MEDIEVAL ART AND THE

EXPANSION OF CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE

ANN MURRAY

Early Christian Art = 100 AD – 1150 ADEarly Medieval Art = sixth to eleventh centuries

• (Irish) Insular art, e.g. Book of Kells• Byzantine Art, e.g. Icon painting• Barbarian (Anglo-Saxon) Art, e.g. Sutton Hoo Hoard

• This lecture:

• Carolingian (art of the Frankish Kingdoms, c. 780 – c. 900)

• Ottonian (Proto-Romanesque ) • a focus on the development of Christian narrative, c. 800-1150

• Beginnings of true Romanesque in the Salian Dynasty

- Focus on NARRATIVE

CAROLINGIAN ART

• Art of the Carolingian Empire,, 800-888, founded by Charlemagne (742-814)

• Empire founded with the crowning of Charlemagne (Charles the Great) in 800 at Aachen in modern Germany

• Ends with the death of Charles the Fat in 888

• Empire considered to be the early history of the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire (Charlemagne crowned by Pope Leo III )

• Under Charlemagne and his Carolingian successors interest in the art and learning of the Roman Empire was revived .

• BUT Carolingian art also followed more recent models of artistic expression

CAROLINGIAN ART

Precursors to pictorial narrative in Carolingian art

Adoration of the Lamb, Gospel of St-Médard-de-Soissons, Folio 1. Architectural allegory.

Manuscript by the Ada group (active 800-814);Contains 600+ decorative motifs

Commissioned for Charlemagne and completed in 800, the year he was crowned Emperor.

Gospel of St-Médard-de-Soissons

Decoding the imagery: Adoration of the Lamb page• Adoration of the Lamb page is a

masterpiece of the Carolingian Court School

• Aesthetic and intellectual affinity with the Palace Chapel

• Is contained in the introductory text to the Gospels (St. Jerome’s Commentary on St. Matthew)

• Top of picture refers to passage in the Apocalypse that Jerome had quoted due to reference to FOUR living creatures – Gospels are FOUR in number.

• Four pillars – linked by drapery – represent the four Gospels and their unity

• The pillars correspond to the symbols of the Evangelists (Matthew = man; Mark = lion,; Luke = ox or calf; John = eagle) on the architrave above

Back (left) and front covers of the Lorsch Gospels, Ivory, Court School of Charlemagne, c. 800Subtle narrative element contained at the bottom

CAROLINGIAN ART: RELIEF SCULPTURE

Lorsch Gospels, front cover

Shows the Magi before Herod

Magi bringing gifts to the Child, who sits, cross-limbed, on His Mother's knee

Compare treatment of figure in narrative vs. central panels

‘Hellenistic’ angels refer to antique examples; central panels reference what??

Front cover of The Lorsch Gospels, Lorsch Abbey, Aachen, GermanyAbout 810, ivory, 26.7cm x 38.1cmLorsch Abbey (Germany)

Gospels - accounts of the life of Christ by the four Evangelists

Virgin Mary and Jesus shown in the central panel., with left, John the Baptist, right Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.

Narrates the Nativity and the Annunciation to the shepherds.

Carved at Aachen (modern Germany), then the capital of Charlemagne's extensive empire.

Flattish relief has strong affinity with Byzantine style

Influence of antiquity

Left: Back cover of the Lorsch Gospels, early 800s;

Below: Barberini Ivory, leaf from an imperial diptych, Byzantine, first half of sixth century

Christ Triumphant, or Christ treading on Beasts, with scenes from the Bible, book cover, Court School of Charlemagne, early 800s, 21.1 x 12.4 cm

Theme = associated with medieval art

Scenes from the Gospels surround the central image of Christ

Iconography and details of carving based on late antique examples

Christ treading on Beasts, Archbishop’s Chapel, Ravenna,. Mosaic, sixth century

CONSIDER: Roman vs. Byzantine treatment of the human figure; elements of both in Carolingian examples

The Four Evangelists , Aachen Gospels, Palace School, Aachen, c. 800

Departure from delineation of Byzantine/Insular art, more ‘painterly’

Shows the Evangelists in ‘the world’, representing the FOUR corners of the earth

Each evangelist accompanied by his symbol

Temperament of each shown clearly (John – sanguine; Peter – phlegmatic; Mark – choleric; Paul – melancholic)

Compare styles

Consider regional stylistic differences: Four Evangelists, Book of Kells, c. 800; Four Evangelists, Aachen Gospels, c. 800.

St Mark, The Ebbo Gospels, 816-835 St Matthew, Ebbo Gospels, 816-35.

CAROLINGIAN ART

UTRECHT PSALTER

820-840Hautevillers, near Rheims, Benedictine AbbeyFormat 33 x 25.6 cmLatin, 166 pen and ink drawingsNo association with Utrecht; rediscovered there in 1858

Key masterpiece of Carolingian art

Psalter: most frequently used biblical book of the early Middle AgesContained songs and hymns for official liturgy and private devotion

Each drawing of Utrecht Psalter usually combine several psalm messages.

Images are unframed and ‘free’

Several theories as to its influences• Greek-Italian models of the fourth and early fifth centuries? Possibly passed on by

Byzantine revisions to the artist of the Carolingian era• BUT possibly a Carolingian innovation:• - Patron was Archbishop of Ebo, who had been librarian to the Royal Court – the

evangelist portraits named after Ebo have similar sketchy style BUT…

UTRECHT PSALTER820-840

Rejection of colour poses a problem…

Is the rather simple appearance of the psalter compatible with liturgical function?

Benedictines: the Benedictine Divine office did not arrange psalms in biblical order, as in Utrecht psalter.

Could not have functioned as a decorative exemplar for a bishop such as Ebo, as style is too simplistic

Most probable use: literally interpreted drawings served as an aid to young monks who had to learn the psalms by heart

*Psalter is highly influential on ivory relief carving – e.g. the workshop of Charles the Bald at St. Denis, Paris

CAROLINGIAN ARTPsalter of Charles the Bald, c. 860-870Rheims workshopNote movement – influence of Utrecht Psalter

Scene narrates the result of David’s sin – his plan for Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to die so that David can have her.

Body of Uriah divides the ivory into two scenes across its entire width.

Note dynamic movement of figures:

Below, the parable is illustrated by the poor man (representing Uriah) hugging his one and only lamb (representing Bathsheba), while the rich man (David) views his large flock (his extensive harem). Unwilling to deplete his own flock, David appropriates the poor man`s lamb.

CAROLINGIAN ARTPsalter of Charles the Bald, c. 860-870

Ivory covers for prayer book of Charles the Bold, Rheims, c. 870Influence of Utrecht Psalter – dynamic movement/ungeometrical organization/profusion of figures

Compare treatment of figure (movement-gesture)

Compare: Psalter of Charles the Bald with earlier Lorsch Gospels – presentation of figure?

The Miracle of Cana, ivory panel, Carolingian, 860-870

Nathan before David, book cover, Rheims, c. 860-870. Ivory, 11.2 x 8.8 cm

Subject derived from the Utrecht Psalter, also made at Rheims

High relief / deep undercutting + rounded figures = contrast of light and shade

Note rudimentary perspective (not fully developed until early Renaissance in Italy)

But…The Genoels Elderen Diptych, late 8th or early 9th century. Carolingian – reveals regional differences

Adoration n of the Lamb, Codex Aureus or ‘Golden Gospels’; created for Charles the Bald at Tours, c. 870

FROM CAROLINGIAN TO OTTONIAN ART: THE YEAR 1000

• From c. 890 – 990s – Europe falls into feudalism; Death of Charles the Bald marks the decline of the empire; Charles the Fat unable to rule; conditions unfavourable to cultural development; many earlier works destroyed due to their value

• By 990s, new imperial tradition emerges in the east of the old Carolingian empire• France under serious civil unrest 888 – 1000; Germany becomes much more

stable

• Otto the Great (936-73) became the strongest leader since Charlemagne; crowed emperor in 961; Otto claims he is the successor of Augustus, Constantine and Charlemagne

• Otto and his son Otto II and grandson Otto III maintain stability of Europe and cultural growth is again promoted and developed

• A spiritual renaissance also takes place, encouraging creation of manuscripts, sculpture, etc.

• Art around the year 1000 becomes a cultural phenomenon: strong regional styles again develop: Ottonian, Spanish and English styles are prominent; Italy remains strongly influenced by Classical Rome

OTTONIAN ART

Church of St George, Reichenau, Germany. Fresco, last quarter of 10th centuryNote flat, unvaulted ceiling (true Romanesque = barrel-vaulted)

OTTONIAN ARTSt George at Oberzell, Reichenau, end of 10th century

Nave detail: Miracles of Jesus: Jesus and his Disciples crossing the Sea in a Storm (the Tempest)

OTTONIAN ART

Church of St George, Reichenau, Germany. Fresco, last quarter of 10th century

Gesture is typically OttonianPart of long tradition of Alpine fresco painting, most examples now lost

OTTONIAN ART

Hitda Codex (Gospel Book of the Abbess of Meschede), Cologne, first quarter of 11th century

The Annunciation

Note painterly style of the Cologne School

Contrasting red, brown blue tones + impasto white highlights are hallmarks of Cologne school

Abstract cloud separates Mary from Gabriel’s heavenly realm

OTTONIAN ART

Reichenau School: rejected realism from the outset in favour of pure spirituality – figures are deliberately schematic

- Clear arrangement- Neutral background is typical- Stress on the climax of the story- Spacial treatment: fewer illusionistic

elements

Bamberg Apocalypse1000-1020, Reichenau (Lake Constance)

Revelation `16, 8-14: And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness…And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water was dried up….

OTTONIAN ART

Bamberg Apocalypse1000-1020, Reichenau (Lake Constance)

The Last Judgement

OTTONIAN ART

Bamberg Apocalypse1000-1020, Reichenau (Lake Constance)

The three Marys approaching Christ’s tomb

OTTONIAN ART

Bamberg Apocalypse1000-1020, Reichenau (Lake Constance)

The Crucifixion; The Entombment

Hildesheim Cathedral, St. Bernward’s Door, c. 1015. Ottonian.

OTTONIAN ARTHildesheim workshop, peaks in first quarter of 11th century

Bernard of Hildesheim = highly influential as tutor to Otto IIIExperienced sculptor in cast-bronze; respected architect

Revives old traditions: language of Classical Rome - e.g. bronze doors are less strictly ‘Ottonian’ than manuscript s– Also looks back to Carolingian examples, e.g. small ivories of Rheims and Tours

Bronze doors at Hildesheim = beginning of long series of bronze doors up to early Renaissance in Italy (Ghiberti’s Baptistery doors for Florence Cathedral)

Scenes from Old Testament (left) and New Testament

Note: dynamic movement, gesture/expression

Psychological element in expressive movement

Hildesheim Cathedral: Bernard’s ColumnScenes from Life of Christ

OTTONIAN ART

Ringelheim Crucifix, c. 1000Linden wood, 1.62 m

Shown alive on the cross – beholds viewer

Gospel Lectionary of Henry II (Pericopes) , 1007, not later than 1012, Reichenau, Benedictine Abbey, folio size 42.5 x 32 cmWomen at the Sepulchre from Easter reading

OTTONIAN ART

Codex Aureus of Echternach (Benedictine Abbey), present-day Luxembourgc. 1030

Likely produced for Henry III (Salian dynasty) but strong influence of Reichenau workshop at Lake Constance

Parable of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus

OTTONIAN ART

Codex Aureus of Echternach (Benedictine Abbey), present-day Luxembourgc. 1030

Right: public activities of the life of Christ

Left to right, top to bottom: Healing of woman with issue of blood; raising from the dead of a young man; Healing of a young man with dropsy; disciples wake Jesus to warn of the tempest (shown as monsters)

Healing of ten lepers both before and after the miracle

Historical background:

Ottonian Dynasty ends with death of Henry II in 1024

Power passes to the Frankish Salian dynasty – Conrad II, Henry III, Henry IV, and Henry V – all crowned Holy Roman Emperors

Art of the Ottonians continues to be influential though with the cultural centre slowly moving towards French lands

Salian Dynasty (Frankish): Golden Gospels of Henry III OR Speyer Gospels (Speyer = burial tombs for Salian emperors)

• Continued influence of Reichenau -Echternach style

• Arrangement/narrative typical of Echternach style

• Folio 46r: main stages in the story Lazarus

BEGINNINGS OF TRUE ROMANESQUE

Languedoc: Bas-relief in marble , 1019-1020, St Genis des Fontaines

-undercut sculpture mimics Carolingian goldsmiths’ altars

Romanesque art and architecture unites various regional styles…