Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/38

* MANUSCRIPTS. 26 were systematically M-anluMl for inciilcnts of liistoiir or ri-liyious iiiiportaiice. At first tlicie was even a siipfralnnidance of pictures, as in the roll of Joshua at the Vatiean, ami, though less so, in the fiftheentury oodices of (Jenesis at Vienna ami the Britisli Museum. The nor- mal type was yiven at this time by the lios- sano Gospels, a work of the Byzantine school which was creating the new art. In the tcacliing of tlic people by pictures it is dillicult to decide which liramli of art gave the suggestive types for the scenes — the ininiature painters or the iiiosaieist-s and fresco-painters. Outside of the Bible the chief work is the numuscript of Cosmas Indicopleustes at the ^'atican, with its fifty-four pictures of the si.th century. Until the seventh century the illuminations were square or oblong pictures interrui)ting the text, but at that time the calligraphic style of decoration began, with its initial letters ami its interweaving of liunian, animal, and geometric forms with the letters. Already in the famous Syriac manuscript at the Laurentian l.ilirary (Florence) this decorative sense had shown itself. It was developed by the Byzantine artists of the Iconoclastic age, who preferred ornamentation to the human figure, and by the Irish and. glo-Saxon schools, which showed an originality and boldness in decorative work eipial to their i"neptitide in treating the fig- ure. Meanwhile in the West the Benedictine monks of the sixth and seventh centuries had continued the degenerate Roman style, as in the Pentateuch of Tours, or were copying Byzantine models, as in the Cambridge dospcls. iKi.SH AND . (ii,o-S.xox. The Irish and their pupils, Anglo-.Saxon miniaturists, broke away entirely not only from all classic traditions, but from all naturalism. Spirals, knots, bands, zigzags, and other geometric forms, derived large- ly from metal work, were interwoven often with fantastic beasts and impossible men. The Book of Drh: the Dorbcer Life of Coliimhti. the Liiniis- fame (losiieis, the Hool: of Kell.i. the Kaiiit Gnll Gospels, the Wiirzhiofl i:pi.illrs. the Ctrrrht Psalter, are among the finest works of this school. ('.XKOl.TXniAX. The prominence of Irish and . glo-Saxon monks in the missionary and educa- tional worlds in the eighth century throughout Northern Europe made them the teachers of the Carolingian scluxd of illuminators liiat sprang up in Kiani'cand (Jcrmany. This school, while adoj't- ing much of the decorative scheme, including the immense and highly ornamental initial letters, added the use of sacred eonipositions with the human figure laru'cly from Latin or Byzantine models. Uich architectural details are used to frame the scenes, and large single figures of Christ, the Emperor.' the Evangelists, etc.. prevail. The backgroimds are not gilt, but plain or broken ■up by accessories. The Cosjiel-book of Charlc- mngne from Soissons ( BibliotluNpic Xatioiialc. Paris) is dated 7S1 and is one of the earliest and finest works of the school. It had several branches. In France were: (1) the Franco-Sa.xon branch, extending from Paris to the Bhine. of which over thirty CNampIes remain, including (he Gospels at .rras. the Psalter at Vienna, and the above Oospels from Soissims: (2) the branih of Tmirs, founded by .Meuin. illustrated by Bibles and riospels. ill the British Museum, belonging to Alcuin. f'biirlcs the Bald, and l.othair: CU the branch of Orleans, with Bibles at the Biblio- theque Xationalc and Le Puy. In CSermany were: MANUSCRIPTS. (1) the branch at .Mctz. to which the .Sacramen- tary of Drogo belongs; and i'2) that at Saint (jail, which has specimens in the Munich Library. In these Carolingian works the colored outline drawing was brilliant rather than solid, the figures clumsy and inclined to over-action. But the general effect was of splendor and originality. Ro>(.N'E.SQiE. The true continuators of the Carolingian style in the Romanesque period were the German illuminators of the time of the Othos and the Henrys, who tempcrcul the ear- lier exaggerations of movement and size through contact with Byzantine art. Botli the Rhenish and the Saxon schools, especially the hitter, have left many works executed for these emperors, now preserved at Bamberg. Miniich, TrOves. Paris, etc.. especially Gospel-books. The architectural details and borders are particularly good and rich, including also the animals and binls so fre- quent in Romanesque art. Body colors, usually light in tone. re])laced the Carolingian outline style; figures were better drawn and more dig- nified. In the eleventh century the richness of initials and backgrounds increased, often with tapestry elTects as in the Rcriensb>irri Gospels; but there came a decadence, which lasted nearly up to the Gothic period. Meanwhile other countries were lagging far liehind. In France the Carolingian methods be- came crude and barbarous, as in the Xoaillrs Bible. Italy had never even participated in the Carolingian revival ;ind confined itself to clumsy figure painting, mostly in outline, without dis- playing any decorative ability. The English school cont;iincd tlic older Irish and Anglo-Saxon work with modifications first due to Carolingian influence, as in .KllnliroUVs Briiedietioiwl. With the Conquest, however, the body-<'olor technique re))laced the outlined work, as in Germany. Late Byzantine. The three centuries before the twelftli were most prolific and successful in Byzantine miniature painting. The Mace- donian dynasty saw a return to more classic models, to figure-painting in place of the decora- tive work of the Iconoclastic age. The famous Paris Psalter has scenes of antique grace showing a co[)ying of verj' early models: but even works of purely conteni])orary art like the Paris ser- mons of Gregory of Xazianzus show an under- standing of form and drapery denied to Western art. The brilliant gold grounds, the rich solid coloring, the simplicity of composition and orna- ment belong to a severer style. One of the most extensive scries of pictures is contained in the Mcnolofiiam of Enijicror Basil II. (!17(il02.')). in the Vatican, which heralds a dccademc in Byzan- tine art. The decline is evident in the Paris t<iiint John Chriisostom illuminated for Xice- phonis III. (lOTH-SI). and culminated in the works done for the Paheologi. when the figures have become merely decorated puppets, and when the artists in despair turn to decorative work and initials. (iOTUlf. Uliile Byzantine illumination was dying, the golden age of- the art in Europe was beginning, at the close of the twelfth cen- tury. First Germany, and then France take the" lead. The llorliis Ihlieiariim of llcrrad of Landsperg. a sort of cyclopa-dia in design, was a forerunner of Gothic design, whose first steps are shown by Landgrave Hermann's Psalter. It was under Saint Louis ( I22(i-70) in France. however, that the Gothic style of illumination