Stairs & Staircases

Medieval Architecture

Medieval architecture produced very grand and ornate staircases. The medieval period is generally considered to span from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to around the 16th century when the Early Modern Period began. Medieval architecture falls into three main periods: Early Christian  and pre-Romanesque, Romanesque (11th – 12th centuries), and Gothic (C12th – C16th).

Early Christian architecture was produced under Christian patronage from around 100AD to 500AD, using Roman forms, styles and motifs giving them new Christian meanings to the pagan iconography (such as the peacock and grapevines). However they also developed their own unique iconography such as the fish (the Greek word for fish -ikhthus – made an acrostic for ‘Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour’).

Pre-Romanesque styles are further classified as Merovingian, Carolingian, Ottonian and Asturian, reflecting the dynastic changes of the period. The Merovingian dynasty of the Franks made contributions to art such as the new medium of manuscript illumination. The Carolingian period occurred during Charlemagne’s reign, promoting classical Mediterranean Roman art forms as well as new styles such as naturalistic figure line drawings. Ottonian Art (936-1056 AD) took form under the three rulers named Otto of the Holy Roman Empire, fusing different styles that would create a link to former Christian rulers such as Constantine.

Romanesque and Gothic Styles

Romanesque architecture combined characteristics of Western Roman and Byzantine styles, resulting in a style featuring think walls, round arches, large vaults and towers, and decorative arcading. This period saw a great many churches and castles built, the uniqueness being the similarity across regions as the first pan-European style since the Roman Empire.

Gothic architecture originated in the 12th century abbey church of Saint-Denis, and the improvements in design led to the creation of incredibly tall cathedrals (in fact it became somewhat of a competition between regions as to who could build the tallest). This period was characterised by stained glass windows depicting biblical stories and saints, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, clustered columns, spiral staircases, sharply pointed spires and flying buttresses.