St. Matthew page from the Gospel Book of Durrow
Essay:
Compare and contrast the St. Matthew page from the Gospel Book of Durrow with the St. Matthew page from the Coronation Gospels. What does this comparison demonstrate about the cultural and artistic influences exchanged in Europe? Do these images reveal ties to earlier cultures? Provide both context and formal analysis in the course of your answer while considering the production techniques required to create illuminated manuscripts.
The Gospel of Matthew was written in various cultures’ books, it would be introduced in a different approach depending on the time period and influences from the cultures tradition. Saint Matthew was an evangelist that was one of the four books that tells the story of Jesus. The early Book of Durrow introduced the Gospel of Matthew with an abstract drawing of a man, while the Coronation Gospels illustrated the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew with color and modulation of light and shade, not lines, to create shapes.1
Around the second half of the 7th century The Gospel of Matthew was written in the Book of Durrow. The book’s layout follows the Roman Christian models, but the paintings inside are influenced by the Hiberno-Saxon design. The Gospel of Matthew is followed by a page with his symbol, the man. The design of the man is far off of what the man would have been constructed like in the Greco-Roman culture. It contrasts with classical art forms with the simple lines illustrating the face, hair, torso, and feet. The symbol of the man has an armless, abstract bell shaped body with a head and two tiny feet. This image was not drawn to be an exact representation of a man; instead it was made to be recognized as the symbol of a man. The head on top of the curved shoulders is perfectly symmetrical and the eyes are locked at a constant stare at the reader. The body is created by a checkered, abstract pattern which disguises the figure and features the metalwork of the area and period. A similar checkered pattern is also
Compare and contrast the St. Matthew page from the Gospel Book of Durrow with the St. Matthew page from the Coronation Gospels. What does this comparison demonstrate about the cultural and artistic influences exchanged in Europe? Do these images reveal ties to earlier cultures? Provide both context and formal analysis in the course of your answer while considering the production techniques required to create illuminated manuscripts.
The Gospel of Matthew was written in various cultures’ books, it would be introduced in a different approach depending on the time period and influences from the cultures tradition. Saint Matthew was an evangelist that was one of the four books that tells the story of Jesus. The early Book of Durrow introduced the Gospel of Matthew with an abstract drawing of a man, while the Coronation Gospels illustrated the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew with color and modulation of light and shade, not lines, to create shapes.1
Around the second half of the 7th century The Gospel of Matthew was written in the Book of Durrow. The book’s layout follows the Roman Christian models, but the paintings inside are influenced by the Hiberno-Saxon design. The Gospel of Matthew is followed by a page with his symbol, the man. The design of the man is far off of what the man would have been constructed like in the Greco-Roman culture. It contrasts with classical art forms with the simple lines illustrating the face, hair, torso, and feet. The symbol of the man has an armless, abstract bell shaped body with a head and two tiny feet. This image was not drawn to be an exact representation of a man; instead it was made to be recognized as the symbol of a man. The head on top of the curved shoulders is perfectly symmetrical and the eyes are locked at a constant stare at the reader. The body is created by a checkered, abstract pattern which disguises the figure and features the metalwork of the area and period. A similar checkered pattern is also
Citations: Lane, Jim. Humanities Web, "St. Matthew in Early Art." Last modified May 12, 1998. Accessed May 2, 2012. http://www.humanitiesweb.org/spa/gai/ID/178 Surfer, John. Hub Pages, "Hiberno-Saxon Art in a Nutshell." Accessed May 2, 2012. http://jobsurfer.hubpages.com/hub/Hiberno-Saxon-Art-in-a-Nutshell