13th Century Fine Art Virtual Museum

Prose Edda, a writing by Snorri Sturlson, Icelandic poet

Jan 1, 1200

It is a text of the Norse creation epic and recounts the battles that follow as gods, giants, dwarves and elves struggle for survival. It also preserves oral memory of heroes, warrior kings and queens. The Edda provides insight into the gods' tragic realization that the future holds a cataclysmic battle, Ragnarok, when the world will be destroyed. It was a handbook for poets to compose in the style of the skalds of the Viking ages.

Art of the 13th Century

Period: Jan 1, 1200 to Jan 1, 1300

Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach

Jan 1, 1209

It follows Parzival from his boyhood and career as a knight in the court of King Arthur to King of the Temple of the Grail. As a knight himself, the author was uniquely able to describe the zest and color of his hero's world, with dazzling depictions of courtly luxury, jousting and adventure. It is an epic quest for spiritual education, as Parzival must conquer his ignorance and pride and learn humility before he can finally win the Holy Grail.

Mainta Gens Me Malrazona by Peirol d'Auvergne

Apr 21, 1210

Music of the Troubadour This is one of the troubadour most famous songs that survived with lyrics and a piano part. Peirol, an Auvergnat troubadour, has thirty-four surviving poems written in Occitan have been attributed to him; of these, seventeen (sixteen of them love songs) have surviving melodies. The texts of troubadour songs deal mainly with themes of chivalry and courtly love. Most were metaphysical, intellectual, and formulaic.

Magna Carta issued by King John of England

Jan 1, 1215

Magna Carta was a peace treaty between the King and the rebel barons. It established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law. Most of the 63 clauses granted by King John dealt with specific grievances relating to his rule. Among its most famous clauses gave all ‘free men’ right to justice and a fair trial. The 1225 version of Magna Carta, issued by Henry III became the definitive version of the text.

Palazzo della Ragione, Padua

Jan 1, 1219

The building, with its great hall on the upper floor, is reputed to have the largest roof unsupported by columns in Europe; the hall is nearly rectangular, its length 81.5m, its breadth 27m, and its height 24 m; the walls are covered with allegorical frescoes; the building stands on arches, and the upper storey is surrounded by an open loggia. The Palazzo was begun in 1172 and finished in 1219.

Mosaics in Baptistry of San Giovanni Florence, by Fra Jacopo, Italian

Jan 1, 1220

The first mosaic made inside the baptistry was that of the scarsella, the Apse cCapel that houses the altar. Transformed in 1202 by a semicircular rectangular apse, it was decorated about 1225 by Fra Jacopo—Fra’ Jacopo della Scarsella—who was the first artist of the newborn Christian Franciscan Order. The monaco mosaic artist depicted the Baptist and the Virgin enthroned, with at the center the Mystic Lamb, as well as prophets and patriarchs.

Miroku Butsu by Unkei

Jan 1, 1223

Unkei's Miroku Butsu is in the tradition of previous Buddha figures, including those of his father and ultimately Tori Busshi. Like the works of those sculptors, the Buddha is depicted as seated and backed by an intricate halo. However, Unkei's work features further strides toward realism. Crystal inlays cause the eyes to shine, and details are carved deeply and in new detail. At the time in Japan, sculpting was done collaboratively, so it is unknown what portion of the work was Unkei’s.

Stained Glass Windows of Chartres Cathedral in France

Jan 1, 1230

Chartres Cathedral contains 176 stained-glass windows, the feature for which it may be best known. Like the sculpture, the stained glass was intended to be educational. The five windows of the choir hemicycle (a semicircular arrangement) relate in various ways to the Virgin Mary. The rose window in the north transept portrays figures from the Old Testament. The south transept, which is representative of the New Testament, has a rose window depicting the Apocalypse.

Alhambra in Spain

Jan 1, 1238

Alhambra is the palace and fortress of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, Spain. The name Alhambra, signifying in Arabic “the red,” is from the color of the sun-dried tapia, bricks made of fine gravel and clay, of which the outer walls are built. Constructed on a plateau that overlooks the city of Granada, the palace was begun in 1238 including its design being completely laid out, but it was finished in 1358, in the reigns of Ibn al-Aḥmar, founder of the Naṣrid dynasty, and his successors.

Konark Sun Temple, India

Jan 1, 1249

The Konark Sun Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the sun god. Shaped like a giant chariot, the temple is known for the exquisite stone carvings that cover the entire structure. Narasimhadeva's temple was built in the form of a huge Ratha (chariot), having twelve pairs of wheels exquisitely carved out in the northern and southern sides of the plinth masonry and drawn by a team of seven spirited horses, speeding as if, through the heaven.

Seated Figure, African

Jan 1, 1250

There is very little remains of art from Africa created in the 13th century. A few controlled archaeological digs provide only the vaguest outlines of the original significance of the art of this time and region. Recovered terracotta figures are frequently quite detailed. This haunting figure huddles with its leg hugged to its chest and its head dropped on its knee. It simultaneously conveys the knotted tension of anxiety and the sublime absorption of deep prayer.

Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, written by Franciscan unknown

Jan 1, 1253

Dies Iraeis based upon Zep 1:14 – 16, a reflection upon the final judgment. It was originally part of the Mass of the Dead and the Office of the Dead. Gregorian chant, monophonic, or unison, liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church, used to accompany the text of the mass and the canonical hours, or divine office. Gregorian chant is named after St. Gregory I. Today it is found in the Liturgia Horarum for the last week of Ordinary time (34th).

Mas̄navī by Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī

Jan 1, 1254

It is a Persian mystical that comprises some 26,000 verses and is a complete encyclopedia of all the mystical thought, theories, and images known in the 13th century. The Mas̄navī, which shows all the different aspects of Sufism in the 13th century, often carries the reader away with loose associations of thought, so that one understands what subjects the master had in mind at a particular stage of his life. The work reflects the experience of divine love.

The pulpit in the cathedral of Pisa by Pisano, Italian

Jan 1, 1259

The pulpit marks a moment in the history of Western art when a new style, distinct from all its predecessors, though indebted to them, clearly asserted itself and opened new avenues for artistic expression drawing on the widest possible range of artistic motifs—Roman reliefs, early Christian fresco and mosaic decorations, and localized Tuscan and Lombard forms, as well as isolated motifs deriving from French Gothic sculpture and architecture.

The Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas

Jan 1, 1265

Although unfinished, the Summa was intended as an instructional guide for moderate theologians and a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Catholic Church. It presents the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God; Creation, Man; Man's purpose; Christ; the Sacraments; and back to God.

Salisbury Cathedral, England

Jan 1, 1270

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, and one of the leading examples of Early English architecture. One factor that enabled Salisbury Cathedral to become so extraordinary is that it was the first major cathedral to be built on an unobstructed site. Construction was carried out in one campaign, giving the complex a cohesive motif and singular identity.

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Amiens, France

Jan 1, 1270

Medieval cathedral builders were trying to maximize the internal dimensions in order to reach for the heavens and bring in more light. In that regard, the Amiens cathedral is the tallest complete cathedral in France, its stone-vaulted nave reaching an internal height of 138.8 ft and the greatest interior volume of any French cathedral. The cathedral was built between 1220 and 1270. Amiens Cathedral is renowned for the quality and quantity of early 13th-century Gothic sculpture.

Jeu de Robin et de Marion by Adam de la Halle, Italian

Jan 1, 1283

Le Jeu de Robin et de MarionAdam de la Halle “the Hunchback” is justly the most famous composer of the late 13th century, and his greatest gift to posterity, Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion, is the first-ever opera – a pastoral romp brimming with delightful songs. It is unusual to find a composer of this period writing both monophonic and polyphonic works.

Rucellai Madonna by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Italian

Jan 1, 1285

It was painted for the Florentine Church, Santa Maria Novella, and is described by the Catholic Encyclopedia as “one of the most illustrious specimens of Italian painting.” Duccio di Buoninsegna is one of the greatest Italian painters of the Middle Ages and the founder of the Sienese school. In Duccio’s art the formality of the Italo-Byzantine tradition, strengthened by a clearer understanding of its evolution from classical roots, is fused with the new spirituality of the Gothic style.

The Travels of Marco Polo by Rustichello

Jan 1, 1298

The Travels of Marco Polo by Rustichello Marco Polo voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kublai Khan on diplomatic missions. He became a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book about the unfamiliar exotic lands of the East. It is the beginnings of an effort to collect information on other parts of the world and a clear interest in wealth that might be found and made there.