History of mediæval art . remainingsurface display, on the otherhand, the fantastic intertwinedforms of the North, without atrace of the classical patterns. Charlemagne himself de-sired less to further the de-velopment of a national artthan to rehabilitate the Ro-man traditions. He removedthe statue of Theodoric fromRavenna to Aix-la-Chapelle,not only because of his admi-ration for the great ruler of the Ostrogoths, but because of his in-terest in transforming his northern capital to a new Rome by thehelp of the masterpieces of Italian art. He could not raise monu-mental sculpture to its forme
History of mediæval art . remainingsurface display, on the otherhand, the fantastic intertwinedforms of the North, without atrace of the classical patterns. Charlemagne himself de-sired less to further the de-velopment of a national artthan to rehabilitate the Ro-man traditions. He removedthe statue of Theodoric fromRavenna to Aix-la-Chapelle,not only because of his admi-ration for the great ruler of the Ostrogoths, but because of his in-terest in transforming his northern capital to a new Rome by thehelp of the masterpieces of Italian art. He could not raise monu-mental sculpture to its former importance, but he erected founderiesand workshops for the manufacture of architectural Minster of Aix-la-Chapelle still preserves the four bronze doorswhich were cast during his reign, as well as the balustrades of thegallery ; both of these were direct imitations of antique models,from which they are to be distinguished only by the inexperiencedworkmanship and inferior design of their decorative Fig. 127.—Brooch of German workmanship dat-ing to the eighth century; found at Wittis-lingen. Now in the National Museum ofMunich. 240 THE CHRISTIAN ART OF THE NORTH. Gold and silver smiths must also have been employed at Aix-la-Chapelle as well as bronze founders, for Charlemagne, followingthe taste of his time, took great delight in works of precious met-als and jewelry. Most of these were imported from Italy andfrom Byzantium; still, a considerable industry in these brancheswas carried on in Aix-la-Chapelle itself, under the direction ofEginhard and Ansegius, the friends of the emperor. The same wasthe case in the larger cloisters, St. Denis having been celebratedfor its works of gold. The imperial mint deserves to be mentioned in this connection, although theCarolingian coins were certainlynot of great artistic value, dis-playing only rough legends andrude symbols. It cannot be denied that theCarolingian works of preciousmetal were decidedly inferior t
Size: 1588px × 1573px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyorkharperbros
