THE NORTHUMBRIAN GOLDEN AGE; THE PARAMETERS OF A RENAISSANCE

The conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria produced a nenascence in the arts unequalled elsewhere in pre-Carolingian northern Europe. Remarkable in strength and sudden maturity, this outburst of creativity was generated by the importation of art which followed the conversion. Responses to these models varied considerably, superficially suggesting inconsistent eclecticism. As a result, the Northumbrian Renaissance has never been adequately analyzed. An understanding of Northumbrian art as a whole depends on analysis of its components; the origins of foreign contact, the historical circumstances of the conversion, and the development of art in ecclesiastical and secular centers. Preconversion trade patterns indicate that the British and Irish Celts had more access to and familiarity with Mediterranean motifs than did the Anglo-Saxons. This attitudinal distinction was perpetuated through the bilateral conversion of Northumbria by the separate missions of the Celtic and Roman Churches. The Celtic Church produced assimilative works, such as the Book of Durrow in which the style of indigenous metalwork was superimposed on foreign symbols and motifs. The art of the Romanhurch in Northumbria copied imported models closely either through faith in their inherent excellence, as in the Jarrow Codex Amiatinus, or as a demonstration of political affiliation, as in Wilfrid\u27s architecture at Hexham. The ascendency of Roman authority after the Synod of Whitby in 664 put centers such as Lindisfarne, Celtic in origin but newly Roman in practice, in a politically ambiguous position where they were able to take advantage of the artistic traditions of both Churches. Consequently, the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Ruthwell Cross demonstrate a novel synthesis, where foreign compositions and motifs were quoted or altered to suit the needs of particular situations. Secular art, as exemplified by the Franks Casket, was equally recombinative, introducing motifs from heroic and pagan religious traditions perpetuated in syncretistic secular Northumbria. Three modes may therefore be discerned in the art of the Northumbrian Renaissance; assimilative, emulative and synthetic. These can be further subdivided in terms of centers and individual patrons, but they nonetheless provide a basic formulation of the dynamics of the Northumbrian Renaissance