A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy

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CHAPTER 14

Art and Architecture

Mark J. Johnson

Introduction

The history of art and architecture in Italy during the Ostrogothic period is
largely the history of the artistic patronage of Theoderic and his successors.1
Little is otherwise known of artistic patronage of Ostrogoths beyond the pro-
duction and consumption of traditional migration period items of jewellery
and ornaments. Theoderic, however, was an active and engaged patron who
harnessed art and architecture as political tools, using buildings and their
decoration as a means of supporting his people in their Arian faith and espe-
cially as a projection of his belief in his own political position in the contem-
porary world. The evidence suggests that he was extraordinarily interested in
works on an intellectual level that went beyond propaganda. His models were
not his Ostrogothic ancestors nor other barbarian rulers who had established
themselves in the former Roman Empire, but the Romans themselves, and in
particular the art and architecture of Roman emperors. It is Theoderic, in fact,
who introduces the idea of antiquarianism and revivalism into the history of
artistic patronage.
Very little is known about Ostrogothic art prior to the Ostrogoths’ settle-
ment in Italy. Indeed it is difficult to say that a distinctive style of Ostrogothic
art was ever developed. Their art, as was the case for other migrating tribes,
consisted of decorated utilitarian objects and jewellery, which continued
to be produced after their arrival in Italy. Good examples of this type of art
were discovered in a tomb at Domagnano in San Marino, some 70 km south of
Ravenna, which yielded a treasure of various ornaments belonging to a woman
(Figure 14.1).2 These are made of cloisonné gold metalwork with garnets of a
kind found throughout Europe. Ornamental patterns and animal forms fill the
surfaces of these objects that include fibulae, buckles, and earrings datable to
the 5th or early 6th century.

1 In general see my “Theoderic’s Building Program.” The present chapter will focus on scholar-
ship published since that article appeared in 1988.
2 Kidd, “Tesoro”, pp. 49–59.