Art History Essay

For this assignment, you will be investigating the relics, reliquary, church, and one other type of artwork from the Romanesque or Gothic era associated with a saint you research. The goal is to see how religious figures, architecture, and imagery all overlap during the time periods discussed in this unit. To do this, read and complete the following:

Research a Christian saint. For assistance, a good source is the Thirteenth century book by Jacopo de Voragine called The Golden Legend.  An online version of it can be found at this link.

Next, conduct research online on your chosen saint to see if he or she was associated with a real Romanesque or Gothic church within which your saint’s relics were contained. Some things to consider: was your chosen church part of the pilgrimage routes, and if so, where along the routes was it located? Was your saint the patron saint of that church (in other words was the church named after that saint, whose relics were used to consecrate the church) or was your saint one of the less important relics within the church?

NOTE: You may not use any churches or cathedrals discussed in the assigned unit readings or lesson.

Conduct further research of this church and the objects and decorations associated with it. You will be analyzing and discussing both the church itself as well as at least two works of art (be it sculpture, painting, mosaic, stained glass, etc.) that are part of that church.  If possible, at least one of the works of art should be associated with your chosen saint.

NOTE: You may not use any objects are works of art discussed in the assigned readings or lesson file.

Once you have completed the above, write a 3-5 page post to the Discussion Board providing the following information or answering the following questions:

Briefly provide the hagiographic (biographical) details about the saint you researched. Include, at the very least, the saint’s name, act of martyrdom, and what attributes of which the saint was the patron saint.

Identify the church you found associated with your saint’s relics and note whether it is Romanesque or Gothic, and any particular architectural features that identify it as such. Add or embed an image into the post of your selected church or cathedral.

Identify and describe the two works of art you have found from this church. Consider what the objects are made of, the style used, and how these relate to promoting or fostering understanding of your saint’s life, miracles, and deeds; or more broadly, the time period during which the church was made. Add or embed an image into the post of your selected artworks.

Finally, discuss how the church and artwork you have chosen to discuss relate to the cultural phenomenon important to the development of Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture, such as pilgrimages, Crusades, or Scholasticism, as relevant.

Students must reference their sources at the end of their discussion board post.  Please use either MLA or Chicago Style format.This assignment is worth up to one hundred (100) points and will be graded based on the following criteria:

following all of the steps and completing the assignment fully and correctly
the veracity and appropriateness of the types of objects, artwork, and architecture chosen, and how clearly and accurately they are related to what we learned and discussed in this Unit.
Proper use of terminology learned in this Unit
the clarity of thought in the writing and organization of the submission
using proper grammar and spelling