Module 7

Module 7a
Early Medieval Europe Art      
Early Medieval

Periods  and  Styles  

Migration Period - ca. 600-700
Anglo-Saxon (AnimalInsular
Style) - 700-800
- ca. ca. 600-700
Insular - ca. 700-800
Carolingian - ca. 800-950
 Migra&on  Period  
Migration Period art includes art
made by the Germanic tribes on
the continent as well as on the
British Isles. It covers several
different styles of art including the
animal style, characterized by its
focus on abstract animal motifs.
The Animal Style broadly describes
art made by Indo-European
peoples, who migrated out of
Central Asia beginning about 3000
BCE. This movement can be traced
through language and surviving
material culture. The prevailing life
style in Central Asia was a nomadic
“horse culture.” Nomadic art, in
general tends to focus on small,
portable, and utilitarian objects –
textiles, metalwork, and leather
goods, which are often referred to
“The Migration Period, also known as the period of the barbarian invasions, as nomadic gear. It is rare for the
was a time of intensified human migration in Europe from about 400 to 800 AD. organic material to survive;
Historians consider it to be the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle h o w e v e r, m e t a l w o r k , o f t e n
Ages. This period was marked by profound changes both within the Roman decorated with gems and colored
Empire and beyond its barbarian frontier. The migrants who came first were glass, has been found in graves
Germanic tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Lombards, Suebi, and archaeological sites from
Frisii and Franks; they were later pushed westwards by the Huns, Avars, Slavs, Mongolia to Persia in the south,
Bulgars and Alans.” and to northern Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Period (accessed 4-1-13) Text  by  Kubiski  
 Anglo-Saxon England

Irelan
d

• England had an indigenous Celtic culture before it was:

– invaded by the Romans in 43 CE who brought a “classical” style to England
– Invaded by several Germanic Tribes in 5th and 6th centuries
• Ireland’s Indigenous Celtic population remained free of Roman or Germanic influence until Christian
missionaries arrived in the 5th century.
 Anglo-Saxon Culture
• “Anglo-­‐Saxon  is  the  term  applied  to  the  English-­‐speaking  inhabitants  of  Britain  from  around  the  middle  of  the  fi;h  
century  un>l  the  >me  of  the  Norman  Conquest  (1066),  when  the  Anglo-­‐Saxon  line  of  English  kings  came  to  an  end.  

• According  to  the  Venerable  Bede,  whose  Ecclesias1cal  History  of  the  English  People  was  completed  in  the  year  731,  
the  Anglo-­‐Saxons  migrated  to  the  island  of  Britain  from  northern  Europe  in  the  mid-­‐5th  century.  Before  that  >me,  
Britain   had   been   inhabited   by   speakers   of   Cel>c   languages:   the   Scots   and   Picts   in   the   north.   [Various   groups   of  
Celts]  in  the  south  had  been  united  under  Roman  rule  aOer  their  conquest  by  the  emperor  Claudius  in  A.D.  43.  By  the  
beginning   of   the   fiOh   century   the   Roman   Empire   was   under   increasing   pressure   from   advancing   “barbarians,”   and  
the  Roman  garrisons  in  Britain  were  being  depleted  as  troops  were  withdrawn  to  face  threats  closer  to  home.    

• In  A.D.  410  –    the  same  year  in  which  the  Visigoths  (a  Germanic  tribe)  entered  and  sacked  Rome  –  the  last  of  the  
Roman  troops  were  withdrawn  and  the  Britons  had  to  defend  themselves.  Facing  hos>le  Picts  and  Scots  in  the  north  
and  Germanic  raiders  in  the  east,  the  Britons  decided  to  hire  one  enemy  to  fight  the  other:  they  engaged  Germanic  
mercenaries  to  fight  the  Picts  and  Scots.  The  newly-­‐hired  mercenaries  were  from  three  Germanic  na&ons  situated  
near  the  northern  coasts  of  Europe:  the  Angles,  the  Saxons  and  the  Jutes.  They  succeeded  quickly  in  defea&ng  the  
Picts  and  Scots  and  then  sent  word  to  their  homes  of  the  fer&lity  of  the  island  and  the  cowardice  of  the  Britons.  They  
soon   found   a   pretext   to   break   with   their   employers,   made   an   alliance   with   the   Picts,   and   began   to   conquer   the  
territory  that  would  eventually  be  known  as  England—a  slow-­‐moving  conquest  that  would  take  more  than  a  century.  

• Though  Bede’s  account  cannot  be  accepted  without  reserva&on,  his  story  nevertheless  gives  us  essen&al  informa&on  
about   how   the   Anglo-­‐Saxons   looked   at   themselves:   they   considered   themselves   a   warrior   people,   and   they   were  
proud  to  have  been  conquerors  of  the  territory  they  inhabited.  The  Anglo-­‐Saxon  kingdoms  converted  to  Chris>anity  
in  the  late  sixth  and  early  seventh  centuries.”  
Excerpted  from  Peter  Baker,  “Introduc&on  to  Old  English,”  
h^p://www.wmich.edu/medieval/resources/IOE/genintro.html      (accessed  April  1,  2013).  

FYI:  The  Eagle  (2011),  starring  Channing  Tatum,  Jamie  Bell,  and  Donald  Sutherland,  was  adapted  from  Rosemary  Sutcliff's  
historical  adventure  novel,  The  Eagle  of  the  Ninth  (1954),  about  a  young  Roman  officer  searching  to  recover  the  Roman  
eagle  standard  lost  by  his  father's  legion  in  a  previous  baGle  with  Cel1c  tribes.    
 
• 18 burial mounds (barrows) Migration Period
• Excavations began 1938 Sutton Hoo, Anglo Saxon Burial Site ca. 600

• Largest mound covered the grave of an East Anglian king buried in a ship and surrounded by grave goods
 Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
• “In 1938, archaeologist Basil Brown was asked to investigate eighteen low grassy mounds by a local land
owner, Mrs. Edith Pretty. He began by opening Mound 3, quickly followed by Mounds 2 and 4. All had been
robbed, although the few scraps of once fine possessions hinted at high-status Anglo-Saxon burials. The
largest mound was excavated in the spring and summer of 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second
World War. Its remarkable finds signaled a radical change in attitude towards early Anglo-Saxon society,
which, until then had been thought substantially inferior to life during the Roman period.
• Deeply buried beneath the large mound lay the impression of a twenty seven-metre long oak ship. At its
centre was a ruined burial chamber the size of a small room, built with a pitched roof and hung with textiles
(note the textiles had decayed in the acidic soil, along with all other organic materials – the wooden ship, the
wood and leather shield and the king’s body, including the skeleton). In it the excavators found objects
associated with a high status individual, including weapons, armour, wealth in the form of gold coins and
gold and garnet fittings, silver vessels and silver-mounted drinking horns and cups, symbols of power and
authority. The burial also contained a jeweled purse lid holding a group of thirty-seven Merovingian gold
tremisses, three coin sized blanks and two billets (ingots). While the finds from this burial reflect the status of
the dead man, they are also a reminder of the master craftsmen, including sword smiths and
goldsmiths, who made these remarkable objects.
• Who was buried at Sutton Hoo? No trace of a body was found during the 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo
ship-burial. Analyses of soil samples for residual phosphate (a chemical left behind when a human or animal
body has completely decayed away), taken in 1967 during the British Museum's excavations, support the
idea that a body was originally placed in the burial chamber, but that this had totally decayed in the highly
acidic conditions at the bottom of the ship.
• This in turn gives us some clues as to who may have been buried in this sumptuous grave. For example,
there are four kings who may have been buried here. Opinion is divided between Raedwald, overlord of the
English kingdoms between AD 616 and his death (at the latest in 627, probably in 625/6), a convert to
Christianity, who later abandoned his faith; and, Sigebert, a devout Christian, who died fighting in [the pagan
King Penda] of Mercia in AD 637. But we do not know what a king's burial would have looked like, so we
cannot exclude the possibility that Mound 1 was, for example, for a member of the royal kin or a powerful
member of a high-ranking family.”
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/k/the_sutton_hoo_ship-burial.aspx (accessed April 1, 2013).
 Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
• Grave goods included military equipment – helmet, sword, and dagger, but there was no trace of a body.
• Only in 1967 did soil analysis find a high level of phosphate (a material left behind after a body decomposes.
• Coins from a decomposed “purse” suggest a date between 575 and 620.
Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Reconstruction with Grave Goods
Reconstruction of King’s Attire
SuVon  Hoo  Purse  Lid  

Sutton Hoo Purse Lid

Nomadic  gear  –  metalwork,  tex&les,  &  portable  objects  

Migra>on  Period  Style  or  Animal  style  –  stylized,  fantas&cal  animals,  flat,  geometric  shapes,  bright  color  
Interlace  –  linear,  twining,  knot-­‐like  design  
Zoomorphic  Interlace  –  includes  animal  bodies  or  heads,  oOen  snakes,  birds,  wolves  
Cloisonné  -­‐  metalwork  technique  using  colored  enamels  
 
 Sutton Hoo Purse Lid
REQUIRED LECTURE: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/sutton-hoo-ship-burial.html

“Wealth, and its public display, was probably used to establish

status in early Anglo-Saxon society much as it is today. The
purse lid from Sutton Hoo is the richest of its kind yet found.
The lid was made to cover a leather pouch containing gold
coins. It hung by three hinged straps from the waist belt, and
was fastened by a gold buckle. The lid had totally decayed but
was probably made of whale-bone ivory - a precious material
in early Anglo-Saxon England. However, seven gold, garnet
cloisonné and millefiori plaques (rods of glass fused
together and sliced to create a checker board pattern), once
set into the lid survive. These are made with a combination of
very large garnets and small ones, deliberately used to pick
out details of the imagery. This combination could link the
purse-lid and the shoulder-clasps to the workshop of a single
master craftsman, who may well have made the entire suite of
gold and garnet fittings as a single commission.
The plaques include twinned images of a man standing
heroically between two wolves and an eagle swooping on its
prey. These images must have had deep significance, but it is
impossible for us to interpret them. The wolves could be a
reference to the dynastic name of the family buried at Sutton
Hoo - the Wuffingas (Wolf's People). Like the eagle, they are
perhaps a powerful evocation of strength and courage,
qualities that a successful leader of men must possess.
Strikingly similar images of a man between beasts are known
from Scandinavia.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/
pe_mla/p/purse_lid_from_the_ship-burial.aspx accessed 4/1/13
 Su^on  Hoo  Purse  Lid  

Interlace is characterized
“

by a continuous, unending
pattern of connected
strands or plaitwork. Knots
are a common motif in
interlace, as are
zoomorphic shapes
(animal forms, commonly
birds and snakes). Along
with spirals, and fantastic
animal shapes, interlace is
the most common feature”
of Migration Period art.

w w w. v i s u a l - a r t s - c o r k . c o m /
cultural-history-of-ireland/celtic-
interlace-designs.htm (5-23-12)

“Above these figures are three geometric designs. The Outer ones are purely linear, although they also rely on
color contrasts for their effect. The central design is an interlace pattern in which the interlacements evolve
into writhing animal figures. Elaborate intertwining linear patterns are characteristic of many times and places,
notably in the art of the Islamic world. But the combination of interlace with animal figures was uncommon
outside the realm of the early medieval warlords. In fact, metal craft with interlace patterns and other motifs
beautifully integrated with the animal form was, without doubt the premier art of the early Middle Ages in
northwestern Europe. Interest in it was so great that artists imitated the colorful effects of jewelry designs
in the painted decorations of manuscripts, in the masonry of churches, and in the sculpture in stone and in
wood, the last an especially important medium of Viking art.” (Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 2012: 310).
 Cloisonné
“Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous
enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting
objects can also be called cloisonné. The decoration is formed by first adding compartments (cloisons in French)
to the metal object by soldering or adhering silver or gold wires or thin strips placed on their edges. These
remain visible in the finished piece, separating the different compartments of the enamel or inlays, which are
often of several colors. Cloisonné enamel objects are worked on with enamel powder made into a paste, which
then needs to be fired in a kiln.

Cloisonné first developed in the jewelry of the ancient Near East, typically in very small pieces such as rings,
with thin wire forming the cloisons. In ancient Egypt, gemstones and enamel-like materials sometimes called
"glass-paste" were both used. Cloisonné spread to surrounding cultures and a particular type, often known as
garnet cloisonné is widely found in the Migration Period art of the "barbarian" peoples of Europe, who used
gemstones, especially red garnets, as well as glass and enamel, with small thick-walled cloisons. Glass-paste
cloisonné was made in the same periods with similar results - compare the gold and cloisonné Sutton Hoo
buckle with garnets (left) and the Visigothic brooch with glass-paste (right). Thick ribbons of gold were soldered
to the base of the sunken area to be decorated to make the compartments, before adding the stones or paste.
Sometimes compartments filled with the different materials of cut stones or glass and enamel are mixed
to ornament the same object, as in the purse-lid from Sutton Hoo.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloisonné (accessed April 1, 2013)
Sutton Hoo Shoulder Clasp
Buckles from Sutton Hoo
 Insular Art ca. 700
• Insular art is a syncretic mix of the art
of styles Britain, which by the 5th
century included influence from the
Roman classical tradition, and the
Animal Styles of the Germanic Anglo-
Saxons the a slightly different animal
style of the Irish Celts.
• Ireland was never conquered by the
Romans, so it never was exposed to
classical culture and it was never
Christianized until…
• Roman and Christian cultures were
brought to Ireland by St. Patrick ca. 430
• St. Patrick was born ca 397-400 in
Kilpatrick Scotland of of high standing
Roman, Christian parents.
• Kidnapped at age 16 and brought to
Ireland as a slave, he worked for his
Celtic master as a shepherd.
• Escaped after 6 years and returned to
England - then studied to be a priest in
France.
• Sent by the Pope as a missionary to
England and then to Ireland. Lived in
Ireland for about 30 years spreading
Christianity.
 Irish Monasteries and Book Production
Early Medieval Irish monks typically lived in remote
monasteries, except when sent out for missionary
work. This monasteries were located not only in
Ireland, but in settled communities in Scotland and
northern England.
Many monasteries were dedicated to book
production to support their missionary work, and had
a scriptorium (pl. scriptoria) where texts were
copied and often beautifully illustrated. We use the
Island  of  Lindisfarne  off  Scotland   term miniature or illumination to describe an
illustration in a manuscript – a hand-written book.
In particular, many Gospel Books were produced,
with only the 4 Gospels rather than the entire
Christian Bible.
Since paper was not yet produced in Europe, the
pages of a manuscript were made from specially
prepared animal hides referred to as parchment or
vellum.

Lindisfarne Monastery
Lindisfarne  Gospels  
 Making a Manuscrip t
REQUIRED:  lecture/demo  by  the  J.  Paul  Ge^y  Art  Museum  (6:13  minutes)  
• h^p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o  

REQUIRED:  interac&ve  lecture  by  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum  (about  3  minutes)  

• h^p://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/pharos/sec&ons/making_art/manuscript.html  
 Insular Syncretism
• Never Romanized - Ireland had not been introduced to
realistic figure drawing. With Christianity came literacy,
and the writing and illustrating of Gospel Books.
• On the left is a “symbol” of the Gospel writer Matthew
from the earliest surviving illuminated Insular Gospel
Books. His body looks like a PAINTED version of a
piece of cloisonné jewelry from Sutton Hoo with a
head and feet, (but no arms or hands!) added to the
abstract design.
• The indigenous Celtic style that preferred flat,
decorative pattern and zoomorphic interlace fused
with the classical subject matter of realistic
portraiture to create the syncretism of Insular Art.
Lindisfarne Gospels - St. Matthew
Each of the 4 Gospels begins with an
author portrait, a cross page, and an initial
page. Here Matthew is shown writing his
Gospel. He is also represented by his
“symbol” a winged man. We are not exactly
sure of the identity of the man behind the
curtain.
Symbols for the Evangelists are the
same as the 4 Beasts of the Apocalypse in
the Book of Revelations.
• Matthew is a winged man
• Mark is a winged lion
• Luke is a winged ox
• John is an eagle

FYI: Learn more about the Lindisfarne

Gospels in the links below. The BBC link
discusses how the book was made. The
link at the British Library allows you to
“turn the pages” of a digital Lindisfarne
Gospels. Waldo Library at WMU has a
facsimile of the Lindisfarne Gospels in the
Rare Book Room.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/features/gospels/
gospels_monks_at_work.shtml

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/
ttpbooks.html

 classical tradition of the author portrait

Pompeii wall painting, ca. 50 BCE Lindisfarne Gospel ca. 700 Byzantine ca. 900

Compare the Roman fresco of an author, with a Byzantine miniature of St. Matthew. Both are seated in a similar
pose, thinking about their text. The subject matter, composition, and the illusionistic style are similar. (Note that
Byzantine manuscript illumination maintained a more “classical” style than art in other Byzantine media such as
wall painting and mosaics.) In the miniature of St. Matthew form the Lindisfarne Gospels, the content or subject
matter is similar as Matthew wears a toga and sandals and sits on a chair with a footrest, but the STYLE is very
different. Classical illusionism has been dropped and instead the form is flat and defined by line rather than
modeling. This demonstrates the syncretism of Insular Art, fusing classical content with the indigenous
animal style. (Text Kubiski)
Carpet (Cross) Page for the Gospel of
Matthew in Gospel Book of Lindisfarne

Open book with cross page and initial page.

Preceding page had the portrait of Matthew.  

The Carpet or Cross Page is the invention

of Irish Monks. Each page is filled with
geometric designs (similar to cloisonné)
and interlace or zoomorphism interlace
motifs.
 Syncretism between Animal Style and Christian content

Lindisfarne Carpet Page Sutton Hoo

Note the symilarities between the design elements from the Carpet Page in the Lindisfarne
Gospel – a Christian book) and 2 artifacts from Sutton Hoo (pagan in style and content). The
Christian monks continued to use the animal style of their ancestors, now “repurposed” as
decoration in a Gospel Book.
Lindisfarne Gospels Carpet
Page – and details of the
Incipit from Gospel of John
 Carrying the Book of
Lindisfarne on your Body