Carolingian Architecture

Examples of Carolingian Architecture in the following topics:

• Carolingian Architecture in the Early European Middle Ages

  • Carolingian architecture is characterized by its attempts to emulate late Roman classicism, early Christian, and Byzantine styles.
  • Carolingian architecture is the style of northern European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late eighth and ninth centuries, when the Carolingian dynasty (named for Charlemagne) dominated western Europe politically, culturally, and economically.
  • Carolingian architecture is characterized by its conscious attempts to emulate Roman classicism and Late Antique architecture.
  • The westwork is the only surviving architectural component of the original Carolingian monastery.
  • Locate Carolingian architecture as it relates to Pre-Romanesque, Roman classicist, Late Antique, early Christian and Byzantine styles.

• Ottonian Architecture in the Early European Middle Ages

  • Ottonian architecture flourished from the tenth to eleventh centuries and drew inspiration from Carolingian and Byzantine architecture.
  • Ottonian architecture chiefly drew its inspiration from both Carolingian and Byzantine architecture and represents the absorption of classical Mediterranean and Christian architectural forms with Germanic styles.
  • One of the finest surviving examples of Ottonian architecture is St.
  • The central body of the church has the nave with two aisles flanked by two towers characteristic of Carolingian architecture.
  • Cyriakus is one of the few surviving examples of Ottonian architecture and combines Carolingian elements with innovations that anticipate Romanesque architecture.

• Charlemagne's Reforms

  • During this period there was an expansion of literature, writing, the arts, architecture, jurisprudence, liturgical reforms, and scriptural studies.
  • The era ushered in by his reign, the Carolingian Renaissance, was so called because of the flowering of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture that characterized it.
  • Indeed, the earliest manuscripts available for many ancient texts are Carolingian.
  • It is almost certain that a text that survived to the Carolingian age endures still.
  • Lorsch Abbey gatehouse, c. 800, an example of the Carolingian architectural style, a first, albeit isolated classical movement in architecture.

• The Romanesque Period

  • Romanesque art was affected by shifting political powers following the Carolingian period, and the mobility of peoples during the Crusades.
  • Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
  • At a time when the remaining architectural structures of the Roman Empire were falling into decay and much of its technology was lost, the building of masonry domes and the carving of decorative architectural details continued unabated, though greatly evolved in style since the fall of Rome, in the enduring Byzantine Empire.
  • Life became generally less secure after the Carolingian period.
  • Famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses.

• Architecture of the Holy Roman Empire

  • Architecture from the Holy Roman Empire spans from the Romanesque to the Classic eras.
  • The Pre-Romanesque period in Western European art is often dated from the Carolingian Renaissance in the late 8th century to the beginning of the 11th century Romanesque period.
  • Gothic architecture flourished during the high and late medieval period, evolving from Romanesque architecture.
  • As in other areas of Europe, Renaissance architecture in the Holy Roman Empire placed emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry, and the regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity and, in particular, ancient Roman architecture.
  • It drew inspiration from the classical architecture of antiquity and was a reaction against the Baroque style, in both architecture and landscape design.

• Ottonian Painting in the Early European Middle Ages

  • Originally a ducal family from Saxony, the Ottonians (named after their first King Otto I the Great) seized power after the collapse of Carolingian rule in Europe and re-established the Holy Roman Empire.
  • The Ottonian Dynasty desired to confirm a sacred Roman imperial lineage that connected them to the Christian rulers of Late Antiquity such as Theodoric and Justinian, as well as to their Carolingian predecessors, particularly Charlemagne.
  • Ottonian art reflected this desire, fusing traditions and influences from late Roman, Byzantine, and Carolingian art.
  • The style is generally grand and heavy, sometimes to excess, and initially less sophisticated than the Carolingian equivalents.
  • Lastly, the architectural space that surrounds the emperor fails to convey a sense of naturalistic recession into space.

• The End of the Carolingians

  • In the late 9th century, however, the lack of suitable adults among the Carolingians necessitated the rise of Arnulf of Carinthia, an illegitimate child of a legitimate Carolingian king.
  • The Carolingians were displaced in most of the regna of the Empire in 888.
  • Thus West Francia of the Carolingian dynasty became France.
  • His sister Adelaide, the last Carolingian, died in 1122.
  • Carolingian family tree, from the Chronicon Universale of Ekkehard of Aura, 12th century

• Carolingian Metalwork in the Early European Middle Ages

  • Carolingian metalworkers primarily worked with gold, ivory, gems, and other precious materials.
  • Carolingian-era metalworkers primarily worked with gold, gems, ivory, and other precious materials.
  • For instance, luxury Carolingian manuscripts were given treasure bindings and elaborately ornate covers in precious metals set with jewels around central carved ivory panels.
  • Important Carolingian examples of metalwork came out of Charles the Bald's "Palace School" workshop, and include the cover of the Lindau Gospels, the cover of the Codex Aureus of St.
  • Emmeram, 870.Produced by the Carolingian Palace School.

• The Early Middle Ages

  • However, a generally accepted scheme includes Early Christian art, Migration Period art, Byzantine art, Insular art, Carolingian art, Ottonian art, Romanesque art, and Gothic art, as well as many other periods within these central aesthetic styles.
  • The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later eighth and early ninth century.
  • Named after Emmeram of Regensburg and lavishly illuminated, the Codex is an important example of Carolingian art, as well of one of very few surviving treasure bindings of the late ninth century.
  • By the early eighth century, the Merovingian dynasty revived the basilica form of architecture.
  • Other new features of religious architecture include the crossing tower and a monumental entrance to the church, usually at the west end of the building.

• Carolingian Painting in the Early European Middle Ages

  • Carolingian art comes from the Frankish Empire in the period of roughly 120 years from about 780 to 900 CE — during the reign of Charlemagne and his immediate heirs — popularly known as the Carolingian Renaissance.
  • The Abbey of Saint John at Müstair, Switzerland is the site of exceptionally well-preserved Carolingian art.
  • They belong to a limited set of surviving frescoes of the Carolingian period.
  • Fragments of Carolingian-era frescoes (early ninth century), St.
  • Bernd Schälicke examines the Carolingian frescoes on the north wall of the Benedictine Monastery Church of St.