Animal and Interlace Patterned Art Was Originally Created by
Regular readers of this blog are likely familiar with splendid examples of 'Insular' art — the art of the islands of U.k. and Ireland from the 7th to 9th centuries. The iconic Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the most well-known, merely you can also admire several examples on the webspace for the recent Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition.
Busy initial 'A' at the outset of Book iii of Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; Southern England (Canterbury?), c. 800-850; Cotton MS Tiberius C Ii, f. 60v.
Equally is clear from this initial from the Tiberius Bede, one of the main decorative elements of Insular art is the incorporation of delicately drawn interlacing knotwork designs. The inside of the letter is decorated with interlacing ribbons on a black ink background. The tongue of the beast's head at the peak of the letter of the alphabet as well interweaves with itself. Patterns like this are still closely associated with Irish, Scottish, and Welsh cultural identity, often called 'Celtic knotwork'.
Intricate interlace designs are also an of import element of the style of manuscript art known as 'Franco-Saxon'. 'Franco' refers to Francia (the kingdom of the Franks), where this style originated. The 'Saxon' part of the term refers to the incorporation of Insular decorative motifs (when this term was coined in the belatedly 19th century Insular art was often called 'Hiberno-Saxon'). In general, the Franco-Saxon style is characterised by a fusion of motifs based on Insular models and features of layout, decoration, and script of the Carolingian manuscript tradition. The Carolingian dynasty seized control over the expanse roughly corresponding to modern-day France from 751, expanded the kingdom, and ruled (intermittently) until 987.
Interlace is usually described as one of the virtually defining Insular components of the Franco-Saxon style. Interlace decoration has also been seen as testify of the spread of this style to the scriptorium of Saint-Martin of Tours during the second half of the ninth century. The Benedictine abbey of Saint-Martin of Tours was one of the most influential centres of manuscript product in the Carolingian empire in the early on decades of the century. However, in 853 Tours was attacked by one of the Norse war bands who carried out raids along the rivers of France. To help restore the Abbey's destroyed library, books from other Carolingian centres were sent to the monks of Tours. We know that at least one of those manuscripts was a Franco-Saxon manuscript from Saint-Amand, 1 of the principal centres of the Franco-Saxon style.
Decorated ligature 'LI', (Liber), beginning of the Gospel of Matthew; Tours, c. 850-900; Add together MS 11849, f. 27r.
Consequently, the decoration in manuscripts made at Tours in the decades after the assail of 853 has been described every bit incorporating the Franco-Saxon style into the diverse and well-developed Tours style. This Gospel book from Tours, digitised equally role of the Polonsky project (Add MS 11849), is one example of this. The aureate ribbons that both class the outline of the ligature 'LI' (Liber) (book) every bit well as interlaced designs within the letter and at their terminals, accept been compared to busy initials in well-known Franco-Saxon manuscripts.
Merely there is a trouble with using the presence of interlace as a distinguishing feature of an early medieval fashion. When you start to expect at early medieval manuscripts from across northern Europe, you rapidly observe that interlacing knotwork decoration is an omnipresent decorative chemical element.
Detail of decorated initial 'D' (Dixit), Cassiodorus, Expositio psalmorum; Southern Netherlands, Stavelot (now in Belgium), c. 850-875; Add MS 16962, f. 55v.
For example, in the expanse that is now Belgium and the Southern Netherlands, interlace in a slightly different variant was also common during this period. Here information technology is incorporated within the stem of the initial 'D' equally well as in a blueprint within the letter, in red and brown ink.
Detail of decorated initial 'D' (Disciplina), Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae; Western France, c. 800-900; Harley MS 2686, f. 5r.
Similarly, interlace is too present in contemporary manuscripts that were most likely made in Brittany, which was never incorporated fully into the Carolingian empire. Perhaps that is why manuscript fine art from this area often continued to resemble Frankish manuscripts created before the spread of Carolingian influence (i.e. before c. 750).
Item of decorated initial 'D' (Dominus) (Lord), at beginning of Liber Scintillarum (Volume of Sparks) by the so-called Defensor of Ligugé; Northern Italy, c. 775-825; Cotton MS Nero A II, f. 45r.
Further s, in Northern Italy, early on medieval manuscripts also feature interlace in their decorated initials. This is credible in a late 8th-early on 9th manuscript (now Cotton MS Nero A II), which has a large initial 'D', with its ascender swooping to the left. The alphabetic character incorporates knotwork patterns inside its rounded basin, while another interlace design of thicker ribbons continues and reaches within the bowl.
Insular artists, responsible for creations like the Lindisfarne Gospels, undeniably mastered the bones principles of interlacing knotwork and created incredibly intricate and imaginative designs. As a type of design in itself, however, it was such a ubiquitous feature of early medieval European fine art that its presence in a manuscript does not necessarily signal specifically Insular influence.
Emilia Henderson
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Source: https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2020/10/early-medieval-interlace.html
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