Roman de la Rose

The Roman de la Rose was made during the Middle Ages and is an allegorical love poem formed from a dream. Petrarch, an Italian poet, believed that during the Dark Ages, there was a period of intellectual darkness because of the loss of traditional learning. However, historians later came to the conclusion that the term "Dark Ages" was ultimately turned into the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages was not a time of ignorance and confusion but when Christianity thrived. In the Latin West, this brought a new view of life. Generally speaking, this was a time period between the end of the antiquity in the fifth century and the renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Roman de la Rose, M. 948, fol. 12r 

Thanks to the work of two authors a medieval manuscript, the Roman de la Rose, was written into existence. It was begun around 1230 by Guillaume de Lorris, continued by Jean de Meun close to 40 years later and was likely an influential work written in Old French. There are about 320 fragmented manuscripts containing parts of the poem. You can mainly find these in European libraries with dates ranging from the 13th to the 16th century.

Although there are many other pieces in this manuscript, this painting in particular has a lot that could be said about it. This painting is painted with a great deal of chiaroscuro, the contrast of shade and light in an artwork, by making bright colors in a seemingly perfect world. It really shows what sort of world people want, the setting is so idealistic that it's very possible to consider this is not what the people and place looked like if it ever happened at all. This painting seems to be concentrated on the wealth and happiness of the lovers, giving it some individualism. It shows the girl reaching up to unlock the arched gate leading to the courtyard. Here, the Romans represented nature through trees, bushes, and grass, you can even notice a dead tree. Also on the right side, they attempted to make a 3-dimensional looking wall but the result is a little strange. At first I was confused looking at it because it looked like the wall could go both forwards and into the background.

The visual arts flourished during the Middle Ages creating its own aesthetic values. Churches, sculptures, paintings, textiles, manuscripts, jewelry and other items were commissioned by wealthy members of society. Many of the commissions were religious but medieval artists also produced nonreligious art. There are only a few names of the artists that haven't been forgotten  and fewer documents recorded their business methods, but the footprint of art and culture left behind is no less than incredibly impressive. 

References

ThingLink. (n.d.). Roman de la Rose, M. 948, fol. 12r, 16th century (Morgan ... by David Bedard. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://www.thinglink.com/scene/845624128080707585

Dr. Nancy Ross, "Introduction to the Middle Ages," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed September 29, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-the-middle-ages/.

Rose Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved October 01, 2020, from https://dlmm.library.jhu.edu/en/romandelarose/rose-summary/

Museum, T. (n.d.). Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts. Retrieved October 01, 2020, from http://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/10/145641

Roman de la Rose. (2017, July 21). Retrieved October 01, 2020, from https://www.themorgan.org/manuscript/145641