AHIS 120g 1st Edition Lecture 10Current LectureEarly Medieval art- Early medieval describes the art of a number of cultures in Western Europe after the Fall ofRome (476 BCE) until the eleventh century.o Power asserted by migrating German peoples including Franks, Visigoths,Ostrogoths, and Saxons. - Christianity became less of an individual practice and more of a social norm.o When a leader converted to a certain religion, the populace would convert en masse.- The Church emerged as a force virtually important for European unification.o Feudalist society: established tribal allegiances and exchanges in both economic andpolitical ideas. Led to a succession of ruling dynasties governed by strong leaderswho were able to increase the areas under their dominion. - The art that resulted from this cultural interchange is vibrant and mixed. o Artistic methods, materials, traditions introduced by migration were combined withthose that predominated in the regions where tribes settled.o Elaborate patterns of interlocking and interwoven designs that decorate sumptuousobjects of personal adornment, reflecting their owner’s social position. - The Church built and decorated many houses of worship and established a large number ofmonastic communities. o Monasteries functioned as centers for artistic and cultural practices. o Three-dimensional sculpture, once abandoned by the fall of Rome, attracted theattention of artists and their patrons. Anglo Saxon art- Germanic peoples brought with them art forms that were portable: weaving, metalwork,jewelry, and woodcarvings.- Artistic production in these mediums required training and skill of execution. - Animal style: its heavy use of stylized animal-like forms, merged with the intricateornamental metalwork of the Celts. - Purse cover—Ship burial, Sutton Hoo, England:o Concern for the afterlife or it may simply be a way to honor the dead. o A pair of hinged clasps from the burial contains intertwined serpents, functioning asframing devices for a diagonally oriented checkerboard field of garnets and glass setsin gold.o Each of the four pairs of symmetrical motifs has its own distinctive character, anindication that they were assembled from different sources. o Significant for the way it illustrates transmission of motifs and techniques throughthe migration of various peoples. They show evidence of cultural interchange with Germanic peoples. Hiberno-Saxon art- During the early Middle Ages, the Irish (Hibernians after the Roman name for Ireland,Hibernia) came to be the spiritual and cultural leader of Western Europe. - Irish Christians followed the example of the desert saints of Egypt, who had sought spiritualperfection in the solitude of the wilderness, where groups of them founded the earliestmonasteries. - Irish monasteries became centers of learning and the arts. o Each monastery’s scriptorium became the artistic center. o Devoted great efforts to decorative embellishment. - The Hiberno-Saxon style—a style that combines Christian with Celtic and German elements,and that flourished in the monasteries of Ireland as well as those founded by Irish monks inSaxon England. o Each of the four books of the Gospel—credited to the evangelists Matthew, Mark,Luke, and John—prefaced by a representation of the book’s author or an animal thatfunctioned as his symbols. Symbols were assigned by St. Jerome, who was responsible for the firsttranslation of the Bible into Latin. - Book of Durrowo Shows how ornamental pattern can animate a figure even while accentuating itssurface decoration. o The body of the figure recalls the ornamental quality of the Sutton Hoo clasps. o The addition of a head, which confronts us directly, and feet, turned to the side,transform the decorative motifs into a human figure. - Lindisfarne Gospelso The illuminator poured into the geometric frame animal interlace so dense yet so fullof movement that the fighting beasts on the Sutton Hoo purse cover seem simple in comparison.o Matthew studies his text intently, and the artist suggests a sense of space by turning the figure and the bench on an angle to indicate depth. o The manuscript reveals an unidentified figure, whom some identify as Christ holding the Christian bible, while others argue it is Moses holding the Hebrew Bible. The contrast between the open book of the Gospel writer and the closed book of the other figure correlates with distinctions between the Two Testaments that were often made in the Middle Ages.- Books of Kellso Hiberno-Saxon art climax. o Reflects a wide array of influences from the Mediterranean to the English Channel. o Literacy was rare and class-based; the book as a symbol of authority and dominance,an object that must have mystified many people as it elucidated matters for others.o At the very top of the X-shaped Chi sprouts a recognizable face, while along its shaftare three angles with wings.o Includes the natural world—cats and mice performed a symbolic function formedieval readers. Carolingian art- During the late 8th century, a new empire developed that dominated northern continentalEurope. o This empire was founded by Charlemagne, who ruled as king of the Franks from 768to 814.o There was now an interdependence of spiritual and political authenticity, of Churchand State, which would define the history of Western Europe for many centuries. - Emperors were crowned in Rome, but Charlemagne built his capital at the center of hispower—in Aachen, Germany. - He molded his rule after the Roman Empire under Constantine and Justinian.o Artists working for Charlemagne and other Carolingian rulers consciously sought toemulate Rome.- Illuminated books:o Charlemagne’s interest in promoting learning and culture required the production oflarge numbers of books by his scriptoria. He established an “academy” at his court and encouraged the collecting andcopying of many ancient works of Roman literature. o The Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims (ca. 816) Subject is Saint Matthew. The picture is filled with a vibrant energy that sets everything in motion—very similar to German Expressionism.  The Roman author setting down his thoughts into a man seized with thefrenzy of divine inspiration, a vehicle recording the Word of God. - Palace Chapel of Charlemagne (792-805)o Included a