General Discussion

Anyone remember these terrible things?? [img]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71U3lQq2teL._SY355_.jpg[/img] I'm pretty sure almost nobody actually likes the Valentine's conversation hearts besides me, I've only met one other person who actually likes them

Medieval art.
I don't think most people hate it per se, but it's something a lot of people take out of context, laugh at and mock despite the fact that it is absurdly deeper than basically any art produced since literacy rates improved. People were not literate in words, but they knew that eagles meant St John and yellow roses meant intellect and also the meaning of things scholars have yet to figure out like why all these knights were fighting snails.

People engaged with art in such a more analytical way, not just as viewers but also as artists. As the artist, it was your job to teach people things without words. Often multiple bodies of heavy religious literature, using only your inks or marble.
And so in all these works that modern people see as silly and stupid, people 1000 years ago would see entire fables, stories, epics and lessons.
And it wasn't just in manuscript paintings, but the very fundamentals of Gothic architecture itself incorporated this style of highly narrative and symbolic artwork.

I could go on for hours about also the creativity and painstaking skill that goes into art of that time period, but I think I'll stop for now lol.