Medieval Art History (ARTH 4027) - FINAL - Professor Dr. Michael Anthony Fowler

East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Fall 2025 Semester FINAL (Oct - Dec 11th) -/- Quizlet made by Keila Jordan, information gathered from the textbook of Marilyn Stokstad’s “Medieval Art” (2nd edition), Dr. Fowler’s class Powerpoint slides, and personal notes taken in-class. -/- I cannot confidently say that all the information is accurate, so if y’all fail the exam…my bad. At least, you can wish me luck on mine :P

Gummersmark Brooch

Artist unknown, 6th century,

cast silver gilding

• Scandinavian, German metalwork, 

• functional, but luxurious

  • Important display of wealth and identity

• Chip-carving

• prime example of Migration-Period “animal style” metalwork in Northern Europe (Scandinavia)

• shows abstract, intertwined animals, highly symmetrical

• used as a high-status personal ornament

• reflecting Germanic traditions transformed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire

Eagle-shaped Fibulae

Artist unknown, 6th century,

gilt bronze, gemstones, glass, bone, pearl

• Visigoth art

• Germanic, migration period

• Personal display of identity

• “Animal style”

• Pearl (?) in the bird’s chest

• Bone around the iris of the eye

• Linking European art to Scandinavian contexts

fuse Germanic motifs (eagles, animal‐ornament) with Roman/late-antique brooch forms reflecting how ‘barbarian’ elites appropriated luxury forms and ornament after the collapse of Roman rule signaling status, identity, and cultural continuity in the early medieval north

Votive Crown of King Recceswinth

Artist unknown, 653-672,

gold, rock crystal, pearls, sapphire, garnet

• Sapphire is from Sri Lanka, which is very far away

  • Indicated the global scale of commercial trade

• Visigoth Spain

• The letters hanging, supposedly, the King’s name

• Hang in a sanctuary, above the altar

• Intertwines imperialism with Visigoth Spain

• One of the few surviving Visigothic royal objects, originally a votive offering (not worn) by the Visigothic king

• demonstrates the continuing Roman/Byzantine luxury tradition in Iberia under post-Roman rule, the role of the monarchy in religious offerings

• interaction of Christian and barbarian forms in early medieval Spain

Covers of the Gospel of Theodelinda

Artist unknown, 6th-7th century, 

gold, gems, pearls mounted on a wooden base

• Cannot tell where the “cameos” came from

  • Antiques, Roman gems

  • Where the fuck did they come from? Idk

• Germanic people traveled south, invaded Visigoth spaces

• Associated with Queen Theodelinda

  • Pretty chill guy, let Celtic Monks do shit, more tolerant of different types of Christianity

    • #coexist

• Lombard Italian art

• Adaptation of Byzantine art

• Meant to hold gospels, aka sacred texts

• Hinges and clasps cause the text was PHAT as fuck

• bridges the tradition of Late Antique book covers and early medieval illuminated manuscripts

• illustrates how female royal patronage (Theodelinda) and conversion to Christianity among the Lombards expressed authority through sacred objects

• showing continuity and change from Roman to early medieval kingdoms

Oratorio di Sta. Maria-in-Valle

Arist unknown, 8th century, 

brick masonry, painted plaster, marble, stucco

• For the patron, Duke Astolfo, this place served as a chapel for his ducal residence

• Dedicated to Saint Maria

  • Modernly called “The Little Temple”

• The roof is taller than the aps

• Nave uses groin vaults,

• Barrel vaulted arches

  • Shows how Christian architectural forms adapted to local traditions

• Lombard Italy

• The Palatine Chapel, intended for people in the palace

• High-relief stucco

  • Used carving tools, variation in the work = not a stamp

  • The forms are similar to the Byzantine style, cause they’re long and skinny like Kendall Jenner

• Roman-inspired architecture with Byzantine-inspired artwork

• in northeastern Italy, it represents the fusion of Byzantine and Lombard architectural/mosaic traditions

• preserved mosaics and structure show how early medieval Christian architecture adapted classical models in a regional milieu

Medallion with Bust of Christ

Artist unknown, 8th century,

cloisonne enamel on copper

• We see an abstracted Christ

  • There's a halo

  • The Greek alpha and omega symbols

    • The beginning & the end

      • Don't forget to take ur “heat-blockers”

• Frankish

• Cloisonne = bounded spaces created by a flattened wire

• Polychrome style

  • The style of the birds, “animal-style,” is different in colors

  • small-scale devotional piece

• shows the Christianization of elite objects in the early medieval era

• continuation of late-antique portrait conventions (Christ as Pantokrator) in portable form

• use of image as devotional/imperial symbol in the early medieval West

Sacramentary of Gelasius

Artist unknown, 8th century,

ink and color on parchment

• Very luxurious, ornamental

  • Book production by hand, manual copying

  • Beautiful writing

• Frankish 

• Fish = Christian symbol

  • Shapes of fish replicate the alpha and omega symbol = double Christian

• All the circles were made with a compass

• Typography resembles jewelry

• Merovingian eye

  • The eyes of the animals are perfectly centered on their heads

• earliest surviving liturgical books in the Latin West

• shows the development of Christian ritual book design after the fall of Rome

• shows the centrality of liturgy in early medieval ecclesiastical culture

• illustrates manuscript production and the role of scriptoria

Oseberg Karve (Ship)

Artist unknown, 800-820, 

oak and iron

• Clinker-built construction

• Viking is an OCCUPATION, does not equal race, gender, or ethnicity

• The boat is PHAT and shallow

  • For short little trips

  • If there was water, there were Vikings

• Best preserved boats

  • Found in a tomb, buried with two female bodies

• Shell-first technique

  • outside/shell built first

• The relief artwork, dragon/serpent artwork, the artwork is meant to imply that the boat itself was a serpent of its own

• 30 holes for holes, at least 30 people on the boat

• Mass for a sail

  • To get air AND row

• This was probably their Amazon boat, shipping everything

• later than some early medieval works, significant for showing the maritime power, status, and artistic sophistication of Viking elites

• the decoration also draws on Insular/interlace and animal‐style motifs

• illustrating cultural connections across Northern Europe

Shoulder Clasp

Artist unknown, 625

Gold, garnet inlay, colored glass

• Object found in the tomb/excavation of a princely burial mound

  • Cemetery at Sutton Hoo

• Imitates the Roman dress armor found on the shoulders of emperors

• Similar to the relief artwork on coins

• Set in gold wire cloisonne, the backing is copper

• Byzantine-style

• major example of Anglo-Saxon elite metalwork

• demonstrating the richness of early medieval craft, the interplay of pagan and Christian symbolism

• adaptation of Roman and Scythian styles in a northern European context

Belt Buckle

Artist unknown, 625,

Gold and niello

• Also from the Sutton Hoo, Burial Mound

• “Animal-style” = scandinavian

• Can date a bronze based on the copper-tin alloy

• Pure gold is very soft

• Similar significance to the shoulder clasp

• symbol of status, wealth, warrior-aristocratic identity

• fusion of continental and insular forms in early medieval Britain

Franks Casket

Artist unknown, 700,

Whale bone, metal fittings, and hardware

• Made of WHALE BONE

  • Assembled with hinges

• “Franks” casket

  • Nothing to do with the Franks, just the name of the collector

• Maintaining Norse/Germanic imagery & Christian tradition

  • Figures are hella abstracted

  • No distinction is being made in garments

    • Very flat, non-representational

• Writing: Runes

  • Script meant to represent phonetic values

    • Old Germanic language

    • With riddles !!! about how the bone was acquired

• Scenes of Roman myth & history

• combines Christian, Roman, and Germanic iconography with runic inscriptionsA 

• key example of Anglo‐Saxon integration of multiple traditions and the complex identity of early medieval England

Lion of John, from the Book of Durrow

Artist unknown, 7th century,

Ink and colors on vellum

• Knowork

  • Long-standing celtic

• Highly symmetrical

• The landing page starts the book of John

  • Christian artwork

• Looking at a style translates across work

  • Far cry from art in an English/Christian context

• Installed in a churchyard

• part of the insular Gospel-book tradition: each Evangelist had a symbol (Matthew-man/angel, Mark-lion, Luke-ox, John-eagle)

• demonstrating the merging of Celtic, Pictish, and Christian artistic traditions

• animal-ornament typical of Insular style

• shows the  role of manuscripts in monastic centers of early medieval Britain and Ireland

Papil Stone

Artist unknown, 7th or 8th century,

Fine-grained red sandstone

• Similar approach of the lions to the previous, Lion of John

  • Curved outlines

  • Curled tongue

  • Abstracted

• An example of Pictish monumental stone carving

• combining a Christian cross and native Pictish symbols

• illustrates how Christian iconography was adopted into local elite commemorative practices in early medieval northern Britain

St. Matthew, from the Lindisfarne Gospels

Artist unknown, 7th century,

Ink and colors on vellum

• Multiple hands/artists worked on this

  • Feet in lateral perspective, head in front perspective

• Patterns imitate jewelry of the time

• Red lead

  • Roasting white lead (very toxic)

  • Found locally

• Checkerboard/cloisonne patterns

  • Flattened surface

• Dealing with a part of the world that is cut off

  • Part of trading networks

    • How they got other pigments NOT readily available

• exemplifies the height of Insular manuscript illumination

• The fusion of Mediterranean (late Roman/Byzantine) book art with Celtic and Anglo-Saxon decoration

• richly decorated evangelist portraits and carpet pages

• shows the vitality of monastic culture in early medieval Britain and its role in manuscript production and transmission of the Gospels

Monogram of Christ, from The Book of Kells

Artist unknown, 8th to 9th century,

Ink and colors on vellum

• “Carpet page”

  • Distinct of Hiberno-Saxon artwork

• Long tradition of Celtic art

• Little easter eggs everywhere

• Callographic treatment of the text

• This shit probably took MONTHS of meticulous work

• From the Book of Kells

  • Most famous of carpet pages

• Book production was stopped due to a Viking attack

  • Taken to Kells, completed by 4 other artists

• “The birth of Christ happened this way.”

• The Chi-Rho page is one of the most famous pages of Insular art

• dramatically enlarges the monogram for Christ at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew

• filling the page with interlaced knots, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic forms, and vibrant color

• embodies the exuberance of Insular illumination and the merging of Christian motifs, Celtic decorative traditions, and monastic book culture

Equestrian Portrait of a Carolingian King

Artist unknown, 9th century,

bronze

• Conscious quotation of Carolingian imperial art

• Restoring/reviving the Roman Empire

• Man on a horse

  • Suggested movement of the horse

    • Tilted head, lifted leg

  • Horses are not cheap animals

    • Laws on who can ride

    • Symbol of wealth, power, authority

• Man with crown & medals, protective gloves, and riding boots

  • Holding an orb

    • Symbol of imperium (orb = globe)

  • Has the luxurious, pointed mustache

    • Frankish rank of authority

• Pony is tiny asf

  • Horses are powerful…don’t want their size to overtake and diminish the presence of the rider

• Revives the Roman imperial equestrian tradition to assert Carolingian imperial authority

• Manifests the Carolingian attempt to link the Frankish ruler to the legacy of Rome

Palace Chapel of Charlemagne

Odo of Metz, 792-805,

Stone, marble, and mosaic

• The only surviving part of Charlemagne’s capital in Aachen

• 3 functions

  • Palace-church

  • Martyrium for Charlemagne’s collection of relics

  • His tomb

• Centrally planned building

• Lots of columns

  • Corinthian, Roman-style

• Emphasis on verticality

  • Unlike the Byzantine, this is more symmetrical

• Hallmark of Carolingian architecture

• palace of Charlemagne (at Aachen) 

• fuses Classical, Byzantine, and Western elements to create a central-plan imperial Christian space

• becomes a model of Carolingian architecture

• shows the revival of imperial symbolism and Christian ritual centrality

Abbey Church of St. Riquier, Monastery of Centula, France

Artist unknown, dedicated 799

• Basilican tradition of architecture

• Dedicated before Charlamagne was crowned emperor

• Suffered damage from FUCKING VIKINGS

• Intersections topped with towers

• Prominent church/landmark within the surrounding community

• Demonstrates Carolingian architectural innovation rather than slavish imitation of Roman models

• shows the ambitious nature of monastic building and the importance of monasteries in Carolingian culture

Plan for an Ideal Benedictine Monastery Complex

Artist unknown, 820s,

Pen and ink on parchment

• Idealized plan for a monastery

  • No evidence that the plan was followed through

• Thinking rationally about where things go

• Everything surrounding church

• Self-sufficient, to be isolated from the city

  • Sense of frugality

• Monks do not take care of everything

  • The counts do all the individual landwork

• Reflects the monastic reform movements under Benedictine rule

• Structuring of monastic life around cloisters, church, dormitory, and refectory

• shows the ideal of a self-contained monastic community and its spatial organization

Apse Mosaic (Saints Praxedes and Pudentiana Presented to Christ by Saints Peter and Paul, with Pope Paschal and a Priest Saint [Zeno?])

Artists unknown, 822,

Polychrome gold and glass mosaic tiles

• Preserves a large portion of the OG mosaics from the 9th century

• The entire church was renovated and rebuilt

• Pope Paschal has a square halo cause “he’s not dead”

  • Contemporary element of art

• These saints are not martyrs

  • Killed for attending the burials of martyrs, which violates Roman law

• Second-wave of iconoclasm

  • Probably made by Byzantine artists who were exiled/unemployed during a time when not large amounts of religious art were being commissioned

• Expresses the papacy’s role, the veneration of local saints (Praxedes & Pudentiana)

• Bridging of early Christian Rome with the Carolingian revival

• Shows the visual authority of the Pope and the continuity of Christian cult sites