The initial stimulus for this terrific exhibition was provided in 2012 by the British Library’s acquisition of the St Cuthbert’s Gospel. Since then, curators Claire Breay and Joanna Story were responsible for assembling over 180 artefacts spanning the 600 years between the 6th and 11th centuries and which required loans from over 20 different institutions worldwide.
Although there was plenty of sculpture and metalwork, for example, from Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard in the exhibition, it was the collection of illuminated manuscripts that really stood out, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, Beowulf, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the Domesday Book.
As captured by the sub-title (‘art, word, war’), there were a number of parallel themes running through the exhibition. However, it was the significant scale of multi-cultural influences during the Anglo-Saxon period that really struck me, and the clear evidence of intellectual and artistic exchange on a continental scale.
One of the earliest pieces in the exhibition features a lament from AD 540 ‘On the ruin of Britain’ at the hands of the Saxon invaders while of course the multiple Viking incursions – lasting from the sacking of Lindisfarne in 793 well into the 11th century – as well as the Norman conquest in 1066 each grafted their own distinct cultures on to indigenous traditions. Furthermore, the kingdom itself was not unified while Bede records five distinct languages coexisting during the period.
Perhaps most startling is the African influence – initiated, of course, by St Augustine of Hippo, but evidenced also by one of the earliest pieces in the exhibition, a transcription of a letter by Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (died in AD 258), as well as notes from Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz, and Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, on the ‘Commentary on the Apocalypse’ by Primasius, Bishop of Byzacena in Africa (died around 560).
Later on, the Book of Durrow (created AD 650-700), for example, shows its Irish heritage but also that from Anglo-Saxon England, the Mediterranean and Pictland – these influences most obvious in the rich illumination and style of ornamentation, suggesting that professional artists travelled between scriptoria.
But perhaps the most remarkable story is that of the monumental Codex Amiatinus – the earliest complete Latin Bible and one of three made at Wearmouth for the church at Jarrrow during the great flowering of the Northumbrian artistic tradition in the 7th century. It contains 1030 leaves, probably requiring around 515 whole animal skins. The decorative scheme shows the influence of the Codex Grandior, a lost Bible from the library at Vivarium in Italy. The workmanship was of such a high standard that it was only recognized as being of English origin in recent times.
The exhibition provided a unique opportunity to study at close hand the scripts and illumination of such iconic works within their historical context. I was particularly struck by the intimate connection between Christianity and the power structures of the day, with the most lavish works clearly considered as appendages of wealth and status. However, despite the inevitable technical variation in the quality of some of the scripts and illumination (much of which is frankly superb), the overall impression is that these were living documents, created with a unifying sense of purpose and within a coherent intellectual framework, remote from our own times. One can but wonder how much was lost during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s.
My only criticism is that the exhibition was somewhat overpowering – after nearly 3 hours my concentration was failing as a result of which I merely skimmed the final section covering the Domesday Book and as a result missed out on some beautiful manuscripts containing text and the musical notation for plain chants. The exhibition was also booked solid when I visited, resulting in the need to queue at several points. But notwithstanding the above, this would have been an outstanding exhibition if only half the objects had been on display.
[This review is due to be published in a forthcoming edition of Forum , the Journal of Letter Exchange, and is reproduced by permission of the Editor]