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The Symbolic Life of Birds in Anglo-Saxon England

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The Symbolic Life of Birds in Anglo-Saxon England The Symbolic Life of Birds in Anglo-Saxon England Janina Ramirez PhD Thesis 2006 i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Contents i List of Illustrations iii Acknowledgements x Abstract xi List of Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 Text and Image 3 Interdisciplinarity 4 Symbolic Life and Symbols 5 Theoretical Lenses 6 Semiotics 6 Iconography 7 Iconology 8 Reader Response 9 Parameters of Study 10 Date and Provenance 10 Bede’s Northumbria 12 Unifying Factors - Riddling 16 Overinterpretation and Misinterpretation 23 Chapter 1: The Symbolic Life of Doves in Anglo-Saxon England 25 Problems with identifying doves 28 Background to the dove’s symbolic life 31 Doves in Anglo-Saxon Art - The Codex Amiatinus 40 Doves in Anglo-Latin Literature 50 Doves in Hiberno-Latin Literature 53 Chapter 2: The Symbolic Life of Ravens in Anglo-Saxon England 61 Background to the raven’s symbolic life 63 The raven in Genesis 8:7 65 Bede and the Textual Recensions of Genesis 8:7 71 Bede and His Treatment of the Raven 73 Bede and the Cadaver Theory 75 Ravens as a Beast of Battle 78 Ravens, Paul and Anthony 81 Ravens and Saint Cuthbert 85 Chapter 3: The Symbolic Life of Eagles in Anglo-Saxon England 89 The Eagle as an Evangelist symbol in Patristic Literature 91 The Eagle as an Evangelist symbol in Anglo-Latin Literature 95 The Eagle’s Other Symbolic Meanings 98 ii The Eagle in Early Christian Art 101 The Eagle in Anglo-Saxon Art 104 The Eagle Alongside the Other Evangelist Symbols 111 Eagles in Eighth-Century Northumbria 112 The Eagles on the Ruthwell Cross 121 Chapter 4: The Symbolic Life of Peacocks in Anglo-Saxon England 130 Peacocks in Literature 131 Peacocks in Early Christian Art 136 Peacocks in Insular Art 140 Peacocks in Anglo-Saxon Metalwork 143 Peacocks in Anglo-Saxon Sculpture 148 Peacocks in Anglo-Saxon Manuscript Illumination 153 Chapter 5: The Symbolic Life of Sparrows in Anglo-Saxon England 167 Background to Sparrows 168 Bede and the Sparrow 175 Analysis of the Passages 179 The ‘Bird of the Soul’ in Other Literary Accounts 183 Birds in the Vita antiquissima Sancti Gregorii 187 The ‘Bird of the Soul’ in Anglo-Saxon Art 189 Conclusion 196 Bibliography: 202 i. Primary sources 202 ii. Secondary Sources 206 Illustrations 229 iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Ruthwell Cross, mid-eighth-century, Ruthwell Parish Church, Dumfriesshire (Campbell, 1991, fig. 89). Fig. 2 Franks Casket, found in Auzon, France, first half of the eighth- century, British Museum, London (Webster, 1991, fig. 70). Fig. 3 Close up of birds in the carpet page introducing Saint Matthew’s Gospel, folio 26r, Lindisfarne Gospels, late-seventh- to early-eighth- century, London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero D.iv (Backhouse, 1981, pl. 40). Fig. 4 Inhabited vine-scroll, screen fragment, early ninth-century, Jedburgh Abbey, Site Museum, Scottish Borders (Webster, 1991, fig. 114). Fig. 5 Sutton Hoo purse lid, from Mound 1, Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, first half of the seventh-century, British Museum, London (Evans, 2000, pl. 8). Fig. 6 Reproduction of the Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (www.sunderland.gov.uk/codex, accessed 10 April 2006). Fig. 7 Doves, orans and figures, fresco in the lunette, back wall, Cubiculum of the Velatio, third-century, Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome (Nicolai, 2002, fig. 123). Fig. 8 Doves alongside Jonah, frescoes, back wall, Chapel of the Sacraments A3, third-century, Catacomb of S. Callisto, Rome (Nicolai, 2002, fig. 132). Fig. 9 Doves around a basin, ceiling mosaic, mid-fourth-century, Santa Constanza, Rome (author’s photograph). Fig. 10 Doves around a basin, mosaic looking east, c.430-450, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (Bovini, 1980, pl. 2). Fig. 11 Close up of dove roundel, diagram with division of Bible according to Augustine, folio 8r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Nees, 1999, fig. 19). Fig. 12 Diagram with division of Bible according to Augustine, folio 8r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Nees, 1999, fig. 19). Fig. 13 Diagram with division of Bible according to Jerome, folio 7r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Nees, 1999, fig. 18). Fig. 14 Diagram with division of Bible according to Hilary (the Septuagint), folio 6r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Williams, 1999, colour plate 12). Fig. 15 Close up of bearded man roundel, diagram with division of Bible according to Hilary (the Septuagint), folio 6r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Nees, 1999, fig. 22). Fig. 16 Close up of lamb roundel, diagram with division of Bible according to Jerome, folio 7r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Nees, 1999, fig. 18). Fig. 17 Baptism, apostles and dove, dome mosaic, c.500-25, Baptistery of the Arians (now Sta Maria in Cosmedin), Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 74). iv Fig. 18 Baptism, apostles and dove, dome mosaic, c.458, Orthodox Baptistery, Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 65). Fig. 19 Pentateuch diagram, folio 7v, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Williams, 1999, colour plate 11). Fig. 20 The Tabernacle, folios 2v – 3r, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (Nees, 1999, fig. 17). Fig. 21 Prophet Ezra with cupboard and scribal equipment, folio 5v, Codex Amiatinus, c.679-716, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiatino 1 (photo by permission of the Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana). Fig. 22 Diagram of division of the Bible, folio 15r, Cassiodorus’s Institutiones, late-eighth-century, Bamberg, Staatsbibliotek, cod. Patr. 71 (Nees, 1999, fig. 21). Fig. 23 Christ Pantocrator, obverse, gold coin of Emperor Justinian II, c.692- 695 and 705-711, Dumbarton Oaks (Nees, 1999, fig. 23). Fig. 24 Christ Pantocrator, Adoration of the Cross fresco, main wall, presbytery, c.705-707, Santa Maria in Antiqua, Rome (Nordhagen, 1968, pl. 52). Fig. 25 Peter drawing water from a rock, Sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus, c.330, Museo Nationale, Rome (Gough, 1973, fig. 86). Fig. 26 Present binding of the Lindisfarne Gospels, made by Smith, Nicholson and Co. of Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1852-3, British Museum, London (Backhouse, 1981, pl. 63). Fig. 27 St Cuthbert’s Cross, second half of the seventh-century, St Cuthbert’s tomb, Durham Cathedral (Webster, 1991, fig. 98). Fig. 28 Paul and Anthony, Concordia Monachorum, second broad side, Ruthwell Cross, mid-eighth-century, Ruthwell Parish Church, Dumfriesshire (Ó Carragáin, 2005, fig. 32). Fig. 29 The raven perched on Noah’s ark, picking the eyes from an impaled head, folio 15r, Claudius manuscript, tenth-century, London, British Library, Cotton Claudius B. iv. (Gatch, 1975, fig. 1). Fig. 30 Odin accompanied by his ravens Huginn and Muninn and his horse Sleipnir, reconstruction of a helmet plate from Vendel, seventh- century, Uppland (www.arild-hauge.com/figur-odin.htm, accessed 10 April 2006). Fig. 31 Saints Paul and Anthony with the raven descending, east side of South Cross, ninth-century, Kells, County Meath (Ó Carragáin, 1988, pl. 9). Fig. 32 Saints Paul and Anthony with the raven descending, capstone, north side, Muiredach’s Cross, early-eighth-century, Monasterboice, County Lough (Ó Carragáin, 1988, pl. 6). Fig. 33 Saints Paul and Anthony with the raven descending, The Nigg Stone, eighth-century, Nigg, Rosshire (Ó Carragáin, 2005, fig. 33). Fig. 34 The Sutton Hoo shield, reconstructed on a lime-wood board with electrotypes of eagle and dragon, from Mound 1, Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, first half of the seventh-century, British Museum, London (Evans, 2000, fig. 31). Fig. 35 Garnet and gold pendant with bird heads, from Faversham, Kent, seventh-century, British Museum, London (Webster, 1991, fig. 9). v Fig. 36 Eagle on a vine branch, cross head second broad side, upper arm, Ruthwell Cross, mid-eighth-century, Ruthwell Parish Church, Dumfriesshire (Ó Carragáin, 2005, fig. 34). Fig. 37 Eagle points to St John the Evangelist, cross head front broad side, upper arm, Ruthwell Cross, mid-eighth-century, Ruthwell Parish Church, Dumfriesshire (Ó Carragáin, 2005, fig. 24). Fig. 38 Lozenge shape surrounded by evangelist symbols, folio 290v, Book of Kells, c.800, Trinity College, Dublin, MS 58 (Meehan, 1994, fig. 36). Fig. 39 Christ in Majesty, Evangelist symbols, angels and Agnus Dei in glory, triumphal arch and apse mosaics, c.526-30, SS. Cosmas e Damiano, Rome (Ó Carragáin, 2005, pl. 12). Fig. 40 Angels and evangelist symbols bearing books, vault mosaic, c.494- 519, Cappella Arcivescovile, Ravenna Cathedral, Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 66). Fig. 41 Christ among the apostles with evangelist symbols and glorified cross above, apse-mosaic, c.412, Santa Pudenziana, Rome (Ó Carragáin, 2005, pl. 9). Fig. 42 Evangelist symbols on starry background, central vault mosaics, c.430-450, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 63). Fig. 43 Eagle and John the Evangelist, north presbytery wall mosaics, first half of the sixth-century, San Vitale, Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 78). Fig. 44 Abraham sacrificing Isaac, north presbytery wall mosaics, first half of the sixth-century, San Vitale, Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 78). Fig. 45 Abraham with the three angels, north presbytery wall mosaics, first half of the sixth-century, San Vitale, Ravenna (Lowden, 1997, fig. 78). Fig. 46 The sacrifices of Melchisedek and Abel, south presbytery wall mosaics, first half of the sixth-century, San Vitale, Ravenna (Bovini, 1980, pl. 21). Fig. 47 The Ascension with apocalyptic beasts, folio 13v, Rabbula Gospels, c.586, Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana Cod. Pluteus 1, 56 (Lowden, 1997, fig. 51). Fig. 48 Luke Evangelist Portrait, folio 129r, The Gospels of St Augustine, sixth-century, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 286 (Webster, 1991, fig.
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