The Middle Ages: A Literal World

(click photo for larger image) (click photo for larger image)The thousand-year-long period that began with the Fall of the Roman Empire and subsided during the Renaissance is referred to as “The Middle Ages” or the “medieval period”. This was a remarkable civilization, and a very literal one! The devil, for example, was a very real creature (usually red or black) with pointed ears and a long tail. Hell wasn’t a metaphor or an idea--it was a real place filled with fire, monsters and suffering, where the wicked would be punished for eternity. The stories of the Bible and the Saints were not viewed as parables or object lessons. Again--they were taken very literally. To the medieval mindset, there was an actual Garden of Eden--with Adam, Eve and a Serpent--and Jonah was literally swallowed by a large fish. As such, the medievals produced some of the most creative and imaginative works in the history of art. What’s more, medieval imagery has had a far greater impact on modern and contemporary art than the works created during the Renaissance and subsequent periods. Although Mannerism definitely influenced modernism, as well, the impact of medieval art is far greater.