Date: Late 9th–10th century Place of Production: Campania, Southern Italy Description: Despite its mythical origins, the griffin was a popular motif in Christian art. Here, two griffins face each other, a design that was borrowed from ancient Near Eastern art and may have been inspired by woven textiles. A surviving similar panel found in Sorrento…
Date: 10th century Place of Production: Spain, likely Cordoba Description: This capital is thought to have come from Madinat al-Zahra’, near Cordoba, Spain, which was founded in 936. The city housed a magnificent Umayyad royal residence. The capital bears the legacy of artistic traditions brought by the Umayyads from Syria to Spain. Inscription: On boss at one side…
Date: 10th century Place of Production: Carved 1000s, assembled 1100s or 1200s Description: ‘This doorway is an example of the reuse of materials during the life of a single medieval church’. The marble used to construct the doorway was taken from local Roman ruins. The principal elements were carved at different times during the eleventh century, putting…
Date: 11th century Place of Production: Regensburg, Germany Description: This eleventh-century Gospel Book is famous for its exquisite detail and the rarity of its survival as a complete book. The cover demonstrates all the hallmarks of Ottonian art, with silver filigree and gilding. Ivory plaques depict the four Evangelists, while a golden image of the…
Date: c.750–1050 Place of Production: Unknown, found on Gotland Description: This small rock crystal pendant is beautifully housed in silverwork. Little is known about it, but it was probably brought to Gotland as either trade or plunder in the eighth to eleventh centuries. Alternatively, it may have been produced in a workshop Held at: The Swedish…
Date: 9th–11th centuries Place of Production: Byzantine Empire Description: This small rock crystal seal depicts Christ on the Cross, flanked by his mother and Mary Magdalene. The inscription is heavily abbreviated to fit the small object, but reads ‘Here is your son, Here is your mother’ Held at: Metropolitan Museum of New York Accession Number: 86.11.38 Images…
Date: 10th century Place of Production: Germany Description: This wooden case originally housed a copy of the four gospels. Its cover is decorated with gilt; a cross shape punctuates the page adorned with gem stones, and divides it into four quarters, each of which is decorated with the animals that represent each of the four evangelists. At the…
Date: c. 1000 (base is 14th century) Place of Production: Germany, probably Cologne Description: The Lothar Cross, is named after the large rock crystal cameo of the Carolingian ruler of Lotharingia Lothar II (near its base). The cross itself was wrought in gold almost a century after Lothar’s rule, by one of the Ottonian dynasty (possibly Otto…
Date: 1015×36 Place of Production: Le Mans Description: A silver penny of Count Herbert I (1015-1036) from the County of Maine, France. Before Count Herbert’s time, coins from Maine produced by the counts were plain, carrying only the phrase ‘Gratia Dei rex’, (‘by the Grace of God’), but Herbert departed from this tradition and included his name…
Date: 997×1003 Place of Production: Lincoln Description:, featuring the bust of a crowned king facing left, and a long cross on the reverse. Produced by the moneyer Æthelmær Obverse inscription: +CNVT REX ANGLORV Reverse inscription: +ED/ELM[E?]/R MO/LINC Size: 18.82 mm diameter. Held at: Portable Antiquities Scheme Accession Number: DENO-00C081 Images released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike…