Anglo-Saxon Illuminated Manuscripts

Pre-requisites for enrolment

None.

Content of Course

1.Guidelines of approaching an illuminated Anglo-Saxon manuscript.

Script, illumination, materials and techniques used in the production of Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts. An overview of monastic scriptoria, patrons, scribes and artists engaged in the manuscript making within the broader social and cultural background of the period.

2. The Insular period (later 6th to mid-9th century).

Carpet pages, initials and evangelist portraits from the great illuminated Insular and early Norhumbrian Gospel-books: the Book of Durrow, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and the Book of Kells.

3. Archaeological evidence.

Monumental sculpture, wall painting, metalwork, ivory carving, and recent archaeological discoveries that help us to understand better the iconography of Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts and the culture of the society that produced them.

4. Royal patronage in the later Anglo-Saxon period (10th and 11th centuries to 1066).

Interaction of Anglo-Saxon kingship with the Church. Images of the Anglo-Saxon rulers King Æthelstan, Edgar, and Cnut in Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts.

5. The Benedictional of St. Æthelwold.

Influenced by Insular, Carolingian, and Byzantine art the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold is a magnificent exemplar of the later ‘Winchester Style’ combining luxuriant painting style with acanthus foliage ornament and ‘flying’ drapery hems.

6. The Veiled Queen and the Virgin Mary.

Queen Emma in the Encomium Emma Reginae and in New Minster Liber Vitae. Anglo-Saxon queens, noble women, saints, abbesses and nuns: focus on the status of women in the Anglo-Saxon Church and society.

7. Prayer books.

The strong Anglo-Saxon tradition in private devotion and liturgical commemoration reflects the theological ideas of the period. Iconographic and stylistic analysis of the illustrations of the Book of Cerne and the Prayer book of Ælfwine.

8. Psalters.

An iconographic survey of the illustrations of the Vespasian Psalter, the Æthelstan Psalter, the Eadui Psalter and the Tiberius Psalter sheds more light on Anglo-Saxon taste and attitudes toward manuscript illumination. An iconographical assessment of the Harley Psalter, the earliest of the three surviving Canterbury copies of the Carolingian Utrecht Psalter.

9. Biblical Narrative Cycles.

The Anglo-Saxons and the Old Testament. A critical analysis and iconographical evaluation of the outline drawings for the Old English poems of Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, Christ and Satan in Junius 11. A focus on the extensive cycle of Old Testament illustrations in the Old English Illustrated Hexateuch.

10. The Antiquity and early Christian World.

The Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts of Prudentius, Psychomachia, the Herbarium Apuleii Platonici, the Marvels of the East and Aratea give a valuable glimpse into the world of medicine, astronomy, astrology, geography, history and poetry.

Teaching method(s)

Powerpoint lectures, critical, comparative and cultural analysis / discussion based. Occasional DVDs will be included.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Critically engage with the process of manuscript production in the Anglo-Saxon period;

• Develop strategies of approaching an Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscript and decode its style;

• Describe and analyse an illumination, using a range of technical observations.

Sources

Core Readings

• Brown, M. P., 2007. Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

• Temple, E., 1976. Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts 900-1066. London: Harvey Miller.

• Karkov, C., 2011. The Art of the Anglo-Saxon England. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer.

• Brown, M.P., 2003. The Lindisfarne Gospels: Society, Spirituality and the Scribe. London: British Library.

• Gameson, R., 1995. The Role of Art in the Late Anglo-Saxon Church. Oxford: OUP.

Class Handouts

Detailed handouts and bibliographies will be available

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

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