The non-crucifixion iconography of the pre-Viking sculpture in the north of England :carvings at Hovingham, Masham, Rothbury, Sandbach and Wirksworth

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the non-crucifixion figural iconography of sculptures produced in Northumbria and Mercia during the pre-Viking Anglo-Saxon period. It concentrates on the six monuments which have survived from Rothbury (Nthbd.), Hovingham, Masham (Yks.), Sandbach (Ches.) and Wirksworth (Derbys.), but other sculptural remains relevant to these carvings are also discussed. Each stone is examined individually and given (in some cases for the first time) a full description, based on observation and, where relevant, taking account of earlier discussions and illustrations. The scenes are then identified with a full discussion of the individual panels and total iconography. This is followed by a discussion of the implications for our understanding of the date of the sculpture, of the intellectual milieu in which, and for which the monuments were created, and of the cultural links which existed with the centres responsible for their production. From these individual studies a number of general conclusions are drawn concerning the models on which the sculptured figural scenes were based: their medium, their range of subject-matter, their dates of origin and the routes of their transmission into England. A final section discusses the production of the sculptures and the relationship between the patron and artist.