Exercises on Medieval Architecture

(Unesp) European cultural life in the Late Middle Ages (from the 11th to the 15th centuries) can be characterized by:

a) Ptolemy's effort to structure geographical concepts.

b) multiplication of Universities and diffusion of Gothic architecture.

c) displacement, from Cordoba to Paris, of the center of gravity of Muslim culture.

d) diffusion of scholastic dogma based on the denial of the union between faith and reason in the search for truth.

e) decay of urban education followed by its ruralization.

(Fuvest) It has already been observed that, while medieval architecture preaches Christian humility, classical and Renaissance architecture proclaim the dignity of man. About this contrast it can be said that:

a) corresponds, in terms of world view, to what is known as theocentrism and anthropocentrism;

b) appears in the set of visual arts, but not in other cultural and religious activities resulting from humanism;

c) also appears in all other artistic activities, expressing the cultural changes promoted by scholasticism;

d) corresponds to a change of style in architecture, without the medieval art as a whole being abandoned in the Renaissance;

e) was insufficient to break the continuity between medieval and Renaissance architecture.

Read the following text:“The Gothic church floor plan was in the shape of a Latin cross. Its implantation was made in such a way that the nave and the chancel were located in the longitudinal arm in the East-West direction. Thus, the main altar would be to the East, where the sun rises, what used to be called the chevet. The western façade would preferably be to the west, where the sun sets, in a clear allusion to man's need to travel a long way to reach God. In this way, the transept arm would run North-South, with the Gospel side facing the North and the Epistle side facing the South. The lower part of the longitudinal arm of the cross was normally divided into three naves, the central one being larger than the other two, both in height and in width”. (MAIOLINO, C. F. Neo-gothic religious architecture in Curitiba between 1889 and 1930 . Masters dissertation. Porto Alegre:UFRGS, 2007. p.12)

From the description of the architectural plan of a Gothic cathedral, as expressed in the excerpt above, it is possible:

a) deny that Catholic doctrines had any influence on the construction of cathedrals.

b) deny that there are sophisticated elements of architectural art in the construction of cathedrals.

c) claim that there was a precarious knowledge of geographic orientation and geometry in medieval culture.

d) claim that there was a strong esoteric pagan influence in the composition of Gothic cathedrals.

e) affirm that the Catholic liturgy (sacred rites and symbols) guided the entire construction of cathedrals.

Read the following text:“In general, spiritual education moved from monastic schools to more urban than rural institutions, of a cosmopolitan rather than regionalist character and, so to speak, only semi-ecclesiastical. , namely:schools, cathedrals, universities and studia of the new mendicant orders which almost all arose in the thirteenth century and whose members played an increasingly important role even in the universities. (PANOFSKY, E. Gothic and scholastic architecture:on the analogy between art, philosophy and theology in the Middle Ages . trans. Wolfe Hoernke. São Paulo:Martins Fontes, 1991. p. 15.)

In this excerpt, the art scholar E. Panofsky describes the urban atmosphere that emerged in the period known as the Late Middle Ages and also the cultural environment that formed there. Regarding the relationship between Gothic cathedral architecture and scholastic philosophy, it is possible to state that:

a) had no relationship.

b) had a minimal relationship, given that the scholastics were not interested in Christian culture.

c) had a relationship of total completeness. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas is even compared to a Gothic cathedral.

d) there was no direct relationship because the cathedrals were made exclusively for the poor and illiterate population.

e) there was only a partial relationship, as scholastic philosophers were only interested in how cathedrals were built.

Letter B

Medieval architecture, especially the architecture used in Gothic cathedrals, is, alongside the Universities, the scene of the cultural flourishing of the Low Middle Ages. Both the architectural layout of the cathedrals and the art of the stained glass, inside, and the high-relief sculptures, on the outside, make up a highly sophisticated artistic ensemble.

Letter A

Medieval architecture, especially cathedrals, conveyed the sense of totality of divinity over men. The experience that one had inside a Gothic cathedral was that of being close to God. Its entire construction was aimed at making this explicit. Thus, there was the expression of a theocentric worldview.

Letter E

Gothic architecture had a direct link with the set of symbols and rites developed by the Catholic Church over the centuries and was guided by them. The entire layout of the cathedral building, starting with its Latin cross shape, reflected the meaning of the liturgy, above all what was linked to the main dogmas of Christianity:the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Letter C

Scholastic philosophy as a whole and the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas in particular bear a complete similarity to Gothic architectural art. This is because in both there is a complete search for the understanding of the dogmas and mysteries of the Christian faith and the meticulous composition of a structure at the center of which is the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ.