The golden days of the early English church from the arrival of Theodore to the death of Bede . question that arises is, who were these artists andwhence did they come ? The question is a very difficult one toanswer. We may, however, by a process of exclusion limit theproblem considerably. It is perfectly plain that these crosses and the ornamentsthey bear were not developed out of anything previously existingin these islands. Nothing like them is to be found at an earlierdate either in England, Ireland, or Scotland, and yet theyappear here not in an immature and elementary form, but infull-bl
The golden days of the early English church from the arrival of Theodore to the death of Bede . question that arises is, who were these artists andwhence did they come ? The question is a very difficult one toanswer. We may, however, by a process of exclusion limit theproblem considerably. It is perfectly plain that these crosses and the ornamentsthey bear were not developed out of anything previously existingin these islands. Nothing like them is to be found at an earlierdate either in England, Ireland, or Scotland, and yet theyappear here not in an immature and elementary form, but infull-blown beauty, the earliest ones being the most perfect,most beautiful, and most important from their size and dis-tinction. It is equally plain that we can find nothing likethem in the West of Europe. They are non-existent in Germany,France, or south of the Pyrenees, notably in France, whence somuch of our early artistic work, our buildings, church furniture,plate, etc., were derived. Italy at this time was a land of desolation and decrepitude.^ Burlington Magazine^ vol. xxiv. pp. 85 and Portion of a Cross found at Jedhurgh. From Stuarts Monumental Stones of Scotland. To be compared with theBewcastle Cross and the Fragments at Hexham. \\ol. facing-p. 312. APPENDIX IV 313 Goths, Vandals, and the early Lombards had trampled upon it inall directions, and such times were not consistent with the rise ordevelopment of a kind of ornament both strong and the other hand, the Lombards were still in their barbarouscondition, only recently converted to orthodoxy, and had not yetdeveloped their architectural skill of a later time. It is plain, in fact, that the only parts of Italy where the artsmaintained a certain lethargic and crystallised form were thoseimmediately influenced by Byzantium through its colony atRavenna, or which had spread at second hand thence. Somepeople have suggested as possible that Ravenna may have beenthe source of the art of the great Northumbri
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