Pre-Romanesque art: Encyclopedia II - Pre-Romanesque art - Ottonian art

Pre-Romanesque art - Ottonian art

German art, for the roughly 136 year period 919-1056, is commonly called "Ottonian art" (part of what is sometimes called the Ottonian Renaissance), after the three Saxon Emperors named Otto: (Otto the Great, Otto II and Otto III) who ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 919-1024—as well as the Franco-Salian emperors Conrad II (r. 1024-1039) and Henry III (r. 1039-1056).

After the decline of the Carolignian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire 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 furvor. It was in this atmosphere that masterpieces were created, fusing the traditions which the new art was based on: paintings from Late Antiquity, the Carolingian period and Byzantium.

Ottonian art was created to confirm a source of power to a direct Holy Imperial lineage: from Augustus to Constantine to Charlemagne to Otto the Great. This was done through iconographic symbols, such as the globus cruciger, or an image of Otto II being crowned by Christ in a 10th century ivory, for example.

Ottonian monasteries produced some of the most magnificant medieval illuminated manuscripts, they were the premier art form of the time, and monasteries received direct sponsorship from the Emperor and bishops, having the best in equipment and talent available. Corvey produced some of the first manuscripts, followed by the scriptorium at Hildesheim after 1000. The most famous Ottonian scriptoria was at the island monastery of Reichenau on Lake Constance. Hardly any other works have formed the image of Ottonian art as much as the miniatures which originated there. One of the greatest Reichenau works was the Codex Egberti, consisting of 51 narrative miniatures of the life of Christ—this picture cycle of the life of Christ is the earliest in the entire history of book painting. Codex Egberti was a fusion of styles including Carolingian traditions as well as traces of insular and Byzantine influences. Other well known manuscripts included the Reichenau Evangeliary, the Liuther Codex, the Pericopes of Henry II, the Bamberg Apocalypse and the Hitda Codex.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ottonian art", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki