Style and the Anglo-Saxon Arts of Seventh and Eighth Century Northumbria

This study contemplates the part played by style in the creation of Anglo-Saxon Northumbrian works of art produced in the seventh and eighth century. Considering style as a locus of meaning, it investigates how Anglo-Saxon art makers may have responded to the emergence of Continental styles brought to the region with the spread of Christianity. By looking at some of the ways style has been treated within the scholarship of Anglo-Saxon art objects, and by thinking about some of the effects stylistic analysis has had on current understandings of style, an alternative view of style is proposed. Working from the standpoint that Anglo-Saxon creators of artistic products were fully aware of the ramifications their stylistic choices had in conferring meaning, this investigation seeks to reveal some of the potential signs and symbols embedded in Anglo-Saxon designs. Taking various analytic and theoretical approaches to the material, it aims to offer some new interpretations of some of Northumbria’s most canonical artworks and suggests new insights in to the mindset of Anglo-Saxon artists and viewers. Its overriding objective is try to understand more about style’s role in the creation processes involved in formulating these works of art.