Lecture 2: Carolingian and Ottonian Art
in the old Cathedral of Bayeux, recognizing William’s right to the English
throne after the death of King Edward. He broke his oath, taking the crown
for himself. The invasion followed. The ¿ rst scene we see is opposite Mont
Saint Michel in Normandy, with horses sinking into quicksand. After Harold
breaks his oath to William, something ominous occurs. Astrologers announce
the appearance of a comet, an evil omen for Harold. Finally, we see horses
upended and killed and bodies strewn in the lower margin of the tapestry.
The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the greatest pictorial narratives in Western
European art, not because of its technical sophistication, but because—like
the Hildesheim door relief—in it, all the artist’s energy is focused on the
most direct representation of a dramatic historical event. Ŷ
Adam and Eve Reproached by the Lord, completed in 1015, bronze,
23 x 43” (58.3 x 109.3 cm), detail from the Bronze Doors, Church of St.
Michael, Hildesheim, Germany.
Bronze Doors, completed in 1015, bronze, 16’ H (4.8 m H), Church of
St. Michael, Hildesheim, Germany.
A Carpet Page, from The Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 700, tempera on vellum, 13
½ x 9 ¼” (34.3 x 23.5 cm), The British Museum, London, Great Britain.
Church of S. Vitale, 547, Ravenna, Italy.
Details from the Bayeux Tapestry, 1080, wool embroidery on linen,
20” x 225’ (0.51 x 68.6 m), Centre Guillaume le Conquerant, Bayeux,
France.
St. Matthew, from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims
(The Épernay Gospel), c. 816–835, ink and colors on vellum, 10 ¼ x 8 ¾”
(26 x 22.2 cm), Bibliothèque Municipale, Épernay, France.
St. Matthew, from the Gospel Book of Charlemagne, c. 800–810, ink and
colors on vellum, 13 x 10” (33 x 25.4 cm), Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna, Austria.
The Palatine Chapel, 805, Aachen, Germany.
Works Discussed