Combining the two traditions in a startlingly original manner, an artist at Saint-
Amand (where Plate 3.5 was also produced) created a classically inspired scene
framed by columns sporting the stylized birds and interlace designs of the Insular
style. (See Plate 3.8.) Much as in a Pompeian wall painting, the figure—the
evangelist John—has volume and weight. As at Pompeii, he seems to live in a world
of his own, separate from the viewer. But unlike at Pompeii (see, for example, Plate
1.2), the atmosphere of that world has become three well-defined zones: at the
bottom, earth of brushy brown; in the middle, a huge swathe of blue broken by
ornamental trees; above, clouds of bright yellow and orange. The figure, too, has an
unclassical twist, its pleated drapery giving it a somewhat frenetic urgency. By mixing
various styles, the artist found a new mode of expressing the transcendent.
