On the Classicism of the "Classic" Phase of Franco-Saxon Manuscript Illumination

Author(s): Jacques Guilmain

Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 49, No. 3 (Sep., 1967), pp. 231-235
Published by: CAA
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 Notes 231

ON THE CLASSICISM OF THE ering of Insular ornamentation on the Continent. The author of a recent
"CLASSIC" PHASE OF FRANCO-SAXON publication, comparing it to other Carolingian styles, calls it "essentially
MANUSCRIPT ILLUMINATION* retardataire."7 On the other hand, writers more attentive to the formal
structure of works of art, particularly Carl Nordenfalk and also Gene-
JACQUES GUILMAIN
vieve Micheli, have made different observations. They have noted that,
The reintroduction of classical forms and their early Christian variantsdespite their fundamentally Insular derivation, the illuminations of the
into the vocabulary of artists during the Carolingian period has been ofmain group of Franco-Saxon works-the "classic" Franco-Saxon manu-
scripts such as the Second Bible of Charles the Bald and the codices that
great interest to scholars. Symptomatic of the classical revival in Carolin-
gian manuscript illumination is the appearance of a kind of Hellenistic- can be grouped around it-reflect a taste for lucid architectonic struc-
Roman illusionism in the treatment of the human figure, backgrounds,tures, symmetry, and a geometric clarity of classical inspiration; and a
and landscapes; the substitution for the geometric and zoomorphic or-reconciliation of this taste with the tendencies toward the complex, dy-
nament associated with Merovingian and Insular art of plant ornament,namic, and paradoxical characteristics of Insular design.8
particularly the acanthus motif; and the use of certain types of clas- These observations are in my view entirely correct. There remains the
question of how this "classic" Franco-Saxon type of composition orig-
sically derived architectural motifs. Most significant for some scholars is
the renewed interest in the iconographic tradition of classical mythology,
inated. One possibility, which I believe certainly provides part of the
which is reflected in the paintings of some Carolingian works.1 answer, is that a main stream of inspiration came from Insular works
Generally speaking, little has been said of the classicism of illumina- of the type of the Book of Lindisfarne. The decoration of that codex
tions in which decorative calligraphy and non-representational art play reflects strong Mediterranean influences; many of its decorated pages,
a major role. This is true of the paintings in the codices of the so-calledfor all the vibrating energy of their ornamentation, are designed within
Franco-Saxon school. Representations of the human figure are rarelythe framework of architectonically clear formats--in contrast to the
found in these books. The few figures that do appear are by and large
later "Baroque" compositions of the Book of Kells.9 I myself have sug-
unimaginatively conceived, and clearly derive from other Carolingian
gested as another source of inspiration the compositions of initial pages
works, or sometimes from Insular models.2 The most striking feature of in the manuscripts of the Reims school.1o I wish to develop here the
the decoration in this group of manuscripts is the use as prominent ele-
idea, which I have proposed briefly elsewhere, that a third and impor-
ments of the linear, dot-contour, zoomorphic, and interlace ornaments tant source of inspiration in the creation of "classic" Franco-Saxon com-
which reached the peak of their development in the superb Lindisfarnepositions was simply an unusually profound understanding of Roman
Gospels (ca. 698) and Book of Kells (eighth century).s Yet these Conti-
capital script, and a deep respect for its formal make-up. Book illumina-
nental codices are relatively late, postdating such famous products of thetion is after all fundamentally a technique of the scriptorium. To the
Carolingian renascence as the manuscripts of the Court School of Char- scriptorium painter calligraphy was not merely a method of writing, but
lemagne,4 the Coronation Gospel Book and related works,s and thean important art form,11 and it is within the context of this art that the
earlier manuscripts of the Reims school. Indeed, one of the most accom-
illuminators of the Franco-Saxon school in some ways understood the
plished of the Franco-Saxon books, the Second Bible of Charles the Bald,principles of classical composition best. Other Carolingian artists and
can be fairly securely dated between 870 and 873. calligraphers used the Roman capital, but rarely with the same regard
Thus some students of Carolingian art have looked upon Franco- for its inherent character.
Saxon illumination as an art that represents little more than a late flow- The script of gilded and painted Roman capitals used by the illumi-

* I am indebted to the following libraries for allowing me to reproduce works in their Schapiro in a sensitive way during the course of his lectures on early mediaeval
collections: the Biblioth~que Nationale, Paris, the British Museum, London, and the art at Columbia University.
Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. My work on this paper was supported by a9 Micheli, L'enluminure, 128.
grant from the Research Foundation of the State University of New York. 1o "Second Bible of Charles the Bald," 258; that certain compositions in the Second
1 It would hardly be possible to document here at length all the writings on this sub- Bible of Charles the Bald were related to the Reims style was observed also by
ject. See, for example, Erwin Panofsky, Renaissance and Renascences in Western Charles Mather Smith Niver, "A Study of Certain of the More Important Manu-
Art, Stockholm, 1960, 43-52; Jean Seznec, The Survival of the Pagan Gods, New scripts of the Franco-Saxon School," unpubl. diss., Harvard University, 1941, 131.
York, 1953, 150ff. A relationship to some other Carolingian schools, for example Tours, is also indi-
2 See, for example, Am~d~e Boinet, La miniature carolingienne, ses origines, son cated, but this is less easy to analyze. According to Ph. Lauer, the development of
ddveloppement, Paris, 1913, pls. xcrzz a (Gospel Book of Saint-Vaast d'Arras), the Franco-Saxon style was nourished by an extremely varied eclecticism; he
xcvIIy a, b, xcux a (Gospel Book of Francis II), cvrzz c, d (Gospel Book in writes of the manuscripts of this style: "I1 est Cvident qu'ils ont eu surtout des
the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Cologne, and Ms 14, Gospel Book in the Cologne Ca- modules insulaires, dont nous retrouvons encore aujourd'hui des t~moins parmi
thedral Library). les Cpaves des bibliothbques monastiques ou 6piscopales de cette pbriode, mais
3 On these manuscripts, see the Urs Graf publications, Evangeliorum Quattuor ils ont eu aussi quelques modules byzantins ou antiques; et c'est en puisant A ces
Codex Lindisfarnensis, Lausanne, 1956-60, and Codex Cenannensis, Bern, 1950-51. sources diverses qu'ils sont arrives A composer ce style tres particulier que le Comte
4 On these manuscripts, see Wilhelm Koehler, Die Hofschule Karls des Grossen (Die de Bastard et Liopold Delisle ont qualifib de franco-saxon parce qu'il est apparu
karolingischen Miniaturen, II), Berlin, 1958. dans la Gaule franque, au nord de la Seine, A la suite d'une forte influence anglo-
5 See Koehler, Die Gruppe des wiener Kranungs-evangeliar (Die karolingischen Mi- saxonne. Mais il ne faudrait pas que ce nom fit perdre de vue que cet art complexe
niaturen, m, pt. 1), Berlin, 1960. reprisente en r~alitC l'aboutissement d'un effort d'Cclectisme extr~mement variC,
6 On this manuscript, see my article "The Illuminations of the Second Bible of et le nom de franco-britannique ou franco-insulaire lui conviendrait mieux, car
Charles the Bald," Speculum, xLu, 1966, 246-60. c'est en somme l'art irlandais ou celtique qui y apparait A la base." (L'dvangkliaire
7 John Beckwith, Early Medieval Art, London, 1964, 72. See also Samuel Berger, carolingien de Lyon, Lyon, 1928, 18)
Histoire de la Vulgate pendant les premiers sikcles du moyen Bge, Paris, 1893, 282f., 11 That calligraphy is an art and has the characteristics of style of works of art has
and Ernst Kitzinger, Early Medieval Art in the British Museum, London, 1940, 49f. been observed by scholars who have made sensitive studies of palaeography. See
8 Carl Nordenfalk, "Ein karolingisches Sacramentar aus Echternach und seine Vor- E. A. Lowe, "Handwriting," in C. G. Crump and E. F. Jacob, eds., The Legacy of
laiifer," Acta Archaeologica, I1, 1931, 213ff.; Genevieve L. Micheli, L'enluminure the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1926; and Millard Meiss, "Toward a More Comprehen-
du haut moyen age et les influences irlandaises, Brussels, 1939, 135. This special sive Renaissance Palaeography," AB, xLu, 1960, 97-112.
character of Franco-Saxon illumination has also been discussed by Prof. Meyer

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232 The Art Bulletin

nators of Franco-Saxon manuscripts strongly reveals, in its structure, its

original form in Roman epigraphy. A clear, geometrically lucid format
is distinctive of Roman capitals, which forces the viewer to see the let-
ters as consisting of, or being environmentally related to, regular forms:
the square, the oval, the rectangle, and the circle (text fig. 1). It is inter-
esting to note that this compositional principle was obvious to Renais-
sance artists and theorists. To Diirer, for example, every letter of the
alphabet of Roman capitals is derived initially from a square (regardless
of whether the final form of the letter is included completely within it),
which is cut by horizontal, vertical, and sometimes diagonal guide lines.
The rounded parts of the letters are designed with the compass. That
these capitals had noble and pleasing proportions also did not escape
the notice of Renaissance designers, who sometimes compared them to
the proportions of the human face or body (Figs. 1, 2).12 For the Franco-
Saxon illuminator each capital must be placed in sharp focus within the
line of text, and each one is a clear silhouette enclosing and surrounded
by inviolable negative spaces. The harmony of the text lines depends
Fig. 1. Second Bible of Charles the Bald. Paris, Bibliothbque Nationale,
on a delicate equilibrium of forms spaced in a stable and regularly pro-
MS lat. 2, title page of Genesis (Franco-Saxon, ca. 870-873)
portioned way. For example, in the two lines of the word "GENESEOS"
reproduced here (text fig. 1) the apparently over-wide spacing of the
"O" and "S" at the end of the second line actually stabilizes the equilib-
rium of the whole word by compensating for the considerable width articulation
of within the compositional format reflects an attitude funda-
the "G." mentally different from that of the calligrapher working uncompro-
By contrast, there are cases in Insular manuscripts where the harmony misingly with Roman capitals. The calligrapher of a Franco-Saxon
of the design of the lettering depends on combinations of tensions and manuscript occasionally introduced a break in a line of Roman capitals
carefully contrived discords. In an example from the Lindisfarne Gospels by radically reducing the size of a single letter, or sometimes by violat-
(Fig. 4) one perceives not a simple line of text, but rather a complex ing the regular rhythm of a line; but these variations appear to have
texture of geometrical forms. The artist has not hesitated to distort the been introduced only to provide some relief in an otherwise static spac-
structure of the individual letters to suit the demands of his abstract ing.14
composition-each of the four "A"s is different-and he readily places A common form of decorated page in "classic" Franco-Saxon manu-
some letters over or inside others, or turns a letter almost upside-downscripts is illustrated in Fig. 5.15 In this type the artist simply displays a
if a striking combination can thus be achieved. The letters become few lines of beautiful slender gold Roman capitals. The architectural
smaller by fits and starts; the single line of text is doubled toward the frame--its jambs and arch filled with impeccably executed interlace or-
end and the letters become more and more crowded. To the bewildered naments of Insular derivation--simply sets off the architectonically lu-
viewer unfamiliar with the principles of composition of Hiberno-North-cid design of the lettering. The same compositional principle is used to
umbrian artists, it may appear as if the calligrapher had so badly mis-display the handsome pages of uncials illustrated in Figs. 8 and 10.
calculated his spacing that he was forced to crowd more and more letters The taste for clarity and geometric regularity that is so plainly re-
into a shrinking area as he proceeded. Actually, of course, this was de-flected in the structure of Roman capitals seems, for the illuminators of
liberate. The system of decoration used by Insular artists and calligra-the "classic" Franco-Saxon manuscripts, to have influenced the creation
phers demanded the most uncompromising control in spacing and theof elements otherwise unrelated to those majuscules. Thus, Insular cap-
construction of rhythmic patterns.13 itals are often modified by these Carolingian artists, and indeed some-
Not all Hiberno-Northumbrian decorative lettering is as complex as times appear to be imitations, rather than real derivations, of Insular
the example illustrated here, but the very fact that such a degree of free- letters. Their structure is often untypically geometrically regular (Fig.
dom was possible in the handling of the structure of letters and their3, cf. Fig. 4). The Franco-Saxon initial illustrated in Fig. 6 is composed

12 The first Renaissance theorist to construct an alphabet of Roman capitals on the
basis of the circle and the square, accompanying them with instructions on the
methods of fashioning them, was apparently Felice Feliciano of Verona. See Dario
A. Covi, "Lettering in Fifteenth Century Florentine Painting," AB, xLv, 1963, 9f.
13 See John Romilly Allen, Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times, London, 1904;
George Bain, The Methods of Construction of Celtic Art, Glasgow, 1951; R. L. S.
Bruce-Mitford, "The Methods of Construction of the Insular Ornament," in Evang.
Quat. Codex Lindisfarnensis, 221-30.
14 The tendency to introduce variations in the size of letters, and to telescope letters,
appears stronger in the works of some other Carolingian schools. It is a feature
also of a number of Quattrocento examples of the use of Roman capitals. See, for
example, Meiss, "Renaissance Palaeography," 106, and figs. 17, 29, 33; Covi, "Let-
tering," figs. 22, 31.
15 For descriptions of Paris, Bibl. Nat., Ms lat. 257, from which Fig. 5 is taken, consult
the Biblioth~que Nationale's Catalogue gkndral des manuscrits latins, Paris, 1939,
I, 94f.; and Berger, Histoire de la Vulgate, 402. It is interesting to compare the
Franco-Saxon page reproduced here with similar designs in the Tours Gospel Book
of Lothaire, Paris, Bibl. Nat. Ms lat. 266 (see E. K. Rand, A Survey of the Manu-
scripts of Tours, Cambridge, Mass., 1929, n, pl. cxxxrv, and Koehler, Die Schule
yon Tours [Die karolingischen Miniaturen, I], Berlin, 1930, pl. 101 a, b, d, e). Like
the Franco-Saxon illuminator, the Tours artist displays a few lines of Roman capi-
tals which he surrounds by an ornamental frame. But whereas in the Franco-Saxon
work the painter has muted the frame just enough, so that the lines of text retain
their primacy within the composition as a whole, the Tours artist has designed or-
nate, dynamic frames that make the letters appear somewhat thin and weak; here
the personality of the ornamentalist literally overpowers that of the calligrapher.
The same is true in the Tours Ms in the Biblioth~que Municipale, Laon, No. 63,
reproduced in Koehler, ibid., pl. 108. In that manuscript the calm of the lines of
large Roman capitals on the decorated pages is disrupted not only by the active
frames from which all sorts of motifs project, but also by the abbreviation nota-
tions which are sometimes given the forms of snakes or palmettes. See also ibid.,
pls. 62 b, 112 a, c; 114 a, c, d, e; 123 a, c, e, h.

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Fig. 2. Second Bible of Charles the Bald, geometric schema nator has chosen
of initial "E", a composition in which the ribbon movement follows
the periphery of the innermost circle, dips toward the center, and shifts
fol. 328v
entirely of typical Hiberno-Northumbrian interlace and zoomorphic
motifs, but its architectural framework is based on a regular series of
compass-drawn interlocking circles (text fig. 2).
I have stressed elsewhere the significant connections between the dec-
oration of the Franco-Saxon Second Bible of Charles the Bald and that
Fig. 3. A) Book of Kells, decorative medallion. Dublin, Trinity College Li
Paris, Bibliothbque Nationale, Ms lat. 257, fol. 149r; C) Compositional sch
16 "Second Bible of Charles the Bald," 250-56.
17 The Franco-Saxon ornament reproduced in text fig. 38 is not, of course, an in-
vention of Carolingian artists. It is nothing more than a very simple type of deco-
rative motif which belongs to the family of Hiberno-Northumbrian interlace. A
similar four-lobed motif contained in a medallion appears, for example, in the
"N" initial on fol. 4r of the Book of Durrow (see the Urs Graf-Verlag publication,
Evangeliorum Quattuor Codex Durmachensis, Lausanne, 1960, 1); a four-lobed de-
sign like the Franco-Saxon one discussed here, except that the patterns are not con-
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FRANCO-SAXON ILLUMINATION 233
of the Books of Lindisfarne and Kells.l8 However, in a demonstration of
the uniqueness of Franco-Saxon illumination, it is obviously more im-
portant to stress the differences between these works. These are often
discernible even in individual motifs. For example, the creation of great
frames structurally strengthened by corner and lateral ornamentations
is a common feature in Insular manuscripts as well as in those of the
Franco-Saxon school. But the typical "classic" Franco-Saxon corner and
lateral frame ornaments are almost always made up of clear, closed
geometrical patterns such as squares, circles, and quatrefoils (Figs.
7-10); whereas the frame accents in Hiberno-Northumbrian illumina-
tions tend to be less regular, more varied in any single page design, and
more complicated. It is true that simple geometrical forms enclosing
ornaments are common in Hiberno-Northumbrian manuscripts, although
not often used in frames; but the enclosed decorations themselves tend
to differ compositionally from those in the Franco-Saxon manuscripts. A
comparison of text figs. 3A and 3B should bring this out clearly. Note
that the interlace patterns in the two decorations are of the same type,
that is, they consist of four repeated configurations woven out of one or
two meandering ribbons. But here the similarity ends. The Kells illumi-
back outwardly. The eye is forced to grasp the composition as a single
unit; its components are fused; there are no clear axes. On the other
hand, the artist who made the Franco-Saxon design has chosen a com-
position in which the patterns are connected in the center of the medal-
lion; there is thus automatically developed a series of four sharply
delineated and seemingly closed units, organized along four strongly
defined axes (text fig. 3c).l7
I \ ?
I \
\ II\la
\ ! '
\ I I
\
I \
I ,
\ A I "
nected by a continuous ribbon, is found in the ath century Codex Aureus of
Canterbury, in one of the columns of the arches on the canon table on fol. 8r (see
E. Heinrich Zimmermann, Vorkarolingische Miniaturen, Berlin, 1916, IV, pl. 281)
where it is one of the many motifs in a fabric of ornamental forms of Hiberno-
Northumbrian derivation. What is characteristic of Franco-Saxon art is the way
decorative motifs of relatively simple, clear, and symmetrical composition are used
almost consistently in preference to the more complex, unstable, and assymetrical
variants of which Hiberno-Northumbrian artists were so fond.
234 The Art Bulletin

Of course this single example cannot be said to illustrate any rigid

Let us now compare the decorated page of the introduction to the
set of rules. But by and large these conditions hold true: Hiberno-
Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, from the Second Bible of
Northumbrian designs lean toward compositions in which axes areCharles un- the Bald (Fig. 11), with the introductory page of the Gospel Ac-
cording to Luke in the Lindisfarne Gospels (Fig. 12). There are many
stable and patterns are fused; "classic" Franco-Saxon decorative designs,
by contrast, lean toward compositions with stable axes, in which similarities
pat- between the two pages. Both reflect a taste for clarity and
terns are easily isolated (Figs. 7-11). In the Second Bible of Charlesrestraint
the in the composition of the major forms, and in that sense the
Charles the Bald illuminations as a whole are more closely related to
Bald, medallions containing Kells-like twisted animal forms are repeated,
sometimes without changes, sometimes as mirror images (Fig. 6).18 those
Thisof the Lindisfarne Gospels than to any others in major manu-
is a technique borrowed from Hiberno-Northumbrian art; but scripts
the of the Hiberno-Northumbrian tradition.
Franco-Saxon manuscripts do not emphasize the repetition of formsNevertheless, it would be a mistake to assume that the decoration of
thethe
within an almost undecipherable medley of motifs--as tends to be Franco-Saxon manuscript is merely a belated derivative of the Lin-
case in the Insular manuscriptsls--but rather focus on groups of disfarne
two, style. To go back to our comparison, although the Franco-
or sometimes four, clearly stated repeated images of animal motifs. Saxon artist has not painted a frame, the composition of his design ap-
pears closed and self-contained. The Lindisfarne artist, by contrast, has
The compositional principles that apply to calligraphy and individual
components of ornamentation are extended to the overall design ofpainted
the an elaborate frame, or rather two segments of a frame or "par-
tialof
decorated page in these Carolingian manuscripts. An impression frames,"23 but these do not contain the design of the decorated
initials and letters; they are rather interlocked with it, like pieces of a
majestic scale pervades their illuminations. This can be observed in
the two sets of facing pages from the Pierpont Morgan Library Ms M. Indeed, the giant "Q" in the Lindisfarne composition seems to
puzzle.
862 (Figs. 7-10).2o The sophistication of these paintings is not evidentaway from the restraint of the frame in the upper left. Again, the
burst
in the black-and-white photographs. The large outer ribbons of "P"the
in the Franco-Saxon illumination is encased in a delicate but stable
design of dots forming a square and a rectangle; and except for the
main body of the "Q" on fol. 92v (Fig. 7) are in gold outlined by orange
and brown lines; the larger part of the tail and the outer rings of contour
the around the "A", this is the only dotted ornamentation on the
medallions are in silver. The ornamental filling of the medallions page.
is inOn the other hand, dotted ornamentation permeates the Lindis-
farne composition: from the double contour around the "Q" there ex-
ochre yellow, blue, brown, orange, and white (where the parchment
tend textures, grids, and interlaced ribbons composed of dots, in which
shows through). To these colors are added green in the ornamentation
letters
of the central part of the "Q"; the interlace fillings in the initial are are embedded.
white (parchment showing through) on a brown background. These col- Roman capital, in its original form, is as a rule sharply defined
The
ors, in similar combinations with gold and silver, are picked up in against
the an unencumbered background. This characteristic holds true in
the
decoration of the frame. This is a simple palette; but within the contextCharles the Bald illumination for most of the elements of the com-
position.
of the equally simple and uncluttered architectonic composition of the The "P" and its frame of dots are grasped as a single unit
against
design, the effect created is one of clear, glowing brightness. To the the plain background. The line of Insular-like letters is placed
on a background filled with a basketry pattern, but the entire band of
strictly curvilinear form of the "Q" is opposed the severe square format
of the frame's corner ornaments. The design of the frame is repeated ornament
on and letters is sharply defined as an isolated unit. By contrast,
the opposite page (Fig. 8), where the vibrating texture of the text inthe bands of letters and dots in the Lindisfarne composition are firmly
gold
anchored on the right and left, and are visually part of a greater tex-
uncials provides relief from the geometric strictness of the Quoniam
ture of ornaments; even the lower left partial frame, which is completely
page.21 On fols. 145v and 146r, the introduction of the Gospel Accord-
detached, seems barely to have separated itself from the stem of the
ing to John, the fundamentally square and rectangular format of the "IN"
"Q"9,initial, and is locked into the main body of the composition through
is offset by circular (rather than square) corner ornaments (Figs.
10).22 the projections from the stem which penetrate its outline. The Charles

18 Cf. Guilmain, "Second Bible of Charles the Bald," figs. 15-18. 21 Actually, the reader is introduced into the text of the Gospel According to St. Luk
19 Thus, for example, on fol. 26v of the Lindisfarne Gospels, the decoration is made in four stages: fol. 91v, the evangelist portrait; fol. 92r, four lines of Roman capi-
up almost entirely of interlaced beasts of a limited number of types which are re- tals framed by an arch (similar to the format illustrated above in Fig. 5), INCPT
peated again and again, but one hardly grasps their individual forms. The viewer EVG"L SCDM LUCA; fols. 92v and 93r reproduced above (Figs. 7, 8). Only on fol.
becomes involved rather with the intricate texture that their convoluted bodies have 93v does the reader arrive at the first ordinary text page.
become. 22 A similar observation regarding the harmony of the color compositions on oppo-
20 The most complete information on New York, Pierpont Morgan Libr., Ms M. 862 site is pages in the Gospel Book of Saint-Vaast d'Arras is made by L~opold Delisle,
in the form of unpublished material kept in that library. Nordenfalk, "Echternach,"
L'Evangdliaire de Saint-Vaast d'Arras et la calligraphie franco-saxonne du IX*
235, places the manuscript in the early group of Franco-Saxon codices, dating it sikcle, Paris, 1888, 7. He writes: "I1 faut admirer avec quel gofxt la d~coration a &th
in the 835-850 period. However, in notes made at the Morgan Library on April 10,disposbe pour que les deux pages qu'on volt en m~me temps quand le volume est
1953, Wilhelm Koehler suggests a date in the 860's. The manuscript was once part ouvert forment toujours deux pendants dont les lignes et les couleurs sont en par-
of the A. Chester Beatty Library, and is described and reproduced in part in E. G.faites harmonie."
Millar, The Library of A. Chester Beatty, 1927, I, No. 9, n, pls. xx-xxv. The 23 On partial frames and their origins see Peter Meyer in Codex Cenannensis, In, 43.
manuscript is a relatively small one (leaves 91/2" x 7'/(").

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 FRANCO-SAXON ILLUMINATION 235

the Bald composition consists of a delicate equilibrium of clearly stated

as reflected in that manuscript's carpet pages. Classicizing tendencies
separate parts. The Lindisfarne composition consists of a fusion ofthe
within inter-
development of Carolingian art itself certainly played an im-
locked forms and letters embedded in ornamental fabrics.24 portant role. But one should not forget epigraphy and its derivatives in
To summarize, several sources seem to have contributed to the clas- calligraphy. The Franco-Saxon manuscript illuminators had evidently
sicism of the "classic" phase of Franco-Saxon manuscript illumination. achieved an unusually sensitive grasp of the formal make-up of Roman
The creators of the paintings in question were almost certainly inspired capitals. This sensitivity was apparently in itself a strong formative
by the formal logic of the style of the Lindisfarne Gospels, particularly factor in the creation of this superb style of manuscript art.

State University of New York at Stony Brook

24 A comparison of the pages from the "classic" Franco-Saxon manuscripts discusseddes Grossen; on the Munich Codex Aureus, see Georg Leidinger, Der Codex Aureus
here with the often lavishly decorated pages in the codices of the Court School of
der bayerischen Staatsbibliothek in Miinchen, Munich, 1925. It should be said that
Charlemagne, and those in the Munich Codex Aureus and related works, is reveal-not all the compositions in manuscripts classified as "classic" Franco-Saxon reflect
ing. On the Court School manuscripts, see my observations in "Second Bible of quite the same clarity of forms and sharpness of design as the typical ones dis-
Charles the Bald," 258 n. 48. The decorators of the Munich Codex Aureus group cussed here. Two manuscripts which are exceptions come to mind; the codex in
of manuscripts were also fond of Roman capitals, and relied to a greater degree Prague, Capitulary Libr., Cim. 2, and the Gospel Book of Saint-Vaast d'Arras. In
than the artists of the Franco-Saxon school on motifs borrowed from classical the first of these the otherwise ordinary compositions are filled with an abundance
sources. However they tended to fill every available bit of space with decoration,
of motifs in an untypical way. In the Bible of Saint-Vaast d'Arras some of the com-
to complicate the environment in which the capitals are set, and to create medleys
positions are untypically flamboyant and baroque in feeling. For a reproduction of
of twisting forms. These tendencies are far closer in spirit to Insular art than to
the Prague manuscript see Micheli, L'enluminure, pl. 218. On the Gospel Book of
the art of the illuminators of the "classic" Franco-Saxon manuscripts. On the man-
Saint-Vaast d'Arras, see Delisle, L'twangdliaire de Saint-Vaast d'Arras, and Boinet,
uscripts of the Court School of Charlemagne, consult Koehler, Die HofschuleLaKarls miniature carolingienne, pls. xclu-xcvI.

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