GREAT MIGRATION c. 400-550 CE CELTIC c. 500 BCE-1200 CE British Isles & parts of north, western & central Europe
VENDEL PERIOD c. 550-800 CE SCANDANAVIA
VIKING AGE c. 800-1100 CE SCANDANAVIA CAROLINGIAN PERIOD c. 768-877
CE OTTONIAN PEROD c. 919-1002 CE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
MAP of Medieval Europe
NORSE MYTHOLOGY
14-2 MIGRATION LATE ROMAN EARLY BYZANTINE
Map of Celtic Britain
CELTIC ART Celtic, pronounced Kel-tik (from the Greek or Keltoi), is a term that encompasses cultures in the British Isles & parts of north, western & central Europe. Art forms are made in a variety of mediums and materials
metalwork, jewelry, illuminated manuscripts, shipbuilding, enameling, wood, leather, ivory, bone, antler, stone and more. Celtic art has been described thusly: Its most outstanding characteristic is its eclecticism and variety, at times borrowing from Greek, Eastern, Roman and Viking art. Some common design elements, motifs and terms are as follows:
animal style the use of animals as motifs, usually very decorative and abstract. Often limbs and other body parts are extended into complex interlaced designs, sometimes in combat. Often, the human figure is treated similarly. By contrast, when a naturalistic approach is attempted on either animal or human, it can leave the viewer wondering if the artist had ever witnessed his/her subject.
chip carving a technique of cutting metal into faceted surfaces, to reflect light, often in the form of reversed pyramids. True chip carving is rare; pseudo-chip carving, produced by casting, is more usual. filigree very fine wire work, e.g. in the detail showing the dragon in the Tara Brooch. folio the page of a manuscript. A page of vellum has two sides, recto (smooth) & verso (rough, hair side).
Hiberno-Saxon or Insular are terms used to describe works of this period made specifically in the British Isles. Hiberno refers to Ireland. horror vacui fear of empty space; the characteristic of filling negative space with decoration. interlacing interwoven linear design, A.K.A. ribbon interlace or over-and-under interlace.
niello a black paste (silver sulphide w/ copper) used as inlay. nomads gear small, portable and functional objects of art. penannular the term, meaning an almost complete ring, is used for circular brooches with a break in the hoop. However, the heavy terminals of so-called penannulars were sometimes fused, i.e. the hoop was made as an
unbroken circle. Such brooches are referred to as pseudo-penannular. zoomorphic ornament of animal form. CELTIC
CELTIC SUTTON HOO - CELTIC
SUTTON HOO - CELTIC SUTTON HOO+
CELTIC SUTTON HOO+ - CELTIC
SUTTON HOO+ CELTIC 14-3 SUTTON HOO - CELTIC
SUTTON HOO+ - CELTIC SUTTON HOO - CELTIC
14-4 CELTIC INSULAR
MAJUSCULE 14-1 BOOK OF KELLS
CELTIC BOOK OF KELLS -CELTIC
BOOK OF KELLS CELTIC
Lindisfarne Gospels - CELTIC 14-5
CELTIC (Hiberno-Saxon) 14-19 VENDEL
14-19 VENDEL VENDEL & VIKING
14-20, 21 Oseberg Ship Burial VIKING VIKING
THE VIKINGS 1958
CAROLINGIAN PERIOD 768-877
14-10 CAROLINGIAN 14-11 CAROLINGIAN
14-12 CAROLINGIAN 7-26 San Vitale & 14-11 Palace Chapel
14-13 CAROLINGIAN 14-14 CAROLINGIAN
CAROLINGIAN 14-16 CAROLINGIAN
14-17 CAROLINGIAN 14-18 CAROLINGIAN
OTTONIAN PERIOD c. 919-1002* CE Henry the Fowler (919-36) Otto I (936-73) 1st Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II (973-83) Otto III (983-96/996-1002) 14-22, 23 & 24 OTTONIAN
14-25 OTTONIAN 14-26 OTTONIAN
14-28 OTTONIAN 14-30 OTTONIAN
LINKS AND SOURCES NORSE MYTHOLOGY CELTIC MYTHOLOGY
SUTTON HOO SITE SUTTON HOO SOCIETY SUTTON HOO LINKS BRITISH MUSEUM
(click compass, continue compass, type sutton hoo in search) THE MUSEUM OF NATIONAL ANTIQUITIES (Sweden) OSEBERG SHIP BURIAL
Backhouse, Janet. The Lindisfarne Gospels. London: Phaidon, 1981. Harris, David.The Art of Calligraphy. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1995. Kleiner, et al. Gardners Art Through The Ages. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Laing, J. & L. Art of the Celts. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1994.
Meehan, Bernard. The Book of Kells. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1994. Mutherich & Gaehde. Carolingian Painting. New York: G. Braziller, 1976. Nordenfalk, Carl. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting. New York: G. Braziller, 1977. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2002.
Suggested Movie: The Vikings, Kirk Douglas, 1958. (available at Blockbuster)
