fibula, unknown maker from France or Germany

Artwork Overview

fibula
fibula
fibula
circa 500
fibula , circa 500
Where object was made: Alemanic (present-day Germany or France)
Material/technique: cast bronze; niello; garnets; gilding
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 8.1 x 3.8 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 3 3/16 x 1 1/2 in
Credit line: Anonymous gift in honor of Marilyn Stokstad
Accession number: 1983.0031
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label: "Echoes of Human Migration in the Collection of the Spencer Museum of Art," Mar-2010 This fibula, or cloak pin, was created by Germanic metalsmiths during the period known as the Völkerwanderung, or “wandering of the peoples.” Also known as the Migration Period, the years between 300 and 700 CE were characterized by widespread movement of entire cultural groups; such shifts resulted in a level of cultural permeability that rivaled that of the Hellenistic Mediterranean. Like many surviving artworks from the Völkerwanderung, this piece is small, portable, and designed to be both functional and decorative. The work reportedly was found in Reims, France, alongside several objects of varying origin, suggesting that the fibula perhaps found its way from the Ostrogothic kingdoms of eastern and central Europe to France through trade, or that it moved with its wearer across the continent.

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 254 Dec-2005, revised Jan-2012, Maureen Warren, Data Editor (revision of Episode 56) I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. An early medieval object in the Spencer collection is a bronze fibula from around 500 CE. A fibula is an ornamental brooch that functions much like a safety pin to keep garments in place. These brooches were worn by both men and women during the Migration Period of the third through the seventh centuries in central Europe. Fibulae were ornamental and often decorated with enamel or gemstones. The Spencer fibula features chip carving, a technique in which small cuts or chips are removed from the metal to form a raised design. It has niello inlay, a black substance used to fill engraved decoration, and features two red, convex-cut, unfaceted garnet stones. Fibulae are the most commonly found objects in the gravesites of migratory tribespeople of this period. They denoted an elevated status and were often exchanged as gifts. The Spencer fibula was created by Ostrogoths, a Germanic tribe that lived in the present-day Balkans, Italy, Sicily and Dalmatia. However, fibulae were made by many migratory tribespeople as well as Romans, from the British Isles to North Africa. With thanks to Maureen Warren for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.