Sarah Kennedy Image Annotation 5

Questions

1. Were these objects intended as offerings or were they worn by royalty?2. Were these pieces made in the same period? If they were assembled as a horde they could have been several centuries appart.3. How did these works contribut to the development of Spanish national identity?

Global Connection

This work is inherently global because the materials and techniques used did not originate from the Visigoths. For example, the pearl suspended on the right side of the cross likely came from the Meditarean. Likewise, many of these gemstones and possibly the cold itself did not orginate on the Iberian penninsula. This means that complex trade networks existed despite the turmoil surrounding the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of Islam.

Reading Connections

Moreno Martin notes that "During the nineteenth century both archaeologists and historians made use of the treasure’s materiality to support the idea of a sumptuous Visigothic period framed by the attainment of spiritual and political unity" (61). While doing this reading which was primarily focued on the 20th century, I found myself wondering about the Visigoth's self-conception. In particular, their relationship to Catholicism. Was this art created out of piety? A desire to project power? Of course, projecection of power brings us back to the Basset reading, but these works are less weighted than the mosaics of San Vitale. I think it is possible that the oppulence they evince come from a desire to glorify God, and perhaps to show personal wealth. Maybe as Christianity became more instutionalized, it became less important to show the King as equal to the bishop. In this era, perhaps it was evident kings superced bishops