Essay: Merovingian Figural Representation and its Prototypes

The following research paper is one I wrote for my university Medieval Art class in 2003.  During the lectures there was very little mention  of continental European art before Charlemagne, just a passing reference to the Merovingian dynasty. This piqued my interest, since the only other place I had encountered that name was in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (the book The DaVinci Code was based on). The information I turned up had nothing to do with any conspiracy theory, but is equally interesting in its own way.

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The period of the fifth to the eighth centuries in Europe is often referred to as the Dark Ages, suggesting a lack of cultural sophistication, learning and artistic endeavor. It is true that the kingdoms of the Merovingians during this period produced little or no art in the classical Greco-Roman tradition. However, that is not to say that the Merovingians did not have a vital artistic tradition of their own. An examination of Merovingian art, both in sculptures and in illuminated manuscripts, demonstrates connections with several more and less Classical traditions, including the Insular, Byzantine and, especially in figural representation, Coptic art.

Making Mountains out of Molehills

This essay is responding to the article “Deconstructing Disney in the Elementary Art Classroom”. Read the original article (PDF)

Walt Disney films have often been criticized, both for their conservative values and for bearing less wholesome messages than they advertise. The article “Teaching (Popular) Visual Culture: Deconstructing Disney in the Elementary Art Classroom,” by Kevin M. Tavin and David Anderson (2003), is one such criticism and also argues that criticism of popular film is essential in art classes. Unfortunately, the author’s argument is far from convincing, and is undermined by poor examples and an alarmist tone.