The Middle Ages: From the Birth of Christ to the 13th century. The East and the West

Abstract

The essay provides a summary overview of the main phenomena of artistic culture during the Middle Ages in the West and the East (from the Birth of Christ to the 13th century). The paper covers the global art culture of the medieval period both from the point of view of the general historical process and in the consideration of individual types of art (sculpture, architecture, painting, literature, music). The author examines the achievements of medieval authors in these types of creativity: the increasing trends towards simplification in depiction of man and mythological creatures in Western art, the progressive development of art in the East (the rise of architecture and urban planning, the development of fine art). There is a turn towards the acquisition of civilizational forms of existence in Western art under the influence of feudalism and monotheistic religion. Special attention is paid to understanding the category of the universe in the medieval period, the construction of fortifications as reflections of the militant mood of the Middle Ages, manifestations of lyrical imagery in the artistic culture of the West and the East. As a result, the author concludes that medieval art represents a huge, richest layer of the artistic culture of mankind, the most important stage for the creation of artistic classics in the East and later in Russia.