ion. The portrait proclaimed the renovatio of the Roman Empire’s
power and trappings.
CORONATION GOSPELS Charlemagne was a sincere ad-
mirer of learning, the arts, and classical culture. He, his successors, and
the scholars under their patronage placed high value on books, both
sacred and secular, importing many and producing far more. One of
these is the purple vellum Coronation Gospels (also known as the
Gospel Book of Charlemagne), which has a text written in handsome
gold letters. The major full-page illuminations show the four Gospel
authors at work. The page depicting Saint Matthew (FIG. 16-13) re-
veals that the Carolingian painter’s technique differs markedly from
that of the Northumbrian painter of the Matthew portrait (FIG. 16-7)
in the Lindisfarne Gospels.Deft, illusionistic brushwork defines the
massive drapery folds wrapped around the body beneath. The Car-
olingian illuminator used color and modulation of light and shade,
not line, to create shapes. The cross-legged chair, the lectern, and the
saint’s toga are familiar Roman accessories. The landscape back-
ground has many parallels in Roman painting, and the frame consists
of the kind of acanthus leaves found in Roman temple capitals and
friezes (FIG. 10-32). Almost nothing is known in the Hiberno-Saxon
British Isles or Frankish Europe that could have prepared the way for
this portrayal of Saint Matthew. If a Frank, rather than an Italian or a
Byzantine, painted the Saint Matthew and the other evangelist por-
traits of the Coronation Gospels,the Carolingian artist had fully ab-
sorbed the classical manner. Classical painting style was one of the
many components of Charlemagne’s program to establish Aachen as
the capital of a renewed Christian Roman Empire.EBBO GOSPELSThe classical-revival style evident in the Coro-
nation Gospels was by no means the only one that appeared suddenly
in the Carolingian world. Court schools and monasteries employed a
wide variety of styles derived from Late Antique prototypes. Another
Saint Matthew (FIG. 16-14), in a Gospel book made for Archbishop
Ebbo of Reims, France, may be an interpretation of an author por-
trait very similar to the one the Coronation Gospels master used as a
model. The Ebbo Gospels illuminator, however, replaced the classical
calm and solidity of the Coronation Gospels evangelist with an en-
ergy that amounts to frenzy. Matthew (the winged man in the upper
right corner identifies him) writes in frantic haste. His hair stands on
end, his eyes open wide, the folds of his drapery writhe and vibrate,
the landscape behind him rears up alive. The painter even set the
page’s leaf border in motion. Matthew’s face, hands, inkhorn, pen,
and book are the focus of the composition. This presentation con-
trasts strongly with the settled pose of the Saint Matthew of the Coro-
nation Gospels with its even stress so that no part of the composition
jumps out at viewers to seize their attention. Just as the painter of the
Lindisfarne Gospels Matthew (FIG. 16-7) transformed an imported
model into an original Hiberno-Saxon idiom, so the Ebbo Gospels
artist translated a classical prototype into a new Carolingian vernacu-
lar. This master painter brilliantly merged classical illusionism and
the northern linear tradition.16-13Saint Matthew, folio 15 recto of the Coronation Gospels
(Gospel Book of Charlemagne), from Aachen, Germany, ca. 800–810. Ink
and tempera on vellum, 1–^34 10 . Schatzkammer, Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna.
The painted manuscripts produced for Charlemagne’s court reveal
the legacy of classical art. The Carolingian painter used light and shade
and perspective to create the illusion of three-dimensional form.16-14Saint Matthew, folio 18 verso of the Ebbo Gospels (Gospel Book
of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims), from Hautvillers (near Reims), France,
ca. 816–835. Ink and tempera on vellum, 10 41 – 8 –^34 . Bibliothèque
Municipale, Épernay.
Saint Matthew writes frantically, and the folds of his drapery writhe
and vibrate. Even the landscape behind him rears up alive. The painter
merged classical illusionism with the northern linear tradition.Carolingian Art 4171 in.1 in.16-13AChrist
enthroned,
Godescalc
Lectionary,
781–783.