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Essay / Carolingian Renaissance: the rebirth of the classical style inspired by Constantine
The rebirth of the Western Roman Empire, an empire that lasted more than a millennium, an empire that rivaled the Byzantine Empire, an empire who helped shape modern Europe as we know it, and all came from a group of people with the same name as a sketchy dive bar, Franks. This empire was founded when Charlemagne, king of the Franks and Lombards, of the Carolingian dynasty, was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III in the year 800 CE. Charlemagne saw himself, as Dr. Nancy Ross said, "as the new Constantine", so Charlemagne implemented new reforms such as ecclesial reforms from his "Adomonitio Generalis" and cultural reforms from his "Adomonitio Generalis". Epistola de litteris colendis”. These reforms led to the invitation of "the greatest scholars from all over Europe to come to court and give advice for the revival of politics, the church, art and literature." These reforms led to what is now known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The Carolingian Empire, soon to be known as the Holy Roman Empire, wanted to be the rebirth of the Western Roman Empire, but with a more Christian context, and Charlemagne wanted to emulate Constantine, which is seen everywhere in his art and architecture. The five works of art discussed in this article are the Portrait of Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels, the Portrait of Saint Mark from the Ebbo Gospels, the Palatine Chapel and the Santa Prasedde, as well as the cover of the Gospel of Lindau. These works of art represent the influence of Byzantine style, classical style, and early Christian artistic styles on the Carolingian Renaissance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe Ebbo Gospels were an illuminated gospel book from the Carolingian Empire. The Gospel contains many images but the two main ones are the portraits of Saint Mark and Saint Matthew which are perfect examples of how Carolingian art was influenced by both the Byzantine and Classical styles. The Byzantine influence in these two works of art can be seen in the iconography in how they are literal saints spreading the word of God, and the other Byzantine influence is that the portraits are part of an illuminated manuscript, which was a huge thing. in the Byzantine Empire. The question arises, however, as to why the Byzantine Empire had such a great influence on these two portraits. It turns out that during the Carolingian Renaissance, the Byzantine Empire was going through its iconoclasm phase which saw the destruction of many works of art because they depicted holy figures in human form. With many Byzantine artists losing their jobs and having their works destroyed and a new empire forming inviting scholars from all over Europe, this is the best place for Byzantine artists to settle down, as Ruth says Berenson: “Greek artists fleeing the Byzantine iconoclasm of the 8th century. century". The influence of the classical style is also easily seen in the portraits of St. Matthew and St. Mark in the Ebbo Gospels, respectively, as highlighted by Dr. Nancy Ross and Dr. Jennifer Awes Freeman in their video "Saint Matthew from the Gospels of Ebbo"., in the portrait of Saint Matthew, you can see that these frenetic lines could have been a Carolingian artists interpretation of the classical drawing style, they do not emphasize the frenzied lines of the portrait of Saint Mark but it was always drawn in the same style. They're right though, the frantic lines have a strangeresemblance to the tunics worn in portraits of the Roman Empire, but also for this writer they have many similarities with the statue of Augustus of Primaporta. While in line with the month of August, the rolled-up tunics look strangely similar. In the portrait of Saint Matthew, Dr. Ross and Dr. Freeman again highlight another influence of the classical style in their video "Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels." In the upper part of the portrait you can see the classical drawn landscape and buildings that can be seen throughout the period of Roman art, but for this writer they are like the painted garden, the villa of Livia. These two works of art clearly show the influence of Byzantine and Classical styles on Carolingian art. The Palatine Chapel was part of the Aachen Palace, which was the jewel of Carolingian architecture, but the architect of this magnificent building was inspired by it. Byzantine spirits. The Palatine Palace was based on the San Vitale and, according to Dr. Freeman, "the San Vitale Chapel in Ravenna is probably the best comparison of what the Palatine Chapel looked like before its Gothic renovations." The Palatine Chapel follows the plan of San Vitale while the Palatine Chapel is an octagonal shaped church with a centralized plan. The Palatine Chapel is also inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which dates from the Palatine artistic period. The Palatine Chapel follows a centralized plan as previously noted, but it is also surrounded by an ambulatory and an upper gallery, as noted by Dr. Freeman. in the article Palatine Chapel, Aachen. According to Dr. Freeman, it was created by Constantine's mother, St. Helena. The Palatine Chapel also uses an octagonal dome found throughout Byzantine architecture, but this dome is special because it also features iconographic features. According to a video released by UNESCO titled Aachen Cathedral, the number eight plays a major role in the Christian religion, an octagon can be drawn by two intersecting squares in a circle, and the circle represents the eternity of God while the square represents the secular world. . With this definition from the UNESCO video, the use of an octagonal dome on the Palatine Chapel is exceptional. The Palatine Chapel also contains many mosaics and is used for iconography and symbolism, as Dr. Freeman said: "the original dome carried an apocalyptic mosaic program consisting of the Lamb of God surrounded by the tetramorph (symbols of the four gospel writers) and the twenty-four elders described in Revelation 4:4.” The depiction of Jesus and four of his disciples is among the greatest icons used by artists in both the Carolingian Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the early Christian art world. The Palatine Chapel is a glorious building, but this building would not exist in its current form without the works of the Byzantine Empire and the early Christian artistic style. The funny thing about the Palatine Chapel is that it is based on a building created by the mother of the man Charlemagne was trying to emulate. The Santa Prassede contains a beautiful mosaic in the apse from the Carolingian Empire which follows the Byzantine style. The subjects of the mosaic according to Richard Bowen, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker in the video Mosaics, Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Rome are Saint Praxedes, Jesus Christ, Saint Paul, the apostles represented by lambs leaving the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and Saint Paschal who presents the church. What is interesting about Saint Paschal, who was pope at the time this mosaic was created, is the square halo around his head. According to Mr. Bowen, Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker in their..