During the late 8th and early 9th centuries a major renaissance took place in Western art, due in large part to the efforts of CHARLEMAGNE. Crowned emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800, Charlemagne, after whom this stylistic epoch is named, was determined to restore the Roman Empire in the West. The revival of classical learning and culture played an important role in his attempt to establish himself as the heir to the great rulers of the past.
In architecture, manuscript painting, and the crafts there was a conscious attempt to emulate the artistic achievements of Early Christian Rome and the Byzantine Empire.
Charlemagne's own palace chapel at AACHEN (Aix-la-Chapelle), constructed between 792 and 805 by the architect Odo of Metz, is an example of the way in which he used older models. Its design, though northern in its massiveness, is based on octagonal Byzantine churches such as the 6th-century church of SAN VITALE in Ravenna. Charlemagne thus symbolically linked his empire to that of Justinian.
Many Carolingian monuments were modeled after Roman buildings. For example, the exterior of the late 8th-century gatehouse of the imperial monastery at Lorsch, though basically a medieval structure, has classical engaged columns, pilasters, and three archways that give it the appearance of a Roman triumphal arch. The designs of many monastic churches were based on Early Christian precedents. The 9th-century monastery church (now destroyed) at Fulda, a copy of the 4th-century SAINT PETER'S BASILICA in Rome, was one of the most ambitious examples of an attempt to imitate the art of the Roman Empire.
Carolingian architects created much that was new and innovative. For example, Early Christian churches like St. Peter's had very plain exteriors, but entrances and towers became important in the Carolingian period. Many churches, Charlemagne's palace chapel at Aachen among them, had westworks, two-story entrance complexes flanked by towers. Westworks were the forerunners of the elaborate facades of later Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals.
The now-destroyed abbey church of Centula (Saint-Riquier), built in the late 8th century, embodied much that was forward-looking in Carolingian architecture. Like Fulda, it was built on a basilican plan, but because it had multiple towers and an imposing westwork, the outside of the building was complex and visually exciting, with an emphasis on verticality.
The above miniture of St. Matthew the Evangelist is from the Ebbo Gospels, illuminated c.840 A.D.
Carolingian monasteries were important centers for the revival of learning, for it was in their scriptoria that ancient manuscripts were copied. One of the most significant contributions of the period--Carolingian minuscule, which reformed handwriting--was accomplished under ALCUIN of York at the scriptorium of the Abbey of Saint Martin at Tours. The lowercase letters used today are based on the script developed there in the late 8th-early 9th centuries. Carolingian painting is brilliantly represented by the manuscripts produced at these scriptoria. Scholars have been able to group these manuscripts together stylistically according to the particular monastic centers in which they were produced.
As in the other arts, the illuminations in Carolingian manuscripts include many references to classical art. Charlemagne's Gospel Book (c.795-810; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) contains Evangelist portraits that appear to have been copied directly from Roman manuscripts. In other manuscripts, such as the famous vellum Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims (early 9th century; Bibliotheque Municipale, Epernay), the miniatures, while having classical elements, are characterized by a restless energy. This expressive quality is found in much figurative art of the period. The most famous of all Carolingian books, the Utrecht Psalter (c.820-832; Bibliothek der Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht), contains pen-and-ink drawings so full of emotional excitement they seem about to leap from the pages.
Although there was probably no monumental stone sculpture in the period, the arts of IVORY CARVING and metalwork were highly developed. The gold- and jewel-encrusted cover of the Lindau Gospels (c.870; Pierpont Morgan Library, New York) is a sumptuous example. The same expressive qualities are found in ivory carvings such as those on the covers of the Lorsch Gospels (early 9th century; Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican City, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London). Far from being merely imitative, Carolingian art was imbued with a lively, imaginative spirit. The artists of this period created much that influenced later medieval art.
