The Ebbo Gospels (Épernay, Bibliothèque Municipale, Ms. 1) is an early Carolingian illuminated Gospel book commissioned by Charlemagne to revive ancient Roman art.[1] The Gospel was made for Ebbo an archbishop[2] and reflects an expressive art style called Emotionalism in comparison to the Classical Roman art style of the past.[3] add more to lead section after doing infomartion
History edit
The making of the Ebbo Gospels was during the Carolingian Renaissance, when Charlemagne was crowned the Holy Roman emperor by the Pope starting in the year 800.[4] Charlemagne had the goal of incorporating more Christian and Roman ideology within Europe as he was inspired by Constantine who ruled c. 306-337 and made it more acceptable to practice Christianity at the time.[5]
After the fall of Rome, Charlemagne later became emperor to spread the word of Christianity, and ancient Roman arts to seek a revival. He commissioned many Gospels and manuscripts including the Ebbo Gospels to help educate people and preserve ancient Roman art. These Christian manuscripts aided the way Charlemagne believed Christianity should be practiced.[1]
Provenance edit
The Ebbo Gospels was produced in the ninth century at the Benedictine Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers[6] which was one of the earliest manuscripts from Hautillers to not be destroyed or lost. [7] The Ebbo Gospels was made by the school of Rheims and given to Ebbo an archbishop of Rheims from c. 816-835 to 840-841 by Abbot Peter of Hautvillers before Ebbo was deposed. [2] Ebbo possibly received the Ebbo Gospels for his return as archbishop from 840-841, after Charlemagne's death in 814 as his successor Louis became emperor.[6][8] The book is now currently in the Municipal Library in Epernay, France.[4]
Description edit
The Ebbo manuscript is a very lavish codex and holds great value being it was commissioned by the emperor Charlemagne and approved by his court. what does tht mesn? [9][10] Each page is 10 in by 8 in[6] with details of gold ink and the vellum of the codex is dyed purple to correlate with the colors of royalty.[9][4] For the Ebbo Gospel to be easier to read and more legible than localized script, it was written in Carolingian Miniscule, Charlemagne's own script which was based on roman letters. [5][10] The clearness of the scriptorium is relevant on the incipit page for Matthew of the Ebbo Gospels because of the use of big capitol letters that are also decorated and written with gold. [2][11] With Carolingian miniscule script Charlemagne created a standard of manuscript making that aided in easier education.[10]
The Ebbo Gospel book contains a poem to Ebbo (also spelled Ebo), and depicts the four evangelists Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John in illustration.[12] In Matthews illustration in the Ebbo Gospel, in the foreground of the illustration, Matthew is sitting down wearing Roman clothing with his feet outstretched on his foot stool. His face is very expressive as he leans using the tools such as a ink horn (left hand) which contained ink and a stylus (right hand) to create his gospel book, with his blank codex.[4][9][2] In the background in the upper right corner of the illustration is Matthews symbol an angel who is holding a scroll represented as a man with wings, as well as the Roman architecture of classic Byzantine and nature landscape is present in the background.[2]
St. Mark illustration represents him seated in a roman stool twisting his body to look upwards towards the right to his symbol, a lion that is holding a scroll. St. Luke illustration uses sketchy lines while looking up at his symbol an ox, and St. John is illustrated as an older man with a beard looking to his left as he twists his body to look at his symbol, an eagle. John is holding a long scroll that he has written on.
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 Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels, Smarthistory |
Style edit
The Ebbo Gospels style was curated by scholars, artists and writers in a scriporium? workshop at Rheims school who were hired by Charlemagne to study Roman art and replicate it. Greek artists fleeing the Byzantine iconoclasm of the 8th century brought this style to Aachen and Reims to be able to depict iconography. [3] The illustrations have roots in late classical painting as a reflection of Roman culture and the landscapes are represented in an illusionistic style.[9] The Roman influences within the art is shown within the clothing drapery, replicating the clothes of Roman philosophers in the illustration as well as the Byzantine architecture in the background, heavily representing Rome.[5]
Emotionalism was a style used in the Ebbo Gospel illustrations that was quite new to Carolingian art, which distinguished the Ebbo Gospels from classical art it was inspired by.[3]
Classical art was more naturalistic in replicating the human figure[4] while the art present in the Ebbo Gospels focused more on art style. Figures such as evangelists are made with swift brush strokes that demonstrate energy. In the 1st Century in Europe the idea of a enthusiastic prophet was prevalent.[13] This energy is reflected with the quick lines and Matthews eager body language to write having for god.
The artists make use of perspective by adding a foreground and background. The use of three-dimensional space is demonstrated by the depiction of shadows and highlights, the coloring of the sky, furniture, and the architecture in the back.[4] The skewed proportions such as St. Matthews unbalanced look represent the evangelists are from another world and hold great power.
Iconography & Symbolism edit
Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John represent Lion, bull, Angel, and eagle that is illustrated in each illustration of them in the Ebbo Gospel.[4] The Ebbo Gospels represent the "Anruftypus" style of Iconography, meaning the evangelists are able to look up at their symbols. [14]
add more, maybe about symbols of eveangalists?
Similar Manuscripts edit
The Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram is a manuscript made in 870 following the Ebbo Gospel style,[15] although the Utrecht Psalter is the most famous example of a manuscript similar to the Ebbo Gospels which was made in the same Rheims school. [3] The Utrecht Psalters style possibly influenced Carolingian art with its rapid strokes, and was an influence for classical art, and the course of medieval art.[3]
Historians have noted the similarity between the Utrecht Psalter and the Ebbo Gospels. The evangelist portrait of Matthew in the Ebbo Gospels is similar to the illustration of the psalmist in the first psalm of the Utrecht Psalter [3][6] The Carolingian art could be the interpretation of the Utrecht Psalter Classical style that has quick and rapid brush-strokes.[4]
Other images in the Ebbo Gospels appear to be based on distortions of drawings which may have been from the Utrecht Psalter.[6] Goldschmidt a medieval historian claims that many of the small details of the Utrecht Psalter can be compared to the features of the Ebbo Gospels. [16] Items such the ink, the way animals are depicted, architecture is illustrates, and body language and gestures that people in these books are given, has some connection between both the Ebbo Gospels and the Psalter.
| “ | In short, we find not one thing, whether it is a stool with a lion's head and claws, or an inkwell, whether it is the lance or the arrow of the warrior, the lions, the birds, the buildings, the figures, and the gestures that cannot be paralleled to the smallest detail in style as well as in content, in the Utrecht Psalter. | ” |
The Utrecht Psalter also makes uses of representing architecture three-dimensionally in the foreground and depicting St. Matthews symbol, the winged man.[9]
References edit
- Benson, Gertrude R. (March 1931). "New light on the origin of the Utrecht Psalter". The Art Bulletin. 13 (1): 13–79. doi:10.1080/00043079.1931.11409295. JSTOR 3045474.
- Berenson, Ruth (Winter 1966–1967). "The Exhibition of Carolingian art at Aachen". Art Journal. 26 (2): 160–165. doi:10.2307/775040. JSTOR 775040.
- Biggs, Sara J. (2013). Bringing our medieval manuscripts to life
- Calkins, Robert G. (1983). Illuminated books of the middle ages. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9377-3.
- Chazelle, Celia (October 1997). "Archbishops Ebo and Hincmar of Reims and the Utrecht Psalter". Speculum. 72 (4): 1055–1077. doi:10.2307/2865958. JSTOR 2865958.
- Ross, Nancy, Carolingian Art Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Smarthistory, undated
- Ross Nancy & Freeman, A. Jennifer, "Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels," in Smarthistory, December 10, 2015, accessed March 27, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/saint-matthew-from-the-ebbo-gospels/.
Notes edit
- ^ a b "Smarthistory – Charlemagne (part 2 of 2): The Carolingian revival". smarthistory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ a b c d e Carolingian Manuscripts Part 2: Ebbo Gospels. Retrieved 2024-04-22 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Berenson, Ruth (1966). "The Exhibition of Carolingian Art at Aachen". Art Journal. 26 (2): 160–165. doi:10.2307/775040. ISSN 0004-3249.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ross, Nancy (December 10, 2015). "Smarthistory – Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels". smarthistory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ a b c "Smarthistory – Carolingian art, an introduction". smarthistory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ a b c d e Chazelle, Celia (1997). "Archbishops Ebo and Hincmar of Reims and the Utrecht Psalter". Speculum. 72 (4): 1055–1077. doi:10.2307/2865958. ISSN 0038-7134.
- ^ Moore, R. I. (1997). "Review of Relics, Apocalypse, and the Deceits of History: Ademar of Chabannes, 989- 1034". Speculum. 72 (3): 850–852. doi:10.2307/3040807. ISSN 0038-7134.
- ^ McKeon, Peter R. (1974). "Archbishop Ebbo of Reims (816-835): A Study in the Carolingian Empire and Church". Church History. 43 (4): 437–447. doi:10.2307/3164920. ISSN 0009-6407.
- ^ a b c d e "Matthew in the Coronation Gospels and Ebbo Gospels (article)". Khan Academy. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ a b c Sorabella, Jean (December 2008). "Carolingian Art".
- ^ Biggs, Sarah J. (2013). "Bringing our medieval manuscripts to life".
- ^ Nees, Lawrence (2012). "Ebbo Gospels".
- ^ Moffitt, John F. (2005-01-01), "Post-Classical and Christian "Inspiration"", Inspiration: Bacchus and the Cultural History of a Creation Myth, Brill, pp. 94–128, doi:10.1163/9789047407027_009, ISBN 978-90-474-0702-7, retrieved 2024-04-22
- ^ Alexander, J. J. G. (1966). "A Little-Known Gospel Book of the Later Eleventh Century from Exeter". The Burlington Magazine. 108 (754): 6–16. ISSN 0007-6287.
- ^ Calkins, Robert G. (1986). Illuminated books of the Middle Ages. Cornell paperbacks (1. print ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-9377-5.
- ^ Benson, Gertrude R. (1931). "New Light on the Origin of the Utrecht Psalter: I: The Latin Tradition and the Reims Style in the Utrecht Psalter". The Art Bulletin. 13 (1): 13–79. doi:10.1080/00043079.1931.11409295. ISSN 0004-3079.