Insular and Anglo-Saxon Art and Thought in the Early Medieval Period: The Minor Arts in Medieval Art History

Covering the arts of Ireland and England with some incursions onto mainland Europe, where the same stylistic influences are found, the terms “Insular” and “Anglo-Saxon” are two of the most problematic in medieval art history. Originally used to define the manuscripts of ninth- and tenth-century Ireland and the north of England, “Insular” is now more widely applied to include all of the media of these and earlier periods. It is a style that is closely related to the more narrowly defined Anglo…