Oseberg style

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The Oseberg style (also: Broa style or early Viking style) is a Viking Age art style in Scandinavia . Its distribution period extends from the end of the 8th to the middle of the 9th century . He is named after his guide finds from the ship grave of Oseberg on the Oslofjord . He appears on wooden and metal utensils and pieces of jewelry from this period.

Timeline of the artistic styles of the Viking Age

Emergence

In the second half of the 5th century , the Germanic animal style arose in western Scandinavia from influences of late ancient Roman art, Celtic motifs and motifs of the Asian steppe peoples ( Scythians , Sarmatians ) . It is characterized by stylized animal figures, whose proportions and anatomy are completely subordinated to ornamentation over time. Towards the end of the 7th century , the last stage of these animal styles developed, referred to as animal style III or Vendel E (after a large boat burial ground in Uppland , Sweden). In animal style III, the original animal forms are enriched with tendrils from Irish and Anglo-Saxon influences and dissolved into curvy, intertwined patterns. This style represents the end product from the motifs used for centuries.

The decisive impetus for the development of the Oseberg style is the introduction of the so-called griffin, an animal-like being that cannot be identified in more detail, whose shapes have been fluently adapted to the respective requirements. The origin of the animals of prey is perhaps to be sought in depictions of lions in Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon art, knowledge of which spread from the Franconian Empire to Northern Europe . Other authors suspect squirrel-like animals, as they appear in English book illuminations, as a model.

characterization

The Academician's Animal Head Post, Styles of the Germanic Animal Style III. Wooden post with an unclear purpose, probably made of maple wood, around 800, found in Oseberg, Norway.
One of the Baroque master's two animal head posts, covered with Oseber-style prey animals. Wooden post with an unclear purpose, probably made of maple wood, around 850, found in Oseberg, Norway.

The art styles of the Viking Age are ornament styles , which are composed of three subject areas:

  • Figures, i.e. representations of people and animals (to which the predatory animal belongs)
  • Depictions of plants (tendrils, leaves)
  • geometric figures (circles, triangles, spirals )

The Oseberg style consists mainly of more or less stylized animal representations, as they are known from the previous animal style III, but which are supplemented by the prey animal. Some of the animal figures are drawn apart to form long, ribbon-shaped, intertwined figures. With the prey animal, which appeared for the first time in the Oseberg style, the Viking artisans created a figure whose body parts could be arranged in such a way that they harmoniously fill every conceivable shape.

Detail from the bow of the Oseberg ship. Carvings with motifs similar to griffins: short, compact hips and gripping claws.

The use of the animal of prey increases in the course of development and partly displaces other motifs. The name Greiftier derives from the typical representation in which the paws of the usually compactly depicted griffin either grip into the surrounding elements of the decorations or cling to them. The motif of the prey animal appears on the bronze-gilt fittings of a bridle that was found in a man's grave in Broa on Gotland . The predatory animal can also be found on parts of the finds from the Oseberg ship. Here it was - in contrast to the find from Broa, where it was used sparingly alongside the older forms of the animal style - in some cases as the predominant motif. The predatory animal was used in great abundance on some of the five posts, each ending in a carved animal head, belonging to the Oseberg find. These posts, whose original purpose is now unknown, are the work of three wood carvers. The oldest of them - around 800 - is still completely attached to the old animal style III. Because of the almost perfect certainty with which he masters the animal style, he is referred to as "The Academic". The middle one ("The Carolingian") already uses the animal motif. The carvings of the youngest, called "The Baroque Master" because of its overflowing forms, consist almost exclusively of artfully interlocking motifs of the new style. He was active around 850 and mastered it perfectly.

The Oseberg style is characterized by the common use of the previous forms of the animal style with the new characteristic gripping animal motif. There are three groups of motifs on the finds from the Broa workshop. In the strongly stylized band-shaped animal motifs with their tendril-like outgrowths there are roots of animal styles. The second element is to see semi-naturalistic birds and animals, as they are also known from Franconian manuscripts and fittings. The griffin, which appears as the third main component here, has remained one of the most formative elements in later styles of Viking Age art. The first two of the above-mentioned groups of motifs are always shown in profile. The prey animals, however, are shown en face. On the finds from Broa, the three groups of motifs were used equally alongside one another. The works of the Baroque master von Oseberg, on the other hand, are almost exclusively limited to the use of the predatory animal. In the Oseberg style, the prey animal is still compact with a short body and stocky limbs. Large paws, often intertwined like knots, grip the neighboring elements of the pattern, the next prey animal or your own body. As with the posts by the Baroque master von Oseberg, it can appear in extensive patterns. The relief is very plastic and has several levels. In contrast to carvings in the traditional animal style, completely new light and shadow effects are possible. Typical of the prey animals in the Oseberg style are - as in all early Viking styles - small heads and paws in contrast to the rest of the body.

Berdal style

In the literature, the Berdal style is sometimes distinguished from the actual Oseberg style, named after a place where it was found in Norway. The Berdal style "is characterized by almost caricature depictions of animals with disproportionate heads and segmented bodies". The head area in particular is greatly enlarged. The predatory animal is usually shown half-vividly and from the front. The Berdal style is classified from around 800 to 850.

  • Ribbon-shaped four-legged friend (griffin) as a motif of the Broa / Oseberg style. Gilded bronze bridle fitting, found in Broa, Gotland, redrawing with anatomical assignment.

  • Semi-naturalistic bird as a motif of the Broa / Oseberg style. Gilded bronze bridle fitting, found in Broa, Gotland, redrawing with anatomical assignment.

  • Grab it as a motif of the Broa / Oseberg style. Carolingian animal head post. Outline of the head area.

  • Grab it as a motif of the Broa / Oseberg style. Baroque master's animal head post. Development of the head area: muzzle, neck and cheeks.

Sample finds

  • Five maple animal head posts from Oseberg, Vestfold, Norway, Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo
  • Gilt bronze bridle fittings from Broa, Gotland, Sweden, Statens Historisk Museum, Stockholm
  • Silver pommel crown of a sword from Rostock-Dierkow, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany
  • Bronze plates on the handle bars and pommel crown of a sword from Steinsvik, Nordland, Norway
  • Animal-shaped bronze fibula from Kaupang , Vestfold, Norway, Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo

literature

  • Reinhard Barth: Pocket dictionary Vikings . Piper, Munich Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-492-23420-8 (short description)
  • Régis Boyer: The Vikings . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-608-93191-0
  • Ewert Cagner: The Vikings . 3. Edition. Burkhard-Verlag Ernst Heyer, Essen 1992, ISBN 3-87117-000-3 (with several detailed example drawings of works of art in the Oseberg style)
  • Torsten Capelle: Cultural and Art History of the Vikings . Scientific Book Society Darmstadt, Darmstadt 1986, ISBN 3-534-02509-1
  • Hildegard Elsner: Viking Museum Haithabu: Showcase of an early city . 2nd Edition. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994 (overview of individual styles with sample drawings)
  • James Graham-Campbell: The Lives of the Vikings . Universitas Verlag in FA Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-8004-1297-7 (popular science, detailed presentation and photos)
  • Joachim Hermann [Ed.]: Vikings and Slavs . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1982 (overview with sample drawings)
  • Arnold Muhl and Rainer-Maria Weiss: Vikings, Varangians and Normans: the Scandinavians and Europe 800 to 1200 . Staatliche Museen, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-88609-304-2 (exhibition catalog with text contributions and pictures in the catalog section)
  • Michael Müller-Wille and Lars Olof Larsson: Animals - People - Gods. Viking age art styles and their modern reception . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-86309-8 (for the chronological classification of wooden finds and the duration of individual art styles)
  • Erik Graf Oxenstierna: The Vikings and Northern Germans . Fourier Verlag GmbH, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-932412-49-4 (popular science, detailed information on the Oseberg find, with drawings)
  • Rudolf Pörtner : The Viking Saga . Econ Verlag GmbH, Vienna and Düsseldorf new edition 1990, ISBN 3-430-17517-8 (popular science, very detailed on the Oseberg find)
  • Bernhard Salin : The old Germanic animal ornamentation . New edition 1981. Fourier Verlag GmbH, Wiesbaden, Reprint d. Orig. 1935, ISBN 3-921695-60-0 (illustration of the development of Germanic animal ornamentation and division into styles I, II and III)
  • Haakon Shetelig: Vestfoldskolen. Osebergfound III . Kristiania 1920 (scientific processing of the Oseberg finds)
  • AG Smith: Viking Designs . Dover Publications Inc., Mineola 1999, ISBN 0-486-40469-2 (numerous disordered drawings of various Viking Age styles)
  • Annemarieke Willemsen: Vikings on the Rhine 800 - 1000 . Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1909-5 (exhibition catalog, timeline of individual art styles)

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pörtner: Wikinger-Saga , page 210f.
  2. ^ Fuglesang in: Muhl / Weiss: Wikinger . Page 177.
  3. ↑ Designation of the different carving masters according to Shetelig: Osebergfundet III .
  4. ↑ See Müller-Wille & Larsson: Animals - People - Gods , page 218.
  5. ↑ See Elsner: Wikinger Museum Haithabu , page 62.
  6. ↑ Boyer: The Vikings , p. 341.
  7. ^ Willemsen: Wikinger am Rhein , page 51.
  8. ↑ after Meehan: Celtic Design , page 37.
  9. ↑ after Smith: Viking Design , page 4.
  10. ↑ after Smith: Viking Design , page 40.
  11. ↑ Briefly described in: Müller-Wille & Larsson: Animals - People - Gods , page 225.
  12. ↑ Müller-Wille & Larsson: Animals - People - Gods , page 225. The type of the sword itself is Frankish, the decorations Scandinavian.
  13. ↑ Representation in Muhl / Weiss: Wikinger . Page 235.

Web links

Previous art style
Germanic animal style 		Oseberg style
late 8th century - mid 9th century 		Subsequent art style
Borre style