The Franks
(4th to 7th century A.D.)

Glass and pottery

	1. Gravegoods from various North French and Rhineland sites, up to the 6th c. Inter alia, a glass drinking horn from Bingerbruck and a stripped bowl from Reims (London: British Museum).
	2. Glass grave goods, 6th c. cemetery at Herpes (Charente).

Metalwork

	1. Frankish sword hilt from the grave of Childeric at the royal villa at Tournai, late 5th century A.D. (Paris: Bib. Nat. Cab. des Méd.). The Merovingian dynasty had a legitimate function within imperial government as the army and administration of much of Gaul. While the Franks to interacted with the Gallo-Roman population rather more than some other sub-Roman regional monarchies, social and cultural synthesis occurred only slowly. Therefore Merovingian art tends, like this example, to manifest both Roman and Frankish traditions.
	2. The Tressan Buckle. Frankish polychrome. This belt buckle is in the post-Childeric style. 5-6th c. A.D. (Paris: Cluny). 2.5 in.
	3. Tankard. Bronze repoussé on wood. Lavoye gravegood. 7" tall. Frankish, ca. 500 A.D. (S. Germain en Laye, Mus. d'Art). Christian-Classical motifs with Frankish stylization.
	4. Bronze utensils from Krefeld Frankish aristocratic grave. Frankish, ca. 525 A.D. [image misplaced]
	5. Helmet from Frankish aristocratic grave at Krefeld, Gellep, ca. 525 A.D. Helmet style is Sassanian type introduced by the Romans, with Persian, Germanic and Christian motifs. Possibly a Mediterranean import or possibly of Frankish manufacture.
	6. Frankish looped fibula from a princess' grave in Kölner Dom. First half 6th c. A.D. (Köln: Röm-germ. Mus.) 3 in. Gold with garnets and cloisonné, showing Lombard influence.
	7. The Xanten Brooch. Lower Rhine Frankish silver-gilt fibula. Design is a steppe motif, probably derived from the Goths. 6th c. A.D.
	8. Frankish looped fibula from cemetary at Jouy-le-Comte. 6th c. A.D. (S. Germaine-en-Laye: Mus. des Antiq.) 4 in. The Frankish style is manifested as a thin border consisting of cloisonee and garnets enclosing a central area. The seven-eagle heads derive from Gothic and ultimately Hunnic influences. At the time, the Franks and Ostrogoths were contesting the hegemony of Western Europe. The fish at the center may reflect the Frankish adoption of Christianity.
	9. Drawing of a royal Frankish burial at Saint Denis, Paris. Queen Arnegunde (d. 570) lying in her stone coffin and a sketch of the layout of the grave goods found with her body.
	10. Jewelry from the grave of Queen Arnegunde (Paris: Dir. d'Antic. hist.) 3.75 in. Typical of the Neustrian court style associated with King Dagobert and Eligius: a geometric pattern consisting of rectangles and arcs, with glass paste inlays.
	11. Franco-Burgundian round fibula from a Charnay les Macon grave of 6-7th c. A.D. (St. Germain en Laye, Mus. d'Antiq.) A Frankish product, but with Burgundian influences.
	12. Frankish griffin fibulae. 7th c. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art). 2.5 in. It is possible that this design derives from the textiles being imported from Egypt.
	13. Frankish helmet from aristocratic warrior grave at Morken. Style is Sassanian, introduced to the West by the Romans. Early 7th c.
	14. Throne of Dagobert. 7th c. A.D. (B.N. Cab des Médailles).
	15. Frankish bronze stamped disk (called a bracteate, although not gold) from the Minden grave. Adoration of the Magi, 7th c. (Trier: Rhinlandes Mus.) Manifests cultural influence of the East Mediterranean on 7th-century Frankish society. These bracteates are a major source for Frankish society below the top aristocracy.
	16. Casket of Mumma. Gilt copper repoussé on wood reliquary. Mid 7th c. A.D. (St. Benoit sur Loire: Abbey Church). 5 in. Shows Twelve Apostles (?) and decorative ornament.

Stone relief

	1. Frankish grave stele from Hornhausen. Ca. 400 A.D. (Halle: Landesmuseum). Charging horseman theme is Mediterranean, but interlacing below is northern.
	2. Frankish aristocratic gravestone in the Roman style.
	3. Frankish grave stele, 6-7th c. A.D. Moselkern a. d. Mosel. Representation of the chapel over the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in the form of an ampule for Jordan holy water. The reprentation of Christ on the cross is Mediterranean in origin, but there may be an Irish influence also.
	4. A 7th c. Frankish grave stele from Niederdollendorf am Rhine (nr. Bad Godesberg). Late 7th c. A.D. The model is the traditional Frankish wooden grave pillar. 17 in. The long-haired owner is in the field with his flask and sword. A snake represents his soul. On verso is the earliest Germanic image of Christ. He is here represented as a king standing above an abstract decorative pattern consisting of the traditional interlace and broken stick.
	5. Gondorf stele. Frankish grave stele or choir screen panel, from Gondorf on Moselle, 7th-8th c. (Bonn: Rhin. Landesmuseum). Representation of Christ or a saint between two doves. Griffins in the corner symbolize the otherworld.
	6. Frankish grave stele. 7-9th c. (Fulda: St. Michael's).
	7. Frankish marble stone relief of the exaltation of the Cross from Pilgrim Church. 8th c. A.D. (Narbonne: Museé Lapid.). 39 in. The animal at lower right is perhaps a basilisk representing evil. The design is based on an Italo-Alpine closure slab center, which much influenced the art of the Rhone valley, Central Italy, etc.

Ivories

	1. Ivory comb of St. Lupus. Frankish. 7th c. (Sens, Cathedral Treasury). Oriental motifs: heraldic lions flank tree of life
	2. The "Werden Cat." A Frankish ivory relief, perhaps from a reliquary or casket, 7th c. A.D. The figure has a "REX" crown and is probably a representation of Christ as king, on a cross. The use of imported African ivory, the abstract designs, and the flanking animals show Mediterranean influences.