Days 8 to 9 - Small Wonders: Early Medieval Art in Western and Northern Europe I-II

Gummersmark Brooch

artist unknown, 6th century, silver gilt w/ chip-carving

• key example of Germanic animal style and ornament

• chip-carving produces shimmering surface

• shows abstract, intertwined beasts used as protective symbols

• reflects portable wealth culture of Migration-era Scandinavia

Eagle-shaped Fibulae

artist unknown, 6th century, gilded bronze, cloisonné with garnet inlay

• worn in pairs to fasten cloaks, both functional and a status-display

• eagle motif references Roman imperial iconography

• the Visigoths adapted Byzantine cloisonné techniques

• marks the merging of Germanic and Mediterranean court cultures

Votive Crown of King Recceswinth

artist unknown, 653-672 CE, gold, sapphires, pearls, rock crystals

• hung above an altar as a votive offering, not worn

• demonstrates long-distance luxury trade (pearls from East, gems imported

• exemplifies the enormous wealth of Visigoth Spain

• part of a tradition of royal Christian patronage influenced by Byzantine court rituals

Covers of the Gospel of Theodelinda

artist unknown, late 6th-early 7th century, gold, gems antique cameos and stones

• commissioned for Queen Theodelinda, major Lombard Christian patroness

• combines newly made metalwork with collected antique Roman gems

• reflects the Lombard court’s desire to link itself to the Roman imperial past

• demonstrated early medieval fascination with precious stones as spiritual light

Oratorio di Sta. Maria-in-Valle

artist unknown, 8th century, stucco figural relief

• among the best-preserved examples of Lombard religious architecture

• uses Byzantine-influenced elongated stucco figures

• Combines ZRoman spoliation, Byzantine aesthetics, and Lombard decorative forms

• Represents the multicultural reality of 8th-century northern Italy

Medallion with Bust of Christ

artist unknown, 7th century, gold cloisonné with gems

• uses imperial portrait conventions to depict Christ as cosmic ruler

• cloisonné bounded areas, polychrome style, Byzantine influence

• shows widespread exchange of Christian iconography across Germanic and Mediterranean worlds

Sacramentarte of Gelasius

artist unknown, late 8th century, illuminated manuscript on parchment

• key example of pre-Carolingian luxury liturgical manuscripts

• typographic innovation, fish symbolism, geometric forms resembling jewelry

• demonstrates the merging of Merovingian graphic styles into the Carolingian Renaissance

• important for showing how textual design became a sacred art form

Oseberg Karve (Ship)

artist unknown, 820 CE, oak, clinker-built, carved wood ornament

• one of the best-preserved Viking ships, found in the burial of two elite women

• shallow hull designed for coastal mobility, not ocean voyaging

• carved serpent imagery integrates Norse mythic identity with naval engineering

• symbol of status, ritual, and the connection between seafaring and spirituality

Shoulder Clasp

artist unknown, early 7th century, gold, garnet cloisonné, colored glass

• inspired by Roman military armor

• combines Germanic animal interlace and Byzantine-inspired cloisonné techniques

• demonstrates elite Anglo-Saxon status and connections across Europe

Belt Buckle

artist unknown, early 7th century, gold with niello

• contains densely intertwined animals in a nearly abstract pattern

• emphasize knowledge of bronze/copper alloys and representational animals forms

• functions as both everyday object and royal insignia

• one of the finest surviving examples and Anglo-Saxon goldwork

Franks Casket

artist unknown, 700-750 CE, carved whale bone

• rare mix of Christian, Germanic, Roman, and even Jewish stories

• imagery is non-logical, carved like a puzzle, includes riddles and references to the used whale bone

• reflects multilingual world of early medieval Britain

• demonstrates the blending of pagan and Christian identities

Lion of John, from the Book of Durrow

artist unknown, 650-680 CE, tempura on parchment

• one of the earliest Gospel books produced in the British Isles

• highly abstract, flat, decorative

• derived from mental work and Germanic animal interlace

• begins the tradition that will culminate Lindisfarne and Kells

Papil Stone

artist unknown, 8th century, carved sandstone

• combines classic Pictish symbols with Christian imagery

• likely used in a monastic mission context

• shows how Christianity adapted to local norther visual languages

St. Matthew, from the Lindisfarne Gospels

EADFRITH, BISHOP OF LINDISFARNE, 715-720 CE, tempura on vellum

• roman compositional model

• insular abstraction, “carpet page-like” surface density

• represents one of the high points of Insular Christian art

• bridges Mediterranean naturalism with norther pattern-based aesthetics

Monogram of Christ, from the Book of Kells

artist unknown, 800 CE, ink of vellum

• perhaps the most famous page of medieval manuscripts illumination

• turns the name of Christ into a monumental mystical image

• swirling interlace, microscopic animals, brilliant color

• represents the climax of Insular manuscript tradition in terms of complexity and symbolism