Hiberno-Saxon Style

Hiberno-Saxon style, in Western visual arts, the decorative vocabulary that resulted from the interaction of the Irish, or Hibernians, and the Anglo-Saxons of southern England during the 7th century.

Irish monks sailed to northern England in 635, taking with them an ancient Celtic decorative tradition of curvilinear forms: scrolls and spirals, “trumpet” forms, and a double curve, or shield, motif known as a pelta. This abstract ornamental system was seen in their sculpture, in metalwork, and in Irish manuscripts, with their elaborate initials and other decorative embellishments.

The pagan Anglo-Saxons’ art was similarly characterized by abstract patterning, but the ornamental vocabulary differed—interlacing patterns, including elaborate zoomorphic interlace, were common. The Anglo-Saxons had no tradition of painting or calligraphy, but they excelled in metalwork. The rich gold and jeweled examples that survive show their love of metallic brilliance and bright colour.

Hiberno-Saxon art is characterized by a combination of these two traditions, particularly the Irish curvilinear motifs and elaborated initials and the Saxon zoomorphic interlacings and bright colouring. A third influence was Mediterranean art, which became an important artistic ingredient after St. Augustine’s mission arrived from Rome with many manuscripts and other art objects to use in converting the Saxons. This tradition brought with it the representation of the human figure, but the basic characteristics of Hiberno-Saxon art remained those of their pagan ancestors: concern for geometric design rather than naturalistic representation, love of flat areas of colour, and the use of complicated interlace patterns. All these elements can be found in the great manuscripts produced by the Hiberno-Saxon school: the Lindisfarne Gospels (698), the Book of Durrow (second half of the 7th century), and the Book of Kells (c. 800). The Hiberno-Saxon style was imported to the European continent by Irish and Saxon Christian missionaries, and there it exercised much influence, particularly on the art of the Carolingian empire.