The Early Middle Ages are today remembered as the “Dark Ages.” The art historian Kenneth Clark made this argument in his landmark documentary series “Civilisation.” His first episode is entirely focused on this period, and he concludes that this period was essentially uncivilized. The History Channel documentary entitled “The Dark Ages” also makes the case for these being “Dark Ages.” For example, they point to the lack of literacy and education in the Early Middle Ages. But there have been others, such as Waldemar Januszczak, who have argued that it is a much-maligned age. They point to the fantastic art of this period, as evidence that it is more sophisticated than people thought. This is the case that Waldemar Januszczak makes in this film.
Which interpretation is correct? To a large degree, they both are. I don’t believe that we have to choose between them. The fall of the Western Roman Empire left utter chaos in its wake, and this chaos does indeed define parts of the Early Middle Ages. But it would be a mistake to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as they say. There were islands of civilization even in the Early Middle Ages. More to the point, Waldemar Januszczak seems to be correct that there was fantastic art in this period, which cast doubt upon the most extreme interpretations of the “Dark Ages.”
Waldemar Januszczak, the presenter of this series
Episode 1: “The Clash of the Gods”
The first episode of this film is called “The Clash of the Gods.” It is about the early Christian art, and briefly reviews some prior history from the Roman Empire. The earliest Christians had no art, and were forced to practice their religion secretly. Thus, most of the early Christian art is depicted in a kind of code, designed to conceal the true meaning from the suspicious authorities. Some examples of this are the Rotas Square, the Ichthys fish symbol, and the anchor. This was a particularly interesting episode for me, since it discusses doctrines in the early Christian Church that have since fallen out of favor. Some have been revived in religions like my own – something that I discuss in another blog post. The Roman Empire was initially dominated by pagans, who were deeply suspicious of the new Christian faith. Even after the Roman Empire had become officially Christian under Constantine, many wanted to hang on to their ancestral pagan ways. Thus, there was significant pagan influence after the mass conversions of former pagans under Constantine. This is another topic that Waldemar Januszczak discusses in this episode.
Chi-Rho emblem, an early symbol of Christianity
(continued)
One interesting example of this was how the pagans had worshipped both male and female deities. When the church demanded that they worship a masculine god, they wanted to hang on to their ancestral worship of a feminine figure. Thus, early Christian art depicted Jesus with both masculine and feminine features. He was depicted as a somewhat girlish man, in the tradition of pagan goddesses that had been worshipped until then. But with the emergence of St. Mary as a prominent female figure, this feminization of Jesus stopped somewhat. Jesus was then depicted as a masculine god, in the tradition of the pagan gods that had been male. The truth is that it’s hard to know what Jesus really looked like. Early Christians may not have taken the pains to represent this accurately, leaving scholars to guess at what he might have looked like.
Earliest fresco of the Virgin Mary, Catacomb of Priscilla, 2nd century
Episode 2: “What the Barbarians Did for Us”
The second episode is called “What the Barbarians Did for Us.” It gives a fairly convincing defense of the much-maligned “barbarians.” The word comes from Ancient Greek, and originally meant “people who speak a foreign tongue.” To the Greeks, foreign speech sounded like “bar bar” (the root of “barbarian”), in the same way that we label things to be gibberish by calling them “blah blah blah.” Even in Ancient Greek days, the word came to be a derogatory term for any foreigner. Later, it came to have the connotation of being “uncivilized,” and still retains this meaning in some contexts today. It’s not flattering to be called a “barbarian” even today, and this unflattering connotation has roots going way back to Ancient Greece. Among the tribes labeled “barbarians” were the Huns, Vandals, and Goths. One of the interesting things about this interpretation is that many of these tribes were already Christian by this time, making it ironic that fellow Christians were labeling them as “barbarians.” Their forms of Christianity were not those adopted by the official church, and so they gradually disappeared as the “barbarians” assimilated themselves into the surrounding cultures. A major topic of this episode is on the art that they left behind, which paints a more flattering depiction of their culture. This is, in fact, the focus of the episode.
Mausoleum of Theodoric, 6th century
Episode 3: “The Wonder of Islam”
The third episode is called “The Wonder of Islam.” This is truly one of the brightest parts of the Dark Ages. Indeed, this has sometimes been described as the Islamic Golden Age. It saw incredible achievements in mathematics and the sciences, including many astronomical achievements. Muslim scholars succeeded in mapping the stars, and developing ways of finding out which direction Mecca was in. This had an interesting application to their culture, since Islam requires its believers to worship in the direction of Mecca five times a day. Thus, as Islam expanded towards lands far away from Mecca (such as Europe and North Africa), it became particularly important to find out which direction Mecca was in. He also explores many of the great architectural achievements of Islamic civilization – such as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Egypt, and the Mosque of Cordoba in Spain. Islam had gained a foothold in Spain, and left a lasting influence upon its people and its Spanish language. This is one of the most fascinating parts of the episode, which helps to show the artistic achievements of early Islam.
Mosque of Ibn Tulun at Cairo, Egypt
Great Mosque of Cordoba, in what is today Spain
Episode 4: “The Men of the North”
The fourth and final episode is called “The Men of the North.” It focuses primarily on the Vikings, one of the most unpopular cultures in medieval history. To a large extent, this unflattering reputation is deserved, since the Vikings were a particularly violent group. Nonetheless, they left some interesting art behind, mostly of the kind designed to be portable. In his landmark series “Civilisation,” Kenneth Clark argued that the Vikings were uncivilized, because they did not “build for the future.” In other words, they didn’t plan to stay in one place for long, so they didn’t bother to erect permanent buildings for a future generation to use. There may be some truth in this, but the portable art that they left behind is nonetheless quite impressive, and Waldemar Januszczak is right to praise it. He also discusses Carolingian art, Charles Martel, and Charlemagne – one of the most powerful emperors since Roman times. Januszczak gives a particularly strong defense of English art – which is not surprising, given that he was making this program for the BBC. Januszczak’s family is from Poland (as his name suggests), but he was born in the British Isles, and is culturally British. Among the art that he mentions are the Sutton Hoo helmet, and the Lindisfarne Gospels – which he considers among the most beautiful art in European history. This is another great episode, which shows the achievements of the “Dark Ages.”
Carpet page from the Lindisfarne Gospels
Concluding comments
So were the “Dark Ages” dark? As I indicated earlier, this may not be a binary question. There were dark aspects of this time, as well as light aspects. This documentary is focused on the light aspects (in the sense of enlightening and uplifting). He gives a much-needed defense of certain maligned cultures from the time, such as the Vikings and the “Barbarians.” Names like the “Huns” and the “Vandals” are still unpopular today (and have different meanings), and the Goths are not remembered accurately by modern groups calling themselves the “Goths.” One of the funniest parts of this episode is when he comments on the modern “Goth” movement, and its fascination with the grim subject of death. He says that when he sees these Goths, he wants to give them all a big hug, and then tell them that the Goths weren’t really like that at all. He has a great delivery, and can bring humorous moments at the most unexpected places. On the whole, I tended to agree with him, and consider this among the best documentaries on art history. It’s a great introduction to this period, and much more in-depth than the History Channel program on the Dark Ages (which was only an hour and a half long). This documentary is some four hours long, and is thus able to explore this period in much greater detail – allowing it to paint a fascinating portrait of the “Dark Ages.”
DVD at Amazon
If you liked this post, you might also like:
A review of “Great Epochs of European Art: Art of the Ancient Greeks & Romans”
A review of “The Dark Ages” (History Channel)
A review of Michael Wood’s “In Search of the Dark Ages” (BBC)
A review of “The Plague” (History Channel)
A review of “The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross” (History Channel)
A review of “The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody Crown”
A review of “The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance” (PBS Empires)
A review of Kenneth Clark’s “Civilisation” (BBC)
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European history
Art of the Dark Ages
This list covers Europe through the Renaissance. For Europe since the Renaissance, click here.
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Have you watched Michael Woods’ “In Search of the Dark Ages” from 1981?
ReplyDeleteI have not watched it, although I have heard of it. I like a number of Michael Wood's films, so I'm interested. Did you like it?
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