From The Roots Of Metal-Workings

From the Roots of Metal-Workings

The impact of metalworking traditions on the ornamentation of early insular manuscripts cannot be more clear in than in the carpet pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels. This is particularly true when viewing the cross-carpet page introducing Saint Mark's Gospel, as shown on plate 51 of The Lindisfarne Gospels, and comparing that page with the metal-work pieces discovered at the Sutton Hoo ship burial site. In particular, it is in comparing the motifs and designs of the two where the impact is clearly seen.
The carpet page has several distinct features, beginning with the pattern which runs throughout most of the page. It is a very complex interwoven pattern of lines in the general shape of a circle. Each individual shape can be divided into three rough sections. The three sections of the individual shape consists of a half-circle design at the "bottom" of the shape, and two smaller quarter circles appearing on the top "corners" of the shape. This curvilinear pattern repeats itself upwards of thirty times throughout the page and each shape is connected appearing as one long pattern. This particular ornament can be easily traced to the metal-work's of Sutton Hoo. This motif of intricate weaving patterns, as found on the carpet page, can be found on many of the pieces discovered on the metal-works of Sutton Hoo. In particular, the curvilinear pattern can be distinctly detected on the enameled circular escutcheon taken from the rim of a hanging...

From The Roots Of Metal-Workings

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