Caecilia Davis-Weyer Errata
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Lacy Carol Neel Edward Peters Melissa Pitts Suzanne Rancourt David Staines Luke Wenger Caecilia Davis-Weyer EARLY MEDIEVAL ART 300-1150 Sources and Documents Published by University of Toronto Press Toronto Buffalo London in association with the Medieval Academy of America © Medieval Academy of America 1986 Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-6628-3 Reprinted 1993, 1996, 2003 First published by Prentice-Hall Inc in 1971 in the series Sources and Documents in the History of Art edited by H.W. Janson Reprinted by permission of the publisher Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Davis-Weyer, Caecilia Early medieval art, 300-1150 : sources and documents (Medieval Academy reprints for teaching ; 17) Includes index. ISBN 0-8020-6628-3 1. Art, Medieval - History - Sources. I. Medieval Academy of America. II. Title. III. Series. N5975.D38 1986 709'.02'1 C86-006990-7 Contents Preface ix i. Early Christian Attacks on Idols and Images 3 Tertullian: THE Argument from ScripturE 3 Minucius Felix: A Philosophical Argument (C. 200) 6 2. The Christian Empire II Imperial Foundations Constantine’s Gifts to the Lateran and St. Peter’s The Book of the Popes u Prudentius: St. Peter’s and St. Paul's in 400 ‘3 Galla Placidia’s Church of St. John the Evangelist in Ravenna 13 Agncllus: A Ninth Century Description of the Portrait of St. Peter Chrysologus 13 G. Rossi: A Sixteenth Century Description of the Mosaics 16 Early Christian Iconography Paulinus of Nola: The Decoration of his Churches *1 Biblical Frescoes in the New Basilica of Nola 18 Apse Mosaics in Nola and Fundi 30 Instructions for a Painter of Miniatures a3 Prudentius: Inscriptions for Scenes from the Old and New Testaments 25 Luxury and EleganCE: PopE Hilary’s Oratories at thE Lateran Baptistry 34 The Book of the Popes'. A Sixth Century Description 34 O. Panvinio: The Oratories in the Sixteenth Century 34 Ascetic and Theological Opposition 37 St. Jerome: Christian Poverty 57 A Letter to Paulinus of Nola 38 A Letter to Nepotian 38 A Letter to Demetrias 39 v vi Contents St. Augustine: Art and Truth 40 Reality and Illusion 41 An Attack on Forgeries 43 Faith and Visual Representation 43 3- Europe Under Barbarian Rule 47 THE Proper Use of Images 47 St. Gregory the Great to Bishop Serenus of Marseille 47 Italy Under the Ostrogoths 49 Agnellus: Two Portraits of Theodoric 4g Theodoric to Agapetus: a Request for Roman Mosaicists yo Amalasuentha to Justinian: A Request for Proconnesian Marble yo Theodoric to the Roman Senate: Appointment of a Custodian of Monuments yr Theodoric to Albinus: Urban Renewal in the Forum y3 Theodoric to Symmachus: The Restoration of Pompey’s Theatre 53 Pre-Carolingian Gaul yy Sidonius Apollinaris yy To Hesperius: A New Church in Lyon 34 To Domitius: The Baths of His Villa yy St. Gregory of Tours 57 Fifth Century Basilicas in Tours and Clermont-Ferrand 57 The Golden Church of Toulouse in 1633 yp The Treasure of Bishop Desiderius of Auxerre 66 St. Eloy of Noyon, A Merovingian Goldsmith 63 Ireland and England 70 Cogitosus: St. Bride’s Church in Kildare 7' The Venerable Bede: Benedict Biscop’s Roman Acquisitions 72 Wilfred's Hexham 75 Eddius Stephanus: A Contemporary Description 76 Prior Richard: Hexham in the Twelfth Century 76 How to Paint the Apostles in the Roman Fashion 78 4- The Carolingian Renaissance 83 Carolingian Palaces 83 vii Contents Einhard: The Palace Church al Aachen 8} Ermoldus Nigellus: The Church and Palace at Ingelheim 5./ Leo Ill’s Lateran Palace 88 The Book of Popes: A Contemporary Description 88 O Panvinio: The Triclinia of Leo III 89 J. Grimaldi: The Aula Leonina in 1617 91 Two Monasteries 92 Angilbert’s Centula 92 Hariulf: An Eleventh Century Description 93 Angilbert: Liturgical Instructions 97 The Treasure of Centula in 831 95 Ardo: St. Benedict’s Aniane 96 THE Carolingian Controversy About Religious .Art 99 The Caroline Books: A Frankish Attack on Iconodules JOO Candidus: An Imperial Admonition to the Abbot ol Fulda Z05 Carolingian Antiquarianism Z05 Theodulf of Orleans: An Antique Silver Bowl 106 Einhard to Wussin: A Query About Vitruvius Z07 5. Early Romanesque III England nr St. Oswald’s Church at Ramsey in Eadmer: The Anglo-Saxon Cathedral of Canterbury 112 THE Empire Imperial Robes and Insignia "5 Benzo of Alba to Henry IV: The Imperial Procession 116 Imperial Largesse ity Leo of Ostia: Henry Il's Gifts to Monte Cassino 117 Henry H’s Gifts to Basel 118 Raoul Glaber: Henry' H’s Sphere 119 Ad&nar de Chabannes: Other Gifts to Cluny 120 The Ruodlieb: A Princely Gift 120 Thangmar: St. Bernward as a Patron 122 Burgundy Z3^ Raoul Glaber: Church-Building Around the Year 1000 viii Contents William of Volpiano’s St. Benigne Z2$ Cluny Under Odilo 128 A Description of the Monastery 128 The Procession on Palm Sunday ’30 6. High Romanesque New Churches and Their Chroniclers ’35 Leo of Ostia: Desiderius' Church at Monte Cassino ’35 Gervase of Canterbury: The Cathedral of Lanfranc and Anselm z^z Pilgrims and Travelers 147 A Guide to Santiago di Compostela ’47 Benedict the Canon: The Marvels of Rome 156 Master Gregory: Pagan Antiquities 158 Benjamin of Tudela: Baghdad and Babylon 162 Art and Theology 164 Gilbert Crispin: Scripture and Images 164 Rupert of Deutz: Divine Grace and Artistic Skill 167 St. Bernard to William of St. Thierry: Ascetic Reaction 168 Artists and Patrons 170 An Exchange of Letters Z70 Abbot Wibald to the Goldsmith G. zyz The Goldsmith G. to Abbot Wibald zyz Theophilus: The Decoration of a Chalice Z72 Heraclius: The Colors and Arts of the Romans ’75 Theophilus: The Artist’s Mission 176 IT 9 Index Preface The time span covered by this anthology extends over 850 years. The conversion of Constantine, the fall of Rome, the rise of the papacy and the early history of France, England and Germany all fall within this period. To maintain some degree of cultural unity in a time of such turbulent and radical change required the unremitting efforts of patrons, artists and intellectuals, who had to gain their own sense of historical continuity by submitting to what must have been an often painful process of education and transformation. The paucity of early medieval records tends to give a false air of impersonality to the art of this period, making us forget how very large a role individual choice and initiative had to play in its making. I have tried to correct this impression of anonymity by including a rather large number of selections that allow us to catch a glimpse of the activities of such patrons and artists as Theodoric, Charlemagne, Sidonius, Wilfred, St. Bemward, or St. Eloy. Another obvious duty of this anthology was to make more easily ac cessible those sources which describe some of the significant lost monu ments of this period. Reliable and instructive descriptions are hard to come by before the twelfth century. Those I have included are for the most part well known and have been used by art historians for many years. Few of them, however, have been translated, and for good reason. The somewhat equivocal character of medieval Latin becomes most ap parent in factual accounts and descriptions, where seldom used words may assume a variety of meanings. I have tried to avoid a misleading precise ness in my translations, without having always been able to avoid the opposite pitfall of excessive vagueness. In this anthology I have also tried to convey an impression of the very peculiar and somewhat illogical attitude early medieval intellectuals and theologians had towards the visual arts. This attitude seems to have been shaped by two contradictory considerations: admiration for the Roman past and its art on the one hand and, on the other, the never quite sup pressed memory that images had been a scandal to both Jews and early Christians. Rome to the early middle ages meant a variety of things. It was the city of Peter and Paul and the seat of the Pope. It was also the city of Augustus and Trajan, great and just emperors who were remem bered as having brought peace to their centuries. The religious and ix x Preface political aspects of Rome coincided in the figure of Constantine who had christianized the empire and romanized the church. His lavish patronage was the model that early medieval princes and bishops tried to emulate. To build and adorn churches “according to the Roman manner” was for them not only a question of prestige but often also one of orthodoxy. Latin theologians however, remained always somewhat embarrassed by the fact that art played such a conspicuous role in the church. The tradi tion of patronage, established with the authority of Constantine and the popes, made it impossible for them to indulge in wholesale condemnation.