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Medieval Church Symbolism

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When looking at the symbolism of the middle ages, specifically the medieval time period, it seems that most symbolism is based within the church. This is due to the strong faith of this time and the new advances in building cathedrals for worship. The church’s symbolism affects everything from the way the churches were build, to how the churches were decorated. In addition, churches used symbolism to explain their reasoning for what they did and why they did these things. For example, all numbers with in the church had a meaning, and all pictures or symbols meant more than just the visual appearance of them. In this paper we will discuss the symbolism of the church in the medieval time period; this will include the setup of the church, their artwork, and the most famous symbols …show more content…

Wall paintings and stained glass windows used well known figures or shapes to tell a story and express a meaning. The four evangelists, discussed earlier, all had a symbol which would have been used in these types of artwork. Another well known symbol would be of the bread and wine. This was used for the Lord’s Supper by having bread rising above a chalice of wine. A crown was seen as royalty and was often used for Christ. And finally a lamb would represent Jesus Christ. Although these are just a few of the hundreds of symbols used during this time period all had specific means and the church used these to portray a certain abstract idea or concept. (Early Christian Art). In conclusion, symbolism was used all throughout medieval times, especially in the church. These symbols gave meaning to the simple things in life making the people faith not only stronger but more meaningful. These symbols were present in the construction and layout of the building, the painting, sculptures, stained glass, and all other art, and the numbers and geometrical part of these

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