Skip to content
Back Home
Smarthistory Logo
  • About
      • ABOUT SMARTHISTORY
      • What is Smarthistory?
      • Who is Smarthistory?
      • Is Smarthistory reliable?
      • Museum and institutional partners
      • Major donors
      • Press coverage
      • Our blog
      • Give us feedback
      • Contact us

      • At Smarthistory, the Center for Public Art History, we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background.

        With 503 contributors from 201 colleges, universities, museums, and research centers, Smarthistory is the most-visited art history resource in the world.

  • For Learning
      • ART HISTORIES
      • Start here
      • Prehistoric
      • Africa
      • Americas
      • Asia
      • Ancient Mediterranean + Europe
      • Medieval Europe + Byzantine
      • The Islamic World
      • Europe 1300–1800
      • Europe 1800–1900
      • Pacific Islands
      • Modernisms 1900–1980
      • Art since 1980
      • TOPICS & COURSES
      • Art Appreciation
      • AP® Art History
      • A-Level Art History
      • History of photography
      • Creating and conserving
      • Understanding museums
      • Oppression and resistance in art
      • Illness, plagues, and pandemics in art
      • See all short courses
      • SPECIAL PROJECTS
      • The U.S. Civil War in Art
      • Seeing America
      • ARCHES: At-risk Cultural Heritage
      • Expanding the Renaissance
      • Across Cultures
      • Virtual Visits
  • Books
      • SMARTHISTORY BOOKS
      • Reframing Art History, a new kind of textbook
      • Guide to Byzantine Art
      • Guide to Ancient Roman Art
      • Guide to AP® Art History vol. 1 (#1–47)
      • Guide to AP® Art History vol. 2 (#48–98)
      • Guide to AP® Art History vol. 3 (#99–152)
      • See complete collection of titles
      • NEW TITLES
        • reframing art history cover smReframing Art History
          a new kind of textbook
        • Byzantine cover jpgGuide to Byzantine art
  • For Teaching
      • TOOLS FOR TEACHING
      • All content for teaching
      • Webinars past & present
      • Teaching with images: K-12
      • Syllabi
      • Do-it-yourself tools
        • UPCOMING EVENT
          • Dr. Elena FitzPatrick Sifford on casta paintings

            Check back for upcoming events

        • PAST EVENT
          • Dr. Elena FitzPatrick Sifford on casta paintings

            Apr.06.2022

            The Kaaba with Dr. Nancy Demerdash

  • Support
      • SUPPORT SMARTHISTORY
      • Donate
      • Contribute an essay

      • We created Smarthistory to provide students around the world with the highest-quality educational resources for art and cultural heritage—for free.

  • Search
Search

All Results

Generic filters
Search in excerpt
Search

over here

Medieval Europe + Byzantium

Browse this content
A beginner's guide
Introduction to the Middle Ages
A new pictorial language: the image in early medieval art
Pilgrimage souvenirs 
Chivalry in the Middle Ages
Mapping the world
A Global Middle Ages through the Pages of Decorated Books
Travel, trade and exploration in the Middle Ages
The medieval calendar
Medieval goldsmiths
The classical past
Musical imagery in the Global Middle Ages
Coming Out: Queer Erasure and Censorship from the Middle Ages to Modernity
The Buddha’s long “journey” to Europe and Africa
Christianity and art
Browse this content
Christianity, an introduction
The Christian Bible
The lives of Christ and the Virgin in Byzantine art
The life of Christ in medieval and Renaissance art
How to recognize the Four Evangelists
How to recognize saints
Architecture and liturgy
Judaism and art
Browse this content
Introduction to Judaism
Jewish history to the middle ages
Writing a history of Jewish architecture
Books in Medieval Europe
Browse this content
A beginner's guide
Browse this content
Medieval manuscripts
Manuscripts: major works of art
Making manuscripts
The Bestiary
A Global Middle Ages through the Pages of Decorated Books
Visions of Paradise in a Global Middle Ages
Written in the Stars: Astronomy and Astrology in Medieval Manuscripts
Making the medieval book
Browse this content
Listening to the medieval book
An introduction to medieval scripts
A medieval textbook
Parchment (the good, the bad, and the ugly)
Making Manuscripts: The Page
Skins and scraps
The work of the scribe
Words, words, words: medieval handwriting
Making books for profit in medieval times
Decorating the book
Biblical illumination
Illumination of Jewish biblical texts
Medieval supermodels
Binding the book
Clasps: hugging a medieval book
Medieval books in leather (and other materials)
Using the medieval book
Browse this content
The medieval desktop
Getting personal in the margins
Smart bookmarks
Finding books
The medieval origins of the modern footnote
Medieval notepads
Types of medieval books
An Introduction to the Bestiary, Book of Beasts in the Medieval World
Medieval prayer-books
Early Christian
Browse this content
Early Christianity, an introduction
Early Christian art
Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome
Early Christian art and architecture after Constantine
Santa Maria Antiqua
Santa Maria Antiqua Sarcophagus
The Good Shepherd in Early Christianity
Santa Pudenziana
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus
Basilica of Santa Sabina, Rome
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
The Vienna Genesis
The Story of Jacob from the Vienna Genesis
Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well from the Vienna Genesis
Classicism and the Early Middle Ages
The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Byzantine
Browse this content
A beginner's guide
Byzantine art, an introduction
About the chronological periods of the Byzantine Empire
Icons, an introduction
Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Ancient and Byzantine mosaic materials
Wearable art in Byzantium
Early Byzantine (including Iconoclasm)
Browse this content
Architecture
The origins of Byzantine architecture
Early Byzantine architecture after Constantine
Innovative architecture in the age of Justinian
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Byzantine architecture during Iconoclasm
Ravenna, Italy
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy
Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna (Italy)
San Vitale and the Justinian Mosaic
Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
Art and architecture of Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai
Woman with Scroll
Byzantine Mosaic of a Personification, Ktisis
Ivory Panel with Archangel
The Emperor Triumphant (Barberini Ivory)
The Vienna Dioscurides
Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George
A chalice from the Attarouthi Treasure
The Byzantine Fieschi Morgan cross reliquary
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Early Byzantine period
Middle Byzantine
Browse this content
Architecture
Middle Byzantine church architecture
Regional variations in Middle Byzantine architecture
Middle Byzantine secular architecture and urban planning
A work in progress: Middle Byzantine mosaics in Hagia Sophia
Theotokos mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Mosaics and microcosm: the monasteries of Hosios Loukas, Nea Moni, and Daphni
Byzantine frescoes at Saint Panteleimon, Nerezi
Manuscripts
Book illumination in the Eastern Mediterranean
Illuminating the Psalms in Byzantium
The Paris Psalter
Illuminated Gospel-books
Middle Byzantine secular art
A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The Harbaville Triptych
Byzantium and its neighbors
Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Middle Byzantine period
Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello
Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice
Mobility and reuse: the Romanos chalices and the chalice with hares
Byzantium, Kyivan Rus’, and their contested legacies
The visual culture of Norman Sicily
The Cappella Palatina
The Melisende Psalter
The Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire
Byzantine Art and the Fourth Crusade
Plunder, War, and the Horses of San Marco
Icon of the Archangel Michael
Byzantine architecture and the Fourth Crusade
Late Byzantine
Browse this content
Architecture
Late Byzantine church architecture
Late Byzantine secular architecture and urban planning
Deësis, Hagia Sophia
Picturing salvation — Chora’s brilliant Byzantine mosaics and frescoes
The vita icon in the medieval era
Byzantine miniature mosaics
Byzantine Griffin Panel
Icon with the Triumph of Orthodoxy
Post-Byzantine
Hagia Sophia as a mosque
Church of St. Nicholas, Balinesti
Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow
Early Medieval
Browse this content
England
Anglo-Saxon England
Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (video)
Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
The Sutton Hoo purse lid
The Sutton Hoo helmet
Decoding Anglo-Saxon art
Brooch from Chessell Down
Fibulae
The Lindisfarne Gospels
Codex Amiatinus
The Utrecht Psalter
Ireland
Skellig Michael
Clonmacnoise
The Ardagh Chalice
Saint Patrick’s Bell and Shrine
The Book of Kells
Symbolism in the Book of Kells
Muiredach Cross
The Cross of Cong
Carolingian
Browse this content
Carolingian art, an introduction
Charlemagne (part 1 of 2): An introduction
Charlemagne (part 2 of 2): The Carolingian revival
Palatine Chapel, Aachen
Matthew in the Coronation Gospels and Ebbo Gospels
Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels
Depicting Judaism in a medieval Christian ivory
Lindau Gospels cover
Mosaics, Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Rome
Ottonian
Browse this content
Ottonian art, an introduction
Gospel Book of Otto III
Bronze doors, Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim (Germany)
Viking Age
Browse this content
Art of the Viking Age
Urnes Stave Church
Romanesque
Browse this content
A beginner's guide
Browse this content
Romanesque art, an introduction
Romanesque architecture, an introduction
Medieval churches: sources and forms
Pilgrimage routes and the cult of the relic
A look at modern veneration
France
Browse this content
Cluny Abbey
Saint-Pierre, Moissac
Last Judgment, Tympanum, Cathedral of St. Lazare, Autun (France)
Church and Reliquary of Sainte-Foy, France
Pentecost and Mission to the Apostles Tympanum, Basilica Ste-Madeleine, Vézelay (France)
Basilica of Saint-Sernin
Fontenay Abbey
Saint Trophime, Arles
Virgin and Child in Majesty
Casket with troubadours
Manuscript production in the abbeys of Normandy
Italy
The Basilica of San Clemente, Rome
The Romanesque churches of Tuscany: San Miniato in Florence and Pisa Cathedral
England
Browse this content
The Art of Conquest in England and Normandy
The Second Norman Conquest | Lanfranc’s Reforms
The English castle: dominating the landscape
Motte and Bailey Castles and the Norman Conquest | Windsor Castle Case Study
The Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry, from BBC One's Seven Ages of Britain
The Animated Bayeux Tapestry
Durham Cathedral
The Morgan Leaf from The Winchester Bible
Ireland
Cormac’s Chapel
Spain
Browse this content
Historiated capitals, Church of Sant Miquel, Camarasa
“Throne of Wisdom” sculptures
Virgin from Ger
Circle of the Master of Pedret, The Wise and Foolish Virgins
The Painted Apse of Sant Climent, Taüll, with Christ in Majesty
Camel from San Baudelio de Berlanga
Plaque with the Journey to Emmaus and Noli Me Tangere
Teruel, mudéjar architecture of Aragon
The Cistercian Poblet Monastery
Conservation: Cast of the Pórtico de la Gloria
Medieval synagogues in Toledo, Spain
Gothic
Browse this content
A beginner's guide
Gothic architecture explained
Gothic architecture, an introduction
Cecily Brown on medieval sculptures of the Madonna and Child
France
Browse this content
Architecture
Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the ambulatory at St. Denis
Chartres Cathedral
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris
Reims Cathedral
Reims Cathedral and World War I
Amiens Cathedral
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris
Bible moralisée (moralized bibles)
Saint Louis Bible (Moralized Bible or Bible moralisée)
The Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux
Christ’s Side Wound and Instruments of the Passion from the Prayer Book of Bonne of Luxembourg
Ivory casket with scenes from medieval romances
England
Browse this content
Southwell Minster
Salisbury Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Wells Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Four styles of English medieval architecture at Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel
Henry VII Chapel
The Wilton Diptych
Matthew Paris’s itinerary maps from London to Palestine
Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic
Browse this content
The Crucifixion, c. 1200 (from Christus triumphans to Christus patiens)
Hiding the divine in a medieval Madonna: Shrine of the Virgin
Bonaventura Berlinghieri, Saint Francis Altarpiece
Inventing the image of Saint Francis
Porta Sant'Alipio Mosaic, Basilica San Marco, Venice
Röttgen Pietà
Altneushul, Prague
Spain
Spanish Gothic cathedrals, an introduction
The Golden Haggadah
The Prato Haggadah
Book of Morals of Philosophers
> Jump to Late Gothic Spanish art
Portugal
Convent of Christ, Tomar
Late medieval
Browse this content
Michael Pacher, St. Wolfgang Altarpiece
Hermen Rode, Saints Nicholas and Victor Altarpiece
St. George and the Dragon, Storkyrkan Stockholm
Cahir Castle, Ireland
The Crusades
Browse this content
What were the crusades?
How was crusading justified?
The when, where and who (of crusading)
The impact of the crusades
Krak des Chevaliers
Acre

Wells Cathedral

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Wells Cathedral, Wells, England, begun c. 1175. Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris. 

 

Additional resources:

Wells Cathedral website

Gothic architecture from the V&A

Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:
Wells Cathedral, chapter houseWells Cathedral, chapter house pier baseWells Cathedral, nave galleryWells Cathedral, west front central portalWells Cathedral, nave arcadeWells Cathedral, nave galleryWells Cathedral, west front central portalWells Cathedral, chapter house vaultingWells Cathedral, chapter house blind arcade facesWells Cathedral, chapter house blind arcadeWells Cathedral, chapter house viewWells Cathedral, singers holesWells Cathedral, chapter house vaultingWells Cathedral, chapter house blind arcade face

More Smarthistory images…

Cite this page as: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Wells Cathedral," in Smarthistory, July 18, 2017, accessed February 5, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/wells-cathedral/.

Flickr IconBrowse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning! 

Sign up for our newsletter!

Receive occasional emails about new Smarthistory content.

Have you seen our new "textbook"?

minimize arrow icon close icon

Reframing Art History—it's free!

more than 50 chapters

developed by more than 50 experts

Check it out!
NEW! The art of the viceroyalty of New Spain Close

Smarthistory is a nonprofit organization

At Smarthistory we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background. Smarthistory’s free, award-winning digital content unlocks the expertise of hundreds of leading scholars, making the history of art accessible and engaging to more people, in more places, than any other publisher.

  • Donate
  • Contact Us
facebook icon
twitter icon
instagram icon
youtube icon
flickr icon
  • About Smarthistory
  • Smarthistory’s blog
  • Contribute an essay
  • Content editors and contributors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

· © 2023 Smarthistory · Powered by · Designed with the Customizr theme ·