Trends in “Barbarian” ArtReadingStokstad, 422-428.

Range500-1000 CEAnglo-Saxon, Frankish, Visigoth, Norse.

Terms/Conceptsbarbarian, torque, cloisonné, niello, garnet, Merovingian, animal style,

Monument ListPurse Cover, Sutton Hoo, England, Anglo-Saxon, 7th century CE.Gold Belt Buckle, Sutton Hoo, Mound 1, Anglo-Saxon, 7th century CE.Eagle Fibula, Tierra de Barros, Spain, Visigoth, 6th Century CE.Animal Headpost, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, Norse, 825 CE.

The Fall of the Western Empire

395 CETheodosius divides the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western regions.

*By 476, all of Italy was under the control of the Ostrogoths.

Byzantine Empire

410

418

402

476

Byzantine Empire

“An able Goth wants to be like a Roman; only a poor Roman would want to be like a Goth.” –Theodoric, King of the Visigoths

Early Medieval Art in the West

Justinian as the Defender of the Faith(Barbarini Ivory), mid-sixth century CE.

Dying Gaul, Roman Copy of Hellenistic Original 1st century CE

Dying Gaul, Roman Copy of Hellenistic Original 1st century CE

Torque

Snettisham Torque, 1st century BCE

Sutton Hoo

Discovered in 1938/39.

Burial Mound, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Funerary Ship, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Funerary Ship, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Funerary Ship, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Funerary Ship, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Funerary Ship, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Funerary Ship, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

“They laid their dear lord, the giver of rings, deep within the ship by the mast in majesty; many treasures and adornments from far and wide were gathered there. I have never heard of a ship equipped more handsomely with weapons and war-gear, swords and corselets; on hi breast lay countless treasures that were to travel far with him into the waves’ domain.”

Helmet Pieces, Mound 1 Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, c. 7th century CE (Replica 1970s)

Helmet, Mound 1 Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, c. 7th century CE.

Helmet, Mound 1 Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, c. 7th century CE (Replica 1970s)

Gold Belt Buckle, Sutton Hoo, Mound 1, 7th century CE.

Detail: Snakes intertwining and biting

Gold Belt Buckle, Sutton Hoo, Mound 1, 7th century CE.

Detail: Snakes intertwining and biting

“They came to another island and a wall of stone around it. And when they came near, a great beast leaped up and went racing about the island, and it seemed to Maelduin to be going quicker than the wind. And it went then to the high part of the island, and it did the straightening-of-the-body feat, that is, its head below, its fee above…it turned in its skin, the flesh and the bones going around the skin outside without moving. An at another time the skin outside would turn like a mill, and the flesh and the bones not stirring.”

Gold Belt Buckle, Sutton Hoo, Mound 1, 7th century CE.

Hinged Clasp, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Hinged Clasp, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Purse Cover, Sutton Hoo, England, 7th century CE.

Desborough

known for its etched mirrors

Engraved Mirror, from Desborough, England, 50 BCE-50 CE.

Paris

Tomb of Queen Arnegunde, excavated from her tomb at St. Denis, Paris, 580-590 CE.

Tomb of Queen Arnegunde, excavated from her tomb at St. Denis, Paris, 580-590 CE.

Jewelry of Queen Arnegunde, excavated from her tomb at St. Denis, Paris, 580-590 CE.

Jewelry of Queen Arnegunde (Reconstruction), excavated from her tomb at St. Denis, Paris, 580-590 CE.

Tierra de Barros

Eagle Fibula, Tierra de Barros, Spain, Visigothic, 6th Century CE.

Oseberg

Mound, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Grave Goods, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Ship, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Ship, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Detail of Carving, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Animal Headpost, Oseberg Ship Burial, Osberg, Norway, 825 CE.

Norse Anglo-Saxon

DANES(c. 960)

NORSE(c. 970-1025)

Areas Christianized, 900-1100

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How did the Romans represent the so-called “barbarians”? How did these people represent themselves?

2. How did these people interact with the classical world? How did they interact with each other?

3. How did the “barbarians” represent the natural world?

4. How was material significant in the art of this northern tradition?