Early Medieval Art

The lower cover of the LIndau Gospels at the Morgan Library serves as a useful milestone in the class.  It makes a wonderful comparison with the book covers of Theodolinda, from the first class on the  world of Gregory the Great(and will make an equally compelling comparison in a future class with its upper cover, which dates to the reign of Charles the Bald).  The post-Antique book covers of Theodolinda and the pre-Carolingian lower Lindau cover share the same layout, but display different techniques, patterns, and sensibilities.

(As an aside, I actually cannot find an image of either of Theodolinda’s covers on the internet.  The Treasury of the Monza Cathedral has a limited website with two pages showing beautiful but fleeting images, but not one of the book covers.)

With relative ease, the students can discern modern from medieval in the cover, and the various sources of its form/at and its ornament demonstrate yet again the spread of ideas in the early Middle Ages.

Planning an entire class on the art of Bavaria proved itself a bit optimistic.  In general, I gave each sub-period equal space – one class - regardless of the number of classes any one sub-period’s material could have filled.  I wanted the students to see through the amount of material covered in – and moreso, prepared for - each class a reflection of the actual amount of material produced in any given sub-period.  Whether this worked, I do not know.  I must concede, however, that the Bavarian material, problematic on many counts, would be the first that I would append to another sub-period.

So, we began the art of Bavaria with the Tassilo Chalice.  Wikimedia Commons has only the photo of a reproduction, but the site of the Stift Kremsmuenster itself displays one medium-sized photo. 

Around the rim of the base runs an inscription:

TASSILO DUX FORTIS  LIUTPRIC VIRGA REGALIS

MIGHTY DUKE TASSILO LIUTPERGA THE ROYAL BRANCH

Above the inscription, the base presents four medallions, each containing one figure.  Labels flank Mary (MT, Latin transliteration of the Greek meaning ‘Mother of God’) and John the Baptist (JB). TM may identify Theodore Martyr in a third medallion. The fourth label PT proves less revealing.

The cup itself displays five medallions.  The front/center medallion contains Christ flanked by the alpha and omega and an I and an S (of JeSus).  The other medallions contain the the four Evangelists with their symbols. 

The variety of the chalice’s ornament – ribbon, animal, plant, geometric – and the charm of each Evangelist crammed with his symbol within a medallion would capture the beholder’s attention, if only we could find photographs of the chalice from angles other than the front!  One may find line drawings and black-and-white photos in various publications, but they do not compel.  So, I felt that the Tassilo Chalice, although a stunning object and the essential product of eighth-century Bavaria, remained just out of pedagogical reach.

From Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts, the survey then turned to Spain and the Visigoths, beginning with the Treasure of Guarrazar.

Two contemporary texts nicely introduced this group of objects.  First, we read prayer 59 in the Liber Ordinum for the blessing of the crown with the aim of understanding both the general purpose of a votive offering and the particular meaning of a votive crown:

Ihesu Domine, qui es corona sanctorum, hanc coronam benedicendo sanctifica: ut pro decore domus tue et tui honore ac ornamento altaris, accepta hec munera feras, et de manibus offerentium respect hilari et pia benignitate suscipias. Amen.

Jesus, Lord, you who are the crown of the saints, sanctify this crown with your blessing: so that for the decoration of your house and for your honor and as an ornament of the altar, may you take up this gift, having been accepted, and may you receive it from the hands of offering with joyful respect and pious kindness. Amen. (my translation)

The second text comes from Julian of Toledo’s Historia Wambae regis, newly translated by Joaquin Martinez Pizarro.  A discussion in chapter 26 of the return of sacred objects to the churches includes a brief reference to the usurper Paul placing on his head a crown that King Reccaredhad once dedicated to Felix.  This aside permits a glimpse into the life of this class of objects, in particular, into their intentional and meaningful misuse.

These texts bring to life the objects of the Treasure of Guarrazar, of which we examined the votive crown with pendant crossat the Musee du Moyen Age in Paris, especially its inscription, and the votive crown of Recceswinth at the archaeological museum in Madrid, both of which appear in the catalogue, The Art of Medieval Spain, a.d. 500-1200. 

The cross held by Bishop Maximianus in the Justinian panel at San Vitale in Ravenna provides a comparison for the votive cross.   Bishop Maximianus puts the cross to a second function within a liturgical context, and the similar placement of the cabochons suggests a Byzantine model for the Visigothic metalwork.

At this point in the class, we turned to the monastery of Lindisfarne.  I had by this point already detailed the movement of Irish monks first to Iona and then to Lindisfarne, so here we focused on the tomb of Lindisfarne’s most renowned inhabitant – Cuthbert.

Bede wrote multiple accounts of his life, but I chose passages from the briefest, which Bede embedded within his The Ecclesiastical History of the English People(Book 4, Chapter 30).  Although Cuthbert died in 687, not unil eleven years later in 698 did the monks of Lindisfarne place his body in the wood coffin that survives today in pieces at Durham Cathedral. 

Of its 6,000 fragments, about 169 show engraved lines.  The reconstructed program of the coffin includes Christ and the Evangelist Symbols on the lid, apostles and archangels on the sides and one end, and the Virgin and Child on another end.  Runic inscriptions identify the figures and link the coffin to the Ruthwell Cross and the Franks Casket. 

Various objects have come from the tomb of Cuthbert, including the Stonyhurst Gospels and his pectoral cross.  I could not find good photos of these objects on the internet, but the catalogue, The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture Ad 600-900, has nice color photos.

Images of the Coffin of Saint Cuthbert prove even more elusive.  I found some great color slides in the visual collection at FSU, and Ernst Kitzinger’s small booklet on the Coffin offers line drawings of each side.  Here you may find a photographic reconstruction.  Sacred Destinations has some photos taken through the vitrine.  Otherwise, I would welcome any hints on where to find more images. 

Through the texts and objects of the re-burial of Cuthbert, we gain great insight into the development of the cult of one saint.  In my next post, I will look at yet one more object associated with the early cult of Saint Cuthbert, the Lindisfarne Gospels.

I have decided to include translations of inscriptions on this website, both those that I have found already published and those that I have prepared myself.  Please note that I have created a new category for Inscriptions.  When the original text is Latin, I will include the Latin.  In this instance, the original is Greek, and I have no idea how to use Greek font on this blog, so my apologies.  Unless otherwise noted, the translations are my own.

Monza Flask 6, Obverse showing the Crucifixion

in the frame:

EMMANUEL, GOD IS WITH US

Monza Flask 6, Reverse showing the Resurrection

within the medallion:

HE IS RISEN

in the frame:

BLESSING OF THE LORD FROM THE HOLY PLACES

Monza Flask 14, Obverse showing the Crucifixion and the Resurrection

in the frame:

OIL OF THE WOOD OF LIFE OF THE HOLY PLACES OF CHRIST

Monza Flask 14, Reverse showing the Ascension

in the frame:

EMMANUEL, GOD IS WITH US

Andre Grabar included French translations in his Les Ampoules de Terre Sainte (Monza, Bobbio) (1958).

The Longobard material filled most of the class time, but I had intended to introduce Sutton Hoo, highlighting the provenance of the various objects buried in mound 1 and using the purse lid to train the eye in analyzing interlace.

I must here praise the fantastic new “Free Non-commercial Image Service” of the British Museum.  The British Museum, of course, houses most of the objects from Sutton Hoo.  The service only requires that you register.  Here are the search results for Sutton Hoo,

Objects from Sutton Hoo at the British Museum

Then you click on the image and then “Use Digital Image”, and you will receive a wondrously large digital image by email the following day.  Amazing.  And the service limits you to 100 images per month!

For as many much material as I have, I will offer some ideas on how to teach Early Medieval Art.  I will follow the syllabus of the current semester, which you may find in a previous post. 

In my course this semester, I began with an overview of “the World of Gregory the Great,” surveying the objects associated with Theodolinda, Queen of the Longobards, and also those found in the burial mounds at Sutton Hoo. 

First we looked at pilgrim flasks from the Holy Land, namely those preserved in the treasury at Monza, north of Milan.  They demonstrate the movement of objects and ideas in the early medieval Mediterranean.  I showed a flask with a symbolic Crucifixion- Christ’s head in a medallion floating above a cross and flanked by thieves.  This flask provided a comparandum at least twice in subsequent weeks.  Also, the convergence of the inscriptions on the flasks and the account of the Piacenza Pilgrim started the thread of text and image that runs through the length of the course. 

I then showed the book covers of Theodolinda and read from a letter of Gregory the Great to Theodolinda referring to his gift of a “persian case.”  We discussed the temptation to connect the persian case with the book covers.  

The Longobard component then concluded with the Visor of Agilulf, a good object for practice in description.

For large color images of two Monza flasks , see the Splendori di Bisanzio, the catalogue of a 1990 exhibition in Ravenna.