Is it that artists can no longer portray the human body with the skill they did in the ancient world?

Q1: The middle ages gives us a very different view of humanity. You will note that the last chapter emphasizes this and that it seems as if the great skill and detail revealed in ancient Greek and Rome have disappeared – we are now in what historians used to call the “Dark Ages”. Is it that artists can no longer portray the human body with the skill they did in the ancient world? Or is it that they have other purposes? Be sure to have read the chapter and in particular, to have reviewed the section on the Last Judgment and compare and contrast the portrayal of the human body to that of the Greeks.

Q2: You will notice that two styles of cathedral are important at this time: the Romanesque and the Gothic. We are focusing on the Gothic (I hope you enjoyed the Macauley video – you can skip to the parts that interest you but it is a great overview of the cathedral’s history.) The very brief you tube video How to Read a Gothic Cathedral is also very helpful! In this thread, I ask that you respond with a post that identifies one key feature of the Gothic cathedral in the subject heading and then clearly discuss and perhaps provide a visual example of one in the post – remember that we have many pseudo Gothic cathedrals in this country but for examples, I ask that you find ones that fit the time frame.

How to read a Gothic cathedral façade (6:43) Watch on YouTube