EARLY CHRISTIAN ART 

 AND INSCRIPTIONS 



IN classifying the archaeological materials derived from any particu- 

 lar geographical area it will be found that they consist chiefly of 

 fixed structures and portable objects. The first of these come under 

 the heads of architecture or engineering, whilst the second are 

 treated of amongst the finds of antiquities. There still remain however 

 inscribed and sculptured monuments which form a class by themselves 

 as they are neither structures nor are they portable objects. It is also 

 impossible to separate the inscribed from the sculptured stones because 

 many of the latter are also inscribed. Then again both the inscriptions 

 and the sculptured decoration of the monuments are related to the 

 illuminated MSS. of each period, the forms of the letters and the style 

 of the ornament being the same whether executed in stone or drawn 

 on parchment. A knowledge of palaeography, inconography and the 

 evolution of decorative art are essential to the study of the inscribed 

 and sculptured monuments, so that they lie altogether outside the 

 domain of architecture pure and simple, although in certain cases both 

 sculpture and inscriptions form parts of ecclesiastical structures ; but 

 not being essential features of architecture it is better that they should 

 be investigated by themselves. 1 



1 The inscriptions of the period we are considering namely between A.D. 450, after which well- 

 formed Roman capitals ceased to be used in Great Britain, and A.D. 1150, when Lombardic characters 

 were first introduced are of the following kinds as regards the forms of the letters : 



(1) Ogams. (5) Anglian or Old Northern Runes. 



(2) Debased Roman capitals. (6) Scandinavian or Later Runes. 



(3) Anglo-Saxon capitals. (7) Norman capitals. 



(4) Hiberno-Saxon minuscules. 



The languages of the inscriptions are : 



(1) Latin. (3) Anglo-Saxon. 



(2) Celtic. (4) Old English. 



The purposes for which the inscriptions have been cut are : 



(1) For sepulchral epitaphs. 



(2) For dedication stones of churches. 



(3) To describe the sculptured figure-subjects with which they are associated. 



(4) To give the name of the sculptor. 



(5) To illustrate the meaning of a figure-subject or the use of a sculptured object by means 



of a text from Scripture, a verse of poetry or some appropriate sentence. 



With regard to the respective ages of the different kinds of letters in use during the early Christian 

 period in Great Britain the oldest are Ogams and debased Roman capitals, which occur on rude pillar 



II 



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