Answer:
The main theme of most of the art of the middle ages was religion.
Explanation:
Medieval works of art emerged in a context in which there was no concept of art as an end in itself nor that of beauty as its objective, not even the concept of artist or fine art itself (but that of mechanical arts, differentiated from liberals). The medieval artistic object had, within the society in which it was produced, a basically functional character. For the French medievalist Georges Duby, the medieval work of art basically fulfilled three tasks:
-Be an offering to God, the saints and the dead, in order to obtain his grace, his indulgence, etc. That is why the medieval man (even those, such as St. Francis of Assisi, who promoted poverty) did not doubt the legitimacy of the richness of the ornaments of churches, monasteries or other places of worship, since this wealth was seen as a necessary offering to God, for which the best materials and the best techniques were necessary.
-To be an intermediary between the supernatural and the human world, making divine realities visible in it. Medieval images are often attributed a pedagogical function: explaining the dogmas of the Christian faith and sacred history to the illiterate (the stone catechism), although not all experts agree on this point.
-To be an affirmation of power: on the one hand, of the power of God and the Church (religious power); on the other, of political power (emperors, kings, and the same ecclesiastical institutions). At the end of the Middle Ages, sufficient means to commission works of art (the bourgeoisie) are emerging in other social agents.
