The collapse of the Roman Empire broke the unity in Western Europe. Different cultural patterns and styles began to merge and take on new forms. A common theme throughout medieval art is religion. Architecture focuses mainly on the construction of churches, where Christians would come to worship. Throughout time, the style of church architecture transforms from being relatively simple and true to the balanced proportions of Roman buildings, to the churches that extend to a much greater height and increase in complexity. Christian iconography was another major form of art during the medieval times. While this was a consistent style throughout the time period, the method of representing Christian figures evolved. The three majors of style of art that reflect the ideology of medieval art include Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic style. The Byzantine Style comes from the Byzantine Empire, which survived the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 (Jarus). The architecture from …show more content…
This time period was known as the Dark Ages. Roman art began to incorporate barbarian styles of art, including metalwork, relief sculpture, and illuminated manuscripts. Latin cross churches and basilica churches mark the emergence of medieval architecture under the Carolingian Empire. Under the Carolingians, church architecture broke away from the balanced roman proportions to a increasing verticality, meaning the height of the churches grew significantly compared to the length and horizontal dimensions. The face of the church was now called a westwork, for the churches built were facing west. Westworks followed a three-by-three grid with a main entrance and two sub-entrances on each side. The best example of a Carolingian building that is still around today isn’t a church but a chapel. The Palatine Chapel, built for Charlemagne, has sixteen sides and became his final resting place