Carolingian art

Carolingian art, which goes back to antiquity, was created during the reign of Charlemagne. Charlemagne`s focus was his court in Aachen, to which he attracted artists from the Roman or Byzantine, but also from the Anglo-Saxon, Merovingian and Lombard traditions.

Due to his motivation for a renewal of the Roman Empire, Carolingian art emerged from these different currents - the first stage of occidental-medieval art. The heyday of the Carolingian style lasted from about 750 to 900. Both German art and French art developed from this starting point. The Germanic timber construction was replaced by stone construction. In contrast to the simultaneous Byzantine hostility to images, large series of Christian images emerged. Apart from a few wall paintings that have survived in fragments, the painting that has come down to us is limited to book illustrations. Monks commissioned to produce the books painted in depth, based on late antique and Byzantine templates. Germanic and Celtic traditions manifest themselves in powerful linear ornaments, entwined animal bodies and entangled demons.