The art of the "Dark Ages"
The Empire was gone and the age of myths and heroes begun
Of course we all know that the term has been thoroughly debunked and corrected and is rejected by serious scholars of the period, but I’ve come to sneakily like it. It’s an expression that evokes myths and legends that are more primal and seem somehow more ancient than the Roman Empire, an age of twilight of the old civilisation, and the first flickers of the new one, where art flourished in monasteries, in the hands of migrating peoples, and in the ruins of what had come before.
In today’s post for paid subscribers, we’re going to explore the history and art of the “barbarian” peoples who rose to greater cultural prominence after the fall of the Western Empire to Odoacer in 476. These groups - Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Lombards and others - developed artistic traditions that reflected their shifting identities, their relationship with Christianity, and their interactions with the remnants of Roman culture. Their art, often dismissed as crude by earlier scholars, reveals a advanced technical ability and a sophisticated aesthetic sensibility, emphasising intricate metalwork, dynamic ornamentation, and a deep connection to myth, lineage, and the sacred.
At the Sacred Images Project we talk about Christian life, thought, history and culture through the lens of the first 1200 years of sacred art. The publication is supported by subscriptions, so apart from plugging my shop, there is no advertising or pop-ups. It’s my full time job, but it’s still not bringing a full time income, so I can’t yet provide all the things I want to and am planning for.
You can subscribe for free to get one and a half posts a week.
For $9/month you also get the second half of the third post, plus a weekly paywalled in-depth article on our great sacred patrimony. There are also occasional extras like downloadable exclusive high resolution printable images, ebooks, mini-courses, videos and eventually podcasts.
From the shop: since we’re going to be talking about the opening of the monastic tradition in Egypt in this section of the Big Editorial Plan, this might be a good time for a little print of St. Anthony of the Desert, the father of monks.
This is a little egg tempera painting I did based on a 14th century fresco in one of Narni’s medieval churches. The original is sold, but you can have a high quality art print either on a wood panel, or museum quality paper.
I think it would make an elegant addition to a prayer corner or mantel.
You can order one, and lots of other nice things, at the shop, here:
Subscribe to join us below: