Three traditions which fused to create early medieval society in Western Europe: Christianity....

EARLY MEDIEVAL ART Three traditions which fused to create early medieval society in Western Europe:

Christianity.Greco-Roman heritage.Non-Roman peoples north of the Alps.

“BARBARIAN” ARTART OF THE WARRIOR LORDS

Cloisonné Metalworking technique where small metal strips (cloisons or “partitions”) are soldered edge-up to a metal background. The compartments are then filled with semiprecious stones, colored glass, or glass paste. The edges of the cloisons are an important part of the design.

Fibula A decorative pin used to fasten garments.

Viking Seafaring Scandinavian empire, pagan pirates and traders (viks means “trading places”). They conquered much of northern Europe from Ireland, England and France to the Baltic Regions and Russia.

Frankish Looped Fibula

France

6th - 7th Centuriessilver gilt worked in filigree with inlays of garnets and other stones4 in. long

Decorative patterns fitting the shape of the fibula cover the surface, describing and amplifying its structure. Anamorphic elements are deeply integrated into the design, becoming almost unrecognizable.

Purse cover from the Sutton Hoo ship burial Suffolk, Englandca. 625gold, glass and enamel cloisonné with garnets and emeralds7 1/2 in. long

Sutton HooA treasure-laden ship in a burial mound, epitomizing the tradition of burying lords with furnishings, as recorded in Beowulf. It contained gold and silver jeweled items such as bowls, coins, and two spoons inscribed “Saulos” and “Paulos” indicating a conversion to Christianity.

The heraldic figure grouping on the Sutton Hoo Purse Cover communicates the epic struggle between man and beast.

SCANDINAVIAN “VIKING” ART

Burial Ship

Oseberg, Norwayca. 825wood75 1/2 ft. long

Animal-Head Post

Oseberg, Norwayca. 825woodapproximately 5 in. high

The style of the decoration on the panel from Urnes and the Viking ship found near Oseberg Norway:

The animal-head post combines the large animal head form itself with patterns of twisting, interwoven animals carved into it.

Wood carved portal of the stave church at Urnes

Urnes, Norway

ca. 1050 - 1070wood

The style of the decoration on the panel from Urnes and the Viking ship found near Oseberg Norway:

The panel from Urnes is formed by elongated animal forms intertwining with plant stalks and tendrils in spiraling rhythm. The effect is of natural growth combined with an abstract sensibility.

HIBERNO-SAXON ART

Hiberno-SaxonThe artistic style of the monasteries of the British Isles (also known as Insular). Its most distinctive products were the illuminated manuscripts of the Christian Church.

MozarabicChristians living in Arab territories, such as the north of Spain after the Islamic forces conquered the Visigoths.

ScriptoriumThe writing studio of a monastery.

Man (symbol of St. Matthew)Book of Durrow possibly from Iona, Scotlandca. 660-680ink and tempera on parchment9 5/8 x 6 1/8 in.

A Pentateuch contains the first five books of the Old Testament.

Carpet PageBook of Durrow

possibly from Iona, Scotland

ca. 660-680ink and tempera on parchment9 5/8 x 6 1/8 in.

A carpet page is a decorative manuscript page containing abstract and zoomorphic forms.

zoomorphism 1. Attribution of animal characteristics or qualities to a god.2. Use of animal forms in symbolism, literature, or graphic representation.

Evangelists symbols pageBook of Kells

from Iona, Scotland

8th - 9th centuriestempera on vellum13 x 9 1/2 in.

Virgin and Child pageBook of Kells

from Iona, Scotland


Illuminated text from the Gospel of MarkErat autem hora terciaBook of Kells

from Iona, Scotland


The Lindisfarne Gospels is a manuscript that contains the Gospels of the four Evangelists Mark, John, Luke, and Matthew. The Lindisfarne Gospels begins with a carpet page in the form of a cross and a major initial page, introducing the letter of St. Jerome and Pope Damasus I (Backhouse 2004). There are sixteen pages of arcaded canon tables, where parallel passages of the four Evangelists are laid out (Backhouse 1981, 41; Backhouse 2004).

THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS

The carpet pages are influenced by early Coptic (Christian Egyptian) manuscripts in their resemblance to Islamic prayer rugs, which were probably known during this time in Northumbria (The British Library Board).

Each carpet page contains a different image of a cross (called a cross-carpet page), emphasizing the importance the Christian religion and ecumenical relationship between churches (The British Library Board).

The pages of ornamentation have motifs familiar from metalwork and jewellery that pair alongside bird and animal decoration (Backhouse 2004).

THE LINDISFARNE GOSPELS

Cross and Carpet pageLindisfarne Gospels

Northumbria, England

ca. 698 - 721tempera on vellum13 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.

Saint Matthew pageLindisfarne GospelsNorthumbria, Englandca. 698 - 721tempera on vellum13 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.

Differences in the two pages from the Lindesfarne Gospel illuminate

The author portrait of Saint Matthew (16-7) must have been inspired by one of the Illiustrated Gospel books a Christian missionary brought from Italy, but with a HIberno-Saxon focus on line and color rather than a classical focus on volume and perspective. The carpet page of 16-6 is a native Hiberno-Saxon masterpiece.

Chi-rho-iota pageBook of Kellsfrom Iona, Scotland8th - 9th centuriestempera on vellum13 x 9 1/2 in.

Characteristics of the style utilized on the chi-roh-iota page from the Book of Kells.

The holy words are turned into intricate abstract designs.

The edges of the designs are emphasized and filled with flat colors, resembling Celtic and Anglo-Saxon cloisonné metalwork.

There are human and animal representation embedded in the abstractions: the letter rho ends in a male head and animals are to the base of the h generatio line.

The scribe Ezra Codex Amiatinus

Jarrow, England

ca. 689-716tempera on vellum20 x 13 1/2 in.

High Cross of Muiredach(east side)

Monasterboice, Ireland

ca. 92316 ft. high

The concave arms of the cross are looped by four arcs that form a circle, a Celtic motif.

High Cross of Muiredach (east side)


ca. 92316 ft. high

High Cross of Muiredach(east side)


ca. 92316 ft. high

Last Judgment

High Cross of Muiredach (west side)


ca. 92316 ft. high

High Cross of Muiredach (west side)


ca. 92316 ft. high

Crucifixion

Carolingian ArtCloister

A colonnaded courtyard, attached to the side of a church.

Crossing The area where the nave and the transept cross.

Module A basic unit of which the dimensions of the major parts of a work are multiples.

Monastery A place where the clergy could be communally secluded in an abbey under the absolute rule of an abbot, who would see to it that each hour of the day was spent in useful work, as prescribed by Saint Benedict.

Westwork Western entrance structure of a church (from German westwerck), towers incorporated into the western façade where the upper gallery served as a church within a church.

Equestrian portrait of Charlemagne(?)from Metz, Franceearly 9th centurybronze, originally gilt9 1/2 in. high

•Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope in Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome (built by Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor) and therefore in time came to be known as the first Holy Roman Emperor (a title not adopted until the 12th century). He consolidated the Frankish kingdom and the Lombards of Italy, reuniting Europe and revived the Roman spirit.

The effect that it on the art of Northern EuropeWas that it caused the “Carolingian Renaissance”, a renewal of interest and emulation of the art, culture, and political ideas of Early Christian Rome.

St. MatthewCoronation Gospels

Aachen, Germany

ca. 800-810ink and tempera on vellum12 3/4 x 10 in.

Saint MatthewEbbo GospelsHautvillers, Franceca. 816 - 835ink and tempera on vellum10 1/4 x 8 3/4 in.

Ways in which the artist of the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims has modified the style found in the Gospel Book of Charlemagne:The Ebbo Gospels leaf border is more active than the Coronation Gospels.

In the Ebbo Gospels, Matthew’s face, hands, inkhorn, pen, and book are made the focus of the composition by the energetic line quality, whereas the Coronation Gospels has even stress throughout so that no part of the composition is a focal point.

The classical calm and solidity of the smooth contours of Coronation Gospels are replaced in the Ebbo Gospels by frenetic, nervous squiggles that give a sense of urgency to the composition.

The manuscript that is most closely related to the style of the Utrecht Psalter is The Ebbo Gospels.Because of the rapid and sketchy quality of line have the same kind of nervous energy as the Utretcht Psalter, where figures are sketched out vividly.

Saint JohnEbbo Gospels

Hautvillers, France

ca. 816 - 835ink and tempera on vellum10 1/4 x 8 3/4 in.

Canon TableEbbo Gospels

Hautvillers, France


Canon TablesEbbo Gospels

Hautvillers, France


Psalm 44 of folio 25 recto of the Utrecht Psalter

Hautvillers, France (near Reims)

ca. 820 - 835ink on vellum1 ft. 1 in. x 9 7/8 in.

Psalm 57 front coverPsalter of Charles the Bald

Denis, France

ca. 865ivory panel set in silver-gilt with filigree work and precious stonespanel 5 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. cover 9 1/2 x 7 3/4 in.

Crucifixion front coverLindau Gospels

Pierpont Morgan Library, New York

ca. 870gold, precious stones and pearls13 3/8 x 10 3/8 in.

Odo of MetzInterior of the Palatine Chapel of CharlemagneAachen, Germanyca. 792-805

The Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne resembles the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, but is distinguished by:

A simpler plan where the two main apselike extensions stand in greater independence of each other.

The exterior had two cylindrical towers with spiral staircases flanking the entrance portal.

Odo of MetzInterior of the Palatine Chapel of CharlemagneAachen, Germanyca. 792-805

Torhalle (gatehouse)

Lorsch, Germany

9th century

Schematic plan for a monastery

St. Gall, Switzerland

ca. 819redrawn after a 9th century manuscript

The church of the monastery of St. Gall is a three‑aisled basilica, and it differs from its Early Christian prototypes in the following ways:

The cloister (like the atrium) is on the side of the church rather than in front of its main portal.

A second apse on the west end of the building.

St. Gall had two towers framing the western end of the church, but standing apart from the façade, unlike many other Carolingian basilicas where the towers were integrated into the façade.

Modular constructionThe crossing area is used as the modular unit that determines the rest of the plan, integrating all parts of the church into a rational, orderly plan.

Drawing of the monastery church of St. Riquier

Centula, Franceca. 800engraving made in 1612 after a now destroyed 11th century miniature

Ottonian Art

Bishop BernwardTutor of Otto III, builder of the abbey church of Saint Michael at Hildesheim, and one of the great patrons of Ottonian art and architecture.

ReliquaryA shrine or container for keeping sacred relics.

Westwork of the Abbey Church

Corvey, Germany

ca. 873-885

Two features of the church of Saint Cyriakus of Gernrode that would be important for later medieval architecture:

The nave is one of the first in the West to incorporate a gallery between the ground-floor arcade and the clerestory.

The nave arcade is divided into vertical units by alternate piers and columns, mitigating the tunnel-like horizontality of the Early Christian basilicas, and leading the eye upward.

Heavy square piers alternate with columns, dividing the nave into vertical units. The division continues into the gallery level, breaking the smooth rhythm of an all-column arcade.

Nave of the church of St. CyriakusGernrode, Germanyca. 961-963

Abbey church of St. Pantaleon

Cologne, Germany

ca. 966-980

Abbey Church of St. Michael’s

Hildesheim, Germany

ca. 1001-1031

Doors with relief panelsGenesis, left door - Christ, right door

Hildesheim, Germany

ca. 1001-1031

St. Michael's at Hildesheim

The expressiveness of the figures are closer to the Utrecht Psalter than the Gospel Book of Charlemagne. The figures are forceful and clear in their emotions.


Hildesheim, Germany

ca. 1001-1031

Middle Bottom


Hildesheim, Germany

ca. 1001-1031

Column with reliefs illustrating the life of Christ

Hildesheim, Germany

ca. 1015-1022 bronze 12 ft. 6 in. high


Hildesheim, Germany


A possible source for the Triumphal Column in Saint Michael’s at Hildesheim was Trajan’s Column in Rome.


Hildesheim, Germany


Crucifix commissioned by Archbishop GeroCologne Cathedral, Germanyca. 970painted wood6 ft. 2 in. high

Features of the Gero crucifix (FIG. 16-26) that contribute to the expression of suffering:

Blood streaks down his forehead.

His face is contorted in pain.

His body sags under its own weight.

Abbess Uta folio 2 of the Uta Codex

Regensburg, Germany

ca. 1025 tempera on parchment9 5/8 in. x 5 1/8 in.

Annunciation to the ShepherdsLectionary of Henry II

from Reichenau, Germany

ca. 1002-1014tempera on vellum17 x 13 in.

Stylistic features seen in the Lectionary of Henry II that were not apparent in earlier Carolingian illumination;

The golden background that reveals knowledge of Byzantine book illustration and mosaic decoration; it is more like the apse of Byzantine church than a Carolingian illumination.

The rocky landscape with grazing animals derives from both classical and Early Christian art.

Otto III enthroned Gospel Book of Otto III

from Trier, Germany


Tribute of the Provinces Gospel Book of Otto III

from Trier, Germany


Otto III Enthroned Liuthar (Aachen) Gospels

from Aachen, Germany

ca. 1000ink and tempura on vellum10 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.

Three traditions which fused to create early medieval society in Western Europe: Christianity....

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