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Hiberno-Saxon Art

There was very little art produced in the sixth century monasteries to judge by the little that remains and this is probably a reflection of the simple ideal of the monks at that time and it was not until the late seventh century when the monasteries had grown in size and wealth and there became a demand for religious objects to adorn the alter.

Lindisfarne Gospels

The early sixth and seventh century Pictish and Irish artists and craftsmen drew upon a upon a range of styles and techniques from Britain and Europe Art as a source of inspiration in their book painting, metalworking and stone carving skills. The jewellery techniques of filigree, cloisonné, and the new type of ornament the ribbon reached northern Scotland and Ireland and were soon adapted onto stone crosses and the illuminated page.

Because of the restricted material conditions in the Irish monasteries the development of the illuminated books gradually shifted during the seventh and eighth centuries from Ireland to Iona in Scotland, and then Northumbria where they were commissioned by the wealthy Anglo Saxon kings, and from there to Kent. The decorated manuscripts that were produced in Britain in Ireland in the period between 550 AD until around 900 AD are often refereed to as ’, in recognition of the close interaction of artistic skills between Britain and Ireland. Hiberno-Saxon is used as a term to signify the close links in style by the artists of Northumbria, Scotland and Ireland, on many books to survive over the centuries it is difficult to recognise exactly where they were executed. The Book of Durrow is clear example with arguments advanced for a Northumbrian provenance although there is stronger evidence that it was produced on Iona in the mid-seventh century.

Cathach of St. Columba

The Durham Gospel an early book from the library of Lindisfarne is the first to use interlace (which is thought to have originated in Egypt )in its decoration, and a decorative initial letter with double headed snakes. This manuscript lies between the Cathach of St. Columba that is thought to have been produced by the saint’s own hand on Iona in the late sixth century and the Book of Durrow. Animal ornament found on the slightly earlier artefacts from Anglo Saxon, Sutton Hoo Ship Burial are closely matched with the long-snouted, labyrinthine animals to be seen in the Book of Durrow which is the first of the surviving manuscripts to be found completely preserved with its elaborately ornamented pages. There are many similarities between Pictish sculpture and the Evangelist symbols in the Book of Durrow especially with the hip and shoulder spirals on the calf and lion. The artist of this small Gospel book shows great skill and assurance with his use of the pen and colour drawing on several different sources of inspiration which were drawn from a common pool of decoration shared by different monastic centres.

The Willibrod (Echternach Gospels) and Durham Gospels were thought to have been produced at the Lindisfarne scriptoria around 690 under the direction of the monk Egbert the possible master of Eadfrith, the scribe attributed to later masterpiece of illumination the Lindisfarne Gospels . The prancing lion in the Willibrod Gospels is one of the finest examples of Hiberno-Saxon work, and though similar to the fragment Cotton MS. Otho C.V. in style the former is superior in artistry.

Though only a fragment of what was once a fairly large Gospel book, the richly decorated Durham Gospels dated at the end of the seventh century was once comparable in the quality of its work to the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The Lindisfarne Gospels was written by Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne around 698 to commemorate the enshrinement of St. Cuthbert, and it is one of the few early gospel books to have survived complete. With the Book of Kells together they represent the finest achievement of insular art. Alterations in the Gospel book are very similar to the hand that found in the Durham Gospels showing that they may have been at the scriptorium at the same time. The decorative panels reflect the favourite past time of Anglo-Saxon nobility portraying realistic hunting dogs, and falcon like birds of prey with sharp claws. It was associated with the shrine of St. Cuthbert and travelled with the saint’s relics after 875 when the monks were forced to leave their holy island by Danish invaders.

The Lichfield Gospels (Book of Chad) is closely related to the Lindisfarne Gospels in influence especially on the Christi autem initial and carpet page. Its script has been described between Lindisfarne and Kells. George Henderson suggests...a scribe artist located in Northumbria: such is the artist of the Lichfield Gospels. I would call him Ultán, if I were pressed for a name. As the De Abbatibus poem says of Ultán, ’He could ornament books with fair marking, and by this art he accordingly made the shape of the letters beautiful one by one.’1. The manuscript is dated early eighth century and is known to have arrived in Wales by the early ninth century.

From the ninth century English decorated manuscripts are termed Anglo Saxon

1. Henderson, George. “ From Durrow to Kells” (Thames and Hudson 1987)

In the early eighth century collection of canons Cod.213 there are no clues to its origin but it was probably produced in Northumbria. It is written and decorated to a standard to impress and equals the luxury Gospel books in its execution. It comes from the same tradition as the Durham and Willibrod Gospels and possibly the same scriptorium. The manuscript may have been specially commissioned, as there is evidence that it was in Cologne by the eighth century.