Migration Period art
Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the
Background
In the 3rd century, the
Although these kingdoms were never homogeneous, they shared certain common cultural features. They settled in their new lands and became farmers and fishermen. Archaeological evidence shows no tradition of monumental artwork, such as architecture or large sculpture in permanent materials, but a preference instead for "mobile" art for personal display, usually also with a practical function, such as weapons, horse harness, tools, and jewelry which fastened clothes. The surviving art of the Germanic peoples is almost entirely personal adornment, portable, and before
Three styles dominate Germanic art. The polychrome style originated with the Goths who had settled in the Black Sea area. The animal style was found in Scandinavia, north Germany and England. Finally there was Insular art or the Hiberno-Saxon style, a brief but prosperous period after Christianization that saw the fusion of animal style, Celtic, Mediterranean and other motifs and techniques.
Migration art
Polychrome style
During the 2nd century the Goths of Ukraine discovered a newfound taste for gold figurines and objects inlaid with precious stones. This style was borrowed from
The Goths carried this style to Italy, southern France and Spain. One well known example is the Ostrogothic eagle (
Animal style
The study of Northern European, or "Germanic", zoomorphic decoration was pioneered by Bernhard Salin[1] in a work published in 1904.[2] He classified animal art of the period roughly from 400 to 900 into three phases: Styles I, II and III. The origins of these different phases are still the subject of considerable debate; the development of trends in late-Roman popular art in the provinces is one element, and the older traditions of nomadic Asiatic steppe peoples another. The first two styles are found very widely across Europe in the art of the "barbarian" peoples of the Migration Period.
Style I. First appears in northwest Europe, it became a noticeable new style with the introduction of the chip carving technique applied to bronze and silver in the 5th century. It is characterized by animals whose bodies are divided into sections, and typically appear at the fringes of designs whose main emphasis is on abstract patterns.
Style II. After about 560-570 Style I was in decline and Salin's Style II began to replace it. Style II's animals are whole beasts, but their bodies are elongated into "ribbons" which intertwined into symmetrical shapes with no pretense of naturalism, and rarely any legs, so that they tend to be described as serpents, although the heads often have characteristics of other types of animal. The animal becomes subsumed into ornamental patterns, typically using interlace. Thus two bears are facing each other in perfect symmetry ("confronted"), forming the shape of a heart. Examples of Style II can be found on the gold purse lid.
After about 700 localized styles develop, and it is no longer very useful to talk of a general Germanic style.[3] Salin Style III is found mainly in Scandinavia, and may also be called Viking art.
Christian influence
Insular art
Insular art, often also known as
History
Ireland was converted to Christianity by missions from Britain and the continent, beginning in the mid-fifth century, while simultaneously pagan Angles, Saxons and Jutes were settling in England. The extreme political fragmentation of Ireland and its total lack of urban development prevented the emergence of a strong episcopal structure. Monasticism consequently emerged as the dominant force in Irish Christianity, and thus in Irish Christian art.
The first major work that can be called purely Hiberno-Saxon is the Book of Durrow in the late 7th century. There followed a golden age in metalworking, manuscripts and stone sculpture. In the 9th century the heyday of the Hiberno-Saxon style neared its end, with the disruptions of Viking raids and the increasing dominance of Mediterranean forms (see Anglo-Saxon art).
Illuminated manuscripts
The surviving evidence of Irish
After the Cathach of St. Columba, book decoration became increasingly more complex and new styles from other cultures were introduced.
The Book of Kells was probably created in Iona in the 8th century. When the monks fled to Ireland in the face of Viking raids in 807, they probably brought it with them to Kells in Ireland. It is the most richly decorated of the Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts and represents a large array of techniques and motifs created during the 8th century.
Metalworking
In the 7th century there emerged a resurgence of
Stone sculpture
The skills displayed in metalworking can be seen in stone sculptures. For many centuries it had been Irish custom to display a large wooden cross inside the monastic building enclosure. These were then translated into stone crosses called high crosses and covered with the same intricate patterns used by goldsmiths, and often figure sculptures.
See also
- Viking art
- Hercules' Club (amulet)
- Confronted-animals
- Anglo-Saxon art
Notes
- ^ Biography on swedish Wikipedia
- ^ Die altgermanische Thierornamentik, Stockholm 1904, The Open Library online text, written in German and heavily illustrated.
- ^ Rituals of power: from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages, By Frans Theuws, Janet L. Nelson, p. 45
References
- Martin Werner, "Migration and Hiberno-Saxon Art", ISBN 0-684-18274-2
- "Hiberno-Saxon style". In Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Further reading
- Boltin, Lee, ed.: Treasures of Early Irish Art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D.: From the Collections of the National Museum of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy, Trinity College, Dublin, ISBN 0-87099-164-7.
- Bunker, Emma C. (2002). Nomadic art of the eastern Eurasian steppes: the Eugene V. Thaw and other New York collections. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780300096880.
- Malcolm, Todd, The Early Germans
External links
- Images from History, see "Iron Age Europe".
- Eagle Fibula at the Walters Art Museum