The Changing Role and Status of the Artist, 1300-1600
The Changing Role and Status of the Artist 1300 – 1600
To explore the changing role and status of the artist during the period 1300 – 1600 we have first to look at the period of time prior to this. For a thousand years before, Rome had ruled most of Europe, bringing new developments in technology, education and government, but after Rome fell to invaders in 542 CE, Western Europe became stagnant, a period we now term as the Middle Ages. Ordinary people did not venture far from their hamlets. Local lords ruled with fear and intimidation. Learning took place only in religious houses, and generations grew up ignorant, illiterate, and superstitious of outsiders. Artists and merchants during this time formed organisations called guilds, similar to trades unions, giving protection, but also instigating rules and regulations.
Art was seen as a craft, one of the mechanical arts (ars mechanica) and the artist’s main task would have been to paint commissions from wealthy patrons, and painting murals for the Religious to tell bible stories to the population of illiterate peasants. There was a set formula for painting characters from the Bible, using the perspective of meaning rather than natural perspective. In perspective of meaning, the most important things are large and the least important small.
The years 1300-1600 were a time of great social and cultural change in Europe.. By the fourteenth Century, the Black Death had wiped out at least one third of the population of Europe. The Black Death and the Hundred Years War helped bring an end to the Middle Ages. This caused a huge shortage of workers. Subsequently, wages rose along with the demand for workers, serfdom began to fade into history. Higher wages increased the standard of living for many peasants. This in turn contributed to the rise of wealthy merchants, such as the Medici family of Florence. These merchant families would provide the money, resources and the incentive for the
To explore the changing role and status of the artist during the period 1300 – 1600 we have first to look at the period of time prior to this. For a thousand years before, Rome had ruled most of Europe, bringing new developments in technology, education and government, but after Rome fell to invaders in 542 CE, Western Europe became stagnant, a period we now term as the Middle Ages. Ordinary people did not venture far from their hamlets. Local lords ruled with fear and intimidation. Learning took place only in religious houses, and generations grew up ignorant, illiterate, and superstitious of outsiders. Artists and merchants during this time formed organisations called guilds, similar to trades unions, giving protection, but also instigating rules and regulations.
Art was seen as a craft, one of the mechanical arts (ars mechanica) and the artist’s main task would have been to paint commissions from wealthy patrons, and painting murals for the Religious to tell bible stories to the population of illiterate peasants. There was a set formula for painting characters from the Bible, using the perspective of meaning rather than natural perspective. In perspective of meaning, the most important things are large and the least important small.
The years 1300-1600 were a time of great social and cultural change in Europe.. By the fourteenth Century, the Black Death had wiped out at least one third of the population of Europe. The Black Death and the Hundred Years War helped bring an end to the Middle Ages. This caused a huge shortage of workers. Subsequently, wages rose along with the demand for workers, serfdom began to fade into history. Higher wages increased the standard of living for many peasants. This in turn contributed to the rise of wealthy merchants, such as the Medici family of Florence. These merchant families would provide the money, resources and the incentive for the
Bibliography: Figure 4 Albrecht Durer, Self- portrait at 22, 1493, Oil on linen, transferred from Vellum, Musee du Louvre, Paris Figure 5 Albrecht Durer, Self Portrait at 26, 1498, Oil on Panel, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid Figure 6 Albrecht Durer, Self-portrait at 28, 1500 Oil on Panel, Alte Pinakothek, Munich