Migration Period art
Art of Germanic peoples during the Migration period, c.
Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period (c. It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in Britain and Ireland. It covers many different styles of art including the polychrome style and the animal style. After Christianization, Migration Period art developed into various schools of Early Medieval art in Western Europe which are normally classified by region, such as Anglo-Saxon art and Carolingian art, before the continent-wide styles of Romanesque art and finally Gothic art developed.
- region
- Europe (continent, Britain, Ireland)
- styles
- Polychrome style, Animal style, Insular art
- key_peoples
- Germanic tribes (Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, etc.)
- known_for
- Portable personal adornment, weapons, jewelry, illuminated manuscripts
Lore & Background
In the 3rd century CE the Roman Empire almost collapsed and its army became increasingly Germanic. In the 4th century the Huns pushed various Germanic tribes westward, and some Germanic groups spilled across the Empire's borders and began to settle there. The Visigoths settled in Italy and then in Hispania, the Franks settled into Gaul and western Germany, and in the 5th century the Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain, while the Ostrogoths established themselves in Italy. By the close of the 6th century the Western Roman Empire had been almost completely replaced with smaller, less politically-organized, but vigorous Germanic kingdoms. These kingdoms shared certain common cultural features, and the surviving art of the Germanic peoples is almost entirely personal adornment and portable, as no tradition of monumental artwork has been detected.
Reader's Guide
Three styles dominate Germanic art. The polychrome style originated with the Goths who had settled in the Black Sea area, borrowing from Scythians and Sarmatians with some Greco-Roman influences. The animal style, possibly also of eastern origins, flourished in Scandinavia, north Germany and England. Insular art, or the Hiberno-Saxon style, saw the fusion of animal style with Celtic, Mediterranean and other motifs and techniques after Christianization. The Church emerged as the only supranational force in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire, and as conversion neared completion by the end of the 7th century, the church became the prime patron for art, commissioning illuminated manuscripts and other liturgical objects. The record shows a steady decline in Germanic forms and increasing Mediterranean influence.
Did You Know?
- The polychrome style originated with the Goths who had settled in the Black Sea area.
- The animal style was classified by Bernhard Salin into three phases: Styles I, II and III.
- The first major work that can be called purely Hiberno-Saxon is the Book of Durrow in the late 7th century.
- The Church in the early Migration period emerged as the only supranational force in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
More in Painting & Visual Arts 1-20
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record