Celtic and Anglo-Saxon contributions to framing and spatial conventions in medieval codex design
Date
1989
Authors
Kelly, Donna Marie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
An interpretation of the framing and spatial system used in medieval codices will be offered. Using a cross-disciplinary approach, a tentative reconstruction of medieval visual literacy will provide a framework for assessing the amalgamation of frames and space in folia. It will be proposed: that medieval folio space aligns with the fourfold symbolic sense of Scripture; and that the characteristic spatial structure of western Christian manuscript compositions was based on a framing and spatial system first introduced in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Early Medieval codices.
The spatial compendium in medieval folio design was a mosaic of spatial systems dependent upon an exoskeleton of pauses for compositional support and cohesion. Frames linked and locked disparate elements according to a spatial and framing system devised by Insular artists. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon frames, inhabited by abstract or semi-abstract vibrantly coloured, densely patterned shapes, were emphatically abstract frames. Insular frame forms integrated completely into formal two-dimensional compositions. By adopting this scheme, medieval folio designers overcame the constraints of the working space. Insular frames reconciled elements with no perceptual clash, a quality that ensured their continued use in folia. The contributions of the Insular system have not received L serious attention. Art historical study has emphasized Classical and Renaissance pictorial perspective systems. The eel tic and Anglo-Saxon spatial scheme emphasized the formal properties of two-dimensional composition, especially spatial tension and fields of energy. With neither a tradition of painting nor writing, Insular artists adapted their indigenous artistic idiom to codex production. Their folio compositions displayed spatial phenomena: felt gravitational pulls and vortices and vectors of energy, forces that push and pull in all directions in pictorial fields, and nuances of spatial shifts along, in front of, and behind the surface. Formal micro-themes effected the pervasive energy forces of the physical world. Based on the reciprocity of Nature and Scripture and word and image in medieval thought, folio space can be interpreted using the method of Scriptural exegesis. The predictable placement of images and words in hierarchical surface and hierarchical spatial order in folio compositions parallels the progressive journey toward enlightenment which preoccupied medieval theologians.
The spatial system in medieval folio design relied on borders, margins and a myriad of other frame forms. Frames - the substance and glue of folio space - intervened between elements, established compositional fields of energy and provided the basic scaffold for literal, anagogical, tropological and allegorical imagery. Moreover, the combination of many diverse images and types of pictorial space provided ample possibility for sensory, emotional, intellectual and spiritual appeal. The Celtic and Anglo-Saxon legacy to medieval folio design was a framing and spatial system that expanded folio space to the limits of the medium and imagination. Diverse elements and styles were accommodated by the Insular system which encouraged subjective interpretation an invaluable quality that imbues folia with profoundly personal appeal and establishes fertile ground for dense religious symbolism.