Lecture 19- PART 3: THE SPREAD OF RELIGIONS -- Early Medieval Art (c. 500-1000 CE)

Intro to the Middle Ages

• The period from the fall of the western roman empire in the 5th century CE to c. 1500 CE (the date at which "the Renaissance” had more or less taken hold in all of Western Europe)

• divided into 3 periods

  • early middle ages, c. 500-1000 CE

  • high middle ages, c. 1000-1300 CE

  • late middle ages, c. 1300-1500 CE

Early Middle Ages, c. 500-1000 CE

• Europe transitioned from centralized roman government to individual hereditary kingdoms ruled by germanic and celtic tribes

  • lombards in italy

  • visigoths in iberia (spain)

  • franks and burgundians in gaul (france)

  • celtic and germanic tribes in britain

• new kingdoms lived directly from the produce of the land and the labor of the group of the peasant population

• there wasn’t a finely defined social hierarchy/rules/order

• all were catholic christians

• new european cultures were born from the blending of local roman populations and germanic immigrants

  • Beginning of the distinctive european cultures

Art of the Early Middle Ages General Facts (celtic and germanic focus)

• These germanic ppl known as barbarians bc they were “non-roman”

  • groups of farmers and shepherds who were looking for some place to live

  • pursued pottery, textiles, woodworking, but strong tradition in metalworking: armor, tools, and jewelry

• Germanic/Celtic art used abstraction, patterns that were inspired by their polytheistic religious beliefs

  • didn’t forget their own beliefs after acceping christianity

• Saw earth has the mother goddess

What was early celtic and germanic art characterized by?

• abstraction and patterns that were inspired by their polyistic or pantheistic religious beliefs

Eagle-shaped Fibulae, Iberian Peninsula, Visigothic, 6th Century CE

• produced by visigoth artists after fall of roman empire and new kingdoms are established

• 2 eagles that are shown in flight

• Ancient symbol of the sun

  • body shaped like a disk

  • eagle’s upturned head and side profile

  • even tho tribes were christian, they kept some of the iconography from the visual cultures of their pagan past

• eagles= popular motif in western art

  • Eagle = imperial rome

  • eagle became iconographic symbol of evangelist John

• Mixture of different visual cultural elements

• Kept the same style but put the fibulae/art in a christian context

  • mixed of northern and mediterranean styles that become known as medieval art

6th century iberia

• christian visigothic rulers who are looking back to imperial roman traditions as inspo for their own christian art

  • wanted to present themselves as thoroughly christian kings

  • got inspo from the great roman and byzantine leaders of the not so distant past like Emperor Justinian

Reccesvinth Crown, Iberian Peninsula, Visigothic, c. 653-672 CE

• Votive object = offerings to gods and the church

• Hung above the haltar

• Symbols of emperor justinian piety and his ecclesiastical authority

• Palm leaf like motifs in the openwork

• Base on the crown says: “Reccesvinthis rex offeret”

  • in latin

  • translates to offered by King Reccesvinthis

  • from each letter hangs a sapphire and a pearl

• Rock crystal

• this particular crown was given by a King named Reccesvinth

  • recessvinth ruled the visigothic kingdom in iberia from 649 to 672

  • composed of Wide band of gold with 30 large sapphires alternating with pearls

• narrow strips that are at the top and bottom of that wide openwokr band = decorated with interlaced tangent circles, a motif common to the late roman empire

• at the top of the crown = 4 golden chains that have heart-shaped palmets suspended

  • chains connect to a floral shaped terminal that’s made of gold and rock crystal and has sapphires hanging down from it

  • the palmets making up the chain has granulation

    • tiny golden balls fused to the surface

• the nature of the formal setting of the stones and pearls within the gold frame = visual characteristic of byzantine design

• intricate craftsmanship in this piece connects it to the long tradition of metalworking among the visigoths and other germanic tribes

• art of early medieval germanic kingdoms = fusion of both classical roman and byzantine elements and germanic visual traditions

openwork

Decorative techinque in which openings or voids are incorporated into an object, creating a lattice or pierced effect. Used in a variety of materials like glass, metal, wood, ivory, and stone

• surface isn’t solid and is punched w diff shapes that enable you to see thru it

Lombard Kingdom ruled by who?

• ruled by a queen named Theodolinda

Cover of the Gospels of Queen Theodolinda, Italy, Lombard, early 7th century

• queen theodolinda of lombard = devoted follower of the orthodox roman church

  • founded a church that was dedicated to St. John the Baptist

    • as a gift to the church, she commissioned a manuscript copy of the 4 gospels

      • the book covers are made of gold

      • Oldest known metalwork book covers in the west

      • Each cover is divided into 4 equal quadrants via  a large cross that’s inlaid with jewels

      • borders of the crosses are lined with strips of red glass cloisonne

      • book covers have an outer border that’s also cloisonne and inlaid with red glass

      • outer borders have the same interlaced circle motif found on the reccesvinth crown

      • across the covers in 2 bands is a latin inscription that indicates that this object was a donation from queen theodolinda to the basilica of saint john the baptist

      • bracket like strips of cloisonne in each quadrant that adds to the sense of symmetry but they each also have these cameos

        • reused classical roman cameos, repurposed to ornament the gospel book cover

        • reusing classical objects, esp cameos, is prevalent in medieval art

          • connects this art to the traditions of the classical roman empire

Cloisonne

a metalwork technique where wires are soldered onto a metal surface to form compartments (cloisons)

• compartments are filled either w enamel or with cut gemstones

• widespread across europe in the late 6th and early 7th centuries

rock crystal

clear, colorless form of the mineral quartz. Rock crystal can be used as a gemstone or carved into objects of various kinds.

cameo

• a small scale low relief carved in a stratified or banded material, usually a gemstone like onyx or sardonyx, but also in shell, clay or glass

  • Results in a background of one color and an image in relief of another color

  • Connects art to classical roman art

Anglo Saxon England

• 43 BCE - 410 CE: roman britain

• 5th century CE 1006 CE: angle saxon england

• Anglo-saxon kingdoms were originally pagan but gradually converted to christianity

Sutton Hoo Ship Burial- Anglo-Saxon

• located in anglo-saxon kingdom of East Anglia

• location of 2 anglo-saxon cemeteries dating from the 6th and 7th centuries

• mount 1 = burial of a wealthy and prestigious individual, possibly king raedwald of east anglia 

• anglo-saxon rulers were being pressured to convert to christianity by the merovingian frankish rulers on the continent during this time

• luxurious treasures found in mound 1: Silver helmet, a great shield with metal fittings in the shape of an eagle and a dragon, and a stack of nesting silver bowls

  • Silver spoons were commonly collected as luxury items by elite anglo saxons bc they were unique and displayed status

  • Bronze hanging bowl

    • celtic-style

    • now yet associated w anglo saxon ppl, but found in a number of germanic graves

  • stack of nesting silver bowls decorated with medallions and 2 perpendicular lines that are crosses

  • fluted bowl: silver with a classical female head and profile

  • silver ladel and silver spoons

    • collected as luxurious oddities

    • kept as unique grave goods

  • gold coins found

    • evidence of the centrality btwn merovingian francia and sutton

  • Scabbard slides from mound 1

  • Sword pommel fittings from Mound 1

  • Gold buckle from Mound 1

  • the pieces found at mound 1 shows that the focus of artwork was creating a number of small and extremely elaborate items, created often with novel techniques and styles that was characteristic of this period of early Anglo-Saxon england

Pair of hinged shoulder clasps from Mound 1

• True function is unknown

  • suggested that the person who was buried in this mound is trying to draw a connection btwn himself and imperial roman traditions

  • Size and shape= best worn as shoulder clasps

• larger diamond shapes = filled w cut red garnet

• small diamond shapes = filled w a pattern of blue, red, and white millifiori glass

• checkerboard arrangement of the large and the small diamond shapes creates a cross pattern that ‘s suggestive of christian symbolism

• ground

• Border around the rectangular field

  • Interlaced biting zoomorphic forms

    • common in early germanic and celtic artwork

• The red is made of cells and the remainder of the cells are filled with gold sheets to make it look like it was carved, but it isn’t

• Ambiguity in the visual culture

  • Viewers would see same effects as traditional quasinai figures that had fragmented textures

  • viewers would expect to see a clear difference btwn the wires that create the cloison and the ground

• Unified smooth and flattened surface, different from the traditional quasinai figures

  • because of the gold sheets that are placed over the empty cloisonne cells

• End piece of the shoulder clasps

  • Plate garnet

    • Garnets were individually shaped to fit into the tiny space created by the gold wires

    • Developed as a way to enhance the luxurious effect of the shoulder clasp

  • 2 boars locked together in combat

    • Boars’ heads, hindquarters, backs, forelegs, tail

    • artist uses plate garnets to help viewer decipher the scene

    • covers the lower corners w thin sheets of gold

  • Twisted filigree made into snake shapes to help orient the bodies of the boars

Millefiori

A glassmaking technique that produces complex decorative patterns. The technique begins with production of a glass cane with multicolored patterns viewable only at the cut ends of the cane. The cane is heated and pulled, then cooled and cut into discs. The discs are then re-heated and fused in a mold.

Millifiori Glass in the Pair of hinged shoulder clasps from Mound 1

• 2 technical innovations

  • glass includes a transparent red

    • meant to emulate the effect of actual garnets

    • usually the celtic artistic traditions display opaque red glass

  • milli-fiorite panels aren’t set in a glass enamel substrate 

    • the milli-fiorite panels are isntead cut and set within cloisonne cells

ground

the surface or background on which the work of art is created that serves as a foundational layer supporting the main elements of the artwork, influencing its overall appearance and texture ground figure

plate garnet

• Thin, flat pieces of cut garnet that were precisely shaped to fit into the small metal compartments (cloisons) of a cloisonne design

The Ardagh Chalice, Ireland, Celtic, c. 800 CE

• liturgical vessel used for holding wine that would be used in the eucharistic ceremony

• form of the chalice refers to the shape of late roman tableware

• methods and construction and decoration = characteristically irish, AKA celtic

• Bowl and foot of the chalice made of silver

• outer side of bowl

  • Applied gold, silver, enamel ornaments

    • Added to the luxurious feel

    • also on the underside of the foot

• the bowl and foot are 2 separate parts attached by a bronze pin

• Names of the apostles inscribed on the outside of the chalice in this subtle pattern

• band of filigree gold around the rim on the chalice

• stippling

• filigree designs

stippling

engraving of little dots