Carolingian art

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Lorsch Gospels 778–820. Charlemagne's Court School.

Carolingian art is the roughly 120-year period from about AD 780 to 900 — during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs — popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. For the first time, Northern European kings patronized classical Mediterranean Roman art forms, blending classical forms with Germanic ones, creating entirely new innovations in figurine line drawing and setting the stage for the rise of Romanesque art and eventually Gothic art in the West.

The Carolingian era is the first period in the Medieval art movement known as "Pre-Romanesque".

1 History
2 Illuminated manuscripts
3 Sculpture and metalwork
4 Painting
5 Mosaics
6 Spolia
7 See also
8 References

[edit] History

A "historiated" decorated initial of the Ascension of Christ from the Drogo Sacramentary.

Carolingians found a taste for Mediterranean art when Charlemagne set out to rival the splendour of the Lateran in Rome where he had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800. As symbolic representative of Rome (and by title), he sought the renovatio (revival) of Roman culture and learning in the West, and thus became a patron of the arts. He wished to establish himself as the heir to the great rulers of the past, to emulate and symbolically link the artistic achievements of Early Christian and Byzantine culture with his own.

But it was more than a conscious desire to revive ancient Roman culture. During Charlemagne's reign the Iconoclasm controversy was dividing the Byzantine Empire. Charlemagne decided to take a middle road, not allowing the complete destruction of human images, but not going so far as to allow their worship either. This decision not to adopt iconoclastic principles, and to allow the use of human figures in moderation, had immense consequences, for it was out of Carolingian art that western Romanesque and Gothic art developed — had Charlemagne sided with the Iconoclasts, the history of Western art would have been very different.

Illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, small-scale sculpture, mosaics and frescos survive from the period.

With the end of Carolingian rule around 900, artistic production halted for about three generations. By the later 10th century with the Cluny reform movement, and a revived spirit for the idea of Empire, art production began again. New Pre-Romanesque styles appeared in Germany with the Ottonian Dynasty, in England with the Anglo-Saxons, and in France, Italy and Spain.

[edit] Illuminated manuscripts

The most numerous surviving works of the Carolingian renaissance are illuminated manuscripts. Under Charlemagne's direction, new Gospels and liturgical works were prepared, as were teaching materials such as historical, literary and scientific works from ancient authors. Carolingian art had different monastic centers throughout the Carolingian Empire, known as ateliers, and each atelier had its own style that developed based on the artists and influences of that particular location and time. The earliest was the Court School of Charlemagne; then a Rheimsian style, which became the most influential of the Carolingian period; a Touronian style; a Drogo style; and finally a Court School of Charles the Bald. These are the major centers, but others exist, characterized by the works of art produced there.

Saint Mark from the Ebo Gospels. Figurine line drawing with colour.

The Court School of Charlemagne (also known as the Ada School) produced the earliest manuscripts, including the Godescalc Evangelistary (781–783); the Lorsch Gospels (778–820); the Ada Gospels (picture:St.Matthew); the Soissons Gospels; and the Coronation Gospels (picture:St.Matthew). The Court School manuscripts were ornate, courtly ostentatious, and reminiscent of 6th century ivories and mosaics from Ravenna, Italy. They were the earliest Carolingian manuscripts and initiated a revival of Roman classicism, yet still maintained Migration Period art (Merovingian and Hiberno-Saxon) traditions in their basically linear presentation, with no concern for volume and spatial relationships.

In the early 9th century Archbishop Ebo of Rheims, at Hautvillers (near Rheims), assembled artists and transformed Carolingian art to something entirely new. The Gospel book of Ebbo (816–835) was painted with swift, fresh and vibrant brush strokes, evoking an inspiration and energy unknown in classical Mediterranean forms (see image this page and picture:St.Matthew). Other books associated with the Rheims school include the Utrecht Psalter (picture:gallery), which was perhaps the most important of all Carolingian manuscripts, and the Bern Physiologus, the earliest Latin edition of the Christian allegorical text on animals. The expressive animations of the Rheims school, in particular the Utrecht Psalter with its naturalistic expressive figurine line drawings, would have influence on northern medieval art for centuries to follow, into the Romanesque period.

Another style developed at the monastery of St Martin of Tours, in which large Bibles were illustrated based on Late Antiquity Bible illustrations. Three large Touronian Bibles were created, the last, and best, example was made about 845/846 for Charles the Bald, called the Vivian Bible. The Tours School was cut short by the invasion of the Normans in 853, but its style had already left a permanent mark on other centers in the Carolingian Empire.

From the Utrecht Psalter, 9th C. Naturalistic and energetic figurine line drawings were entirely new, and were to become the most influential innovation of Carolinian art in later periods.

The diocese of Metz was another center of Carolingian art. Between 850 and 855 a sacramentary was made for Bishop Drogo called the Drogo Sacramentary. The illuminated "historiated" decorated initials (see image this page) were to have influence into the Romanesque period and were a harmonious union of classical lettering with figural scenes.

In the second half of the 9th century the traditions of the first half continued. A number of richly decorated Bibles were made for Charles the Bald, fusing Late Antiquity forms with the styles developed at Rheims and Tours. It was during this time a Franco-Saxon style appeared in the north of France, integrating Hiberno-Saxon interlace, and would outlast all other Carolingian styles into the next century.

Charles the Bald, like his grandfather, also established a Court School. Its location is uncertain but several manuscripts are attributed to it, with the Codex Aureus (870) (picture:Charles the Bald Enthroned) being the last and most spectacular. It contained Touronian and Rheimsian elements, but fused with the style that characterized Charlemagne's Court School more formal manuscripts.

With the death of Charles the Bald patronage for manuscripts declined, signaling the beginning of the end, but some work did continue for a while. The Abbey of St. Gall created the Folchard Psalter (872) and the Golden Psalter (883). This Gallish style was unique, but lacked the level of technical mastery seen in other regions.

[edit] Sculpture and metalwork

Lorsch Gospels. Ivory book cover. Late Antiquity Imperial scenes adapted to a Christian theme.

Carolingian sculptors created book covers in carved ivory, with themes largely derived from Late Antiquity paintings. For example the front and back covers of the Lorsch Gospels are of a 6th century Imperial triumph, adapted to the triumph of Christ and the Virgin.

Charlemagne revived large-scale bronze casting when he created a foundry at Aachen which cast the doors for his palace chapel, in imitation of Roman design.

The finest example of Carolingian goldsmith work was the Golden Altar (824–859) (picture:altar), also known as the Paliotto, located in San Ambrogio Church in Milan. The altars four sides are decorated with images in gold and silver repoussé, framed by borders of filigree, precious stones and enamel.

[edit] Painting

We know from written sources of frescos in churches and palaces, although most have not survived. Charlemagne's Aachen palace contained a wall painting of the Liberal Arts, as well as narrative scenes from his war in Spain. The palace of Louis the Pious at Ingelheim contained historical images from antiquity to the time of Charlemagne, and the palace church contained typological scenes of the Old and New Testaments juxtaposition ed next to one another.

Fragmentary paintings have survived at Auxerre, Coblenz, Lorsch, Cologne, Fulda, Corvey, Trier, Mustair, Malles, Naturno, Cividale, Brescia and Milan.

[edit] Mosaics

Charlemagne's chapel at his palace in Aachen.

Mosaics installed in Charlemagne's palatine chapel dome were reminiscent of Early Christian churches in Rome. The mosaic no longer survives, but remnants of one remains in the apse of the oratory at Germigny-des-Prés (806) which shows the Ark of the Covenant adored by angels, discovered in 1820 under a coat of plaster.

[edit] Spolia

Spolia is the Latin term for "spoils" and is used to refer to the taking or appropriation of ancient monumental or other art works for new uses or locations. We know that many marbles and columns were brought from Rome northward during this period.

Perhaps the most famous example of Carolingian spolia is the tale of an equestrian statue. In Rome, Charlemagne had seen the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Lateran Palace. It was the only surviving statue of a pre-Christian Roman Emperor because it was mistakenly thought, at the time, to be that of Constantine and thus held great accord—Charlemagne thus brought an equestrian statue from Ravenna, then believed to be that of Theodoric the Great, to Aachen, to match the statue of "Constantine" in Rome.