The Catholic encyclopedia (Volume 9); an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline and history of the Catholic Church . arge numl»r of their works. The elementswhich coniijose this art were most varied; the influ-ence of Irish and Anglo-Saxon illuminations is unques-tional)le. and to it was due the partiality for largeinitials which until the fifteenth century were one of thefa^•ourite ornaments of Western MSS. Carlovingianart was not exclusively Irish, and in the MSS. of thisperiod are found traces of ancient art and Oriental in-fluences {e\angeliary canons, sy
The Catholic encyclopedia (Volume 9); an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline and history of the Catholic Church . arge numl»r of their works. The elementswhich coniijose this art were most varied; the influ-ence of Irish and Anglo-Saxon illuminations is unques-tional)le. and to it was due the partiality for largeinitials which until the fifteenth century were one of thefa^•ourite ornaments of Western MSS. Carlovingianart was not exclusively Irish, and in the MSS. of thisperiod are found traces of ancient art and Oriental in-fluences {e\angeliary canons, symbolical motifs suchas the fountain of life, etc.). With the assistance MSS. a whole iconographical cycle may beformed, encycloiiedic in character, in which side by sidewith religious history occur figures from the profanesciences (liberal arts, calendars, zodiacs, virtues andvices, etc.). Ornamentation is more luxurious, thecolours are more vigorous and decided in tone, silverand gold have not been spared and there is e\cn a re-turn to MSS. in gold letters on a purple ground. Manyof these Bibles, Psalters, or Evangeliaries were com-. ?^.^-i.^,^ posed for sovereigns, whose portraits were presentedon the first page in all their royal apparel; they are oftensurrounded by allegorical figures borrowed from antiq-uity. Beside these full-page jiaintings we find aboveall in these MSS. beautiful initials of extraordinaryvariety; Irish interlacings alone or combined withantique foliage, purely zoomorphic initials, etc. Theprincipal MSS. of this period are: the Evangeliary ofGodescalc, made for Charlemagne, 781-S3 (Paris),text in gold letters on purple ground with a decorativeframework which is different on each page; Bibles ofTheodulf, Bishop of Orleans (Paris and Le Puy);Evangeliary of Charlemagne (Vienna); Bibles of.\lcuin (Zurich, Bamberg, \allicella. Tours); Biblesof Charles the Bald (Paris); Sacramentary of Drogo(Paris); Sacramentary of Gellone (Paris), has ini-tials
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, books, booksubjectcatholicchurch
