Medieval manuscript art storytelling8/27/2023 But all around Him are images that tell us more fully all that Our Lord accomplished by dying on the cross. In the center we see the crucified Christ, sacrificing Himself for our sake. To appreciate more fully the work of the medieval sacred artist let us look more closely at the crucifixion grouping. Above that is the resurrection of Christ and above that is Pentecost. Directly behind the priest is this representation of the crucifix. As the priest celebrates Mass those in attendance see behind him the story of our redemption played out in brilliant color. The entire window is situated behind the altar. The window is located in the "Corona chapel" which was built to house the severed crown of Thomas Becket's skull. The image above is a detail from the so-called “Redemption Window” in Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury. You learn how Moses leading his people out of Egypt is a type of Jesus leading us out of the darkness of sin and death. You learn how the parable of the Good Samaritan is about the old law giving way to the new. You learn how all the biblical stories you have been taught from the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New. What you learn is the story of salvation history, its typology surrounds you. As you meditate on the stories and lessons you see depicted in the window, you learn, you learn things that most of us, 800 or so years in the future, have forgotten. The figures represented in the windows leap to life. The sunlight streaming in from the outside is transformed, Brilliant, transcendent light and color washes over you and those near you. Murals, mosaics and perhaps most dramatically, the stained glass windows. As the prayers of the priest may have been largely unintelligible to you, still the actions of the liturgy are reinforced by the imagery that surrounds you. Still you were obligated to attend Mass, then as now. The same with Latin, townspeople or tradespeople may have known enough to get by, especially if it helped their trade, but for the majority of the people it was a foreign language. You may be able to read but chances are you could not, especially if you were from the lower classes. Imagine you are a medieval townsperson or even a peasant, attending Mass. There is perhaps no better example of this than what we find in Medieval stained glass. In the Middle Ages, artists working in the Gothic form often took on the roles of teachers and storytellers.
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