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So this popped in to my feed again and I'm having my lunch so I thought I might give it a shot.
The short answer is that, they weren't.
But that is not as fun an answer so let's unpack this a little bit.
The short answer is that, they weren't.
But that is not as fun an answer so let's unpack this a little bit.
The example accompanying this query is: "figures are all bizarrely elongated and out of proportion, and there is no sense of depth"
I suppose that is kinda true if we look at the the image accompanying this Guardian query.
I suppose that is kinda true if we look at the the image accompanying this Guardian query.
(It's from a Morgan MSS: the life and miracles of St Edmunds. Found here: themorgan.org/collection/Lif… )
These images may seem to be poorly drawn because the figures are different sizes and they overlap in a pretty unnatural way, but that is if we assume that artists should make art that is mimetic, that things and people in paintings & drawings should look like they do in real life
Mathematical perspective and mimesis are two things that become super important in the Italian Renaissance (I know it's more complicated than that, don't @ me).
There's a pretty successful propaganda campaign that elevates these values.
There's a pretty successful propaganda campaign that elevates these values.
It is so successful, that even now those traits can often act as synonyms for if something is good!
But that is applying modern (or modern-ish) aesthetic standards to pre-modern art!
Medieval art looks the way it does because that is how artists and patrons wanted it to look.
But that is applying modern (or modern-ish) aesthetic standards to pre-modern art!
Medieval art looks the way it does because that is how artists and patrons wanted it to look.
Although not Perspective, there is certainly depth in this opening. We can see which boats are further away & which are closer.
Another criticism often levelled against medieval art is that it's static, but we can clearly see the narrative pull: vikings invading from the left!
Another criticism often levelled against medieval art is that it's static, but we can clearly see the narrative pull: vikings invading from the left!
and the "elongated" bodies. It is certainly true here, but this is a very particular Romanesque style of painting, that often emphasises longer bodies. It's not true for all art of the time
The bodies of the figures are REALLY emphasised using something called 'wet fold drapery'!
The bodies of the figures are REALLY emphasised using something called 'wet fold drapery'!
So the slightly longer answer to the original question is: medieval artists were not bad at drawing, us moderns are just trained to appreciate different aesthetic values, which makes us bad at viewing and appreciating medieval art.
