Early Medieval Art

• Compare these two works. Their subject is the same but the artist’s interpretation is different. How?

7

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?

• What are these objects used for?

• How does animal imagery feature in these objects?

• What might one determine about the wearer of these objects?

Merovingian looped

fibula Jouy le Comte, FR

mid 6th c. CE

Silver gilt worked in filigree

with garnet and other semi-

precious stones

4” long

Musée des Antiquités

Nationales, Saint-Germain-

en-Laye

• What was the use of this object?

• How does zoomorphic imagery feature in this purse cover?

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

• Describe the schematization of the Saint’s body.

• What cultural traditions are represented by the style of this

image?

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

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

• 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?

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

• 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?

Saint Matthew, folio

18 verso of the Ebbo

Gospels (Gospel

Book of Archbishop

Ebbo of Reims)

from Hautvillers (near

Reims), FR

ca. 816 - 835 CE

ink and tempera on

vellum

10 1/4” x 8 3/4”

Bibliotheque

Municipale, Épernay

8

Saint Matthew, folio 18 verso of

the Ebbo Gospels (Gospel Book

of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims) from Hautvillers (near Reims), France

ca. 816 - 835 CE

ink and tempera on vellum

10 1/4” x 8 3/4”

Bibliotheque Municipale, Épernay

• What comparisons can be made between Charlemagne’s Palatine Chapel and San Vitale in Ravenna?

• How do the interior forms suggest geometric order?

• Charlemagne

interior of the Palatine

Chapel of Charlemagne

Aachen, Germany

792 - 805 CE

• Describe the westwork of the Abbey Church.

• What is significantly different about this church from others you have studied to date?

Westwork of the Abbey

Church

Corvey, Germany

873 - 885 CE

• Define alternate-support

system.

• How is it used in Saint

Michael’s?

• How is this a shift in

architecture?

Saint Michael’s

Hildesheim, Germany

1001 - 1031 CE

• 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.

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

Column with reliefs illustrating

the life of Christ Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany

ca. 1015-1022

bronze

12’6”

Dom-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany

• 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?

To see details, click here.

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?

• 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).

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

• 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.

Key Concepts