The fish are in reference to Christ’s miracle of loaves and fishes, when he created enough to feed hundreds. Garnets, red semi precious stones makeup the eyes of the eagles. Later these birds were used to reference Saint John. Eagles were originally a Greek/Roman symbol of Zeus/Jupiter. The side of an eagle’s head appears on these pieces. This style of fibulae was called a crossbow because it resembled the weapon.

Later pieces were used as a sign of the Christian faith. Wearing A fibula (fib-you-luh) or fibulae(fib-you-lay) was a status symbol. Before buttons existed, they were used to fasten garments, such as cloaks and capes. These pieces of decorative art jewelry have a utilitarian purpose. Finish cloisonné by inlaying the garnets and other stones.Artists would attach wires onto a metal base to create various shapes. Cloisonné was a popular technique in early Medieval art. Cloisonné work using small wires to make little cups.This is an example of silver gilt, but pieces can also be done in gold. Gild the work with silver or cover the metal with silver.Other examples of chasing include indenting to ornament metal.

Think clocks, jewelry, vases, tea pots, and furniture. Decorative arts are beautiful utilitarian objects. What is Decorative Art?ĭecorative arts fall under the category of Fine Arts- includes sculpture, painting, and architecture. These are a pair of broaches (fibula would be the singular) that are each 4 inches long. This piece is comprised of silver gilt worked in filigree with inlays of garnets and other stones. Merovingian looped fibulae are a beautiful example of decorative arts in early medieval Europe. Museum: Musee des Antiquities Nationales in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France Learning Objective: Early Medieval jewelry Merovingian looped fibulaeĮarly medieval Europe. The art inspired by pagan and barbarian art forms originating during the Roman period. The rulers used Christianity to their advantage to craft alliances. This art was created by the Frankish dynasty who ruled France, Germany, northern Italy, Switzerland, or the area known as ancient Gaul. The pages were covered in wood or leather to create books.Īs for architecture, churches, and chapels, to accommodate church goers were inspired by Rome. Paintings appeared in manuscripts on either parchment or vellum. Monks copied works from old texts, like the bible, instead of contemporary tales. As for patronage, monasteries had monks who are literate and could dry. The earliest of medieval artworks were mostly portable, given migratory patterns of the people. Charlemagne unifies feudal kingdoms together in Western Europe to be the Carolingian Empire, with the capital in Aachen, Germany.Group of Franks, led by Charlemagne (King of Franks: 768-800 Holy Roman Emperor: 800-814).Carolingians (800-876: France and Germany).Hiberno-Saxons 6 th-11 th centuries were in the British Isles.Merovingians or Franks ruled France and Germany from 5 th – 8 th.

Christianization of the Germanic tribes.Church was the only major institution to survive the collapse of West Rome.Feudalism was the relationship between lord and vassal.Migrations of Germanic peoples into the territory north of the Roman Empire was pushed westward by the Huns.Artists illuminated the pages with vibrant colors to lend importance to Biblical manuscripts. In a deeply Christian society, Western Europe searched for illumination through reading the Biblical text.

Snales in medieval manuscripts