“The whale’s bones from the fishes’ flood,
I lifted on Fergen’s Hill:
He was dashed to death in his gambols
As a-ground he swam in the shallows.”
The name Fergen occurs on a charter of the eleventh century, and has been identified with Ferry Hill in the county of Durham. The front panel is divided into two, and represents the daughter of Herodias receiving John Baptist’s head, the headless body lying on the ground, and the Wise Men offering gifts, the word “Magi” being written in runes above them. All that remains of the Byzantine model of the Virgin and Child are two nimbed heads, one below the other, a lesser and a greater disk sheltered by a typical Byzantine ciborium or four-pillared canopy. One end has a picture of Romulus and Remus and their wolf, and the rest is decorated with scenes from the Sagas. The background of these reliefs is so crowded by small objects and fragments of scroll-work that the scenes are difficult to make out; but it is extremely interesting as a sample of English art in the time of the Heptarchy.
[VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
21. ADORATION OF THE MAGI
Anglo-Saxon, eleventh century
The Adoration of the Magi in the Victoria and Albert Museum ([Fig. 21]), has been also attributed to this period, but Westwood’s opinion that it is of the eleventh century is more probably correct, the workmanship being most delicate and finished, and the design closely connected with the pictures in the tenth century Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, which have the same crinkled edges to the drapery, large heads and protruding eyes, with a sharply accentuated pupil. In the relief the modelling of the face, with the hollow between the wide cheekbones and the lips gives the face quite a Hibernian appearance which is visible in several other ivories of this class, notably in a most pathetic Deposition in the same museum.
The richly embroidered dress and tiny feet and hands show Byzantine influence, but the architecture, with the twin arch windows is thoroughly Saxon. The mysterious man on the roof is a curious genre addition, and the owl, most likely typifies the night. The hunting scenes clearly show the two art waves, the lions are unintelligently copied from the conventional Byzantine animal, but very considerable first-hand information is shown in the drawing of the boars and bears, with which the craftsman probably had some personal acquaintance.
The Deposition referred to above is of the eleventh century, and has a curious prototype in the Arundel Psalter (No. 60, British Museum), with the same attenuated anatomy and finely plaited drapery. The design is instinct with the spirit of these Anglo-Saxons and their Keltic teachers, as is seen in the mournful expression of the faces, and the utter deadness of Christ’s body as He falls forward from the cross, hanging His threadlike arms. The whole feeling is of suffering and sadness, very different from the cheerful scenes on the earlier, and the calm, unmoved solemnity of the later Byzantine art. This research for expression was a special feature of the more emotional Germanic nations, and in spite of the almost comic peculiarities, there is a sincere reverence and religious feeling, which is almost unknown in any other school of ivory carving.
The series of chessmen made of walrus ivory that were found in the Island of Lewis should be mentioned here; they have stumpy figures and fine rugged countenances, and the thrones are carved with the elaborate tracery so typical of this artistic movement. The game of chess was early brought from the East, as was the game of draughts, and many pieces are to be found in the various museums of Europe. In addition to the chessmen, the British Museum possesses a fine set of draughts deeply carved in Romanesque style, with men and animals.
In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a specimen of a large and elaborate set of chessmen, having tiers of attendants round the principal figure. A charming story is told in one of the Chansons de Gestes, and was repeatedly carved on mirror covers and other small objects in the fourteenth century, showing the popularity of the game. It tells how the crusader Huon de Bordeaux was taken prisoner by the Saracen admiral and condemned to death; one chance was given him, that he should play a game of chess with the admiral’s daughter, the most expert player of her day, the stakes being his life or the lady’s hand; but it seems the lady looked too much in his eyes and too little at the game, and the result was one more convert to the Christian faith.