Editing Lombards (section)

===Art===
During their nomadic phase, the Lombards primarily created art that was easily carried with them, like arms and jewellery. Though relatively little of this has survived, it bears resemblance to the similar endeavours of other Germanic tribes of central Europe from the same era.

The first major modifications to the Germanic style of the Lombards came in Pannonia and especially in Italy, under the influence of local, [[Byzantine art and architecture|Byzantine]], and [[early Christian art and architecture|Christian]] styles. The conversions from nomadism and paganism to settlement and Christianity also opened up new arenas of artistic expressions, such as architecture (especially churches) and its accompanying decorative arts (such as frescoes).
<gallery>
Langobard Shield Boss 7th Century.jpg|Lombard [[shield boss]]<br>northern Italy, seventh century, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Langobardic - Fibula - Walters 542440.jpg|Lombard [[Fibula (brooch)|S-shaped fibula]]
Arte longobarda, da sutri, bicchiere a forma di corno, fine VI-inizio VII sec.JPG|A glass [[drinking horn]] from Castel Trosino
Langobardic - Shroud Cross - Walters 571773.jpg|Lombard ''Goldblattkreuz''
Cividale fibula1.jpg|Lombard [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]]
Cividale Ratchis1.JPG|Altar of [[Ratchis]]
Cividale Tempietto Longobardo - Westwand Märtyrerinnen 1.jpg|Eighth-century Lombard sculpture depicting female martyrs, based on a Byzantine model. ''Tempietto Longobardo'', [[Cividale del Friuli]]
Interno della cripta.jpg|[[Crypt of Sant'Eusebio]], [[Pavia]].
</gallery>

====Architecture====
{{main|Lombard architecture|Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.)}}
[[File:Chiesa di santa sofia, benevento.jpg|thumb|Church of [[Santa Sofia, Benevento]]|alt=Chiesa di santa sofia, benevento.jpg]]

Few Lombard buildings have survived. Most have been lost, rebuilt, or renovated at some point, so they preserve little of their original Lombard structure. Lombard architecture was well-studied in the twentieth century, and the four-volume ''Lombard Architecture'' (1919) by [[Arthur Kingsley Porter]] is a "monument of illustrated history".

The small [[Oratorio di Santa Maria in Valle]] in [[Cividale del Friuli]] is probably one of the oldest preserved examples of Lombard architecture, as Cividale was the first Lombard city in Italy. Parts of Lombard constructions have been preserved in [[Pavia]] ([[San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro]], [[crypt of Sant'Eusebio|crypts of Sant'Eusebio]] and San Giovanni Domnarum) and [[Monza]] ([[Cathedral of Monza|cathedral]]). The ''Basilic autariana'' in [[Fara Gera d'Adda]] near [[Bergamo]] and the church of San Salvatore in [[Brescia]] also have Lombard elements. All these buildings are in northern Italy (Langobardia major), but by far the best-preserved Lombard structure is in southern Italy (Langobardia minor). The [[Santa Sofia, Benevento|Church of Santa Sofia]] in [[Benevento]] was erected in 760 by [[Arechis II of Benevento|Duke Arechis II]], and it preserves Lombard frescoes on the walls and even Lombard capitals on the columns.

Lombard architecture flourished under the impulse provided by the Catholic monarchs like [[Theodelinda]], [[Liutprand the Lombard|Liutprand]], and [[Desiderius]] to the foundation of monasteries to further their political control. [[Bobbio Abbey]] was founded during this time.

Some of the late Lombard structures of the ninth and tenth centuries have been found to contain elements of style associated with [[Romanesque architecture]] and so have been dubbed "[[first Romanesque]]". These edifices are considered, along with some similar buildings in [[southern France]] and [[Catalonia]], to mark a transitory phase between the [[Pre-Romanesque art and architecture|Pre-Romanesque]] and full-fledged Romanesque.