The Western Roman Empire is a rebirth. This was an empire for over a millennium. It was an imperium that rivaled Rome’s Byzantine Empire. These empires helped to shape modern Europe. They all stemmed from the same people as the Franks. Charlemagne of the Carolingian family, King of Lombards and Franks, founded this empire in 800 CE. Charlemagne considered himself Dr. Nancy Ross and “a new Constantine”. Charlemagne then implemented new reforms including church reforms in his “AdomonitioGeneralis” as well as cultural reforms in his “Epistolade litteris colendis”. These reforms lead to the invitation to “the greatest scholars across Europe to give advice for his revival of politics, art, literature, and church”. The Carolingian Empire – soon to become the Holy Roman Empire – was created to revive the Western Roman Empire. But it was based on a Christian heritage. Charlemagne desired to follow Constantine’s example in art and architecture. This paper will focus on five pieces of art: the portrait of Saint Matthew, the Portrait of Saint Mark, the Palatine Chapel and the Lindau Gospel Cover. These works show how the Carolingian Renaissance was influenced by the Byzantine Style, Classical Style, and early Christian Art styles. The Ebbo Gospels is an illuminated Gospel Book from the Carolingian Empire. There are many images in the gospel, but the most significant are the portraits for Saint Mark (or Matthew) and Saint Matthew (or Saint Matthew). These two portraits are perfect examples of Carolingian art being influenced by both Classical and Byzantine styles. You can see the Byzantine influence in these two works of arts in the iconography. It is evident that these saints are spreading the word and God’s Word. Another Byzantine influence lies in the fact the portraits are part a illuminated manuscript. This was a significant thing during the Byzantine Empire. But the real question is why was the Byzantine Imperial so heavily influenced by these portraits. The Byzantine Empire was in its Iconoclasm stage during the Carolingian Renaissance. They were depicting holy figures in human forms and many art pieces were destroyed. The new empire, which welcomed scholars from Europe, was the ideal place for Byzantine artist to relocate. Ruth Berenson stated that many Byzantine art-makers lost their jobs and saw their works destroyed. It is also evident in the portraits Saint Matthew and Saint Mark from the Ebbo Gospels. As Dr. Nancy Ross & Dr. Jennifer Awes Freeman noted in their video “Saint Matthew From the Ebbo Gospels”, you can see that the lines are frenzied. Although they don’t mention the lines in Saint Marks’ portrait, it was drawn in the exact same style. Their frenzied lines resemble the Roman Empire tunics. But, to this writer, they also have many similarities to Augustus of Primaporta’s statue. While August’s bunched up tunics look remarkably similar, Dr. Ross, Dr. Freeman and Saint Matthew show another influence of the classical design in their video “Saint Matthew and the Ebbo Gospels”. The portrait’s upper portion shows the classically drawn landscapes of buildings. They can be seen all over the Roman art period. For this writer, these buildings are like the Painted Garden or Villa of Livia. Both these works of art show the influence of classical and Byzantine styles on Carolingian architecture. The Palatine was built from the San Vitale. Dr. Freeman claims that the San Vitale Chapel, Ravenna, is a good example of what the Palatine Chapel looked to be before the Gothic renovations. The Palatine Chapel is based on the San Vitale’s floor plan, while the Palatine chapel follows an octagonal shape with a centralized plan. The Palatine Chapel is also inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. It also follows the same floor plan as the San Vitale. However, the Palatine Chapel has an ambulatory and an upper gallery, as Dr. Freeman explains in article Palatine Chapel. Dr. Freeman states that Constantine’s mother Saint Helena created it. Another octagonal dome used in Byzantine architecture is the Palatine Chapel. The dome’s iconographic attributes make it unique. A video titled Aachen Church explains that eight plays a central role in Christian faith. An octagon is drawn from two intersecting squares within a square. The circle represents God’s eternity while the square symbolizes the secular realm. With this definition from UNESCO, it is remarkable that the Palatine Chapel uses an octagonal Dome. The Palatine Chapel has many mosaics. It also uses symbolism and iconography. Dr. Freeman says that the original dome contained an apocalyptic programme of mosaics. This included the Lamb of God surrounded the tetramorphs of the Gospel writers and the twenty four elders from Revelations 4. The Byzantine Empire’s Carolingian Empire used four of Jesus’ disciples to represent their greatest icons. Early Christian art worlds also had them. While the Palatine Chapel may be a beautiful building, without the Byzantine empire or early Christian art style, this building wouldn’t exist as it is today. The Palatine chapel was built from the blueprint of the Palatine Palace, which Charlemagne wanted to copy. Santa Prassede’s apse is decorated with a mosaic that reflects the Byzantine style. The mosaic is presented by Dr. Beth Harris, Richard Bowen, and Dr. Steven Zucker in Mosaics. It is notable that Saint Paschal was Pope at the time this mosaic was created. In Dr. Harris’s video Mosaics Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Rome, Dr. Zucker and Mr. Bowen explain that the square halo depicts a saint still alive at the time of the depiction. Since Saint Paschal was also Pope during the mosaic, it is possible that his depiction of the church is presenting it to Jesus Christ. The pope is the head and heir of Saint Peter’s Catholic Church. Because it is a mosaic it also follows Byzantine style. The images are very flat, which is why there is no third dimension. Dr. Harris, Richard Bowen (Praxedes), and Dr. Zucker note that the figures are not using the groundline that was used in many preChristian periods. Instead, their feet look dangling. This is also a Byzantine characteristic. The Santa Prassede mosaics show the impact of Byzantine art on Carolingian culture. Lindau Gospel cover, made of gold, pearls and emeralds, as well as many other fine jewels, depicts Christ’s crucifixion. This piece shows the influence of classical style on the Carolingian Renaissance. The mediums of this cover are not meant to look beautiful but each of them has symbolic significance of how one gets to Jerusalem, according to Dr. Ross. The gospels cover features a Carolingian Christ named the Triumphant Christ. Dr. Ross claims that this means Christ did not suffer in his crucifixion. Further inspection revealed that the cross has many arches. The Lindau Gospels cover shows off the influence of classical styling. Dr. Ross, Dr. Zucker and their video Lindau Gospelscover by tell us that the cloth of Christ is covered in classical art. Traditional art was about drapery and folding drapery. Carolingian art has been trying to revive this classical style. Some earlier examples of this paper show the revival, but the Lindau Gospels covers shows it best. The figures, including the Christ figure, don’t have any abstract muscles and they are smoothed. According to Dr. Ross and Dr. Zig, the Repousse technique was used to create the figures. This evidence is enough to show that the Lindau Gospels Cover influenced the Classical style. These works of architecture and art are all magnificent in their own right, but they also show the influence of the Classical, Byzantine and early Christian styles on the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne was determined to revive the Roman Empire and create a new Christian empire with his Carolingian Renaissance. The empire’s beginning was the Carolingian Renaissance. It produced some of the most amazing art and architecture. The Carolingian empire is credited with transforming medieval art from the abstract to the classical. Although its architecture is stunning, it would not be possible without the Byzantine style and early Christian inspiration. One man’s incredible Renaissance was the key to a great empire that would shape modern Europe and the world.
