Fine Arts of the Anglo-SaxonsBy Athena Cahill

Time Period

• Began with the Migration Period• Artwork of the Germanic people (300-900)• Polychrome Style• Animal Style

• Ended in 1066 with the Norman Conquest• Most important centuries were the 7th and 8th • This was when Sutton Hoo occurred

Sutton Hoo

• Ship used for burial purposes in the Old English poem Beowulf • King was buried with a multitude of treasures• It is from this place that many jewelry and metalwork

pieces are found• Swords, bowls, silverware, coins, drinking cups, cauldron

were found

Survival of the Arts

• Illuminated manuscripts• Anglo-Saxon architecture• Ivory carvings• Hardly any metalwork survived• Raid of A-S churches

Preservation

• Artists worked in:• Fresco• Stone• Ivory• Whalebone• Metalwork• Glass• Enamel

• Some of these were able to be excavated, and others were preserved in churches

Illuminated Manuscripts

• Insular art• Influences from Mediterranean, Celtic and German styles

• Gregorian mission• Carpet pages• Insular initials• Borders with interlace corners

Metalwork

• Round disk brooches were the most preferred metals• Gold and Garnet showed higher status • Many metalwork came from Sutton Hoo• Most of the larger works were lost• Some small things still remain• Not many

• Metal-detecting helped discover more of these artifacts

Sculptures• Huge stone sculptures in the shape of crosses remain• May have been painted once• Most of it was worn and weathered

• Most significant remaining sculpture is St. Cuthbert’s coffin• Durhan Cathedral• Approximately made in 698• Linear images• Crosses on it

Wall Art

• According to literature, wall art was common• Little has been preserved• Mainly fragments have been found• Painted face on a reused stone• Winchester• Before 903

Ivory Carvings

• Ivory and Bone carving• Walrus bone• Whale bone

• Also very common• Mixture of Pagan and Christian influences• Inscriptions on the carvings• Runes in Latin and Old English

Textile Art

• What AS England was famous for• Textile art of embroidery and tapestry• Few examples remain• Thread was used for other things instead

• Famous Bayeux Tapestry• Embroidered in wool on linen• Story of the Normal conquest• Best known AS work of art

• These kinds of tapestries were everywhere• Mainly Churches and wealthy houses

Present-Day

• Little art survives• Massive destruction of churches destroyed most of it• AS art style was very iconographical• There were hidden meaning in the art

• Portrayed many different things• Animals• Wars • Religion

Bibliography• http://www.culture24.org.uk/• http://www.coinlink.com• http://www3.gettysburg.edu/• http://www.britishmuseum.org/• http://www.flickr.com/• http://rpmedia.ask.com/• http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/• http://ic.galegroup.com/• http://www.family-ancestry.co.uk/• http://www.runemaker.com/