Essay #5c

ESSAY #5c

Shield Plaque (Scythian Deer)
Gold; cast, chased. 31.7x19 cm
Scythian culture. Circa 600 BC
Hermitage Museum Site

 
COMPARE & CONTRAST: Time Travel

QUESTION: Find examples and describe the similarities and connections between Scythian, Celtic and Viking iconography. Can you name one other example between three other distinct cultures, time periods and geographic locations? Describe what other discoveries you made in your research.

PART ONE

Summary: I started this essay with a bit of confusion. I mean, I knew I wanted to work on this topic, but I'd actually never heard of the Scythian peoples before. Once I got into researching things went pretty smoothly, but I did find the word "iconography" difficult... I want to be specific, and that's what I think that word is asking for, but it's pretty impossible at a student level to delve into the whole artistic history of three cultures in such a short time and develop a firm grasp on their iconography. Thank god for Wikipedia, as usual!

Reason: I think this question was asked because the idea that artistic style can cross huge time & space distances pops up so often in art history. Regardless if the distances are even huge, it's important to understand that there really isn't an originator when it comes to art, just as with Greek-to-Roman artworks.

Purpose: The purpose of this question was to determine how culture affects artwork, and how art is not some stationary thing that only those in one place have access to. If it wasn't for the migration prevalent in these cultures, who knows if they would have come to these styles? By traveling and sharing/trading/invading cultures mix.

Direction: Well, I certainly learned a lot. But I don't know that my opinions changed. The research was interesting but repetitive, which makes sense in context I suppose. I found more use out of the book this time for sure, and I think I'm more comfortable with the formatting.

Impressions: The Khmer-feet moment was a definite Aha! moment. And I think when I realized that the question didn't just ask to discuss the similarities but also why/how they were that way was a sort of light bulb going off for me.

PART TWO
Scythian, Celtic, and Viking cultures have incredibly similar iconography for peoples spanning around 600 BC to the 11th century AD, and areas as far-spread as what we now call Canada to Kazakhstan. These three cultures form a group that art historians classify as Migration Period art. Scythians were nomads mainly on land, while the Vikings/Norse were seafaring, and both were warlike and true migrators. On the other side, though the Celtic art we're looking at is actually from Celtic Christian monasteries and breaks from the general ideal of migration, the artworks--particularly the illuminated manuscripts--definitely pull from a variety of styles and fit well in that sense.

Does life style breed art style? This isn't the question we're truly trying to answer here, but I do think it's a valid point to understand before fully delving in. "Although these kingdoms were never homogeneous, they shared certain common cultural features. They settled in their new lands and become farmers and fishermen. Archaeological evidence shows no tradition of monumental artwork, such as architecture or large sculpture in permanent materials, but a preference instead for "mobile" art for personal display, usually also with a practical function, such as weapons, horse harnesses, tools, and jewelry which fastened clothes. The surviving art of the Germanic peoples is almost entirely personal adornment, portable, and before conversion to Christianity was buried with its owner. Much art in organic materials has no doubt not survived." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Period_art) This makes sense of the form the art holds but I have to wonder at the visual similarities. Predominantly in what we call 'animal style,' the artworks (shown in the gallery section) share an intricacy and embellishment that cannot be denied as beautiful.

Animal style is described in our book thusly; "By 5th century CE, the so-called animal style dominated the arts, displaying an impressive array of serpents, four-legged beasts, and squat human figures, as can be seen in their metalwork. [...] Certain underlying principles govern works with animal style design: the compositions are generally symmetrical, and artists depict animals in their entirety either in profile or from above. Ribs and spinal columns are exposed as if they had been x-rayed; hip and shoulder joints are pear shaped; tongues and jaws extend and curl, and legs end in large claws." (text, 3rd ed, pg 445)

I believe that the Drakslinga art seen in the gallery section is a great example of animal style. For starters, unlike the current western ideal of a dragon, eastern dragons have always been serpentine. Níðhöggr is a personal favorite. These in particular can be identified by the legs that no snake would have. They are also in profile, with a basically symmetrical design. Furthermore, talking about tongues extending and curling, if you follow the line from each beast's tongue, you'll notice that these are what turn into the intricate knots in this image.

The Drakslinga image is from the Celts. Unlike the manuscript style, known as 'insular style' we see in the monastery artwork, this employs ideal animal style that shares its roots elsewhere. "Scandinavian artists had exhibited a fondness for abstract patterning from early prehistoric times. During the first millennium BCE, trade, warfare, and migration had brought a variety of jewelry, coins, textiles, and other portable objects into northern Europe. The artists incorporated the solar disks and stylized animals on these objects into their already rich artistic vocabulary." (text, 3rd ed, pg 445) In fact, I believe the stylized Drakslinga have a lot in common with another style of art that falls under animal style...

The Vikings had a series of animal style art periods, ranging from the 'Oseberg style' in the 800's to the 'Urnes style' in the 11th-12th century. The Urnes style is so named after the Urnes Stave Church in Urnes, Norway. The church, though mostly rebuilt, maintains even today a gorgeous doorway from the 11th century which is called the Urnes Portal.

"The [Urnes] style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animals heads are seen in profile, they have slender almond-shaped eyes and there are upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urnes_style)This is absolutely epitomized by the Urnes Portal... These animals fit an illusionistic reality, with the winding snakes and that thin lion, but certainly have grace as given by their masterful carving and what I'd almost call a woven design aspect. What I find particularly interesting is how this Urnes style so strongly relates to the Celtic Drakslinga image. The same sort of almond eyes, profile positioning, and general symmetry are seen in both these examples.

Another interesting thing to note: it was believed that the Viking raids on Celtic monasteries halted much cultural growth. Unlike the Scythians, who were much further east and interacted more with the Greeks, the Celtic and the Norse certainly were tied. The art reflects this. As mentioned above, much of the art we have of the Celtic people comes from the Christian tradition.

"The fusion of Celtic, Romanized British, Germanic, and Norse cultures generated a new culture and style of art, known as Hiberno-Saxon" (text, 3rd ed, pg 446) Wikipedia takes us a step further; "Most Insular art originates from the Irish monasticism of Celtic Christianity, or metalwork for the secular elite, and the period begins around 600 AD with the combining of 'Celtic' styles and Anglo-Saxon (English) styles. [...] Surviving examples of Insular art are mainly illuminated manuscripts, metalwork and carvings in stone, especially stone crosses. Surfaces are highly decorated with intricate patterning, with no attempt to give an impression of depth, volume or recession. [...] The finest period of the style was brought to an end by the disruption to monastic centres and aristocratic life of the Viking raids which began in earnest in the late 8th century. These are presumed to have interrupted work on the Book of Kells, and no later Gospel books are as heavily or finely illuminated as the masterpieces of the 8th century."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-Saxon_art)

From the Book of Kells comes many stunning pages. The image seen in the gallery section is the Chi Rho Iota page. One could honestly spend a good hour looking at this image and not see every detail. Fascinatingly embellished with beautiful line-work, it's almost impossible to imagine how much time this took to create. Our text discusses just that: "[The page] seems at first glance a tangle of colors and lines. But for those who "look more keenly," there is so much more--human and animal forms--in the dense thicket of spiral and interlace patterns derived from metalwork. The Kells style is especially brilliant in [this] monogram page. The artists reaffirm their Celtic heritage with the spirals and trumpet shapes that they combine with Germanic animal interlaces to embellish the monogram of Christ. [...] The illuminators outlined each letter, and then they sub-divided the letters into panels filled with interlaced animals and snakes, as well as extraordinary spiral and knot motifs. The spaces between the letters form an equally complex ornamental field, dominated by spirals." (text, 3rd ed, pg 448)Though Stokstad uses the word "interlaced" far too frequently, she is clearly as amazed as I am with the image. It is this image, I feel, that well ties Scythian art to the other migration period art styles.

Scythian art is very much influenced by the Scythian relationship with the Greeks. As they developed a trade relationship, both took from each other's artistic style. The most notable influence insofar as I can tell is that rather than flat, illusionistic reality generally seen in animal style artworks, the Scythians' works show a remarkable dimension while twisting reality to fit their desire for ornamentation. Take for example the Scythian deer shown at the top of this page. It's form, definitely not entirely deer, has a real shape and presence that differs greatly from the other artworks shown here. "Scythian jewelery features various animals including stags, cats, birds, horses, bears, wolves and mythical beasts. The gold figures of stags in a semi-recumbent position are particularly impressive approximately 30.5 cm (12 in) long. These were often the central ornaments for shields carried by fighters." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_art) On the other hand, what I found most relatable was the embellishment they gave their art. What I find ideal to represent this is the Scythian Pectoral image shown below. While the animals truly resemble same-period Greek form, the swirling ornamentation is absolutely characteristic of Migration Period art. The floral elements and incredible detail certainly remind me not only of the manuscript art discussed above but also the Urnes Portal and Drakslinga in a great way.

Scythian art is generally seen as the inspiration behind much polychrome work (gold figurines and objects inlaid with precious stones) for other Migration Period cultures. "The Scythians worked in a wide variety of materials such as gold, wood, leather, bone, bronze, iron, silver and electrum. As nomads, the Scythians worked in decorative materials for use on their horses, tents and wagons and many of the pieces are small so as to be portable. Earlier pieces reflected animal style traditions. [...] The use of the animal form went further than just ornament, these seemingly imbuing the owner of the item with similar prowess & powers of the animal which was depicted." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythian_art)

It's amazing, the similarity in these three cultures' art. If I didn't know better, I might have assumed that they fit together on one culture's time line. There are many other triads like this one, in fact! For example, while researching I found that the Khmer, Egyptian, and Mayan stone carving traditions were remarkably alike. Many Egyptian images like the one in the gallery show almost copies rather than distinct individuals. As always with Egyptian art, the feet and hands are notably not anatomically correct. This was a big "Aha!" moment for me in relation to the Khmer image in the gallery. This image is of Devatas (minor female deities)dancing, and thank goodness you can see their feet--they are each copies of the same foot throughout! Their bodies are also pretty much entirely the same. Mayan art, I feel, is incredibly like Egyptian art, as it also tends to read like a graphic novel, with all the text and manuscript/story aspect. When looking at the facial features in Mayan and Khmer artwork, I thought they were familiar to each other in the stylization. In any case, it's unbelievable: these cultures could hardly be further from each other and yet have such connectable artwork.

Spanning the years and the world, art is truly a unifying part of our lives. Regardless of where and when, art manages to cross borders and seas without moving at all. Perhaps this is just another facet of art that we have to accept: art can tell a story, art can inspire and inform, evoke emotion as well as action, and leap through time and space. I'm not ruling out time travel definitively!

Gallery:

Drakslinga (Dragon's Tail)
From a Celtic manuscript
8th century
Wiki Commons Link

Chi Rho Iota
Page from the Book of Kells
Inks and pigments on vellum
Probably made at Iona, Scotland
Late 8th - early 9th century
Found in our text, 3rd Edition, pg 440

Urnes Portal
Urnes Stave Church, Norway
11th Century
Wood carving (?)
Wiki Commons Link

Pectoral (collar piece necklace)
Mid-4th century
Gold, enamel
From Tovsta Mohyla, Ukraine
Brama, Ukranian Gateway Site

Model with a King, Lion, and Ear
Saqqara, Egypt (Place of Discovery)
Limestone sculpture
ca. 746-335 BC
The Walters Museum

Devatas (minor female deities)
Bas-relief sculpture at Angkor Wat
Temple constructed in early 12th century
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Picture from Travel Blog

Stone Wall Plaque
Temple of the Sun, Palenque, Mexico
692 A.D.
Reproduction website