Early Medieval Art
7
• Compare these two works. Their subject is the same but the
artist’s interpretation is different. How?
VOCABULARY
fibula, zoomorphic, cloisonné, interlacing,
illuminated manuscript, Pentateuch, Book of Hours,
carpet pages, animal-interlace, colophon,
Carolingian, psalter, cloister, westwork, Ottonian,
alternate-support system, reliquary, vellum
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
• What are the characteristics of art during the early
Middle Ages?
• How does the Roman style continue to appear in art?
• In what ways can one see the relationship between
Christian values and its manifestation in art?
Merovingian looped
fibula
Jouy le Comte, FR
mid 6th c. CE
Silver gilt worked in filigree
with garnet and other semiprecious stones
4” long
Musée des Antiquités
Nationales, Saint-Germainen-Laye
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•
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What are these objects used for?
How does animal imagery feature in these objects?
What might one determine about the wearer of these objects?
2
Purse cover from the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Sussex, England
approx. 625 CE; gold, glass, and enamel cloisonné with garnets and emeralds
7 1/2” long; British Museum, London
• What was the use of this object?
• How does zoomorphic imagery feature in this purse cover?
Man (symbol of Saint Matthew),
folio 21 verso of the Book of
Durrow
possibly Iona, Scotland
660 - 680 CE
ink and tempera on parchment
9 5/8” x 6 1/8”
Trinity College Library, Dublin,
Ireland
• Describe the schematization of the Saint’s body.
• What cultural traditions are represented by the style of this
image?
4
Cross and carpet page, folio 26
verso of the Lindisfarne Gospels,
from Northumbria, England
698 - 721 CE
tempera on vellum
1’ 1 1/2” x 9 1/4”
British Museum, London
• What is the importance of symmetrical forms in the design
of the Cross and carpet page?
• Describe the use of zoomorphic forms in the ornamentation
of the Cross and carpet page.
• Characterize the palette used by the artists of the Cross and
carpet page.
5
Chi-ro-iota page, folio 34 recto of
the Book of Kells
probably from Iona, Scotland
late 8th or early 9th c. CE
tempera on vellum
1’ 1” x 9 1/2”
Trinity College Library, Dublin
• For what purpose was the manuscript originally created?
• Characterize the style of Hiberno-Saxon manuscript
illumination.
• Identify animals and figures buried with the labyrinthine
technique used by the artists.
7
Saint Matthew, folio 15 recto of
the Coronation Gospel (Gospel
Book of Charlemagne)
from Aachen, Germany
Ca. 800 - 810 CE
ink and tempera on vellum
1’ 3/4” x 10”
Schatzkammer,
Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna, Austria
• What activity is Saint Matthew engaged in?
• Describe the drapery and garment of Saint Matthew. Knowing
what you know about this image, how does it affect your
dating of this work?
• In what ways has the artist done away with realism as a
format for this painting? In what ways has he observed it?
8
Saint Matthew, folio
18 verso of the Ebbo
Gospels (Gospel
Book of Archbishop
Ebbo of Reims)
Saint Matthew, folio 18 verso of
from Hautvillers (near
the Ebbo Gospels (Gospel
Book
Reims), FR
816 - 835 CE
of Archbishop Ebbo ofca.Reims)
ink and
tempera on
from Hautvillers (near Reims),
France
vellum
ca. 816 - 835 CE
ink and tempera on vellum10 1/4” x 8 3/4”
Bibliotheque
10 1/4” x 8 3/4”
Municipale, Épernay
Bibliotheque Municipale, Épernay
• Is this illumination active or static and why?
• What is the symbolic role of the angel in the upper right hand
corner?
• In what ways does the artist distort perspective to serve the
larger meaning of the image?
interior of the Palatine
Chapel of Charlemagne
Aachen, Germany
792 - 805 CE
• What comparisons can be
made between
Charlemagne’s Palatine
Chapel and San Vitale in
Ravenna?
• How do the interior forms
suggest geometric order?
• Charlemagne
Westwork of the Abbey
Church
Corvey, Germany
873 - 885 CE
• Describe the
westwork of the
Abbey Church.
• What is significantly
different about this
church from others
you have studied to
date?
Saint Michael’s
Hildesheim, Germany
1001 - 1031 CE
• Define alternate-support
system.
• How is it used in Saint
Michael’s?
• How is this a shift in
architecture?
12
Doors with relief panels (left door:
Genesis; right door: life of Christ)
commissioned by Bishop Berward for
Saint Michael’s
Hildesheim, Germany
1015 CE
Bronze
16’ 6” high
Hildesheim, Germany
• How were these doors made?
• How would you define and
describe the sculpture on them?
• Describe the imagery on the
doors. Film about the doors.
Column with reliefs illustrating
the life of Christ
Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany
ca. 1015-1022
bronze
12’6”
Dom-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany
To see details, click here.
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What story is told on this column?
What work from the past is this similar to?
Why connect this narrative to that work?
How does this work connect to the doors?
Gero Crucifix
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne, Germany
ca. 970 CE
painted wood
• Describe the figure. How
is this a different depiction
from earlier images of
Jesus Christ?
• Why depict Christ in this
way?
Otto III enthroned, folio 24
recto of the Gospel Book of
Otto III, from
Reichenau, Germany
997 - 1000 CE
tempera on vellum
1’ 1” x 9 3/8”
Bayerische, Munich,
Germany
• Who was Otto III and what did he hope to accomplish?
• What symbols are used in this image to represent Otto’s
universal authority?
• Compare this image with Justinian with Attendants (526 CE).
Key Concepts
• From 476, with the death of the last emperor of the Western
Roman Empire, groups of non-Romans competed for power in
what we now consider western Europe.
• The art of these peoples was characterized by small scale,
portable, bejeweled objects that were sophisticated in their
workmanship and design.
• Monasteries became art centers, where the monks illuminated
versions of the Bible and Gospels.
• In 800, Charlemagne crowns himself Holy Roman Emperor,
and rule is re-established in the former Roman provinces.
• With Charlemagne comes a revival of Roman values, ideas,
and styles in art.