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Ottonian art is a
style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
in
pre-romanesque Pre-Romanesque art and architecture is the period in European art from either the emergence of the Merovingian kingdom in about 500 AD or from the Carolingian Renaissance in the late 8th century, to the beginning of the 11th century Romanesqu ...
German art German art has a long and distinguished tradition in the visual arts, from the earliest known work of figurative art to its current output of contemporary art. Germany has only been united into a single state since the 19th century, and defining ...
, covering also some works from the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, northern Italy and eastern France. It was named by the art historian Hubert Janitschek after the Ottonian dynasty which ruled Germany and northern Italy between 919 and 1024 under the kings
Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...
,
Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
,
Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ita ...
, Otto III and Henry II. With
Ottonian architecture Ottonian architecture is an architectural style which evolved during the reign of Emperor Otto the Great. The style was found in Germany and lasted from the mid 10th century until the mid 11th century. History Ottonian architecture draws its inspi ...
, it is a key component of the Ottonian Renaissance (circa 951–1024). However, the style neither began nor ended to neatly coincide with the rule of the dynasty. It emerged some decades into their rule and persisted past the Ottonian emperors into the reigns of the early
Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the l ...
, which lacks an artistic "style label" of its own.Suckale-Redlefsen, 524 In the traditional scheme of art history, Ottonian art follows
Carolingian art Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about 780 to 900—during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs—popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The art was produced by and for th ...
and precedes Romanesque art, though the transitions at both ends of the period are gradual rather than sudden. Like the former and unlike the latter, it was very largely a style restricted to a few of the small cities of the period, and important
monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
, as well as the court circles of the emperor and his leading
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s. After the decline of the
Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...
, the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
was re-established under the Saxon Ottonian dynasty. From this emerged a renewed faith in the idea of Empire and a reformed Church, creating a period of heightened cultural and artistic fervour. It was in this atmosphere that masterpieces were created that fused the traditions from which Ottonian artists derived their inspiration: models of Late Antique, Carolingian, and Byzantine origin. Surviving Ottonian art is very largely religious, in the form of illuminated manuscripts and metalwork, and was produced in a small number of centres for a narrow range of patrons in the circle of the Imperial court, as well as important figures in the church. However much of it was designed for display to a wider public, especially of pilgrims. The style is generally grand and heavy, sometimes to excess, and initially less sophisticated than the Carolingian equivalents, with less direct influence from
Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted u ...
and less understanding of its classical models, but around 1000 a striking intensity and expressiveness emerge in many works, as "a solemn monumentality is combined with a vibrant inwardness, an unworldly, visionary quality with sharp attention to actuality, surface patterns of flowing lines and rich bright colours with passionate emotionalism".Honour and Fleming, 277


Context

Following late Carolingian styles, " presentation portraits" of the patrons of manuscripts are very prominent in Ottonian art, and much Ottonian art reflected the dynasty's desire to establish visually a link to the Christian rulers of
Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
, such as
Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
,
Theoderic Theodoric is a Germanic given name. First attested as a Gothic name in the 5th century, it became widespread in the Germanic-speaking world, not least due to its most famous bearer, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Overview The name ...
, and
Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
as well as to their Carolingian predecessors, particularly
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
. This goal was accomplished in various ways. For example, the many Ottonian ruler portraits typically include elements, such as province personifications, or representatives of the military and the Church flanking the emperor, with a lengthy imperial iconographical history. As well as the reuse of motifs from older imperial art, the removal of
spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...
from Late Antique structures in Rome and Ravenna and their incorporation into Ottonian buildings was a device intended to suggest imperial continuity. This was clearly the intention of Otto I when he removed columns, some of porphyry, and other building materials from the
Palace of Theoderic The palace of Theodoric was a structure in Ravenna, Italy, that was the residence of the Ostrogothic ruler and king of Italy Theodoric the Great (d. 526), who was buried in the nearby Mausoleum of Theodoric. Both the location of the former pala ...
in
Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
and reused them in his new cathedral at
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
. The one thing the ruler portraits rarely attempt is a close likeness of the individual features of a ruler; when Otto III died, some manuscript images of him were re-purposed as portraits of Henry II without the need being felt to change the features. In a continuation and intensification of late Carolingian trends, many miniatures contain presentation miniatures depicting the donors of the manuscripts to a church, including bishops, abbots and abbesses, and also the emperor. In some cases successive miniatures show a kind of relay: in the Hornbach Sacramentary the scribe presents the book to his abbot, who presents it to St Pirmin, founder of Hornbach Abbey, who presents it to St Peter, who presents it to Christ, altogether taking up eight pages (with the facing illuminated tablets) to stress the unity and importance of the "command structure" binding church and state, on earth and in heaven.
Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted u ...
also remained an influence, especially with the marriage of the Greek princess
Theophanu Theophanu (; also ''Theophania'', ''Theophana'', or ''Theophano''; Medieval Greek ; AD 955 15 June 991) was empress of the Holy Roman Empire by marriage to Emperor Otto II, and regent of the Empire during the minority of their son, Emperor O ...
to Otto II, and imported Byzantine elements, especially enamels and ivories, are often incorporated into Ottonian metalwork such as book covers. However, if there were actual Greek artists working in Germany in the period, they have left less trace than their predecessors in Carolingian times. The manuscripts were both scribed and illuminated by monks with specialized skills, some of whose names are preserved, but there is no evidence as to the artists who worked in metal, enamel and ivory, who are usually assumed to have been laymen, though there were some monastic goldsmiths in the
Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
period, and some
lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...
s and lay assistants employed by monasteries. While secular
jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
supplied a steady stream of work for goldsmiths, ivory carving at this period was mainly for the church, and may have been centred in monasteries, although (see below) wall-paintings seems to have been usually done by laymen. File:Meister des Registrum Gregorii 001.jpg, Otto II, by the Gregory Master File:Liuthar-Evangeliar.jpg, Apotheosis of Otto III.
Liuthar Gospels The Liuthar Gospels (also Gospels of Otto III or Ottonian Gospels) are a work of Ottonian illumination which are counted among the masterpieces of the period known as the Ottonian Renaissance. The manuscript, named after a monk called Liuthar, w ...
File:Kronung Heinrich II.jpg, Henry II being crowned by Christ, from the
Sacramentary of Henry II The Sacramentary of Henry II (German: ''Sakramentar Heinrichs II.''), also called the Regensburg Sacramentary (''Regensburger Sakramentar''), is a manuscript of liturgical texts, which was created in Regensburg at the order of Emperor Henry II ( ...
File:BambergApocalypse03CoronationOfEmperor.JPG, Otto III or Henry II crowned by saints,
Bamberg Apocalypse The Bamberg Apocalypse ( Bamberg State Library, Msc.Bibl.140) is an 11th-century richly illuminated manuscript containing the pictorial cycle of the Book of Revelation and a Gospel Lectionary of the books of pericopes. This medieval illuminated m ...


Manuscripts

Ottonian monasteries produced many magnificent medieval illuminated manuscripts. They were a major art form of the time, and monasteries received direct sponsorship from emperors and bishops, having the best in equipment and talent available. The range of heavily illuminated texts was very largely restricted (unlike in the Carolingian Renaissance) to the main liturgical books, with very few secular works being so treated. In contrast to manuscripts of other periods, it is very often possible to say with certainty who commissioned or received a manuscript, but not where it was made. Some manuscripts also include relatively extensive cycles of narrative art, such as the sixteen pages of the Codex Aureus of Echternach devoted to "strips" in three tiers with scenes from the life of Christ and his parables. Heavily illuminated manuscripts were given rich
treasure binding A treasure binding or jewelled bookbinding is a luxurious book cover using metalwork in gold or silver, jewels, or ivory, perhaps in addition to more usual bookbinding material for book-covers such as leather, velvet, or other cloth. The act ...
s and their pages were probably seen by very few; when they were carried in the grand processions of Ottonian churches it seems to have been with the book closed to display the cover. The Ottonian style did not produce surviving manuscripts from before about the 960s, when books known as the " Eburnant group" were made, perhaps at
Lorsch Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Geography Location Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...
, as several miniatures in the Gero Codex (now Darmstadt), the earliest and grandest of the group, copy those in the Carolingian
Lorsch Gospels The ''Codex Aureus of Lorsch'' or Lorsch Gospels (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 50, and Alba Iulia, Biblioteca Documenta Batthyaneum, s.n.) is an illuminated Gospel Book written in Latin between 778 and 820, roughly coinciding with th ...
. This is the first stylistic group of the traditional "Reichenau school". The two other major manuscripts of the group are the sacramentaries named for Hornbach and
Petershausen Petershausen is a municipality in the district of Dachau in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Petershausen is located in the valley of the Glonn with extensive floodplains. Much of the area outside of Petershausen is part of a nature preserve. Hist ...
. In the group of four presentation miniatures in the former described above "we can almost follow ... the movement away from the expansive Carolingian idiom to the more sharply defined Ottonian one". A number of important manuscripts produced from this period onwards in a distinctive group of styles are usually attributed to the scriptorium of the island monastery of Reichenau in Lake Constance, despite an admitted lack of evidence connecting them to the monastery there. C. R. Dodwell was one of a number of dissident voices here, believing the works to have been produced at
Lorsch Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Geography Location Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...
and Trier instead. Wherever it was located, the "Reichenau school" specialized in
gospel book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...
s and other
liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic C ...
s, many of them, such as the Munich
Gospels of Otto III The Gospels of Otto III (Munich, Bayer. Staatsbib., Clm. 4453) is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages (334 by 242 mm, 13.1 by 9.5 inches) and ...
(c. 1000) and the
Pericopes of Henry II The Pericopes of Henry II (german: Perikopenbuch Heinrichs II.; Munich, Bavarian State Library, Clm 4452) is a luxurious medieval illuminated manuscript made for Henry II, the last Ottonian Holy Roman Emperor, made 1002–1012 AD. The manuscript ...
(Munich, Bayerische Nationalbibl. clm. 4452, c. 1001–1024), imperial commissions. Due to their exceptional quality, the manuscripts of Reichenau were in 2003 added to the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Memory of the World Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
International Register. The most important "Reichenau school" manuscripts are agreed to fall into three distinct groups, all named after scribes whose names are recorded in their books. The "Eburnant group" covered above was followed by the "Ruodprecht group" named after the scribe of the
Egbert Psalter The Egbert Psalter (also known as the Gertrude Psalter or Trier Psalter) is a medieval illuminated manuscript Psalter preserved in the municipal museum of Cividale, Italy (Ms. CXXXVI). The psalter is an example of the illuminated manuscripts assoc ...
; Dodwell assigns this group to Trier. The Aachen Gospels of Otto III, also known as the Liuthar Gospels, give their name to the third "Liuthar group" of manuscripts, most from the 11th century, in a strongly contrasting style, though still attributed by most scholars to Reichenau, but by Dodwell also to Trier. The outstanding miniaturist of the "Ruodprecht group" was the so-called Master of the ''
Registrum Gregorii {{italictitle The ''Registrum Gregorii'' is a collection of letters by pope Gregory the Great. It was commissioned by Egbert of Trier from the anonymous Italian artist known as the " master of the Registrum Gregorii" (fl. c. 980-996), probably a ...
'', or Gregory Master, whose work looked back in some respects to
Late Antique Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...
manuscript painting, and whose miniatures are notable for "their delicate sensibility to tonal grades and harmonies, their fine sense of compositional rhythms, their feelings for the relationship of figures in space, and above all their special touch of reticence and poise". He worked chiefly in
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
in the 970s and 980s, and was responsible for several miniatures in the influential ''
Codex Egberti The Codex Egberti is a gospel book illuminated in the scriptorium of the Reichenau Monastery for Egbert, bishop of Trier (980–993). It is now held in the city library of Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ...
'', a gospel lectionary made for Archbishop
Egbert of Trier Egbert (c. 950 – 9 December 993) was the Archbishop of Trier from 977 until his death. Egbert was a son of Dirk II, Count of Holland. After being trained in Egmond Abbey, founded and controlled by his family, and at the court of Bruno I, Archb ...
, probably in the 980s. However, the majority of the 51 images in this book, which represent the first extensive cycle of images depicting the events of Christ's life in a western European manuscript, were made by two monks from Reichenau, who are named and depicted in one of the miniatures. The style of the "Liuthar group" is very different, and departs further from rather than returning to classical traditions; it "carried transcendentalism to an extreme", with "marked schematization of the forms and colours", "flattened form, conceptualized draperies and expansive gesture". Backgrounds are often composed of bands of colour with a symbolic rather than naturalistic rationale, the size of figures reflects their importance, and in them "emphasis is not so much on movement as in gesture and glance", with narrative scenes "presented as a quasi-liturgical act, dialogues of divinity". This gestural "dumb-show assoon to be conventionalized as a visual language throughout medieval Europe". The group were produced perhaps from the 990s to 1015 or later, and major manuscripts include the Munich
Gospels of Otto III The Gospels of Otto III (Munich, Bayer. Staatsbib., Clm. 4453) is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages (334 by 242 mm, 13.1 by 9.5 inches) and ...
, the
Bamberg Apocalypse The Bamberg Apocalypse ( Bamberg State Library, Msc.Bibl.140) is an 11th-century richly illuminated manuscript containing the pictorial cycle of the Book of Revelation and a Gospel Lectionary of the books of pericopes. This medieval illuminated m ...
and a volume of biblical commentary there, and the
Pericopes of Henry II The Pericopes of Henry II (german: Perikopenbuch Heinrichs II.; Munich, Bavarian State Library, Clm 4452) is a luxurious medieval illuminated manuscript made for Henry II, the last Ottonian Holy Roman Emperor, made 1002–1012 AD. The manuscript ...
, the best known and most extreme of the group, where "the figure-style has become more monumental, more rarified and sublime, at the same time thin in density, insubstantial, mere silhouettes of colour against a shimmering void". The group introduced the background of solid gold to Western illumination. Two dedication miniatures added to the
Egmond Gospels The Egmond Gospels ( nl, Evangeliarium van Egmond) is a 9th-century Gospel Book written in Latin and accompanied by illustrations. It is named after the Egmond Abbey, to which it was given by Dirk II, and where it remained for six centuries. It ...
around 975 show a less accomplished Netherlandish version of Ottonian style. In Regensburg St. Emmeram's Abbey held the major Carolingian Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram, which probably influenced a style with "an incisive line and highly formal organization of the page", giving in the
Uta Codex The Uta Codex Quattuor Evangelia (Clm. 13601, Bavarian State Library, Munich) is a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary. It contains those portions of the gospels which are read during church services. "Unlike most Gospel lectionaries, the individu ...
of c. 1020 complex schemes where "bands of gold outline the bold, squares circles, ellipses, and rhombs that enclose the figures", and inscriptions are incorporated in the design explicating its complex theological symbolism. This style was to be very influential on Romanesque art in several media. Echternach Abbey became important under Abbot Humbert, in office from 1028 to 1051, and the pages (as opposed to the cover) of the Codex Aureus of Echternach were produced there, followed by the
Golden Gospels of Henry III Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...
in 1045–46, which Henry presented to
Speyer Cathedral , native_name_lang = German , image = Speyer_dom_11.jpg , imagesize = 280px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = , pushpin ma ...
(now
Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...
), the major work of the school. Henry also commissioned the Uppsala Gospels for the cathedral there (now in the university library). Other important monastic scriptoria that flourished during the Ottonian age include those at
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
,
Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...
,
Corvey The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princel ...
, Fulda, and
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, where the
Hitda Codex The Hitda Codex is an eleventh-century codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' i ...
was made.


Gallery of Christ calming the storm

This scene was often included in Ottonian cycles of the Life of Christ. Many show Jesus (with crossed halo) twice, once asleep and once calming the storm. File:CodexEgberti-Fol024r-CalmingAStorm.jpg,
Codex Egberti The Codex Egberti is a gospel book illuminated in the scriptorium of the Reichenau Monastery for Egbert, bishop of Trier (980–993). It is now held in the city library of Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ...
, between 977 and 993 File:Oberzell Fresco 01.jpg, Wall-painting at Oberzell, c. 1000 File:11th-century painters - Gospel Book of Otto III - WGA15919.jpg, Munich
Gospels of Otto III The Gospels of Otto III (Munich, Bayer. Staatsbib., Clm. 4453) is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages (334 by 242 mm, 13.1 by 9.5 inches) and ...
; below, the Exorcism of the Gadarene swine File:HitdaMeschedeDarmstadtCod1640fol117r.jpg,
Hitda Codex The Hitda Codex is an eleventh-century codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' i ...
,
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, after 1000


Metalwork and enamels

Objects for decorating churches such as crosses,
reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including '' phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fe ...
, altar frontals and
treasure binding A treasure binding or jewelled bookbinding is a luxurious book cover using metalwork in gold or silver, jewels, or ivory, perhaps in addition to more usual bookbinding material for book-covers such as leather, velvet, or other cloth. The act ...
s for books were all made of or covered by gold, embellished with gems, enamels, crystals, and cameos. This was a much older style, but the Ottonian version has distinctive features, with very busy decoration of surfaces, often gems raised up from the main surface on little gold towers, accompanied by "beehive" projections in gold wire, and figurative
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s in repoussé gold decorating areas between the bars of enamel and gem decoration. Relics were assuming increasing importance, sometimes political, in this period, and so increasingly rich reliquaries were made to hold them. In such works the gems do not merely create an impression of richness, but served both to offer a foretaste of the bejewelled nature of the Celestial city, and particular types of gem were believed to have actual powerful properties in various "scientific", medical and magical respects, as set out in the popular lapidary books. The few surviving pieces of secular jewellery are in similar styles, including the crown worn by Otto III as a child, which he presented to the
Golden Madonna of Essen The Golden Madonna of Essen is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. It is a wooden core covered with sheets of thin gold leaf. The piece is part of the treasury of Essen Cathedral, formerly the church of Essen Abbey, in North Rhin ...
after he outgrew it. Examples of ''
crux gemmata A ''crux gemmata'' (Latin for jewelled cross) is a form of cross typical of Early Christian and Early Medieval art, where the cross, or at least its front side, is principally decorated with jewels. In an actual cross, rather than a painted ima ...
'' or processional crosses include an outstanding group in the
Essen Cathedral Treasury The Essen Cathedral Treasury (German: Essener Domschatz) is one of the most significant collections of religious artworks in Germany. A great number of items of treasure are accessible to the public in the treasury chamber of Essen Minster. The ...
; several abbesses of
Essen Abbey Essen Abbey (''Stift Essen'') was a community of secular canonesses for women of high nobility that formed the nucleus of modern-day Essen, Germany. It was founded about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid (died 874), later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint ...
were Ottonian princesses. The Cross of Otto and Mathilde, Cross of Mathilde and the Essen cross with large enamels were probably all given by Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (died 1011), and a fourth cross, the Theophanu Cross came some fifty years later. The
Cross of Lothair The Cross of Lothair or Lothair Cross (german: Lotharkreuz) is a ''crux gemmata'' (jewelled cross) processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its base dates from the 14th century. It was made in Germany, probably at Cologne. It is an ou ...
( Aachen) and
Imperial Cross The Imperial Cross ( la, Cross Imperatoria, German: ''Reichskreuz'') is part of the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire. It served as the container for the two "Great Relics of Christ" (''Perveniens Reilquias magna Christi'', ''Großen Rel ...
(
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
) were imperial possessions; Vienna also has the
Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire The Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (german: Reichskrone), a hoop crown (german: Bügelkrone) with a characteristic octagonal shape, was the coronation crown of the Holy Roman Emperor, probably from the late 10th century until the dissolut ...
. The book cover of the Codex Aureus of Echternach (
Germanisches Nationalmuseum The Germanisches National Museum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, it houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. The Germanisches National ...
,
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
) is in a very comparable style. Other major objects include a reliquary of St Andrew surmounted by a foot in
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
, and gold altar frontals for the Palace Chapel, Aachen and Basel Cathedral (now in Paris). The Palace Chapel also has the pulpit or
Ambon of Henry II The Ambon of Henry II (German: ''Ambo Heinrichs II.''), commonly known as Henry's Ambon (''Heinrichsambo'') or Henry's Pulpit (''Heinrichskanzel'') is an ambon in the shape of a pulpit built by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor in the Palatine chapel ...
. The late Carolingian upper cover of the
Lindau Gospels The Lindau Gospels is an illuminated manuscript in the Morgan Library in New York, which is important for its illuminated text, but still more so for its treasure binding, or metalwork covers, which are of different periods. The oldest ele ...
(
Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th S ...
, New York) and the Arnulf Ciborium in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
were important forerunners of the style, from a few decades before and probably from the same workshop. Large objects in non-precious metals were also made, with the earliest surviving
wheel chandelier A wheel chandelier is a lighting installment, in the form of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the form of a spoked wheel. The oldest and most important examples derive from the Romanesque period. Wheel chandeliers were made for the prac ...
s from the end of the period, a huge candelabra in Essen, and in particular a spectacular collection of ambitious large bronze works, and smaller silver ones, at
Hildesheim Cathedral Hildesheim Cathedral (German: '), officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (German: ''Hohe Domkirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt'') or simply St. Mary's Cathedral (German: ''Mariendom''), is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in the city cent ...
from the period of Bishop
Bernward Bernward (c. 960 – 20 November 1022) was the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim from 993 until his death in 1022. Life Bernward came from a Saxon noble family. His grandfather was Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. Having lost his parents at ...
(died 1022), who was himself an artist, although his biographer was unusually honest in saying that he did not reach "the peaks of perfection". The most famous of these is the pair of church doors, the
Bernward Doors The Bernward Doors (german: Bernwardstür) are the two leaves of a pair of Ottonian or Romanesque bronze doors, made for Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. They were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (938–1022). The doors show r ...
, with biblical figure scenes in bronze relief, each cast in a single piece, where the powerfully simple compositions convey their meanings by emphatic gestures, in a way comparable to the Reichenau miniatures of the same period. There is also a bronze column, the
Bernward Column The Bernward Column (german: Bernwardssäule) also known as the Christ Column (german: Christussäule) is a bronze column, made for St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany, and regarded as a masterpiece of Ottonian art. It was commission ...
, high, originally the base for a crucifix, cast in a single hollow piece. This unusual form is decorated with twenty-four scenes from the ministry of Jesus in a continuous strip winding round the column in the manner of
Trajan's Column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
and other Roman examples. Around 980, Archbishop Egbert of Trier seems to have established the major Ottonian workshop producing
cloisonné Cloisonné () is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, ...
enamel in Germany, which is thought to have fulfilled orders for other centres, and after his death in 993 possibly moved to Essen. During this period the workshop followed Byzantine developments (of many decades earlier) by using the '' senkschmelz'' or "sunk enamel" technique in addition to the '' vollschmelz'' one already used. Small plaques with decorative motifs derived from plant forms continued to use ''vollschmelz'', with enamel all over the plaque, while figures were now usually in ''senkschmelz'', surrounded by a plain gold surface into which the outline of the figure had been recessed. The Essen cross with large enamels illustrated above shows both these techniques.


Gallery of bronzes

File:SiebenarmigerLeuchter bearb.jpg, Abbess Mathilde's candelabrum in
Essen Cathedral Essen Minster (German: ), since 1958 also Essen Cathedral () is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands on ...
, c. 1000 File:Bernwardstür (7).JPG, ''Expulsion of Adam and Eve'' from
Bernward Doors The Bernward Doors (german: Bernwardstür) are the two leaves of a pair of Ottonian or Romanesque bronze doors, made for Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. They were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (938–1022). The doors show r ...
at
Hildesheim Cathedral Hildesheim Cathedral (German: '), officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (German: ''Hohe Domkirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt'') or simply St. Mary's Cathedral (German: ''Mariendom''), is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in the city cent ...
File:Hildesheim-Dom-Bernwardstuer 01+.JPG, Bernward's doors at Hildesheim Cathedral, c. 1015 File:Christussäule 2.jpg, The bronze
Bernward Column The Bernward Column (german: Bernwardssäule) also known as the Christ Column (german: Christussäule) is a bronze column, made for St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany, and regarded as a masterpiece of Ottonian art. It was commission ...
at Hildesheim


Ivory carving

Much very fine small-scale sculpture in ivory was made during the Ottonian period, with
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
probably a site if not the main centre, along with
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
and other German and French sites. There are many oblong panels with reliefs which once decorated book-covers, or still do, with the ''
Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...
'' as the most common subject. These and other subjects very largely continue Carolingian iconography, but in a very different style. A group of four Ottonian ivory situlae appear to represent a new departure for ivory carving in their form, and the type is hardly found after this period. Situlae were
liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
vessels used to hold
holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...
, and previously were usually of wood or bronze, straight-sided and with a handle. An
aspergillum An aspergillum (less commonly, aspergilium or aspergil) is a Christian liturgical implement used to sprinkle holy water. It comes in three forms: a freshly cut hyssop branch, a brush-like bundle that is dipped in the holy water and shaken, an ...
was dipped in the situla to collect water with which to sprinkle the congregation or other objects. However the four Ottonian examples from the 10th century are made from a whole section of
elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
tusk, and are slightly larger in girth at their tops. All are richly carved with scenes and figures on different levels: the Basilewsky Situla of 920 in the
Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, decorated with scenes from the '' Life of Christ'' on two levels, the "Situla of Gotofredo" of c. 980 in Milan Cathedral, one in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, and one in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York. All came from the milieu of the Ottonian court: an inscription says that Archbishop Gotfredus presented the Milan example in anticipation of a visit by the Emperor, also referred to in the London example which was possibly from the same workshop. The latest and most lavish is the Aachen example, which is studded with jewels and shows an enthroned Emperor, surrounded by a pope and archbishops. This was probably made in
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
about 1000. Among various stylistic groups and putative workshops that can be detected, that responsible for pieces including the panel from the cover of the Codex Aureus of Echternach and two
diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...
wings now in Berlin (all illustrated below) produced particularly fine and distinctive work, perhaps in Trier, with "an astonishing perception of the human form ... ndfacility in handling the material". A very important group of plaques, now dispersed in several collections, were probably commissioned (perhaps by Otto I) for
Magdeburg Cathedral Magdeburg Cathedral (german: Magdeburger Dom), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine (german: Dom zu Magdeburg St. Mauritius und Katharina), is a Protestant cathedral in Germany and the oldest Gothic cathedral in the cou ...
and are called the
Magdeburg Ivories The Magdeburg Ivories are a set of 16 surviving ivory panels illustrating episodes of Christ's life. They were commissioned by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Otto I, probably to mark the dedication of Magdeburg Cathedral, and the raising of t ...
, "Magdeburg plaques", the "plaques from the Magdeburg Antependium" or similar names. They were probably made in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
in about 970, to decorate a large flat surface, though whether this was a door, an
antependium An ''antependium'' (from Latin ''ante-'' and ''pendēre'' "to hang before"; pl: ''antependia''), also known as a ''parament'' or ''hanging'', or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: ''pallium altaris ...
or altar frontal, the cover of an exceptionally large book, a pulpit, or something else, has been much discussed. Each nearly square plaque measures about 13x12 cm, with a relief scene from the '' Life of Christ'' inside a plain flat frame; one plaque in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York has a "dedication" scene, where a crowned monarch presents Christ with a model church, usually taken to be Otto I with Magdeburg Cathedral. Altogether seventeen survive, probably fewer than half of the original set. The plaques include background areas fully cut through the ivory, which would presumably originally have been backed with gold. Apart from the spaces left beside buildings, these openwork elements include some that leave chequerboard or foliage patterns. The style of the figures is described by Peter Lasko as "very heavy, stiff, and massive ... with extremely clear and flat treatment of drapery ... in simple but powerful compositions". File:VA23Oct10 090-crop.jpg, The Basilewsky Situla File:Trier 10 Jh Diptychon Moses Thomas.jpg,
Diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...
panels of ''Moses Receiving the Law'' and ''
Doubting Thomas A doubting Thomas is a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience — a reference to the Gospel of John's depiction of the Apostle Thomas, who, in John's account, refused to believe the resurrected Jesus had appeared to ...
'' File:Coperta del codex aureus, treviri, 985-987, 02.JPG, Panel from the cover of the Codex Aureus of Echternach, probably from the same workshop as the diptych. File:Paris -Musée national du Moyen-âge - Plaque d'une reliure - Crucifixion et Saintes Femmes au tombeau - 001.jpg, Crucifixion, probably from a book-cover, c 1000


Wall painting

Although it is clear from documentary records that many churches were decorated with extensive cycles of wall-painting, survivals are extremely rare, and more often than not fragmentary and in poor condition. Generally they lack evidence to help with dating such as donor portraits, and their date is often uncertain; many have been restored in the past, further complicating the matter. Most survivals are clustered in south Germany and around Fulda in
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
; though there are also important examples from north Italy. There is a record of bishop
Gebhard of Constance Gebhard of Constance ( la, Gebhardus Constantiensis; german: Gebhard von Konstanz; 949 995 AD) was a bishop of Constance from 979 until 995. He founded the Benedictine abbey of Petershausen Petershausen is a municipality in the district of Dac ...
hiring lay artists for a now vanished cycle at his newly foundation (983) of
Petershausen Abbey Petershausen Abbey (Kloster, Reichskloster, Reichsstift or Reichsabtei Petershausen) was a Benedictine imperial abbey at Petershausen, now a district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History It was founded as an exempt abbey named aft ...
, and laymen may have dominated the art of wall-painting, though perhaps sometimes working to designs by monastic illuminators. The artists seem to have been rather mobile: "at about the time of the Oberzell pictures there was an Italian wall-painter working in Germany, and a German one in England". The church of St George at Oberzell on
Reichenau Island Reichenau Island () is an island in Lake Constance in Southern Germany. It lies almost due west of the city of Konstanz, between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance. With a total land surface of and a circumference of ...
has the best-known surviving scheme, though much of the original work has been lost and the remaining paintings to the sides of the nave have suffered from time and restoration. The largest scenes show the miracles of Christ in a style that both shows specific Byzantine input in some elements, and a closeness to Reichenau manuscripts such as the Munich
Gospels of Otto III The Gospels of Otto III (Munich, Bayer. Staatsbib., Clm. 4453) is considered a superb example of Ottonian art because of the scope, planning, and execution of the work. The book has 276 parchment pages (334 by 242 mm, 13.1 by 9.5 inches) and ...
; they are therefore usually dated around 980–1000. Indeed, the paintings are one of the foundations of the case for Reichenau Abbey as a major centre of manuscript painting.


Larger sculpture

Very little wood carving has survived from the period, but the monumental painted figure of Christ on the
Gero Cross The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (german: Gero-Kreuz, link=no), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Ger ...
(around 965–970,
Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
) is one of the outstanding masterpieces of the period. Its traditional dating by the church, long thought to be implausibly early, was finally confirmed by dendrochronology. The
Golden Madonna of Essen The Golden Madonna of Essen is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. It is a wooden core covered with sheets of thin gold leaf. The piece is part of the treasury of Essen Cathedral, formerly the church of Essen Abbey, in North Rhin ...
(about 1000,
Essen Cathedral Essen Minster (German: ), since 1958 also Essen Cathedral () is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands on ...
, which was formerly the abbey) is a virtually unique survival of a type of object once found in many major churches. It is a smaller sculpture of the
Virgin and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent ...
, which is in wood which was covered with
gesso Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...
and then thin gold sheet. Monumental sculpture remained rare in the north, though there are more examples in Italy, such as the stucco reliefs on the ciborium of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, and also on that in the Abbey of San Pietro al Monte,
Civate Civate ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,898 and an area of .A ...
, which relate to ivory carving of the same period, the large silver cross of the Abbess Raingarda in the Basilica of San Michele Maggiore in
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...
and some stone sculpture. File: Gerokreuz full 20050903.jpg,
Gero Cross The Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix (german: Gero-Kreuz, link=no), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Ger ...
, c. 965–970,
Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
. File: 9663 - Milano - S. Ambrogio - Ciborio - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 25-Apr-2007.jpg, Ciborium of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan; note the rods for curtains. The columns are probably 4th century, the canopy 9th, 10th or 12th century. File: Civate San Pietro Ciborio 04.JPG, Stucco relief on the ciborium at
Civate Civate ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,898 and an area of .A ...
. File: Crocefisso di Teodote, San Michele Maggiore (Pavia).jpg, Cross of the Abbess Raingarda, 963- 965, silver, 201x156 cm,
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...
, Basilica of San Michele Maggiore.


Survival and historiography

Surviving Ottonian works are very largely those in the care of the church which were kept and valued for their connections with either royal or church figures of the period. Very often the jewels in metalwork were pilfered or sold over the centuries, and many pieces now completely lack them, or have modern glass paste replacements. As from other periods, there are many more surviving ivory panels (whose material is usually hard to re-use) for book-covers than complete metalwork covers, and some thicker ivory panels were later re-carved from the back with a new relief. Many objects mentioned in written sources have completely disappeared, and we probably now only have a tiny fraction of the original production of reliquaries and the like. A number of pieces have major additions or changes made later in the Middle Ages or in later periods. Manuscripts that avoided major library fires have had the best chance of survival; the dangers facing wall-paintings are mentioned above. Most major objects remain in German collections, often still church libraries and treasuries. The term "Ottonian art" was not coined until 1890, and the following decade saw the first serious studies of the period; for the next several decades the subject was dominated by German art historians mainly dealing with manuscripts, apart from
Adolph Goldschmidt Adolph Goldschmidt (15 January 1863 – 5 January 1944) was a Jewish German art historian. He taught at University of Berlin from 1892 to 1903, and University of Halle from 1904 to 1912. Biography He was born on 15 January 1863 in Hamburg, Ge ...
's studies of ivories and sculpture in general. A number of exhibitions held in Germany in the years following World War II helped introduce the subject to a wider public and promote the understanding of art media other than manuscript illustrations. The 1950 Munich exhibition ''Ars Sacra'' ("sacred art" in Latin) devised this term for religious metalwork and the associated ivories and enamels, which was re-used by Peter Lasko in his book for the ''
Pelican History of Art Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year. Review by Karen Blough of ''The Uta Codex: Art, Philosophy, and Reform in Eleventh-Century Germany'' by Adam S. Cohen, '' Speculum'', Vol. 78, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 856-858
JSTOR
/ref>


Notes


References

*Alexander, Jonathan A.G., ''Medieval Illuminators and their Methods of Work'', 1992, Yale UP, * Backhouse, Janet, "Reichenau Illumination: Facts and Fictions", review of ''Reichenau Reconsidered. A Re-Assessment of the Place of Reichenau in Ottonian Art'' by C. R. Dodwell; D. H. Turner, ''
The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation s ...
'', Vol. 109, No. 767 (Feb., 1967), pp. 98–100
JSTOR
*Beckwith, John. ''Early Medieval Art: Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque'', Thames & Hudson, 1964 (rev. 1969), *Calkins, Robert G.; ''Monuments of Medieval Art'', Dutton, 1979, *Cherry, John, ''Medieval Goldsmiths'', The British Museum Press, 2011 (2nd edn.), *Dodwell, C.R.; ''The Pictorial arts of the West, 800–1200'', 1993, Yale UP, *Garrison, Eliza; ''Ottonian Imperial Art and Portraiture. The Artistic Patronage of Otto III and Henry II'', 2012, Ashgate Publishing Limited,
Google books
*Henderson, George. ''Early Medieval'', 1972, rev. 1977, Penguin *Head, Thomas
"Art and Artifice in Ottonian Trier."
''Gesta'', Vol. 36, No. 1. (1997), pp 65–82. * Hugh Honour and John Fleming, ''A World History of Art'', 1st edn. 1982 (many later editions), Macmillan, London, page refs to 1984 Macmillan 1st edn. paperback. * Lasko, Peter, ''Ars Sacra, 800–1200'', Penguin History of Art (now Yale), 1972 (nb, 1st edn.), *Legner, Anton (ed). ''Ornamenta Ecclesiae, Kunst und Künstler der Romanik.''Catalogue of an exhibition in the Schnütgen Museum, Köln, 1985. 3 vols. * Mayr-Harting, Henry, "Artists and Patrons" in ''The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024'', eds. Timothy Reuter, Rosamond McKitterick, 1999, Cambridge University Press, , 9780521364478 *Metz, Peter (trans. Ilse Schrier and Peter Gorge), ''The Golden Gospels of Echternach'', 1957, Frederick A. Praeger, LOC 57-5327 *Suckale-Redlefsen, Gude, review of Mayr-Harting, Henry, ''Ottonian Book Illumination. An Historical Study'', ''
The Art Bulletin The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understa ...
'', Vol. 75, No. 3 (Sep., 1993), pp. 524–527
JSTOR
*Swarzenski, Hanns. ''Monuments of Romanesque Art; The Art of Church Treasures in North-Western Europe'', Faber and Faber, 1974, *Williamson, Paul. ''An Introduction to Medieval Ivory Carvings'', 1982,
HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...
for
V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
,


Further reading

* Mayr-Harting, Henry, ''Ottonian Book Illumination. An Historical Study'', 1991, 2 vols, Harvey Miller (see Suckale-Redlefsen above for review; also there is a 1999 single volume edition)


External links


Sorabella, Jean. "Ottonian Art". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (September 2008)

"Ottonian art"
In ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
'' Online. {{Authority control Western art Medieval art German art