Art and Artists of Our Time, Vol. 5 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from Art and Artists of Our Time, Vol. 5

The Saxons, who followed the Romans, brought to Britain no arts Of any kind worth mentioning, unless it were the art of ship-building, which the Romans understood as well as they. The new invaders fell heirs to the fruits of the long Roman occupancy; to the cities and towns, with their walls and towers, their villas and urban houses, their market-places, and temples, and baths, their paved streets and bridges. In the years that passed before the Norman invasion, though harassed by bloody raids Of Celts and Danes, and torn and rent by internal strife, they yet rebuilt or repaired what remained Of the Roman structures, employ ing the materials thev found shaped to their hands, and piecing out the ornamental portions with copies made as well as their rude skill could accomplish. With the arrival of Roman monks and missionaries, the influence Of the Old civilization received a fresh impulse. These new-comers brought with them many of the arts that were practised at home, and taught them to those whose assistance they needed in adorning the churches and chapels that their zeal created in every part of the island. It is, perhaps, to these missionaries that we may trace the beginnings of the art Of painting in England, although we may believe that enough vestiges Of old Roman tradition survived in the island to serve as a footing for the new teach ing. A legend runs that so early as the tenth century, Bede, in the monastery at Yarrow, where he spent his life, had instructed his fellow-monks in the art Of painting; and it is not impossible that he may have attempted to copy the borders and illuminated capitals of some missal brought from Italy, and that he may have tried to interest his brethren in the art of illumination. But conjecture is idle on this point, Since there is nothing left by which to test the truth Of the story. NO illuminated manuscripts Of early English origin remain, and though among the later ones are found a few Of passable merit, it cannot be said that the art ever reached a high degree of excellence in the island. In other directions, the arts, as practised by the Saxons in England, were, SO far as we know, as unfruitful and unimagina tive as their literature.

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