Barbarian to Carolingian

Art

End of the Classical Era

The collapse of the
economy of the West
meant that skilled workers
departed for the East.
Even had the new
barbarian rulers an interest
in preserving city life,
there were no longer the
technical skills to do so.
The West simply ran down
through neglect.

End of the Classical Era

The Barbarians who
came to settle in what
had been the Western
Roman Empire
brought their own
artistic traditions with
them.

Dark Ages?
The dark ages were not so dark as
many imagine them.
Classical culture lived on and classical
art was much valued, even by Romes
barbarian conquerors.
However, trade and the organization
needed to maintain a civilized, urban,
culture collapsed.

Dark Ages?
There was no sudden
disappearance of
Classical forms just
a fading out of the
Classical World as the
barbarians took over.

Barbarians Warriors Boar Helmet

Barbarians Warriors With Boar

Helmets

Barbarians & the So-Called Dark

Ages
Barbarian art differed
from Classical art in
many ways.
First and foremost, it
reflected pagan, and often
animist traditions.
Nature deities replaced
man and God as the
measure of all things.

Barbarians & the So-Called Dark

Ages Abstract and
organic shapes
were merged in
highly original
designs.
Art objects tended
to be portable,
since the Germanic
tribes were mobile.
Tara Brooch (Celtic)

Celtic/Germanic Art
Most such art
existed in small,
portable, forms.
Jewelry
Textiles
Weaponry
Purse Cover from the Sutton Hoo
Treasure

Celtic/Germanic Art

Celtic/Germanic Art - Viking

Jewelery

Celtic/Germanic Art
Naturally textiles and
wood have mostly
been lost.
Some Norse artifacts,
which are culturally
similar, but from a
later period, do
survive.
Wooden Prow of a Viking Longship

Celtic/Germanic Art

Long lasting work in

metal does survive and
provides evidence of a
rich artistic tradition.

Gundestrup Cauldron beaten

our of 10 kg. Of silver

Celtic/Germanic Art
Much surviving
craftsmanship
consists of weaponry.

Celtic/Germanic Art

Celtic/Germanic Art Saxon

Literature -- Beowulf
In a word where literacy was limited
to the clergy alone, an oral tradition
was vital.
Poet-singers, called troubadours,
trouveres or minnesanger, told or
sang stories and perpetuated legends.
One such legend was Beowulf.

Celtic/Germanic Art; Anglo

Saxon Literature --Beowulf

Christianity
Between the 5th and
9th centuries a
fusion of the
Classical and
Germanic worlds
would take place.
The catalyst for this
change was the
Roman Catholic
Church.

Christianity
The advance of Christianity in the
Barbarian West is the most significant
development of the early Middle Ages.
Missionaries and monks from Ireland in the
North-West and from Rome eventually
Christianized all of Western Europe.
Their monopoly of literacy and learning
made them invaluable to Kings and
powerful rulers.

Monasticism
As towns fell into disrepair, small,
often remote, monastic communities
preserved what they valued of the
classical world, including literacy and
some technology.
The chief strength of the Church was
that it preserved learning in the West.
Kings and chiefs needed the skills that
only the clergy possessed

Monasticism
From their
fortress-like
communities,
monks
laboriously
copied
manuscripts,
worked and
prayed.

Christian Influence
The fusion of
Christian and
Celtic-Germanic
styles is seen in
Irish and Scottish
stone crosses.
Monasterboice
Cross
Moone Cross

Early Medieval Illumination

The Christian influence is
also particularly apparent in
manuscript illuminations, the
work of Irish monks.

Illumination of a page from the Book of Kells

Early Medieval Illumination

Gospel of
Luke

Early Medieval Illumination

Halberstadt
Gospels

Early Medieval Illumination

Lindisfarne
Gospels

Early Medieval Illumination

Book of Kells

Lindisfarne Gospels

Early Medieval
Illumination

In this early art, man becomes

a stylized and unrealistic
image.

The Carolingian Renaissance

The so-called Carolingian
Renaissance was shortlived.
Art and learning were
encouraged and the great
king nearly restored order
to Europe.
Unfortunately his
successors were less
capable and outside
invasions destroyed his
empires unity.

The Carolingian Renaissance

Light Green areas inherited by Charlemagne

Dark Green areas added by the time of his death

The Carolingian Renaissance

Charlemagne
Coin

The Carolingian Renaissance

The Supposed Sword of Charlemagne

Carolingian Texts

Codex Aureus

Carolingian Texts

St. Gall Gospel

Back Cover

The Carolingian Renaissance

Charlemagne encouraged
learning and literacy.
Monks copied and
created illuminated
works of great beauty,
such as Ebbos Gospel
Book.

St. Mathews Gospel

Carolingian Texts

Charlemagnes
Gospel of St.
Mark

The Carolingian Renaissance

An important development
in Carolingian scriptoria
was the invention of a new
kind of writing
Carolingian miniscule
which used both upper and
lower case letters.

The Carolingian Renaissance

From the Stuttgart

Psalter

The Carolingian Renaissance

Wonderful work in
metal and crystal
adorned abbeys and
palaces.

The Carolingian Renaissance

Reliquaries
Supposed
True Cross
Reliquary

The Carolingian Renaissance

Reliquaries

The Carolingian Renaissance

Ivory
Dyptich

The Carolingian Renaissance

Portable Art

A Carolingian
Purse

The Carolingian Renaissance

Few mosaics survive,
but they were
important and likely
reflect links to the
Byzantine Empire
Ceiling of Charlemagnes
Palatine Chapel, Aachen

The Carolingian Renaissance

Fresco

St. Rabanus

The Carolingian Renaissance

In politics, Charlemagne linked the
Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds.
They were now also linked politically.
Classical realism reappear, somewhat.
It is also linked with Byzantine symbolism
and Germanic decoration.

End of the Carolingian

Renaissance
Charlemagnes
death left the
empire in
weaker hands.
By the treaty of
Verdun, the
Frankish
Empire was
divided among
his grandsons.

End of the Carolingian

Renaissance
Outsiders also
threatened the
empire.
From the North
came the Vikings.
From the East came
the Magyars.
From the South
came the Moslems

Ottonian Art
The advances of the Carolingian
Renaissance were not completely lost,
however.
Otto I established a line of Saxon kings that
gained control over most of Italy and
present-day Germany

Ottonian Art
Otto II married a
Byzantine princess,
strengthening ties
between East and West
and bringing
Byzantine artists into
his Holy Roman
Empire.

Holy Roman Emperor Otto

III, Note the similarity of this
picture with Byzantine
portraiture

Ottonian Art
Around 870 AD,
master craftsmen
created an opulent
image of the
crucifixion on the
cover of the Lindau
Gospels.
No attempt was made
to present the scene
realistically.

Ottonian art
This may be a
crucifixion, but the
figure on the cross is
very much alive.
He does not suffer in
the least.

Ottonian Art
Only a century later there is
an entirely new depiction of
the same scene.
Christs agonized portrayal
in the Gero Crucifix, though
not wholly realistic, is an
entirely compassionate
portrayal.
It also marks the
reappearance of
monumental sculpture

Ottonian Art
The Gero image pulls
on the heart-strings of
the observer.
Muscles strain.
The body is contorted.
Christ suffers and,
he suffers for man.

Finish