Merovingian Period Art
Genevra Kornbluth
Strictly understood, “Merovingian” refers to a ruling dynasty among the Franks, and some scholars use term in this limited sense. But as cohesiveness of various groups has been increasingly questioned over past few decades, it also come have geographical import, referring many different cultures central western Europe from mid-5th mid-8th centuries. Such include people identified Alamanni (Alemanni, Alemans), Burgundians, Goths, Visigoths, Lombards (Langobards), others; terms used more generic “barbarians” “Dark Ages” and, chronologically, “Migration Period,” following intersecting with Late Antiquity. The negative connotations reflect common devaluation Merovingian culture based on uncritical acceptance Carolingian propaganda Renaissance paradigm. Most preserved art period comes thousands burials. There are large-scale survivals—sarcophagi architectural sculpture—but outside Italy, little wall painting remains. Few objects studied by historians, even works long known, excavators constantly adding corpus. scholarship listed article is archaeological. field very ready for new historical approaches. Potentially meaningful details individual neglected favor broad trends that interest archaeologists. Contemporary Anglo-Saxon art, though much generally treated distinct field. Separation two areas reinforced language: most often languages Continent, while Anglophone tended look at United Kingdom Ireland. This focuses territories modern France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland. It excludes Spain British Isles, Denmark, Scandinavia, large quantity related material east, Austria Hungary Russia. architecture epigraphy. (For architecture, see Oxford Bibliographies Art History Early Medieval Architecture Western Europe.) Because simply finding difficult time-consuming, includes catalogues corpus publications. To focus recent developments, does not published prior 1981, which Nees 1985, cited under Journals.
Art History