The School of Tour – or why there´s a misconception of carolingian armor
This is Part V of the series on Carolingian illuminated manuscripts.
Introduction
In the middle of the 9th century, an artistic school emerged in West Franconia whose influence is so great that it still represents the crown of the Carolingian artistic creation par excellence and stands for the Carolingian Renaissance like no other.
With a creative peak of only around 13 years, she had an immense output considering the quality of the images. A feat that could only be achieved with tricks.
It also had a lasting impact on how Carolingians were seen in armor. Such as in the Gimbel collection at the Marksburg from 1880, in Ian Heath’s “Armies of the Dark Ages 600-1066” in 1976, in the Osprey series “Carolingian Cavalryman AD 768 -987” and also in films such as ” Pope Joan”.
The background of the depictions, which were not Carolingian, was known at least since the publication of the first volume “Die karolingischen Miniaturen” from 1930/33 by Wilhelm Koehler, a monumental series that was to consist of 8 volumes and was only completed in 1988
Illuminated manuscripts actually function like comics, but can only be fully understood with the knowledge and context of their time. If you only see one page of a comic today and it shows a dark cave, with a shadowy, backlit person in the background, the stalactites of the caves are fluttering around with countless bats, almost everyone knows who is meant. It should be 99% likely to be the Batcave with Batman.But this can only be recognized by us with the appropriate basic knowledge. Even my grandmother, who was born in 1900, would probably not have recognized this.
In order to understand these representations, an immense amount of background knowledge is necessary. This knowledge and its use is called hermeneutics or image hermeneutics in science and is a subject area of art history.
The history so far
In the third century, the first diocese arose in Roman Tours. Its third bishop was St. Martin of Tours, who also gave the name to the monastery that was built there and was attached to the episcopal church.
Alcuin, deacon, spiritual leader from York and advisor to Charlemagne, came to the Aachen court in 781, where he exercised immense influence. He doesn’t always seem to have been on the same page with Karl. He openly criticized the Saxon Wars in general and the use of violence in particular. He also spoke out against the use of relics as talismans: “(It is) …better to imitate the examples of the saints with your heart than to carry their bones around in little bags”. This is contrary to finds such as the so-called “Talisman of Charlemagne”, which actually dates from the late period of Charlemagne, without really being able to say whether it was actually in Charlemagne’s possession.
In 796 Alcuin left the court or was removed from it. He became abbot of the monastery of St. Martin Tours and set up an important scriptorium there. Large-format “Alcuin Bibles” were created that contained a Bible text revised by Alcuin. Alcuin died in 805, but the scriptorium continued to work. The manuscripts are characterized by an almost perfect Carolingian minuscule, which makes it difficult to distinguish the scribes. The book pages show sophisticated proportions, but there are hardly any illuminations except for the Insulare initials.
One of the few illustrations in one of the various Alkuin Bibles depicts the creation of man and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise.12. This drawing was based on an ancient template and will be copied many times in the future, so that this template or its copies were still used in the 11th century, when the Bernward doors were created in Hildesheim.
Two decisive factors for the further development of the scriptorium of Tours are the division of the empire in 843 in the Treaty of Verdun, and the removal of Ebo of Reims from its bishopric in the mid-830s.
Without Ebo, the Reims scriptoria lost their lead. The monks looked for new areas of responsibility and came to Tours, among other places.
However, the division of the empire in 843 had much greater effects. As a result of the treaty, the Eastern Empire no longer had access to the important Gallo-Roman centers of the West.
And while the Western Empire only recorded isolated Viking raids on the coasts until around 850, the Eastern Empire had problems with its eastern borders and had to consolidate the empire without Aachen, starting from Regensburg.
In other words, the Frankish Western Empire initially had enough time and space to develop and advance its form of Carolingian Renaissance, taking advantage of their existing Gallo-Roman heritage.
In addition, the Byzantine iconoclasm ended in 843. While Byzantine monks and icon painters had previously fled to the Frankish Empire and influenced art as in Aachen, Metz and Reims, there was now no longer any reason for them to flee to Frankia.
The School of Tours
The scriptoriums of Tours, consisting of the Marmoutier and Saint-Martin monasteries, are the first where there is evidence of the creation of pattern books. Sample books are collected, traced templates that can be used again and again as templates for new images. Basically simple sketches as templates.
One of the most frequently identified originals is a Virgil manuscript. Around 400 AD. „Vergilius Vaticanus“ (Codex Vaticanus Latinus 3225)3 was created, which was initially in Tour, came to Italy in the 15th century, where it served as a model for Raphael and finally ended up in the Vatican. Unfortunately, over the centuries it lost some of its leaves, so that we don’t know all the illustrations.
Virgil had a special meaning for the Carolingians. It was required reading when studying grammar and verse composition. And this despite the fact that the pagan Virgil wrote about pagan gods. The Vita Alcuini reports that in his youth Alcuin gave Virgil’s pagan lies priority over the Psalms. Later he is said to have punished his students for secretly reading the pagan Virgil.4
Alcuin himself also quoted Ovid’s Ars amatoria (The Art of Love) in a letter to Abbot of Saint Riquier Angilbert.5
In the first quarter of the 9th century, Bishop Moduin (Mouadvinus) of Autun, who was called “Naso” after one of Ovid’s nicknames in the circle of Charlemagne’s confidants, wrote: “New in the old ways, but in changed times becomes the golden Rome reborn into the world”, whereby the word for “custom” can also be translated as “style”6. This sums up very well the demands of the School of Tours, but also of the entire Carolingian Renaissance.
Bamberg Bible, Alkuin Bible, Staatsbibliothek Bamberg Msc.Bibl.1, http://digital.bib-bvb.de/webclient/DeliveryManager?&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=14322344
Tours 834 – 843
Between 834 and 843 a Bible was created in Marmoutier, which is called the Bamberg Bible after its current location. It shows only a few illuminations, but impresses with the even execution of the text, which is common to the Alcuin Bibles.
Nevertheless, the Bible has the full-page depiction of Adam and Eve in paradise and their expulsion, which was already mentioned at the beginning. This illumination, which comes from an unknown source, will continue to spread widely. It can be found, for example, in the depictions on the Bernwards doors in Hildesheim7 and arranged differently in many other manuscripts.
Also noteworthy is the majestas domini, which, with its diamond shape, becomes a model for the Moutier-Grandval Bible, from which the majestas of the Vivian Bible and the Codex Aureus will develop. However, it also has similarities with the other majestas domini, which no longer use the diamond, but instead show Christ purely in the mandylion.
Bible of Moutier-Grandval, Add MS 10546, https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_10546_f001r
Tours around 840
The Bible of Moutier-Grandval was created in Tours around 840. Equipped with the revised text of the Alcuin Bible, the large-format Bible has not only insular initials but also large-format images. Including another adaptation of the Adam and Eve depiction, and three further full-page illustrations. But these do not arise from a vacuum.
Here, for the first time, the use of the sketchbooks mentioned can be directly proven.
As an example, f25v of the Bible of Moutier-Grandval is mentioned here, because we will come across this again and again in the future. In this illustration, Moses receives the 10 Commandments and presents them to the people in the picture below. Right next to Moses are two people, one with a beard, wearing a red cloak and holding a lily scepter. One of the people is identified as Aaron.
These two people are from the “Vergilius Vaticanus” (Codex Vaticanus Latinus
3225 ) fol45v. copied. There they represent Aeneid and his friend Achates. There are even traces of the drawing on the „Vergilius Vaticanus“. 8 A very thin, translucent parchment had probably been put on and then signed off on the template.
Wilhelm Köhler was of the opinion that the Grandval Bible provided the basic program for the subsequent works of the School of Tours. He suspected its origin, or rather its first model, in a lost Bible that was created for Pope Leo the Great (440-61).9
In his standard work on Carolingian illumination, or the Tours school, Koehler10 also points out the different levels that were first shown in the depictions of Moutier-Grandval’s Bible.. This means that you can no longer just see a single-colored background, such as the sky, but instead, for example, rooms are now displayed. The presentation of the 10 Commandments takes place in front of a perspective room, a hall with a coffered ceiling and arched position. The arcades are decorated with figures holding garlands on a red background. A depiction known from classical antiquity, appearing in Pompeii, or on garland sarcophagi.11
But the people do not act within the space. They are shown two-dimensionally on a plane against the background. Köhler calls this “stage space”.
In addition, heads and hands are shown slightly enlarged to emphasize the meaning of their action.12
Bamberg Boëthius, Msc.Class.5 Boethius: De institutione arithmetica Boethius: De institutione arithmetica, http://digital.bib-bvb.de/view/bvb_mets/viewer.0.6.5.jsp?folder_id=0&dvs=1704433305
315~76&pid=7373142&locale=de&usePid1=true&usePid2=true
https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb00140841?page=,1
Tours, around 845
The Bamberg Boethius represents a copy of an ancient model of a textbook on Boethius‘ arithmetic. Boethius, actually Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, completed his work before 507. In this work, Boethius used the word quadrivium for the first time to describe the four subjects of mathematics within the seven arts, namely arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy.
This quadrivium is represented in one of the two miniatures by four women with corresponding objects.
A second depiction shows Boethius and his father-in-law Symmachus, to whom Boethius dedicated his work.
Both are shown sitting on a throne. Boethius hands Symmachus his manuscript. Although it can be assumed that Symmachus is the older of the two, it is Boethius who has the white beard. A stylistic device to show the wisdom of Boethius.
Both are depicted in muscular armor covered by a cloak, holding a long scepter in their hands and wearing helmets with a central ridge and plume. These are the helmets that later appear in the Vivian Bible, but in a frontal view.
A depiction with armor may have been chosen to portray Boethius as a freedom fighter against Theodoric, who had him executed.13
An ancient transfer of power could have served as a model here, for example Emperor Constantine with one of his sons, because both people assume the posture of ancient images of rulers, carry scepters and are dressed like generals.
The position of the people in relation to each other and their equipment with staffs is very similar to the depiction of Charlemagne and Pippin in the liber legum.14 So older templates were probably used when creating the original image.
It is the first time that figures in ancient armor appear in a surviving manuscript from the School of Tour.
Vivian Bible, First Bible of Charles the Bald, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8455903b.langDE
Tours, 845/846
Among other images, the Moses scene from the Grandval Bible reappears.15
This time, however, the two striking people from Vergilius Vaticanus are missing. These appear again on folio 386v, now as Paul’s listeners. folio 386v also shows the use of stencils in other areas. In the upper field of the three-part page lies a fallen, blinded Saul/Paul as a fighter. A representation of the Damskus experience16. If you look at the illustration, you quickly notice that a standing person in armor has only been turned 90 degrees to the right to represent him as lying down, instead of actually drawing a person lying down. Such processes speed up the artists‘ working methods immensely.
In the presentation of Jerome fol. 3v Koehler assumed a template from the 6th century, which was lost, possibly an author’s picture of Virgil himself, while Herbert Kessler saw the template in the 5th century. Ganz, on the other hand, suggests that Master C distanced himself from the pagan Virgil with a creation of his own, or perhaps was inspired by depictions of Jerome such as those found on the ivory cover of the Dagulf Psalter.17 It is the only representation of the Vivian Bible that is not verifiably based on an ancient original!
The depiction of the dedicatory image also draws directly on “Vergilius Vaticanus”. The handover itself takes place in the style of an ancient scholarly meeting18 The figures themselves are again copies from the Vergilius Vaticanus. The arrangement of the king and guards, as well as the armor of the guards, is a direct copy of the Trojan Council from Fol. 73v1920
But even in „Vergilius Vaticanus“ the images of the guards are not contemporary images of the 5th century. They are symbolic representations of fighters with muscle armor and Boeotian or pseudo-Attic helmets from the time before the turn of the century, as they were depicted by emperors or for use the personification of the city of Rome, the goddess Roma, and thus reference the legend of the founding of the city of Rome, the Origo gentis Romanae and the descent of Romulus and Remus from Aeneas and the Trojans. (insert image coin)
An idea that is generally adopted for the Franks in the “Historia Francorum epitomata” (see e.g. Eugene Ewig, Troja und die Franken)) and is echoed in the illustrations of the Tours school.
In the illustration, the king himself is wearing a wide cloak in which he is almost completely wrapped. The master of the Vivian Bible draws on even older models than Virgilius Vatican.
This is an image of Emperor Conantius II from the chronograph of 354.21 It is proven that the chronograph from 354 was known in the Carolingian court, was used in the Leiden Aratea and at least one copy was present at Reichenau in the middle of the 9th century.22
The depictions of emperors from Roman times correspond to the personification of Jupiter and the Greeks also used such a depiction of Zeus
And yet it is likely that the Frankish kings and emperors showed themselves in this way. With its reconstructed size23, the riding cloak of Henry II in Bamberg has the possibility portray yourself in this way.
In their representation, the Franks (still) differentiate themselves from Byzantium, where the emperor appeared in the loros in ceremonies since Justinian I.
This was probably intended to explicitly clarify the claim to the Western Empire.
The tunic of Count Vivian, who was also lay abbot of the Tours monastery, is decorated with two clavi. This does not correspond to the Franconian tradition, but to late antique and Byzantine fashion. Either Master C also used late antique or Byzantine models for the design, or wanted to use the double clavi to indicate Vivian’s status as a lay abbot, because the double clavi is usually found on the clergy’s dalmatica.
Antique armor is also used to depict David (fol 215v)24 where they are named as Krethi and Plethi and form David’s bodyguard.
The Vivian Bible, probably the best-researched manuscript of the Carolingian period, is well suited to understanding the structure and creation of its images. This should be done here using the dedication picture. But before you turn your attention to the dedicatory picture, it is important to first draw attention to the picture of David. In this depiction, David is depicted with the same face as Charles the Bald.
Charles the Bald can therefore be understood as the new biblical David. But more than that. David was also Charlemagne’s name within his elite court circle. This naming within the circle is again based on Virgil25 So Charles the Bald becomes on the same level as his grandfather Charlemagne.
The dedicatory picture now takes over the basic constellation of David/Charles the Bald, as well as that of the two guards. While these represented Creti and Plethi, David’s bodyguards, in the depiction of David, they now become the embodiment of military power (lance and shield) and law (sword), but also of heavenly protection through the weapons of God, as can be seen from the codex Aureus of St. Emmeram becomes clear. The positioning of the guards and their appearance, as well as the position of Charles the Bald, are taken directly from Vergilius Vaticanus, where they appear on fol. 73v26 as part of the Trojan Council.
The depiction of Charles the Bald, whose gesture indicates the receipt of the Bible, is taken from the chronograph of 354. This document, only preserved in copies, shows Emperor Constantinian II distributing coins with this gesture of generosity.
The clerics in the lower part are again modeled on an ancient meeting of scholars, although I cannot name the direct model.
The entire representation is therefore a remix or mashup of antique images. Nevertheless, the depictions contain images that can be identified as originally Carolingian. For example, the sword with the fittings, which can be proven archaeologically. Only these are shown in mirror images, as if the armor had been worn on the right side of the body and not the left. This indicates that a different template was used here too.
Gospels of Lothair, MS lat.266, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8451637v
between 849 und 851, Tours
According to the dedicatory verse of the Gospels, the manuscript was made in Tours during the time of Count Vivian on the orders of Emperor Lothar I. Lothar’s empire was linked to the monastery in Tours in a prayer fraternity, which made this mission possible.27
Here too, Master C, who was already working on the Vivian Bible, worked on the illuminations of the Gospels.
Despite similarities, the depiction of Lothar differs from the depiction of the ruler in the dedication image of the Vivian Bible.
While the Vivian Bible depicts a complex network of relationships, the depiction in the Gospels is purely focused on Lothair 28
Lothar is flanked by 2 antique guards, half hidden by the throne, which itself is slightly moved from the center of the picture. Lothar points with his hand to the adjacent page, on which he is praised for his rule and is named the founder of the work29
The master of the Vivian Bible (Master C) once again used an ancient image of a ruler of unknown origin. Lothar sits on the throne with his knees spread, in keeping with the late antique images of rulers, wrapped in a magnificent cloak.30
Once again he is flanked by ancient Roman soldiers with pseudo-Attic or Boeotian helmets, which, although no longer in use, appeared in Roman times as an important element of the representation of power. It was important to Master C to clarify Lothar’s claim to power as Western Roman Emperor and implemented this according to old templates.
The images of the evangelists, but also Lothar’s cloak, show Master C’s relationship to the school of Reims in that he uses the same flowing forms that came to the West through Byzantium, which can also be found in the Utrecht Psalter and the Ebo Gospels are.
Gospel of Prüm, Staatsbibliothek Berlin Ms. theol. lat. fol. 733, No complete digital copy available. Illustrations: https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/AOVBCBPC565H3PHBROHKIXTQJEL2ALK3#item-detail
around 850, Tours
Emperor Lothar donated the Gospels to Prüm Abbey in 852. It does not show any pictures of rulers, but does show a Majestas Domini and four pictures of the Evangelists.
The drawings may have been created independently of the text, as the pages are somewhat narrower.
The Gospels show the same structure as Köhler’s “stage space”, so the evangelists stand two-dimensionally in front of the three-dimensional background, while he adopts the design and figures of the Lothar Gospels. However, the representations are expanded. While in the Lothar Evangeliar the text bar with the description of the evangelists was still below the upper frame, it now divides the upper third of the image. The evangelists are now placed in front of a decoration made of spatial architecture.
This architecture can also be found in a similar form in the Reims School, for example in the Utrecht Psalter.
The majestas domini is also in the tradition of the Lothar Gospels.
The interlude – destruction of St. Martin and Marmoutier and new beginnings
In 853, the monasteries of St. Martin and Marmoutier were plundered and burned under the leadership of the Dane Hastein (Hastings). How extensive the scriptorium’s losses were is unknown. However, monks can escape, taking templates such as the “Vergilius Vaticanus” and pattern books with them.
A palace school is being built, the location of which cannot be located. St. Denis is being considered as a possible location, as are Soisson, Metz, Reims and other places. However, the new court school does not achieve the productivity of Tours.
However, the influence of the Tours school spread even further through its destruction. For example on the monastery island of Reichenau and St. Gallen.
Charles the Bald’s new palace school
Bible of San Paolo fuori le Mura,(Unfortunately no publicly available digital copy)
around 870, Reims(?)
After the destruction of St. Martin and Marmoutier, a new court school was set up by Charles the Bald. It is not known where this can be located. Among other things, St. Denis is under discussion and Reims has recently been increasing again. The latter is seen as the place of origin of St. Paul’s Bible, which would identify Hinkmar von Reims as the head of the school.
A Bible was created around 870, which was called the Bible of Saint Paul Outside the Walls after its current location. Of the 25 miniatures, 24 have been preserved.
While the scribe of the text identifies himself as Ingobertus in the prologue, the three illustrators are unknown but can be distinguished by their own style.31
The first of the illustrators was responsible for the depictions of the evangelists and was therefore given the name “Evangelist Master”. In his depiction he manages to give his pictures a certain three-dimensionality and elegance. The “Master of St. Paul”/“St. Paul Master” was responsible for the frontispiece from Leviticus to Joshua.
The “Master of Throne Images” made the remaining images, including the throne images, which gave him this name. He used techniques derived from the Reims School, for example with coats, to create a certain degree of plasticity.
For its depiction of the Doctor of the Church Jerome, Saint Paul’s Bible uses either the Vivian Bible itself or the identical template, but rearranges the people and their arrangement.
An illustration shows King David in front of a shield wall. According to Gaehde, the depiction of David has similarities with the missorium in Madrid32 The motif of a figure in front of a shield wall, however, already exists earlier. For example, it can be found on a silver plate from Geneva that shows either Valentinian I or Valentinian II.
David’s guards have a haircut typical of the Imperial Guards of Theodosius, such as those seen at the base of the Theodosius Obelisk in Constantinople, but also the silver plates from Cyprus depicting the story of David and Goliath33 which date to the early 7th century.
It is likely that the Carolingians made use of drawings from similar times to the silver plates mentioned.
In the depiction of power, the enthroned Charles the Bald wears the typical wide coat of the Carolingian throne depictions, but now this is provided with golden, square trimmings, the Byzantine tablion.34
And indeed, the court of Charles the Bald was considered the center of Byzantination. It is reported that in 869 Charles had himself proclaimed as novus constantinus and appeared in Ponthion graecisco more paratus et coronatus dressed and crowned in the Greek style.35
Gaehde connects the architecture of the background with depictions of late antique palace architecture, such as the palace of Theodoric in S. Appolinare Nuovo in Ravenna.36
Gaehde sees the trohn canopy with its dome shape, together with that in the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, as the first of its kind in Carolingian manuscripts. Previously, these only appeared in Byzantine manuscripts and correspond to descriptions of Byzantine court ceremonies.
In contrast to the Vivian Bible, where Charles the Bald is equated with David, this time the depiction of Solomon is on fol. 188v of St. Paul’s Bible, which is taken up. In his hand the king holds a disc with a monogram. According to Schade, this monogram would be interpreted as HIC NOVAE ROMAE SALOMON, i.e. “Here is Solomon, King of the New Rome”.37
In addition, the Bible of St. Paul contains the oldest depiction of a Maccabee cycle, even before the Leiden Maccabee, which was made in St. Gallen.
Gaehde sees parallels here with the military depictions on the Arch of Galerius in Thessaloniki from the period between 297 and 305, which extend to exact matching people and individual scenes.38
Accordingly, the helmets of the soldiers we see, which are equipped with massive cheek flaps, would be early helmets of the Intercisa type, but the multiple curved cheek flaps suggest that they could be older helmets, such as the Weisenau/Niederbieber type. Ultimately they are probably symbolic representations of helmets from Roman times.
This is certainly also due to the problem that the active master had never personally seen either the Galerius Arch or an Intercisa or Weisenau helmet. He works with Byzantine templates and drawings, which he tried to implement to the best of his knowledge and belief.
Codex aureus of St. Emmeram, BSB Clm 14000, https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0009/bsb00096095/images/
St. Denis, Soisson (?) 870
This Gospel book was also made for Charles the Bald and is said to have been given to the monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg by Arnulf of Carinthia in 893.
The monks Liuthard and Beringer are named as the scribes of the work, and they completed their work on Christmas 870, as they note in the dedicatory inscription.39
Saint-Médard in Soissons is also given as the place of manufacture40, but like all attempts to locate Charles the Bald’s palace school, This cannot be proven with certainty.
The manuscript contains 7 full-page illuminations. The four Evangelists, the Adoration of the Lamb, a Maiestas Domini and a throne portrait of Charles the Bald.
Here too, the creators rely on the folds of clothing, as in the works of the Reims School. The artists also seem to be familiar with the Soisson Gospels, as they depict their Matthew in a similar way. But references to the Vivian Bible can also be seen in the architecture behind Matthew41
The depictions of the Evangelists are also further developments of the Lothar Evangeliar and the Evangeliar from Prüm. The architectural background, especially in Markus, cannot deny its Roman past, as it shows a three-story exedra.
The majestas domini is based directly on the model from the Vivian Bible with Christ in the mandorla, which is again placed in a diamond with circles in which the evangelists are depicted at the corners.
As in the ruler’s image of St. Paul in the Bible, here too Charles the Bald is under a Byzantine-inspired throne canopy. but his coat no longer shows a tablion. The canopy that appears in perspective gives the picture depth, yet the figures are again placed two-dimensionally on the picture. As with Grandval’s Bible, Koehler’s “stage space” is created here.
On either side of the throne are two women with horns of plenty, who here, too, represent cities or provinces, as in antiquity. In this case, the two women represent Francia and Gotia, as the text of the picture explains.
The throne image shows a combination of all previously shown elements for the first time. So the king experiences worldly protection through guards, divine protection via angels and direct protection from God in the form of the blessing hand. The text lines can also be found above the arms bearers: “May the weapons of Christ, firm throughout life, favor you for eternity / And may his shield, always defend you from the enemy,” which means these are the weapons of Christ.42 So it is the weapons of Christ that are supposed to protect the emperor.
The adoration of the lamb by the 24 wise men could be a copy of the representation that existed at that time in the Aachen Palatinate Chapel / Aachen Cathedral and only exists today as a copy.4344
Psalter of Charles the Bald, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53019391x
St. Denis(?) Metz (?) 869-870
The frames of the representations are inspired by the models of the palace school of Charles the Bald, while the representation of the people is inspired by the school of Reims.45
The depiction of Gregory draws its inspiration from the depiction of Jerome in the Vivian Bible, just as the majestas domini is inspired by the Vivian Bible46
On folio 22v, Charles the Bald is depicted between Popes Gregory IV and John VIII. Karl is shown as a young man without a beard. His depiction is thus similar to the depiction of the anointing of Solomon in St. Paul’s Bible.47 Which is entirely intentional, as John VIII compared Charles‘ way of dispensing justice with that of Solomon.
Psautier of Charles the Bald, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b55001423q
St. Denis (?) 842-69/70
Here too, Luithard shows himself to be a writer.
In the dedication image there is the text about Charles the Bald: Cum sedeat Karolus magno coronatus honore, Est Josiae similis parque Theodosio in which the crowned Charles compares with the biblical Josiah and gives him a religious meaning, while the naming of Theodosius represents the Roman rulers48
The depiction of David and his companions, on the other hand, draws on the models from the Vivian Bible, but does not show any guards.
Aftermath
Golden Psalter of St. Gallen, Cod. Sang. 22, https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/csg/0022
St. Gallen 870-900
With the Golden Psalter, the first illuminated manuscript was created in the monastery of St. Gallen between 870 and 900. The monks are not yet skilled in this work and do make mistakes in the techniques, but they seem to have learned quickly. In their work, they rely on templates that probably come from the Tours school or its successors, but do not copy them 1 to 1, but instead create their own creations. The templates do not necessarily have to have been available in St. Gallen. The monastery on the island of Reichenau, almost 50 km away, is also conceivable, as St. Gallen had a close relationship with it.
The Golden Psalter of St. Gallen begins on P2 with a representation of David with four musicians as a representative image. It is the first time that such a picture has been created in St. Gallen, so we don’t yet know how to proceed because the paper was previously lined, which now means that the paint is peeling off in some places. This inexperience with the material is also evident in the patchy application of the purple ground.
But that means that the artists knew the ancient models or the models from Charles the Bald’s palace schools, but not the technology. So they didn’t came from Tour, Reims or St. Denis.49
The model for framing the picture is folio 423r of the Vivian’s Bible, i.e. the image of the ruler. The depiction of the figures also draws its inspiration from the Vivian Bible, but also from other works of the court school of Charles the Bald, (Psalter of Charles the Bald and Bible of St. Paul) but also earlier works such as the Vespasian Psalter50
The illustrator also goes his own way when depicting Jerome on p14, but is still inspired. He shows the church father in liturgical regalia, but he leaves out the dalmatic with its wide sleeves and the clavi, as well as the cingulum, the belt. Accordingly, Jerome stands in Alba, the undergarment, and chasuble, but wears the stole over the chasuble (actually it should be worn underneath). Eggenberg suspects, among other things, from the folds of the Kassel, into which the stole falls as if in a lap, that the painter of the St. Gallen Psalter took his original model from the Vivian Bible and the Bible of St Paul and made the seated figure of Jerome into one Stand figure redesigned.51
David’s view of issuing the command on p139 can also be linked to the works of the School of Tours. The gesture of David corresponds to the gesture of Moses in the Grandval Bible when proclaiming the 10 Commandments, also from the Vivian Bible and the Bible of St. Paul.52
The well known riders and rider groups on p132, p140 and p141, on the other hand, come from the Bernese Prudentius who was in the Reichenau monastery around 90053. From there he copies p82 (https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/bbb/0264/82) and p6154 He keeps the shape of the helmets, but can no longer do anything with the Roman pteryges shown in Prudentius. He therefore largely ignores the depiction of the armor and replaces it with a fountain.
But Eggenberger also recognizes parallels in Trajan’s Column, which he sees as so striking that it could be a coincidence.55
He points out that if an attempt was actually made to depict scale armor, they must have been taken from Trajan’s Column.
The depictions are based overall on older models, but parts are transported to the present day of the late 9th century, or unknown elements are adapted. While the helmets still use the models used in the Vivian Bible, the Lothar Evangeliar, the Bible of St. Paul or the Roman Prudentius, the armor is adapted to the times. They are interpreted as chain mail56575859 and not as scale armor, as is often claimed. t Eggenberger points out that if an attempt was made to draw scale armor, these could only have come as a template from the Sarmatian warriors of Trajan’s Column.
With this statement, Eggenberger avoids a point of criticism raised by Coupland60. He asked the question why the helmets are clearly antique, but the armor is not.
Conclusion:
Hardly any depiction that can be found in schools under Charles the Bald is originally Carolingian.
The West Frankish Carolingian king and later emperor sees himself and is also seen by others as the legitimate successor to the Western Roman emperor and this is what the illustrations express. Their goal is not to portray realism.
But this endeavor did not only exist in the Carolingian Empire. In Byzantium, too, which was now emerging from the dark phase of iconoclasm, there were efforts to recapture the splendor of earlier eras. Here it is called the Macedonian Renaissance and can be seen in manuscripts such as the “Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus”. Here too, older depictions from antiquity and late antiquity are used.
The overall appearance was important to the illustrators. Antiquity, or the (Western) Roman Empire, comes to life again in the presence of the Carolingians or their king, showing their own being in details such as lances, shields and swords, while giving the entire depiction a Roman look adopt imperial habitus.
The use of Byzantine symbolism, such as the coupled throne canopy, sheds new light on an anecdote from the Gesta Karoli Magni of Notker Balbulus. Notker wrote on behalf of Charles III. From 883 onwards he wrote a story about Charlemagne, which he disguised as a biography, which is why he is also known as the “first German storyteller”. But in it he hid criticism of the current conditions. So he has Karl’s courtiers criticize the Byzantine costume over the Frankish one.61
There was also an equestrian statue on the Lateran in Rome that was believed to be Emperor Constantine the Great. However, it is Marcus Aurelius. When this was discovered in the Renaissance, the pagan emperor was removed from the Lateran and placed in Capitoline Square. .
It is also important to remember that the illuminated manuscripts were never intended for a large audience. They were primarily made for the king/emperor. Their access was therefore limited to high nobility and the high clergy. These were people who had received training in the seven liberal arts. This group of people was very familiar with the ancient models and was able to classify and understand them.
Ultimately, all that remains to be said is that the well-known helmets and muscle armor from the Vivian Bible did not exist in the Carolingian period, and scale armor must also be viewed critically from the perspective of art history.
Bamberger Alkuin Bible fol7v ↩
Vasiliki Mavroska “Adam and Eve in the Western and Byzantine art of the Middle Ages” p.59ff and Real Lexicon of Germanic Archeology” Volume 16 p.305 ↩
A digital copy can be viewed here: https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.3225 ↩
D. Ganz, The Vatican Virgil and the Jerome Page in the First Bible of Charles the Bald p46 ↩
C.R. Dodwell, The Pictorial Arts Of The West 800-1200, p47 ↩
E.G. Grimme, Die Geschichte der abendländischen Buchmalerei p34 ↩
Vasiliki Mavroska „Adam and Eve in the Western and Byzantine art of the Middle Ages“ p.59ff and Reallexikon der Germanische Altertumskunde „Volume 16 p.305 ↩
cf. D.H.Wright, When the Vatican Vergil was in Tours, in Studies on Medieval Art, 800-1250: Festschrift für Florentine Mütherichzum 70. Geburtsstag p.3-66 ↩
C.R. Dodwell, The Pictorial Arts Of The West 800-1200, p.71 ↩
W. Köhler, Die Karolingischen Miniaturen Volume 1 / 2 ↩
garland sarcophagi : https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1098204 ), garland decoration in Pompeji : https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:House_of_the_Silver_Wedding_in_Pompeii_watercolor_by_Luigi_Bazzani.jpg ↩
cf. Charles Niver, Review to Wilhelm Köhler, Die Schule von Tours: Die Bilder in Speculum, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 1935) ↩
Peter Dronke, Vita Boethii. From the Early Testimonies to Boecis in Scripturus vitam pp. 287–294 ↩
Link:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Karl_der_Grosse_-_Pippin_von_Italien.jpg ↩
D. Ganz, The Vatican Virgil and the Jerome Page in the First Bible of Charles the Bald p.45 ↩
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascuserlebnis ↩
D.Ganz The Vatican Virgil and the Jerome Page in the First Bible of Charles the Bald p.49 ↩
Christoph Winterer „Stasis and movement in the ruler’s image of Charles the Bald“ in „Habitus – Norm und Transgression in Bild und Textt“ p. 19 ↩
Angela Geyer „Die Genese narrativer Buchillustration – Der Miniaturenzyklus zur Aeneis im Vergilius Vaticanus“ ↩
See David H. Wright, Der Vergilius Vaticanus. Ein Meisterwerk spätantiker Kunst. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, 1993, pp. 106–109 ↩
C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli p. 34 ↩
Size approx. 303cm x 182cm cf. N.Jung, H.Kempens, The Bamberg Imperial Robes under the Magnifying Glass – Methods and Results of Current Research S36ff ↩
(( F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting p79 ↩
J. Strothmann, Das Augustusnomen Karls des Großen, p. 276 ↩
E.Boshof Kaiser Lothar I.: Das Ringen um die Einheit des Frankenreichs in Lothar I. Kaiser und Mönch in Prüm p49 ↩
M. Roland, Zierschriften und Miniaturen als Mittel der “Selbstdarstellung” von Stiftern in : Régionalism et Internationalism. Problèmes de Paléographie et de Codicologie du Moyen Âge : actes du XVe Colloque du Comité International de Paléographie Latine S 209 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting p85 ↩
E.G. Grimme, Die Geschichte der abendländischen Buchmalerei p.51 ↩
J. E. Gaehde, The Pictorial Sources of the Illustrations to the Books of Kings, Proverbs, Judith and Maccabees in the Carolingian Bible of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura in Rome S359 ↩
Link https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius-Missorium#:~:text=The%20Missorium%20found%20sich %20heute,%3D%20Sendung%20oder%20mensa%20lat. ↩
Figure https:/ /www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464378 ↩
cf. J. E. Gaehde, The Pictorial Sources of the Illustrations to the Books of Kings, Proverbs, Judith and Maccabees in the Carolingian Bible of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura in Rome p.374 ↩
Ute Schwab, Die vielen Kleider der Passion in Theodisca p.232 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting S119 ↩
H. Schade Studien zur karolingischen Bilderbibel aus St. Paul vor den mauern in Rom (Teil2) S15 ↩
J. E. Gaehde, The Pictorial Sources of the Illustrations to the Books of Kings, Proverbs, Judith and Maccabees in the Carolingian Bible of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura in Rome p. 386 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting p.25 ↩
R. Pizzinato, Vision and Christomimesis in the Ruler Portrait of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram p.146 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting p.102 ↩
R. Pizzinato, Vision and Christomimesis in the Ruler Portrait of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram p.153 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting S109 ↩
R. Pizzinato, Vision and Christomimesis in the Ruler Portrait of the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram S.158-159 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting p.96 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting p.96-98 ↩
H. Schade Studien zur karolingischen Bilderbibel aus St. Paul vor den Mauern in Rom (Teil2) p.17 ↩
H. Schade studies on the Carolingian picture Bible from St. Paul outside the Walls in Rome (Part 2) S15 ↩
C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli p. 39 ↩
C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli p. 51 ↩
C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli S 60 ↩
. C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli S139 ↩
see C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli S138 ↩
cf. C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli S126 ff ↩
C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli S138 ↩
F.Mütherich, J.E.Gaehde, Carolingian Painting S124 ↩
cf. C. Eggenberger Psalterium Aureum Sancti Galli ↩
cf. B.S. Bachrach Charlemagne’s Cavalry: Myth and Reality ↩
F.L. Ganshof Frankish Institutions Under Charlemagne S65ff ↩
S. Coupland Carolingian Arms and Armor p.31 ↩
Notker, Gesta Karoli, II, 17 ↩
Sehr geehrter Herr Zwittmeier, zur Ortsnamen-Geschichte von Geinsheim hier ein paar Anmerkungen. Die Zuordnung der Namen Gemminesheim und Gemminisheim im…
Danke Christian, tatsächlich war ich vor 2 Jahren dort, muss aber gestehen das ich den Textilien wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt habe.…
Hi. Bin grad über den Artikel gestoßen. Wenn du mal in die Nähe von Hildesheim kommst: Im dortigen Domschatz befinden…
Nein aktualisiert nicht. Die müsste noch in der Variante wahrscheinlich noch irgendwo in meinem Archiv schlummern
Hallo Markus, hast du die Karte zwischenzeitlich zufällig für einen anderen Post/Vortrag/Ausstellung aktualisiert?