of introducing opulence generally into Christian art and into the Christian ideal was revolutionary, given the faith's earlier appeal to the poor and outcast. Slightly later than the introduction of the majesty of empire into Christian art, was the expansion of narrative. This might have occurred in the fourth century after the first basilicas began to be erected, providing more space on their walls, but a major development is evident in the fifth century. Narratives were strung together chronologically as they occurred in the scriptures, rather than thematically. It was in these narratives that much Christian iconography was worked out, based on a close reading of the new Latin Bible (Jerome's Vulgate).

These mosaics suggest that the earthly kingdom of the emperor in some way reflects the heavenly rule of Christ. Other major Byzantine churches make similar associations, depicting emperors in close contact with Christ. But this explicit inter-linking of Christian and imperial or royal imagery is not unique to the Byzantine emperors, and can be seen in different ways throughout

eastern and western Christianity. Rulers, kings, princes, and dukes are found in the company of the Virgin, Christ, and the saints, in small artworks designed for private prayer and contemplation as well as in large-scale public monuments. Such images were produced as a means of indicating donors’ own devotion, and, in the case of large-scale or public works, as a means of commemorating their piety and generosity in having such an artwork made.

Icons Besides the mosaics, the other significant art form found in Byzantine churches is the icon. Used generally, the term 'icon’ – which comes from the Greek word, eikon, meaning “image” – describes all sorts of images. More narrowly, the term refers to a painting on a panel, depicting a sacred subject, intended to be the focus of ritual or cultic veneration.

The earliest surviving icons date from the sixth century, although it is clear that they existed earlier than this. Despite the Old Testament prohibition on the veneration of images or idols, early Christian texts make it clear that icons were venerated by Christians from as early as 200.

This “cult of images” was most intense in the Byzantine Empire which may have been related to its relative proximity to Palestine. Pilgrims to the Holy Land often returned with relics or souvenirs of one kind or another. This practice gradually spread throughout the West. Icons also became more portable, suggesting they were used at home and when travelling, not just on tombs or in churches.

Some of the images were regarded as of miraculous origin and described as acheiropoietai, meaning “not made by human hands”.

As with the adaptation of Graeco-Roman images to create images of Jesus Christ, the veneration of icons was regarded by some Christians as the imitation of an essentially pagan practice. This veneration of icons, therefore, became extremely controversial. The visual form of Byzantine icons owes much to the tradition of Roman portrait painting which was characterised by an extraordinary degree of apparent realism. In icons, Christians believed that they saw a true and authentic likeness of the holy person portrayed there. However, despite this claim to historical accuracy, early icons of Christ seem to be based more upon a general facial type that had already become associated with the great male gods of ancient Greece and Egypt. The Greek father-god Zeus, and other similar divinities, were portrayed with long hair and a full beard, and this became the standard type for Christ also.

Certain other icons were regarded as being authentic portrait likenesses because they were painted from life, by an artist in direct contact with the holy person portrayed. It was widely believed, throughout the early Christian and medieval periods, that an icon of the Virgin, which resided in the monastery of the Hodegetria, near the church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople, was a contemporary portrait, painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. The icon kept there was known after the place in which it resided, and was called the Hodegetria icon or the Virgin Hodegetria. The original was lost after the

Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453, but is known from copies. These copies, and their relationship with the original, were regarded differently at this period from the ways in which copies and originals have been regarded in the modern history of art. A Byzantine viewer would have expected to see icons copied and replicated, and would have regarded a replica of the Hodegetria as a copy of the authentic original, thus retaining some of the authority of its model.

It was believed that the Hodegetria icon had been brought to Constantinople from Jerusalem, by the Empress Eudokia, wife of Emperor Theodosius II, in the middle of the fifth century. The icon was regarded as a portrait of the Mother of God, having been painted in the Holy Land by Saint Luke, during the lifetime of Christ and his mother. Thus Luke gained a status not just as a writer of one of the four gospels, but also as the first Christian artist. Artists found the idea of Saint Luke painting the Virgin an irresistible subject in itself, and many later artists, including El Greco, painted representations of the event.

The Controversy over Icons The very existence of religious images and icons and their veneration in a Christian context came under threat during the iconoclastic ('image-breaking') controversy of the eighth and ninth centuries, in which icons became the subject of fierce political and theological debate. During this controversy icons were systematically removed from churches and destroyed, before an imperial settlement of the question ruled in favour of the existence and veneration of icons.

During the most bitter stages of the iconoclast campaign many images were destroyed, portable icons were burned, and murals and mosaics were whitewashed over or scraped off completely. Illuminated manuscripts were cut or otherwise mutilated, and liturgical plate was melted down. The damage was greater in Constantinople and elsewhere in Asia Minor than in other places. The iconoclasts certainly succeeded in reducing the quantity of Christian art, but they did not fulfil their aim to eradicate it entirely. There is some evidence that, as a result, mosaic techniques declined, as did the grasp of the human form among painters.

In the churches, instead of human figures, the iconoclasts preferred what they termed 'neutral' motifs – animals, birds, trees, and ivy. The iconophiles (the defenders of sacred images) replied that their opponents were turning God's house into a fruit shop.

Broadly speaking, the iconoclastic movement originated in the Old Testament prohibitions against the making of idols and against idolatry. The Byzantine Emperor Leo III (717-41) removed an icon of Christ that had been publicly displayed over a gate of the imperial palace, and promulgated an edict against icons in 726. His son Constantine V (741-75) continued Leo's stance, and churches were stripped of their sacred images.

The iconoclasts argued that that it was impossible to accurately represent Christ in icons because such images could only depict his human nature, not his divinity. The making and venerating of icons of Christ, therefore, threatened to separate his two natures. As well as this, the iconoclasts reasserted the dangers of idolatry, claiming that the making of icons might encourage people to worship material objects or images, rather than to direct their devotion to God, the proper recipient of worship.

Those who supported the making and use of icons, the 'iconophiles' (image- lovers) stressed that icons of Christ should be seen as a demonstration of Christ's human nature without detracting from his divine nature. In addition, they argued that icons allowed people to worship Christ through the icon. The Second Council of Nicaea, called by Empress Irene in 787, explained the position:

The veneration given to an icon is in effect transmitted to the one depicted in the image; the person who venerates the icon, venerates in it the reality for which it stands.

The Second Council of Nicaea supported the veneration of icons and the making of them, but the question was not yet resolved. In 813 Emperor Leo V revived the iconoclast position, but the Empress Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus (829-42) managed the final settlement of the controversy in 843 with an imperial edict in favour of icons and their use. Theodora's son Michael III (842-67) then restored the icon of Christ that Leo III had removed back to its position over the palace gate, and oversaw the production of icons for major public locations, including major mosaic icons of the Virgin and of the saints for the church of Holy Wisdom. After 843 icons became established as symbols of the identity of the Orthodox believer, and the belief in Saint Luke's production of the Hodegetria icon of the Virgin was one of the central planks of support for icons. The idea of Saint Luke as an artist as well as a writer promoted Christian images to a rank equivalent to that of the Christian gospel texts. It also offered unassailable support for the making of icons in that a saint of undeniable authority had confirmed that the making of icons of the Virgin and Christ was justifiable.

While it was agreed that Christians could depict figures who had actually appeared on earth – Christ himself, the apostles and saints, and even some angels who had 'manifested' themselves in human form on specific occasions (for example, the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation) – no attempt should be made to represent God the Father or the Trinity. A final important refinement was that any likeness must be 'identical as to person’ – they must be a true likeness, as shown for example, in a mirror. Artists were not free to use their imagination.

From this, it followed that traditional images could never be altered – nothing could be added or subtracted. By analogy, the same approach was applied to architecture and church decoration. Embellishment remained simple, with what the Byzantines called 'outside knowledge' being excluded. All that mattered, all that was allowed, was the central Christian drama – the birth,

mission, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. However, the Old Testament prophets were also permitted, since they had announced the Incarnation.

It was not only the faces of the Apostles that remained set. Scale and perspective continued to be ignored. The actual size of any one figure in a Byzantine image is derived from its importance in the story rather than its position in space. This is why Mary, for example, is always bigger than Joseph, and it helps explain why saints may be as big as or bigger than the mountains in the background. Colour was not treated so as to give an impression of distance and figures throw no shadows that might interrupt the serene harmony of the composition. What mattered instead was that all elements of the painting should be bathed equally in celestial light. But, because no change was allowed in iconography, the anonymous artists of Byzantium directed their creativity into an ever more flamboyant and ostentatious use of colour. Byzantine art was far richer in its palette than anything that had gone before, giving rise to pictures which glowed with spirituality, where the gold leaf and other expensive colours sparkled like jewels, real examples of which, in some cases, were encrusted into the images.

From the ninth century onwards, then, Christian art was firmly embedded within Christian doctrine and worship. The idea that religious images were generally both permissible and desirable was not to be seriously or universally challenged again. There would still be different attitudes towards the ways in which images should be used, and disagreements about the correct or appropriate forms of Christian art.

Even after the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, where reformers reacted against the perceived extravagance of Catholic artistic representations and what they saw as over-reliance on images at the expense of the Sacred Scripture, Christian art was abandoned completely only by a small minority of Christians.

Byzantine Music The finest and most characteristic examples of Byzantine music were the hymns. One important type is the kontakion, a poetic elaboration on a biblical text. The foremost exponent of kontakia was Saint Romanus the Melode, a converted Syrian Jew active at Constantinople in the first half of the sixth century. Other types of hymns originated when troparia, the short responses between verses of the psalms, were provided with melodies, possibly borrowed from Syria or Palestine. These insertions gradually increased in importance, and some of them eventually developed into independent hymns, of which there are two principal kinds: the stichera and the kanones. The stichera were sung between the verses of the ordinary Psalms of the Office. A kanon was an elaboration on the biblical canticles or odes – lyrical scriptural texts similar to psalms but occurring outside the Psalms:

• The Canticle of Moses after passing through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19) • The Canticle of Moses before dying (Deuteronomy 32:1-43)

• The Canticle of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10) • The Canticle of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:1-19) • The Canticle of Isaiah (Isaiah 26:7-19) • The Canticle of Jonah (Jonah 2:2-10) • The Canticle of Azariah in the furnace (Daniel 3:26-45) • The Canticle of the Three Young Men (Daniel 3:52-90) • The Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) • The Canticle of Zechariah – the Benedictus Dominus (Luke 1:68-79) • The Canticle of Simeon – The Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:29-32)

In the Byzantine Church all canticles were sung in the morning Office, except in Lent, when only three were used. The Western Church had one Old Testament canticle per day at Lauds, and all three New Testament canticles (Luke 1:46-55, 1:68-79, and 2:29-32) at Lauds, Vespers, and Compline every day.

Byzantine kanones were constructed according to a principle, common in all Eastern music and used in some Western chants as well, where melodies were created out of standard motifs or formulas used as building blocks. Some of the motifs suited the beginning, some the middle, and some the end of a melody, while others made good connecting links. Standard ornamental formulas called melismas were also used. It is not clear to what extent the individual singer could choose the formulas, or how much a "composer" fixed them in advance. By the time the melodies came to be written down in manuscripts, however, the selection of formulas was relatively fixed.

Byzantine music had a system of eight echoi – modes or melody types – according to which the melodies in the collections for the kanones were classified. The choice of a particular mode depended on such matters as the nature of the text that was sung, the particular occasion, or the season of the year.

The musical practices of Byzantium shaped the development of Western chant, not only in various chants borrowed by the Western Church between the sixth and the ninth centuries but also in the classification of the chant repertory into eight modes.

OHT Originals – Roman and Byzantine Mosaics / The Art of the Middle Ages The OHT originals that follow – on Roman and Byzantine mosaics and the art of the Middle Ages – may be useful for teaching this and subsequent parts of the topic.

Teacher Resource

ROMAN AND BYZANTINE MOSAICS

Although drawing on the Roman tradition of setting coloured cubes, or tesserae, in plaster to form a picture, Byzantine mosaics were distinct from Roman mosaics:

Roman Mosaics Byzantine Mosaics Used opaque marble cubes Used reflective glass cubes Pieces had smooth, flat finish Surfaces left uneven so work sparkled Colours limited due to use of Glowing glass in wide range of natural stones colours Typically found on floor of Found on walls and ceilings – private homes especially in church dome and apse Subjects were secular – battles, Subjects were religious – Christ games etc as Ruler of the Universe Used very small pieces for Used large cubes in stylised realistic detail designs Background represented Background was abstract – sky- landscape blue or gold

Teacher Resource

Art Of The Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, in a succession of three styles, art was concerned with religion. The three main forms of art and architecture associated with each style were:

BYZANTINE ROMANESQUE GOTHIC

Mosaics Frescoes Stained glass ART Icons Stylised sculpture More natural sculpture

ARCHITECTURE Central-domed church Barrel-vaulted church Pointed-arch cathedral

EXAMPLE Hagia Sophia Saint Sernin Chartres

DATE 532-537 Begun 1080 1194-1260

PLACE Constantinople, Turkey Toulouse, France Chartres, France

Teacher Resource

67 Floor Plan: Hagia Sophia, Constantinople – Byzantine style 67

Teacher Resource

GALLERY

OVER

DOME APSE

ATRIUM OVER

INNER NARTHEX OUTER NARTHEX

GALLERY

OVER

BAPTISTRY

Floor Plan: Hagia Sophia, Constantinople – Byzantine style

Links with the Student Text

Task Eleven Here students are asked to identify the ways in which the conversion of Constantine to Christianity was important for the development of Christian worship and art.

Answers include:

The establishment by Constantine of a new capital city (Constantinople) in the east of his Empire altered the course of Christian art:

• Churches were richly decorated with high domes, beautiful mosaics and sculptured images of Mary and the saints. • Precious jewels were used for decoration, and a new style of architecture – known as Byzantine – developed. • Later emperors, including Theodosius and Justinian, supported Christianity and became patrons of Church art. • Art was used by the Church to combat heresy and to express complex Christian truths in visual terms.

Something to Think About Here students are asked to suggest why the emperor and other powerful people would like being depicted in the company of Christ and other holy figures.

The practice of showing earthly rulers in the company of Christ, of Mary the Mother of God, and of the saints and the angels can be seen as a form of propaganda on the part of the emperor and others in authority. It is a way of suggesting that the earthly rule of the emperor reflects (and is sanctioned by) the heavenly rule of Christ, and their generous support for the church.

Something to Discuss Working in pairs, students are asked to list arguments for and against the veneration of religious images that were put forward during the icon controversy.

Arguments put forward for the veneration of icons include:

• It is appropriate for people to express the love of God through art and beauty. • Icons are “doorways into heaven” – by honouring icons and praying in their presence people grow closer to God. • It is right to venerate a painted icon of Christ who as the fully human and fully divine Son of God was the perfect image of God the Father.

Arguments put forward against the veneration of icons include:

• It is sinful to attempt to present aspects of the divine in visual terms. • People who honour religious icons are guilty of idolatry – the worshipping of false images.

Task Twelve This task asks students to explain in their own words three important points made by the bishops at the Second Council of Nicaea when they came out in support of the veneration of religious icons.

Possible points include:

• Holy icons of Jesus Christ, Mary, the saints and angels should be on display in churches, in homes, and in public places. • Those who contemplate holy icons should remember and love the holy one shown in the image. • Holy icons should be venerated and honoured, but not worshipped. • Worship is due to God alone. • The veneration given to an icon is transmitted to the reality that it represents.

Something to Think About Here students are asked to use their Bibles to find the text of one of the following canticles:

• The Canticle of Moses after passing through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19) • The Canticle of Moses before dying (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) • The Canticle of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10) • The Canticle of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:1-19) • The Canticle of Isaiah (Isaiah 26:7-19) • The Canticle of Jonah (Jonah 2:2-10) • The Canticle of Azariah in the furnace (Daniel 3:26-45) • The Canticle of the Three Young Men (Daniel 3:52-90) • The Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary – the Magnificat (Luke 1:46- 55) • The Canticle of Zechariah – the Benedictus Dominus ( Luke 1:68-79) • The Canticle of Simeon – The Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:29-32)

They are asked to indicate which words of the text they would want to emphasise if they were writing a hymn based on the canticle.

Answers will vary from student to student.

PART FIVE: BARBARIANS AND REFORMERS

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council.

Church Teachings

The Middle Ages

• The strength and simplicity of the Romanesque style of architecture was expressed in cathedrals and abbeys.

Gregorian Chant

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section of the topic students will:

• Identify features of the Romanesque style and find examples of them. • Research a topic related to the art, architecture, or music of the Romanesque period.

Teacher Background

The Romanesque Style The Romanesque style of architecture was predominant throughout Europe from the beginning of the tenth century to the middle of the twelfth century when it was replaced by the emergence of Gothic styles. The term “Romanesque”, which was only applied in the nineteenth century, indicates the principal source of the style it describes – the buildings of the Roman Empire. In addition to classical elements, however, Romanesque architecture incorporates components of Byzantine and Eastern origin.

The period in which the Romanesque style flourished was responsible for some important developments:

• It encouraged sculptural ornamentation • It put architecture first and used painting and decoration to enhance the architectural concept

• It gave enormous encouragement to associated decorative craftworkers, such as those involved in the making of tapestry, stained glass, mosaics, frescoes, as well as to those who produced manuscripts and gold crafts • It provided strong visual aids for the spread of Christian beliefs in its presentation of scenes from the Bible and the lives of the saints, as well as depicting moralistic teaching

Romanesque Architecture During the period when Romanesque architecture developed, large numbers of people travelled across Europe on pilgrimages to visit sites associated with particular saints and martyrs. People believed that holy relics had the power to provoke miracles. The routes to the more famous holy places, such as Santiago de Compostela in Spain, became very well travelled and larger churches were required to hold the crowds. The basilica style church could not hold the numbers.

Churches built in the shape of the Latin cross became popular. Pilgrims would enter such a church through the nave. They would then come to the area known as the crossing where the vaults of the nave and the transepts would intersect beneath a groin vault. The relics of the church would be held and displayed in the area of the high altar. The pilgrims would view the relics from the ambulatory behind the altar – a semi-circular aisle enclosing the apse. This allowed for a good flow of foot-traffic. The more famous the relics possessed by a church, the larger the crowds it would attract.

The development of Romanesque architecture was made possible by advances in vaulting techniques. In the past, the use of masonry vaulting had been confined to church buildings that were relatively small and to crypts. Large basilicas had to make do with wooden roofs.

In contrast, Romanesque churches featured stone ceilings that made use of arches and both barrel and groin vaults in their construction. However, because they were very heavy, stone ceilings tended to buckle the walls outward. To support the walls, large piles of stone would be stacked along the walls at intervals to buttress them and prevent them falling over.

Due to the weight of the stone ceilings, the walls of Romanesque churches also had to be very thick. Windows had to be small to keep the walls strong. Because of this, the interiors of Romanesque churches were very dim. It was not until the Gothic style of architecture developed that bigger windows could be constructed and much more light could be allowed to enter the church.

Other characteristic features of Romanesque churches – including the massive west facade crowned by a tower or by twin towers, the complex design of the eastern end of the Church housing the sanctuary, and the rhythmic alternation of different types of piers (upright supports) and columns in the nave – are more advanced stages of the Romanesque style.

Other Romanesque Churches Other important Romanesque works of architecture are:

• The abbey churches of Saint Madeleine Vézelay (1090–1130) and Paray-le-Monial (early twelfth century) in France • The Cathedral of Speyer, dedicated in 1060, but largely reconstructed after 1082, and the Church of Saint Mary on the Capitol in Cologne (1049) in Germany • The cathedral (1063–92) and baptistery (1153) in Pisa, the Church of San Miniato al Monte (c.1070) in Florence, and the Cathedral of Monreale in Sicily (1174), Italy.

Romanesque Art The art of the Romanesque period was characterised by an important revival of monumental forms, notably sculpture and fresco painting, which developed in close association with architectural decoration and exhibited a forceful and often severely structural quality. At the same time an element of realism, which parallels the first flowering of vernacular literature, came to the fore. It was expressed in terms of a direct and naive observation of certain details drawn from daily life and a heightened emphasis on emotion and fantasy. For many aspects of its rich imagery Romanesque art depended on the heritage of antiquity and of earlier medieval art, while the prestige of Byzantine art remained high in Western eyes. The pilgrimages and Crusades contributed to an unprecedented expansion of the formal vocabulary through the development of closer contacts between regional cultures and distant peoples.

Sculpture The first important monuments of Romanesque sculpture were created in the last decade of the eleventh century and the first decade of the twelfth. The primary source of artistic patronage was provided by monasteries – such as the Cluny network – for which sculptors executed large relief carvings for the decoration of church portals and richly ornate capitals for cloisters. Romanesque sculpture produced an art of extraordinary ornamental complexity, ecstatic in expression, and abounding in seemingly endless combinations of zoomorphic, vegetal, and abstract motifs.

In France themes portrayed on tympanums of such churches as Moissac, Vézelay, and Autun emphasized the awesome majesty of Christ as ruler and judge of the universe. They often depicted terrifying spectacles of hell. English sculpture showed a tendency toward geometric ornamentation. However, with the introduction in England of continental influences in the middle of the twelfth century, there also appeared gruesome renditions of the Last Judgment, for example, at Lincoln Cathedral. In contrast with the demonic nature and animated quality of sculpture in France and in England, there was an assertion of more massive and ponderous figures in Northern Italy, with the narrative reliefs based on the Book of Genesis designed by Wiligelmo in Modena and by Niccolò in Verona.

Metalwork Another aspect of the Romanesque revival was the production of metalwork objects, of which many outstanding examples, such as crucifixes, reliquary shrines, and candlesticks, are still preserved in church treasuries. The most productive centres of this art were the regions adjacent to the Rhine and the Meuse rivers, where the art of bronze casting reached a level of technical mastery sufficient to permit the execution of works of considerable dimension. An outstanding example of Mosan bronze casting is the baptismal font of Saint Barthelemy in Liège, a large vessel supported by twelve oxen and decorated with scenes in high relief, executed by Rainer of Huy between 1107 and 1118. It was during this same period that Limoges, in central France, became an extremely active centre of metalwork production, specialising in enamelwork.

Fresco Fresco painting has been more adversely affected by the accidents of time, but several large cycles, as well as numerous other fragments of Romanesque wall painting, have survived. The large and relatively unbroken expanses of wall space within Romanesque buildings presented an excellent ground for the work of the painter, and the basic forms of Romanesque fresco painting are typically monumental in scale and bold in colouristic effect. Among the foremost examples of this art still largely extant are the cycles of Saint-Savin in western France and Sant’Angelo in Formis, Italy (1058).

Manuscript Illumination Manuscript illumination of the Romanesque period was characterised by a vast enlargement of the traditional fund of pictorial imagery, although in terms of overall execution and calligraphic quality Romanesque illuminated books often show a certain carelessness and lack of refinement. The Psalter, as in the early Middle Ages, continued to be the most widely read volume for religious use, and numerous sumptuously illuminated copies of this work were executed. The Romanesque scriptorium also produced large editions of the Bible, often extending to several volumes. A splendid example of such a work is the Winchester Bible, executed in the course of several generations and decorated with numerous scenes from the Old and the New Testaments. Romanesque manuscripts are enlivened by elaborate and highly inventive initial letters, on which the artists of this period lavished their bent for rich ornamental display.

The Book of Kells One of the more lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive from the Middle Ages, the Book of Kells, has been described as the zenith of Western calligraphy and illumination. A thirteenth century scholar, Giraldus Cambrensis, writes of it, " . . . you might believe it was the work of an angel rather than a human being".

The Book of Kells contains the four gospels in Latin, along with prefatory and explanatory matter decorated with numerous colourful illustrations and illuminations. It is the high point of a group of manuscripts produced from the late sixth through to the early ninth centuries in monasteries in Ireland,

Scotland and northern England and in continental monasteries with Irish or English foundations. Scholars group these manuscripts together based on similarities in artistic style, script, and textual traditions, e.g. Lindisfarne Gospels on British Library website: www.bl.uk

The name “Book of Kells” is derived from the Abbey of Kells in County Meath, Ireland, where it was kept for much of the medieval period. The Abbey of Kells dates back to the sixth century, at the time of the Viking invasions, and was founded by monks from the monastery at Iona off the Western coast of Scotland. When repeated Viking raids made Iona too dangerous, the majority of the community removed to Kells, which became the centre of the group of communities founded by Saint Columba (521-597).

The date and place of production of the manuscript has been the subject of considerable debate. Traditionally, the book was thought to have been created in the time of Saint Columba – also known as Saint Columcille – possibly even as the work of his own hands. However, it is now generally accepted that this tradition is not well-grounded.

The manuscript was never finished. There are at least five competing theories about the manuscript's place of origin and time of completion:

• The book may have been created entirely at Iona, then brought to Kells and never finished. • The book may have been begun at Iona and continued at Kells, but never finished. • The manuscript may have been produced entirely in the scriptorium at Kells. • It may have been produced in the north of England, perhaps at Lindisfarne, then brought to Iona and from there to Kells. • It may have been the product of an unknown monastery in Scotland.

Although the question of the exact location of the book's production will probably never be answered conclusively, the theory, that it was begun at Iona and finished at Kells, is currently the most widely accepted. Regardless of which theory is true, it is certain that the Book of Kells was produced by Columban monks closely associated with the community at Iona.

The manuscript was held at Kells until 1661 when it was moved to Dublin where it remains as the chief treasure of Trinity College Library, where it is on display.

The Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels were made and used at Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island, a major religious community that housed the shrine of Saint Cuthbert, who died in 687. Costly in time and materials, superb in design, the manuscript is among Europe’s greatest artistic and religious treasures.

Medieval manuscripts were usually the work of more than one hand – scribes wrote the text and illuminators added pictures and decoration. However, the Lindisfarne Gospels is the work of one remarkably gifted artist who produced both words and images, giving the manuscript a particularly coherent sense of design. According to a note added at the end of the manuscript less than a century after its making, that artist was a monk called Eadfrith, who was Bishop of Lindisfarne between 698 and 721.

His superb skill and power of invention are strikingly evident in the opening pages of each of the four Gospel. A painting of the Gospel’s Evangelist is followed by a ‘carpet’ page, so-called because the whole page is covered with intricate pattern. Next is the ‘incipit’ page, that is, an opening page in which the first letters of the Gospels are greatly elaborated with interlacing and spiral patterns strongly influenced by Anglo-Saxon jewellery and enamel work.

The outline of the design was drawn on the reverse of the page, which was then lit from behind so the design could be painted on the correct side. Eadfrith employed an exceptionally wide range of colours, using animal, vegetable and mineral pigments. This extravagance was a measure of the status accorded at the time to this magnificent manuscript. It was an enormous act of faith on the part of Bishop Eadfrith. In some places the manuscript remains partly unfinished, suggesting Eadfrith’s cherished work was ended prematurely by his death in 721.

Apart from its intrinsic value as a remarkable survival of an ancient and astonishingly beautiful work of art, the manuscript displays a unique combination of artistic styles that reflects a crucial period in England’s history. Christianity first came to Britain under the Romans, but after the fall of the Roman Empire, waves of invasion by non-Christian Saxons, Angles, and Vikings drove the faith to the western and northern fringes of the British Isles. The country was gradually re-converted from 597, when St Augustine arrived from Rome on a mission to convert the pagan “Angles into angels”.

Religious differences between the indigenous ‘Celtic’ Church and the new ‘Roman’ Church were settled at the Synod of Whitby in 664, little more than a generation before the Lindisfarne Gospels was made. That religious accommodation is echoed in the design of the manuscript. Native Celtic and Anglo-Saxon elements blend with Roman, Coptic and Eastern traditions to create a sublimely unified artistic vision of the cultural melting pot of Northumbria in the seventh and eighth centuries.

The Lindisfarne Gospels, and others like it, helped define the growing sense of ‘Englishness’ – a spirit of national identity that was consolidated by the Venerable Bede, the historian monk, in his ‘History of the English Church and People’, completed in 731.

Like most medieval Christian manuscripts, the Lindisfarne Gospels was written in Latin. However, around 970, when it was owned by the Minster of Chester-le-Street, Aldred, the Provost, added an Anglo-Saxon translation in red ink beneath the original Latin. This is the oldest surviving version of the

Gospels in any form of English, another indication of the manuscript’s importance in the growth of England’s national identity.

Lindisfarne Priory’s remote location on a tidal island off the coast of Northumbria made it very vulnerable to attack by sea. In 875, the increasing severity of Viking raids forced the monks to leave Holy Island. By 883, they had found a temporary home in the Minster of Chester-le-Street. Another move, in 995, brought them to Durham with, it’s assumed, the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The manuscript may have been kept at Durham until the 1590s, or it might have been among the treasures seized by Henry VIII’s commissioners at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Either way, by 1605, it was owned by Robert Bowyer, Clerk of the Parliaments and Keeper of the Records of the Tower of London.

Eight years later, it appears among the manuscripts listed in the library of Sir Robert Cotton. In 1753, the Cotton collection was donated to the nation to form a cornerstone of the new British Museum Library, which became the British Library in 1973.

The Influence of Cluny Great monasteries, most notably the Benedictine abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, France, were central to the development of medieval spiritual, cultural and technical life and highly influential in the development of architecture between the tenth and twelfth centuries.

Founded in 910, the abbey of Cluny was subject only to the Pope, and was at the centre of a reform aimed at ensuring stricter observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Many existing monasteries followed this reform and over the next two centuries new ones were founded. A centralised system gradually developed, in which the abbot of Cluny was the head and other Cluniac houses were governed by priors who were under him. By the beginning of the twelfth century there were over eleven hundred of these houses – almost nine hundred of them in France.

Cluny exercised great power and influence and emphasised liturgy and continual prayer at the expense of manual work. It also was involved in copying manuscripts and salvaging the general cultural heritage of the Graeco-Roman world. The arts flourished and a civilising impact was felt in Europe.

In keeping with the influence and authority of Cluny, its abbey church, built between 1088 and 1132, was the largest in Europe.

At the peak of its power, the Cluniac order played a vital role in the patronage of construction. A number of significant Cluniac churches connected with major twelfth century centres of pilgrimage show great similarity in plan and overall design. These include the churches of Saint Martin in Tours, Saint Sernin in Toulouse, and Santiago de Compostela in Spain, all of which feature

spacious ambulatories with radiating chapels designed to facilitate the pilgrims’ access to the precious relics.

The Cistercian Reform Over time, the vitality of the abbey of Cluny declined because of its wealth. The energies of abbots and monks went into keeping up the buildings, managing the large estates and dealing with vast numbers of people who visited it on pilgrimage or business.

Under Stephen Harding (died 1134) and Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) a new reform took place. It originated at the abbey of Citeaux, which was founded in 1098. The monks of this reform movement, who were called Cistercians, deliberately chose secluded places for their monasteries, both to recover the spirit of manual labour and to get back to a life that allowed them to concentrate on a continuous attention to God.

Like the Puritans of a later date, the Cistercians stripped their churches of all ornaments – stained glass, statues, sculpture, and even, in some cases, the image of Christ on the cross. Their ceremonies were simple and their lifestyle severe. The purpose was to recover the spirit of prayer.

They not only succeeded in achieving monastic simplicity but also made technical advances in agriculture that aided the growth of Europe’s economy. In time, they passed beyond their ‘puritan’ stage and inspired a new flowering of the arts.

The Cistercians ‘fled the world’. Jesus had told the apostles to travel light in order to announce the Gospel – so it was with the monks. They taught people how to pray and to re-create the earth for the sake of human concern.

The monasteries’ ability to reform themselves was a sign of their dynamism and imagination.

Plainsong The term “musical texture” refers to the horizontal and vertical elements of music. Music developed from a single line of successive pitches (monophony) to two or more independent lines (polyphony) to melodies with chords (homophony).

Broadly speaking, plainsong – also known as plainchant – is the name given to the body of traditional vocal music used in the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church. Plainsong is monophonic – there is one melodic line without harmonic accompaniment – and its rhythm is free rather than strictly measured. The rhythm of plainsong is determined by the words of the text that is being sung.

The Development of Chant in the Western Church From the fourth century the music of the Roman and Byzantine Churches began to diverge, and until the eighth century, several distinct liturgies and bodies of liturgical music developed within the Western Church – each region

being influenced to varying degrees and in different ways by the Eastern musical tradition. Among the distinct regional musical variations that developed were:

• Gallican chant (in Gaul – modern-day France) • Celtic chant (in Ireland and parts of the British Isles) • Beneventan chant (in southern Italy) • Old Roman chant (in Rome) • Visigothic or Mozarabic chant (in Spain) • Ambrosian chant (around Milan, Italy) • Sarum chant (developed in Salisbury, England)

Eventually most of the local chant versions either disappeared or were absorbed into a single uniform practice established from Rome. From the ninth to the sixteenth centuries, in theory and in practice, the liturgy of the Western church was increasingly Romanised. This reorganisation, which tradition attributes to Gregory the Great (590-604), was more likely named for Gregory II (715-31).

Gregorian Chant Though frequently asserted, it is not true that Gregory the Great invented Gregorian chant, or that he ordered the suppression of previous chant styles, such as the Celtic, Gallican, Ambrosian or Mozarabic. However, after Charlemagne was crowned as the head of the Holy Roman Empire in 800, he and his successors tried to promulgate Gregorian chant and suppress the various other chant dialects – but did not succeed in eliminating all local usages.

Although Gregory was concerned with the music of the liturgy as well as its textual content, Gregorian chant in its present form dates to no earlier than the eighth or ninth centuries. For several centuries, different plainchant styles existed concurrently, and standardisation on Gregorian chant was not completed, even in Italy, until the twelfth century.

Ambrosian Chant The most important Western church centre outside Rome was Milan. Saint Ambrose, the bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, was in fact responsible for introducing responsorial psalmody to the West. In this manner of singing the psalms, a soloist or reader sang the first half of a psalm verse and the congregation responded by singing the second half. Because of Milan's importance and Ambrose's energy and personal reputation, the Milanese liturgy and music exerted a strong influence and, as a result, responsorial psalmody was incorporated into the Roman Mass. Some of the Ambrosian liturgy and its chants still survive in present-day Milan.

Musical Notation The absence of an efficient system of musical notation was a handicap to the transmission of a uniform musical setting. Before the ninth century such notation as there was, was little more than a memory aid, only indicating the general shape of the melody and not able to record the pitch of its component

notes, still less the rhythm. However, by the eleventh century an important advance had been made with the introduction of horizontal lines to represent the pitch of at first one, then two, three and finally four notes. With this development and the gradual evolution of differently shaped ‘notes’ to indicate different time durations, the foundations of a precise system of notation had been laid.

Plainchant represents the first revival of musical notation after knowledge of the ancient Greek system was lost. Plainsong notation differs from the modern system in having only four lines to the staff – rather than five – and a system of note-shapes called neumes.

There was a significant plainsong revival in the nineteenth century, when much work was done to restore the correct notation and performance-style of the old plainsong collections, notably by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes in Northern France. In the 1880s, the monks of Solesmes began publishing facsimile editions with commentaries on the sources of Gregorian chant. They also issued modern editions in separate volumes for various categories of chant, which Pius X proclaimed in 1903 were the official Vatican editions. But with the encouragement of the vernacular Mass by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), these books are seldom used in modern services and rarely reprinted.

The use of plainsong is now mostly confined to the monastic orders. In the late nineteen-eighties, plainchant achieved a certain vogue as music for rest, and several recordings of plainchant became "classical chart hits".

Other Musical Developments The Rule of Saint Benedict mentions a cantor but does not specify his duties. However, as monasticism developed in the following centuries, the monastic cantor became a key person in the monastery – not only were they responsible for directing the performance of liturgical singing, but they also maintained the library and scriptorium (the copying shop for the scribes) and directed the performance of the liturgy.

By the eighth century the city of Rome had a Schola Cantorum, a specific group of singers and teachers responsible for training boys and men as church musicians. A papal choir existed in the sixth century.

Whether the regulating and standardising of the liturgical chants was undertaken by Gregory the Great or by another pope (or popes) remains unclear. In any case, particular items of the liturgy and their music were assigned to the various services throughout the year in an order that remained essentially unchanged until the sixteenth century.

Music in Catholic Liturgy In the medieval period, music developed within the Church to provide for two key aspects of Christian worship:

• The Eucharist or Mass – the centre of Christian life and worship

• The Liturgy of Hours or Daily Office – the cycle of prayers, psalms and other texts from Scripture that formed the basis of prayer for members of monastic congregations

An annual liturgical calendar developed around key events in the life of Jesus Christ – most importantly his death and resurrection (Easter) and his birth (Christmas). Mary, the Mother of God, the martyrs and the saints, were also remembered annually. A distinction developed between what ordinarily happened at each service and what changed with specific days and seasons – the former was called the ordinary, the latter the proper.

The following five Ordinary sections of the Mass formed the Ordinary – the scaffolding of the whole structure of worship. Their texts did not change throughout the liturgical year:

• Kyrie – Lord Have Mercy • Gloria in Excelsis – Glory to God in the Highest • Credo – I Believe in God • Sanctus – Holy, Holy, Holy • Agnus Dei – Lamb of God

Other parts of the Mass, such as the Pater Noster (The Our Father) and the Ite Missa Est (the Dismissal) are also parts of the Ordinary, but are of much less significance from a musical point of view.

Those texts of the Mass that are Proper and which change according to the feast or season of the liturgical calendar were grouped in a book called the Graduale.

Over the centuries the Ordinary and Proper of the Mass as well as the texts used in the Liturgy of the Hours have been set to both the simplest and the most complex music. It was the unchanging text of the Ordinary that led composers to produce the first major Western musical form.

During the early and high Middle Ages, however, the Ordinary had not achieved its dominating position, and some of the more interesting experiments arose in treatments of sections of the Proper. Two examples are the evolution of a primitive form of musical drama from the reading of the Gospel story and the rise of the Sequence, a new melodic form, from the practice of extending the Alleluia with new material.

In general, the Ordinary of the Mass has been sung in its simpler forms by the congregation and the Proper in more complex forms by the choir, sometimes with congregational refrains. In the Middle Ages choirs gradually took over the parts of the people. By the sixteenth century congregations were largely silent, as priests and choirs sang on their behalf.

OHT Original – How Gothic is Different from Romanesque The OHT original that follows may be useful for teaching this and subsequent parts of the topic.

Teacher Resource

How Is Gothic Different From Romanesque?

Romanesque churches had round arches and stylised sculpture. Gothic cathedrals had pointed arches and more natural sculpture. The distinctive features of Romanesque and Gothic include:

ROMANESQUE GOTHIC

Emphasis Horizontal Vertical

Elevation Modest height Soaring

Layout Multiple units Unified, unbroken space

Main Trait Rounded arch Pointed arch

Support System Piers, walls Exterior buttresses

Engineering Barrel and groin vaults Ribbed groin vaults

Atmosphere Dark, solemn Airy, bright

Exterior Simple, severe Richly decorated with sculpture

Links with the Student Text

Something to Think About The Romanesque style of architecture was influenced by the need for protection against enemy attack. Here students are asked to identify those features of the Romanesque style that would best serve this purpose.

Possible answers include:

• heavy square, fortress-like buildings • massive walls supported by external buttressing • small windows

Something to Do Here students are asked to use the Internet to find images of at least three important features of Romanesque architecture.

It may be useful for students to brainstorm key words linked to significant features of Romanesque architecture before using an Internet search engine, such as Google Images, to find examples of them.

Task Thirteen This task asks students to indicate which of the following statements are true and which are false. If a statement is false they are required to change it so that it becomes true:

The correct answers appear in bold below: a) Like the earlier basilicas, Romanesque churches were often elaborately decorated. False. Unlike the earlier basilicas, Romanesque churches were often elaborately decorated. b) Monastic movements helped keep society stable when Europe was in chaos. True. c) The Book of Kells was produced by Benedictine monks between the seventh and the tenth centuries. False. The Book of Kells was produced by Celtic monks between the seventh and the tenth centuries. d) Plainsong or plainchant developed in the Celtic monasteries. False. Plainsong developed in European monasteries. e) Gregory the Great invented Gregorian chant. False. Gregory the Great inspired the development of Gregorian chant. f) The abbey of Cluny became famous for its highly developed chant. True. g) The Proper of the Mass is made up of those texts that do not change throughout the liturgical year. False. The Ordinary of the Mass is made up of those texts that do not change throughout the liturgical year. h) Cistercian architecture and liturgical style were much plainer than those of Benedictine abbeys such as Cluny. True.

Something to Research Here students are asked to choose one of the following subjects / topics to research:

• Saint Benedict of Nursia • Gregory the Great • The Book of Kells • Plainsong / Plainchant • The Ordinary and the Proper of the Mass • The Abbey of Cluny • Saint Bernard of Clairvaux • The Cistercians • St. Scholastica • St. Walburga • St. Etheldreda • St. Columba • St. Ethelburga • Hildegard of Bingen

Students should be able to give reasons why their chosen subject / topic is important in the history of art, architecture or music.

Teacher Resource

From Swamps to Golden Meadows – (around 1115)

The characters:

David – abbot of Cluny Stephen – monk of Citeaux Eleanor – a visitor at Cluny

The scene:

Guesthouse at Cluny about the year 1115. The Benedictine abbey, now 200 years old, boasted one of the largest churches in the world and a guesthouse big enough to accommodate forty men and thirty women.

David: Well, Stephen, how’s the reform going at Citeaux?

Stephen: Quite well, thank you, Abbot David. I must say I was spoiled by life here at Cluny. I did love being at the crossroads of the world, welcoming the continual stream of visitors and lounging in the human splendour of the abbey.

David: It’s strange that in less than 200 years we, who were the reforming abbey, now suffer the indignity of being told we are out of date.

Stephen: Your abbey served a great purpose. It freed hundreds of people to learn the art of prayer and to preserve the cultural heritage of the west. You achieved the impressive feat of merging religious and secular concerns in a satisfactory way for over a century and a half. Your early reformers literally reshaped the spiritual life of people all over Europe with your daughter houses.

Eleanor: Every good thing has its day. Eventually, you began to collapse under the huge weight of the possessions that mount with each passing year. As a young girl, I visited your Benedictine abbey of St Alban’s in England. They had a stable big enough for 300 horses.

Stephen: You’re right, Lady Eleanor, about the weight of secular responsibilities. I used to be guest master here. It was my job to provide clean towels, uncracked cups, silver spoons, blankets and sheets for the guests. In winter I was supplying candles and candlesticks, a fire that did not smoke and writing materials on demand.

David: Yes, and don’t forget how you had to brush away the spiders’ webs and put clean straw on the floor.

Eleanor: I recall that the guest-master checked to see whether my father removed his sword when we first arrived at the English abbey. Somewhat more embarrassingly, when we were leaving, he went through our baggage to see whether we had taken along any of the linen or silver of the house.

Stephen: I felt more like an innkeeper than a monk.

David: Look at my white hair – it didn’t come from age. I was formerly abbot at Saint Edmond’s, where they had an enormous debt. It took me twelve years to pull them out of bankruptcy, but I paid for it with a prematurely white head.

Eleanor: Tell me, Stephen, why do you Cistercians insist on perching on mountain tops and moving into swamps for your new houses? I know you want to get away from the distractions here, but aren’t you going a bit too far?

Stephen: One easy answer, of course, is that the land is remote and uninhabited. Another is that it forces us to return to the strictest ideal of manual labour as favoured by Saint Benedict. We must work to clear the marshes and lay good foundations for the buildings.

Eleanor: I suppose a common task like that does a lot to improve your community spirit.

Stephen: It seems to. I’ve rarely felt such a bond with my brothers as when we put our shoulders together to change the swamps into golden meadows. At least it beats chasing spiders’ webs.

David: What are you doing about prayer? I should hope you won’t reject that tradition of Cluny.

Stephen: Not at all. We’re just as devoted to prayer as you are. But we are less interested in the pageantry, ceremonies and wordiness of your prayer life. We observe a strict rule of silence of course, so, really, our whole day is spent in prayer, even while we are working.

Eleanor: I can appreciate, Stephen, that you people have moved toward a more authentic prayer life. What bothers me, though, is the austerity of your buildings. You have no stained glass. I’ve heard that some of your houses forbid the image of Christ on the cross. And I believe all of your houses exclude any statuary or sculpture.

David: I worry about that too, Stephen. Our monasteries became the one place in a barbaric society where the arts flourished. Doubtless, prayer has a way of humanising. But the arts also soften the animal and brute instincts of people.

Stephen: I know just what you mean. No one loved the soaring Gothic beauty of this abbey more than I. I know how much peace it brought me and how often it calmed the growling tensions within me.

Eleanor: Then why don’t you speak up about this matter at Citeaux?

Stephen: I did, as a matter of fact. Several times I brought it up at community meetings. I even braved a showdown with Bernard himself on the matter.

David: Apparently they weren’t impressed.

Stephen: True enough. But I realise that this is all part of the reaction against the excesses of Cluny. You know how reforms have a way of going to the opposite extreme.

Eleanor: I sense you believe that they will get over being so strict.

Stephen: Certainly. I wouldn’t be surprised if, before I die, a new flowering of the arts will be associated with the Cistercians.

David: Actually, I’m not worried about the arts. What Europe needs is some advanced thinking about agriculture, animal husbandry, milling and weaving. We need some practical breakthroughs. There’s hardly been any progress since the days of Charlemagne.

Stephen: On that score, I can forecast a bright future. We are attracting some people who are incredibly skilled in these areas. The techniques we learned draining marshes were only a beginning.

Eleanor: And this isn’t going to hurt the economy of northern Europe.

David: So the cycle may begin again. The day you make more wool than you need, you’ll be at the market selling. And then you’ll be right back where you started — involved again with the very world you now run away from.

Stephen: That’s already come up at our community meetings. Typically, the conservative wing doesn’t want to think about that. They hope to keep our reform intact, refusing to see that such a course inevitably leads back to the business world they hope to escape.

David: Well, you’ve done away with the extravagances that have crept in up to now. If the time comes when another reform is necessary, there will be men around to see that it’s done.

Adapted from: The Story of the Church, by Alfred McBride, pp.47-50 St Anthony Messenger Press, 1983

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Teacher Resource

Floor Plan: Romanesque Church

Teacher Resource

NORTH AMBULATORY TRANSEPT

AISLE

WEST DOOR NARTHEX NARTHEX

ALTAR HIGH NAVE CROSSING

AISLE SOUTH

TRANSEPT

Floor Plan: Romanesque Church

PART SIX: GOTHIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to explore developments in Christian art, architecture and music from the time of the early Church through to the period following the Second Vatican Council.

Church Teachings

The Middle Ages

• The Romanesque slowly evolved into the soaring Gothic style. • Gothic forms portray not only the genius of an artist but the soul of a people who experience God as mystery – both “awesome” and “alluring”.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section of the topic students will:

• Identify features of the Gothic style of architecture and explain their significance. • Describe ways in which the great Gothic cathedrals witness to the presence of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. • Distinguish between monophonic and polyphonic music.

Teacher Background

The Gothic Style Gothic architecture developed out of the Romanesque environment and in the context of the waning popularity of pilgrimages. A combination of theological teachings, religious practices and technological advances led to the rapid spread throughout Europe of Gothic cathedrals and churches.

The first genuinely Gothic building was the abbey church of Saint Denis, Paris, which was built between 1137 and 1144. Those who first saw it were astonished. The man responsible for its construction, Abbot Suger, had created the most significant architectural style in centuries. It was an aesthetic and intellectual breakthrough of the first order.

Traditionally, church buildings had been erected in the Romanesque style, itself a development of features characteristic of eastern Mediterranean basilicas, essentially enclosed structures designed for use in hot countries. Suger's new Saint Denis was quite different. He used a new architectural understanding, combined with the latest mathematics, to create a vast building full of surprising innovations:

• the horizontal emphasis of Romanesque churches was replaced by perpendicular planes • ribbed vaulting with lighter infill and flying buttresses on the outside of the building allowed the structural load to be transferred outwards, so that the walls themselves, relieved of these forces, could be reduced to thin planes – they could also be much higher • the addition of pinnacles to the ends of buttresses added to their ability to withstand lateral forces from the vaulting • with far less need to support the walls from the inside, the immense nave was able to be largely free of pillars • huge perpendicular windows allowed great amounts of light to illuminate the interior and to shine upon the altar • a stained-glass rose window featuring iridescent colours and intricate lace-like patterns of stone-work was positioned over the main entrance – this displayed biblical narratives

Abbot Suger (c.1081-1151), a Benedictine, believed that an abbey, as the very summit of earthly hierarchies, should display a fitting magnificence, especially in regard to the celebration of the liturgy:

Let everyone think as they may. Personally I declare that what appears most just to me is this: everything that is most precious should be used above all to celebrate the Holy Mass. If, according to the Word of God and the Prophet's command, the gold vessels, the gold phials, and the small gold mortars were used to collect the blood of the goats, the calves, and a red heifer in the Temple, in ancient Israel, then how much more zealously shall we hold out gold vases, precious stones, and all that we value most highly in creation, in order to collect the blood of Jesus Christ.

Accordingly, Suger totally rebuilt and re-adorned the abbey-church of Saint Denis, using all the resources at his command to create this new setting for the liturgy.

In two books, On His Administration and On Consecration, Suger explained that the abbey church of Saint Denis was a summa – a summing up – of all the aesthetic innovations he had encountered in his travels across southern France and that it should surpass them. He took as his inspiration the thought of Dionysius the pseudo-Areopagite, a writer of the late fifth or early sixth century, whose theology developed the idea articulated in John’s Gospel that God is light. Every living thing, according to this theology, receives and transmits the divine illumination, which “spills down and irrigates the world” according to a divinely ordained hierarchy. God is absolute light, whereas all creatures reflect God’s light according to their inner radiance. It is this concept that lay behind the very form of the twelfth-century cathedrals, of which Abbot Suger's abbey church of Saint Denis was the prototype.

In addition to its emphasis on light, the abbey church of Saint Denis introduced several other features:

• Two crenellated towers set in the church’s facade gave it a military feel and established it as a symbol of militant Christianity and the king's role in defending the faith. • The portal was triple, reflecting the doctrine of the Trinity. • The rose window lighted three high chapels, “dedicated to the celestial hierarchies” – the Virgin Mary, Saint Michael and the angels. • At the far end of the choir there was a semicircular sequence of chapels (the apse), which both enabled many priests to say mass at the same time and endowed the choir with a glow of light which complemented that from the rose window. • With the supporting buttresses now outside the church, there was room for an ambulatory, around the nave, from which side chapels, again lit by daylight, led off. These too enabled more and more priests to say mass. • With the removal of the rood screen separating the sanctuary from the main body of the church, the whole church was now open to all and bathed in light, so as to make the entire structure a single mystical entity.

The theology of light was responsible not only for the advent of stained glass but for the emphasis given to precious stones and metals – jewels, enamel, crystal – in medieval liturgy and art. Precious stones were believed to have a mediating power, each one symbolic of some Christian virtue or moral value. All of these light-related entities were designed to help the faithful gathered together as one enormous congregation to worship God.

Suger’s influence was considerable. Between 1155 and 1180 cathedrals were built at Noyon, Laon, Soissons and Senlis. The rose window at Saint Denis inspired similar structures at Chartres, Bourges and Angers. The bishops of England and Germany soon imitated the cathedrals of France. They have lost none of their magnificence in the millennium that has passed since.

Almost contemporary with Saint Denis was the cathedral of Sens, which was built between 1130 and 1164. Sens reproduces the Romanesque layout of nave with ambulatory, but without a transept, and its double bays have three- storey elevation deriving from Norman and English examples. Of the earliest group of Gothic buildings, the most astonishing is Notre Dame de Paris, begun in 1163. At 33.53 meters (110 feet) high it is a triumph of technology. Gothic was a truly international style that dominated Europe from Spain to Germany, Britain to Bohemia, from its origins in the middle of the twelfth century to the completion of the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, in 1515, with a vast array of national and local schools and traditions.

Though Gothic came to be superseded by adaptations of architectural styles from classical antiquity, it continued to be the architecture of many churches and underwent a major revival at the end of the nineteenth century. It continues to be popular for church buildings even into the twenty-first century, and shows up in cathedrals, parish churches, chapels and many other forms of building as well as in secular structures such as universities, offices and domestic buildings.

The Significance of the Gothic Cathedrals In an age when the vast majority of people were illiterate, the Gothic cathedrals and churches became a kind of Bible that revealed a spiritual world to the educated and uneducated alike.

The intention of the soaring Gothic architecture was to lead the eye upward to heaven and the soul away from the things of earth. The walls of the Gothic cathedrals were thinner and lighter than Romanesque structures. External "flying buttresses" supported the walls, and the stonework seemed to lose its massive weightiness. Stained glass windows, which began to be manufactured in the twelfth century, illuminated the interior with coloured light. The style of pointed arched windows was adopted from Arabia as it was thought that demons found it more difficult to rest among sharp surfaces.

The building of the cathedral was a community affair and a matter of civic pride. Cities competed with each other to build churches with the tallest towers and spires. Notre Dame de Paris soared to 33.53m (110 feet), Chartres to 37.5m (123 feet) and Amiens to 42m (138 feet). Beauvois tried for 157 feet, but the vault collapsed and the people ran out of money trying to rebuild. Each church had its wealthy patrons, but ordinary citizens contributed sheep, poultry, cheeses, animal skins and vegetables towards the building of their cathedral. While the cathedral was under construction an entire village of workmen would be established at the site. Roads would be constructed to quarries and rivers were sometimes diverted to provide transportation for the heavy materials.

Most cathedrals took over a century to build, with several generations becoming part of the project. Cologne Cathedral, considered by some the most perfect specimen of Gothic architecture, took the longest to build. The foundation stone was laid in 1248. By 1437 one of its towers was finished to one-third of its present height, but at the time of the Reformation its roof was still covered with boards. When the original plans of the cathedral were discovered in the nineteenth century, the completion of the cathedral became a national undertaking. The cathedral was not completed until 1880 – over 640 years after construction first began.

The cathedrals themselves were a focal point of community life. The market was usually near the cathedral and townspeople often conducted business inside the church. At Chartres, the labour exchange was in the transepts while the crypt sheltered pilgrims and the sick. Plays were often staged on the cathedral steps.

The primary purpose of the cathedral was worship. Historian Philip Schaff wrote: "The great cathedrals became a daily sermon, bearing testimony to the presence of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

The cathedral lifted people's thoughts towards spiritual things. The sunlight shining through the stained glass reminded them of the glory of heaven. The strong foundations, massive columns, and buttresses represented the stability of God's throne and his great power.

The very form of the cathedral, with its long nave crossed by the transept before the altar, was in the shape of a cross. The Church was the Body of Christ and the physical church building was a reminder of that spiritual reality – the altar represented the head, the transept the arms and hands, and the nave and aisle the rest of the body. The long length of the nave was also a reminder of long-suffering which survives hardship; the breadth was Christian love; and the height was a hope of future reward. Even the church's mortar had a symbolic meaning – the lime (fervent love), sand (earthly toil), and water (the Spirit, which unites the other two ingredients).

The altar of the church usually faced East, towards Jerusalem and the rising sun – the symbol of the Resurrection. The main entrance was on the cathedral’s west side. The carvings at this entrance all had symbolic value.

Statues of saints, both Scriptural and local, not only decorated the church, but added meaning to it. Often a vivid portrayal of Christ at the Last Judgment warned of the eternal Hell that awaited those outside the Church.

Inside, the stained glass windows, sculptures, frescoes, and paintings all contained instructive scenes from Scripture and church history. Symbols were often used in these portrayals. Fire referred to martyrdom or religious fervour; a lily symbolised chastity; the owl, a bird of darkness, was Satan's messenger; and the lamb was Christ our Sacrifice. Sometimes the allegories might be quite complex, such as parallel windows of types and anti-type. A window depicting Adam leaving paradise might be opposite one of the parable of the Good Samaritan. People reflecting on the windows would see the link between the man going down from Jerusalem and Adam leaving Paradise. The man fell among thieves, who represented the seven deadly sins. The priest and the Levite, who stood for the Old Testament law, provided no help, while the Samaritan was a type of Christ bringing healing and redemption. The elaborate decoration of the cathedrals spoke of the wealth of God's grace and foreshadowed the glories of the New Jerusalem.

All the important events of life took place at the medieval church – baptism, confirmation, marriage and burial in the church grounds. However, worship was ceremonial and the common people were onlookers rather than participants. The priest performed the ceremony of the Mass at the altar, which was elevated and separated from the people standing in the nave. A rood screen often separated the priest and the altar from the congregation. A choir sang the Gregorian chants and polyphonic music. The people watched the rituals of the increasingly powerful and wealthy clergy.

Many hundreds of cathedrals remain in Europe today – a reminder of a period when the Church was the most powerful authority and the house of God the most important building in the community.

Medieval Stained Glass Stained glass windows have been admired for their utility and beauty since ancient Rome, when pieces of coloured glass were assembled into patterned window frames. In Europe, the art of stained glass reached its height

between 1150 and 1500, when magnificent windows were created for the great cathedrals.

With the development of medieval architecture, stained glass assumed a unique structural and symbolic importance. As the Romanesque massiveness of the wall was eliminated, the use of glass was expanded. It was integrated with the lofty vertical elements of Gothic architecture, thus providing greater illumination. Symbolically, stained glass was regarded as a manifestation of divine light. In these transparent mosaics, biblical history and church dogmas were portrayed with great effectiveness. Resplendent in its material and spiritual richness, stained glass became one of the most beautiful forms of medieval artistic expression.

Most of what is known about medieval stained glass making comes from a twelfth-century German monk who called himself Theophilus. An artist and metalworker himself, Theophilus described in his text, On Diverse Arts, how he carefully studied glaziers and glass painters at work in order to provide detailed directions for creating windows of “inestimable beauty”.

The early glaziers followed a sketched cartoon for their window design. They used a red-hot iron for cutting the glass to the required pieces, afterward firing in the kiln those that had received painted lines and shadings. The pieces were then fitted into the channelled lead strips, the leads soldered together at junction points, and the whole installed in a bracing framework of iron called the armature. The lead strips were adjusted to the articulation of the design and formed an integral part of it. The colouring of glass was achieved in the melting pot, where metallic oxides were fused with the glass. The metallic ores, although at first crude and limited, ultimately produced outstanding colour variations. The glass, available only in small pieces, gave a jewel-like quality to the colours. The pieces, by their uneven surfaces and varying thicknesses, gave the advantage of irregular and scintillating refractions of light.

Only fragments of stained glass remain from the eleventh century. The period of greatest achievement in the art extended from 1150 to 1250. Some examples from the twelfth century can be seen in the windows of Saint Denis, Paris, Chartres, and Le Mans in France, as well as at Canterbury and at York Minster in England. The windows of this period were characterised by rich dark colours, single figures, and scrollwork. A recurrent design, the Jesse tree, continued in use until the sixteenth century.

By the beginning of the thirteenth century figures were abundantly used in scenes, being enclosed in geometrical medallions, such as circles, lozenges, or quatrefoils. A window was composed of many of these medallions. Colour became more detailed and varied, and the prevailing scheme of red, blue, green, and purple, with small amounts of white, created tense and vibrant harmonies. In France the cathedral at Chartres is an unrivalled treasury of thirteenth-century glass. The walls of Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, present an illusion of being made entirely of fragile, exquisite stained glass. In England there are outstanding windows at York, Lincoln, and Salisbury.

In the fourteenth century, as medieval glass-making waned, medallion compositions were replaced by a single figure framed in canopied shrines. Many windows showed clear areas designed in grisaille – a monochrome painting and drawing technique executed in tones of grey.

Creating Stained Glass Windows • The first stage in the production of a window was to make, or acquire from the architect or owners of the building, an accurate template of the window opening that the glass was to fit. • The subject matter of the window was determined to suit the location, a particular theme, or the whim of the patron. A small design called a vidimus was prepared which could be shown to the patron. • A narrative window would have glass panels which related a story. A figurative window would have rows of saints. Certain scriptural texts would sometimes be included and perhaps the names of the patrons or the person as whose memorial the window was dedicated. It was usually at the discretion of the designer to fill the surrounding areas with borders, floral motifs and canopies. • A full sized cartoon was drawn for every "light" (opening) of the window. A small window might typically be of two lights, with some simple tracery lights above. A large window might have four or five lights. The east or west window of a large cathedral might have seven lights in three tiers with elaborate tracery. In Medieval times the cartoon was drawn straight onto a whitewashed table, which was then used for cutting, painting and assembling the window. • The designer would take into account the design, the structure of the window, the nature and size of the glass available and his own preferred technique. The cartoon would then be divided into a patchwork as a template for each small glass piece. The exact position of the lead which held the glass in place was part of the calculated visual effect. • Each piece of glass was selected for the desired colour and cut to match a section of the template. An exact fit was ensured by grazing the edges with a tool which could nibble off small pieces. • Details of faces, hair and hands were painted onto the inner surface of the glass in a special glass paint which contained finely ground lead or copper filings, ground glass, gum arabic and a medium such as wine, vinegar or urine. The art of painting details became increasingly elaborate and reached its height in the early 20th century. • Once the window was cut and painted, the pieces were assembled by slotting them into H-sectioned lead cames – slender grooved bars used to hold together the pieces of glass. The joints were then all soldered together and the glass pieces were stopped from rattling and the window made weatherproof by forcing a soft oily cement or mastic between the glass and the cames. • When the windows were inserted into the window spaces, iron rods were put across at various points, to support the weight of the window, which was tied to the rods by copper wire. Some very large early Gothic windows are divided into sections by heavy metal frames called

ferramenta. This method of support was also favoured for large, usually painted, windows of the Baroque period. • From 1300 onwards, artists started using silver stain which was made with silver nitrate. It gave a yellow effect ranging from pale lemon to deep orange. It was usually painted onto the outside of a piece of glass, which was then fired to make it permanent. This yellow was particularly useful for enhancing borders, canopies and haloes, and turning blue glass into green grass. • By about 1450 a stain known as Cousin's Rose was used to enhance flesh tones. • In the sixteenth century a range of glass stains were introduced, most of them coloured by ground glass particles. They were a form of enamel. Painting on glass with these stains was initially used for small heraldic designs and other details. • By the 1600s a style of stained glass had evolved that was no longer dependent upon the skilful cutting of coloured glass into sections. Scenes were painted onto glass panels of square format, like tiles. The colours were bonded to the glass and the pieces were assembled into metal frames.

Gothic Art A tradition of Gothic art developed concurrently with the Gothic architecture of the great cathedrals and churches. Its primary mediums were sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscript.

Gothic art was essentially narrative – it told a narrative story through pictures, both Christian and secular. The earliest Gothic art took the form of sculpture on the walls of cathedrals and abbeys. It was often typological in nature – interpreting characters and stories of the Old Testament in the light of people and events in the New Testament. Saints' lives were often depicted. Images of the Virgin Mary presented her as a human and affectionate mother cuddling her infant and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic court lady.

Secular art came into its own during this period with the rise of cities, foundation of universities, increasing trade, a money-based economy, and a class of people who could afford to patronise the arts and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of secular vernacular literature encouraged the representation of secular themes in art.

Gothic Sculpture – Long and Lean The exteriors of Gothic cathedrals displayed carved Biblical tales. The early Gothic sculptures of Chartres and the later Gothic stone figures of Reims Cathedral show the evolution of medieval art.

The first significant examples of Gothic sculpture are found in the abbey at Saint Denis and in Chartres Cathedral. The Chartres figures of Old Testament kings and queens (1140-50) are “pillar people”, elongated to fit the narrow columns that house them. Drapery lines are as thin and straight as the bodies, with few traces of naturalism.

The Western or Royal Portal of Chartres, which was created by sculptors brought in from Burgundy is highly original and provided the model for a generation of sculptors. It has been suggested that the designation “royal” refers to the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. This portal, begun in about 1150, offers an iconographical and technical conception of sculpture that is partially inherited from Romanesque portals. The theme is a résumé of the Christian doctrine and an illustration to the links between Old and New Testaments: on the jambs are the prophets and the precursors of Christ, and on the tympana, from the left to the right are depicted the Ascension, Christ of the Apocalypse, and the Mystery of the Incarnation. In spirit, the portal is Gothic; tympana and lintels are recessed under the arches, which are decorated with series of statuettes, and each jamb is occupied by a single figure whose core it becomes, to form the famous column-statue.

• On the doors and porches carvings of statues holding swords, crosses, books and trade tools parade around the portals. • The sculptures on the west façade depict Christ's ascension into heaven, episodes from his life, saints, apostles, Christ in the lap of Mary and other religious scenes. • Below the religious figures are statues of kings and queens – hence the title 'royal' portal. While these figures are based on characters from the Old Testament, they were also regarded as images of current kings and queens when they were constructed. • The symbolism of showing royalty displayed slightly lower than the religious sculptures, but still very close, implies the relationship between the kings and God. It is a way of displaying the authority of royalty, showing them so close to figures of Christ, it gives the impression they have been ordained and put in place by God. Sculptures of the Seven Liberal Arts appeared in the archivolt of the right bay of the Royal Portal, which represented the school at Chartres.

Gothic sculpture evolved from the early stiff and elongated style, still partly Romanesque, into a spatial and naturalistic feel in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century. Influences from surviving ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were incorporated into the treatment of drapery, facial expression and pose.

By the time the jamb figures of Reims were carved, around 1225-90, sculptors for the first time since antiquity approached sculpture in-the-round. These figures are almost detached from their architectural background, standing out from the column on pedestals. After the writings of Aristotle were discovered, the body was no longer despised but viewed as the envelope of the soul, so artists once again depicted flesh naturally.

In the Visitation on the west façade of Reims Cathedral both the Virgin Mary and her kinswoman, Elizabeth, lean primarily on one leg, their upper bodies turned toward each other. The older Elizabeth has a wrinkled face, full of character, and drapery is handled with more imagination than before.

The French ideas soon spread, especially to Germany and England.

Tapestry Weavers in the Middle Ages created highly refined tapestries, minutely detailed with scenes of contemporary life. Large wool-and-silk hangings, used to prevent drafts, decorated stone walls in chateaux and churches. Huge scale paintings were placed behind the warp (or lengthwise threads) of a loom in order to imitate the design in cloth.

A famous series of seven tapestries represents the unicorn legend. According to popular belief, the only way to catch this mythical beast was to use a virgin sitting in the forest as bait. The trusting unicorn would go to sleep with his head in her lap and awaken caged. The captured unicorn is chained to a pomegranate tree, a symbol of both fertility and, because it contained many seeds within one fruit, the Church. During the Renaissance, the unicorn was linked with courtly love, but in the tapestry's ambiguous depiction both lying down and rearing up, he symbolises the resurrected Christ.

Gothic Painting Painting in a style that can be called Gothic did not appear until about 1200 – nearly fifty years after the start of Gothic architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic is seen in a style that is more sombre, dark and emotional than the previous period. This transition occurs first in England and France around 1200, in Germany around 1220 and Italy around 1300.

Painting during the Gothic period was practised in four primary crafts: frescoes, panel paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass. Frescoes continued to be used as the main pictorial narrative craft on church walls in southern Europe as a continuation of early Christian and Romanesque traditions. In the north stained glass was the art of choice until the fifteenth century. Panel paintings began in Italy in the thirteenth century and spread throughout Europe, so by the fifteenth century they had become the dominant form supplanting even stained glass. Illuminated manuscripts represent the most complete record of Gothic painting, providing a record of styles in places where no monumental works have otherwise survived. Painting with oil on canvas did not become popular until the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and was a characteristic of Renaissance art.

Polyphony – Organum By the eleventh century the music chanted in the monasteries, cathedrals and churches of Europe was of a more complex variety than that which ordinary congregations could manage. As choirs developed, music had ceased to be strictly monophonic – no longer did the different singers all sing the one melody at the same pitch. Polyphony – voices singing diverging lines of melody – started to emerge.

The name given to the earliest forms of polyphony was organum (from the Latin for “ornamentation”). In its earliest stages, organum involved two musical voices – a Gregorian chant melody, and the same melody transposed

by a consonant interval, usually a perfect fifth or fourth. In these cases often the composition began and ended on a unison, maintaining the transposition only between the start and finish.

The earliest form of organum – which is often termed parallel organum – was originally improvised, with one singer performing a notated melody (the vox principalis) while another singer – singing "by ear” – provided the unnotated second melody (the vox organalis). The original chant would be the upper voice (the vox principalis) while the vox organalis was at a parallel interval below, usually a fourth. Thus, the melody would be heard as the principal voice and the vox organalis as an accompaniment or reinforcement.

In its original conception, organum was never intended as polyphony in the modern sense – the added voice was intended as a reinforcement of the singers, who were normally in unison. But over time, as composers began to write added parts that were not just simple transpositions, true polyphony was born.

“Free” organum is the name given to more varied forms of polyphony that developed. The earliest examples of this style date from around 1020-1050. They utilise oblique motion – one voice moving while the other stays still – as well as parallel motion. The introduction of voices moving in opposite directions as well as in parallel lines led to progressively freer musical lines – and the eventual development of counterpoint.

Organum as a musical genre reached its peak in the twelfth century with the development of two very different schools of organum composition, the Saint Martial style of florid organum, which may have been centred on the monastery of Saint Martial in Limoges, and the more influential Notre Dame style of organum based in Paris between about 1170 and 1250.

In much music of the Notre Dame School the lowest voices sing long note values while the upper voice or voices sing highly ornamented lines, which often use repeating patterns of long and short notes known as the “rhythmic modes”.

Léonin and Pérotin The Notre Dame style of organum featured two composers, Léonin (around 1163-1190) and Pérotin (around 1180-1238), who were named by an anonymous thirteenth century English student as “the best composers of organum” and the compilers of the Magnus Liber, “the big book” of organum. Leonin is reputed to have set parts of the Proper in two-voice organum for the major festivals of the whole Church year. Pérotin is credited with improving Léonin's work and is acknowledged as the first composer of organum quadruplum – four-voice polyphony – whose music has survived. Léonin, Pérotin and the other anonymous composers of the Notre Dame school are representatives of the era of European music history known as the ars antiqua (old art).

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Hildegard of Bingen Another major composer of the period was Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). Although her period is better known for the emergence of polyphony, Hildegard, who was the abbess of the Benedictine convent at Rupertsberg, near Bingen in Germany, wrote monophonic music. She wrote Ordo Virtutum (The Virtues), a non-liturgical sacred music drama. In this morality play all the parts – such as the Prophets, the Virtues, the Happy Soul, the Unhappy Soul, and the Penitent Soul – except the Devil’s are sung in plainchant.

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This Script dealing with the building of a Gothic Cathedral goes with the OHT Originals on the following pages:

OHT 1: This is the sort of plan a thirteenth century master of Gothic architecture would present. (Name the sections). You then need a bishop to approve the plans and the clergy in charge of the money to agree to finance the scheme.

Let’s say construction begins in 1250 – logging and quarrying is begun and the site in the centre of town is cleared. (Houses removed etc.)

OHT 2: Your first task is to dig the foundations – thick walls built 8 metres below ground level to support the building and stop it spreading.

OHT 3: Within seven months the foundation hole for the apse and choir have been dug.

One year into construction the foundation stone is blessed and laid. You can see the kind of area you need to clear in the centre of the town.

OHT 4: When the foundation is complete, begin working on the walls. The walls of a Gothic cathedral consist of the columns that support the roof, and the space between the columns is filled for the most part with the stone framework of the windows.

Your columns should be about 50 metres high and two metres thick.

OHT 5: You need buttresses to support the columns in holding up the roof. The arched roof is going to tend to push the walls out so arches of stone called flying buttresses need to connect the walls to the buttresses which have their own foundation. The wooden structures shown are temporary.

OHT 6: About 20 years down the track the chapels and apse and part of the choir will be built. The finished stonework is covered with straw and dung to prevent the mortar from cracking in the cold of winter before it completely dries. No stonework can be laid in winter.

Note the size of the cathedral in contrast to the houses around it.

OHT 7: 25 years from the start (i.e.1275) you can begin on the roof. The beams are hoisted to the top of the walls using pulleys and windlass. The roof is to be covered with lead sheets.

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OHT 8: Another lifting device is required. The great wheel shown here, in the centre at the bottom, is designed to be worked by two men walking inside it. It’s a treadmill.

OHT 9: Here the great wheel is being used to set the keystone into the vaulted ribs of the ceiling.

OHT 10: After 80 years (i.e.1330) it’s time to make some of the little fittings like the centre door shown here — about 8 metres high.

OHT 11: Glass needs to be made from beech wood and sand, melted at high temperatures, hand blown, cut and fitted together with lead strips into the window pieces. The glass pieces are no bigger than 20 centimetres square. The rose window shown here is 10 metres in diameter.

OHT 12: After 85 years (i.e. 1335) your cathedral should be completed, all stonework, statues and decoration lifted into place. All you now need is your bishop (a successor of the one who approved the plans) to lead the townspeople in a celebration of thanksgiving.

OHT 13: The people who come to the celebration have never known a time when the cathedral was not being built. They are mostly the grandchildren of the people who began it.

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OHT Original 1:

Floor plan

Spiral Staircase to Triforium

Spiral Staircase and tunnel to crypt

Spiral Staircase to vaulting

Buttress

Dotted lines represent the ribs of the vault E

N S