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Carolingian Art

Medieval and Byzantine Art

Carolingian art was the art produced under Charlemagne and his successors from roughly 780 to 900, a deliberate revival of Late Antique and Early Christian models undertaken as part of the Carolingian Renaissance's broader program of imperial and religious renewal. Manuscript illumination flourished at court scriptoria, producing lavishly decorated gospel books such as the Lorsch Gospels and Godescalc Evangelistary, while architecture combined Roman basilican planning with new features, the westwork facade at Corvey among the clearest survivals. Ivory carving, metalwork and the palace chapel at Aachen, modeled partly on Byzantine San Vitale, all served to present Charlemagne's court as heir to Rome. The movement's classicizing impulse and revived naturalism directly shaped the later Ottonian art that followed it in the tenth century.

Facts
Start Year
780 1
End Year
900 1
Founded In Place
The Carolingian Empire, centered on Aachen 1
Key Principle
A deliberate revival of Late Antique and Early Christian classical models in manuscript illumination, ivory, metalwork and architecture, sponsored by the imperial court as a statement of continuity with Rome. 1
Connections

Expressed In

Gregorian Chant, Art Forms

Gregorian chant was codified and standardized as the official liturgical chant of the Frankish Church during the Carolingian reforms of the 8th and 9th centuries.

Movement Members

Utrecht Psalter, Works

A canonical work of Carolingian manuscript illumination.

Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source

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