From Attila to Charlemagne: Arts of the Early Medieval Period in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

From Attila to Charlemagne: Arts of the Early Medieval Period in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Various authors
2000
432 pages
634 illustrations
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The arts of the Early Medieval period form a major, yet little-known, part of the material from the Middle Ages in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent research on this fascinating period from approximately A.D. 400 to 800 reveals a more comprehensive picture of what has been traditionally referred to as the Dark Ages or the Migration period. The Museum's holdings in this area, the subject of a symposium and of new studies by leading European and American specialists, demonstrate the exceptional richness of material bridging Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The twenty-six essays in this volume provide the first in-depth study of this American repository of arts representing the many cultures and peoples that created early Europe, including the Ostrogoths, the Langobards, the Franks, and the Anglo-Saxons. The products of this great age of "portable art" range from elaborate weapon fittings and ornate buckles to gold brooches and other intricately designed and decorated jewelry. Over six hundred black-and-white photographs and eighteen color-plates dramatically testify to the depth, breadth, and beauty of the Museum's Early Medieval collection. Of interest to both scholars and laymen, this publication coincides with the opening of the Museum's new galleries devoted to the arts of Byzantium and the Early Medieval period.

From Attila to Charlemagne: Arts of the Early Medieval Period in The Metropolitan Museum of Art also inaugurates a series of symposium volumes. These volumes will present the results of symposia at which scholars in the relevant fields assess aspects of the Metropolitan's collections.

Bracelet (one of a pair), Gold, Byzantine
Byzantine
ca. 400
Bracelet (one of a pair), Gold, Byzantine
Byzantine
ca. 400
Jeweled Bracelet (one of pair), Gold, silver, pearls, amethyst, sapphire, glass, quartz, Byzantine
Byzantine
500–700
Jeweled Bracelet (one of pair), Gold, silver, pearl, amethyst, sapphire, opal, glass, quartz, emerald plasma, Byzantine
Byzantine
500–700
Mount for Spear-Shaft, Silver-gilt, niello, Late Roman
Late Roman
ca. 400
Mount for Spear Shaft, Silver-gilt, niello, Late Roman
Late Roman
ca. 400
Mount for Spear Shaft, Silver-gilt, niello, Late Roman
Late Roman
ca. 400
Belt Buckle, Silver-gilt, niello, Late Roman
Late Roman
ca. 400
Plate, Loop, and Tongue of Belt Buckle, Gilded silver with garnets, Ostrogothic
Ostrogothic
450–550
Bow Brooch, Silver with gold-sheet overlay and garnets, East Germanic
East Germanic
400–450
Collar Pendant, Gold - sheet; cells - garnets (patterned foil), glass (green); wire - beaded.  Suspension Loops: gold - rod., Ostrogothic
Ostrogothic
late 5th–early 6th century
Shoe Buckle, Gold with garnets, Hunnic or Frankish
Hunnic or Frankish
400–450
Tongue from a buckle, Gold, garnets, red glass., Ostrogothic
Ostrogothic
450–500
Part of a Shoe Buckle, Gold with garnets, Frankish (?)
Frankish (?)
late 5th century
Gold Buckle with Garnets, Gold, garnets with patterned foil backing, cloisonné garnets, Germanic
Germanic
400–500
Disk Brooch, Gold with garnets, glass, and niello, Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
early 600s
Pendant, Gold with garnets, Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
early 600s
Pendant, Gold, garnets with patterned foil backings, Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
early 600s
Disk Brooch with Cameo, Sheet gold, onyx, glass, and wire, Langobardic (mount); Roman (cameo)
Langobardic (mount); Roman (cameo)
ca. 600 (mount); 100–300 (cameo)
Disk Brooch, Gold, Worked in repoussé with twisted wire and filigree, Langobardic
Langobardic
ca. 600
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Kidd, Dafydd, Katharine Reynolds Brown, and Charles T. Little. 2000. From Attila to Charlemagne: Arts of the Early Medieval Period in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Symposia. New York New Haven [Conn.]: The Metropolitan museum of art Yale university press.