SCHOBINGER AND][EPISCOPAL LIBRARY,
SANDHERR PHOTO.ST. GALL, SWITZERLAND
23. COVER OF A BOOK OF THE GOSPELS
Carlovingian, ninth century
The lower scene represents St. Gall taming the bears, which bring him bread whilst his companion sleeps. In this carving we see what the craftsman can do when left to himself; it is not a very artistic production, but it has a freshness entirely lacking in the other panels. The ornamental panels are splendidly carved, and recall the beautiful openwork panels on the book cover at Monza, which most probably belonged to Berenger, King of Italy in 888, and Emperor 916, and also the marble screens and balustrades which decorate so many Byzantine buildings. There are two more plaques at Cluny[18] which should be classed with these, and which are decorated with scroll-work containing figures of men fighting with satyrs and lions. The figures have a great likeness to those on the sixth century diptychs, especially the diptych in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg; and as that diptych formed part of the treasure of Metz Cathedral, it could easily have served as a model to the Carlovingian ivory workers. The rich border is of scroll-work with alternating rosettes and animals. The second plaque is still more like the Byzantine original, and this similarity has caused many writers to differ with Molinier and class it among pure Byzantine work.
[VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
24. CRUCIFIXION
Carlovingian, ninth century
One of the most important ivories of the tenth century is the Frankfort book cover; the second leaf is still in the Library, but the other was in the late Spitzer Collection. It represents the large figure of An Archbishop chanting the Psalms in company with some smaller canons, the whole group being surrounded by a battlemented wall, probably that of the convent. The work is dry, but very exact and particularly interesting for the study of early ecclesiastical vestments, which are given with great detail. In the Frankfort leaf, the Archbishop celebrates the mass, surrounded by attendant priests and acolytes.
The numerous representations of the crucifixion of the ninth and tenth centuries can be roughly divided into two classes: those decidedly original and others copied from Byzantine models. The Carlovingian type is filled with symbolism, not altogether of Christian origin. These plaques are very numerous and all vary slightly. [Fig. 24] is typical of a large number. The whole scene is emotional, all creation is moved, the sun and moon are represented with mournful faces, while the attendant angels weep bitterly; and below, the old pagan personifications of Earth and Sea bow their heads in sorrow. Stephaton with reed and sponge, and Longinus with his spear, stand on each side of the Cross, and the Virgin and St. John are always near. The two women carrying banners are allegorical figures of the Church and the Synagogue[19] or the Old and New Dispensations; the banner of the latter is sometimes reversed and broken, while the Church in some renderings of the scene catches the blood of the Redeemer in a chalice. These figures seem to be the successors of the little cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the Early Christian mosaics, which likewise typified the Old and New Dispensations.
At the foot of the Cross is often rolled a serpent, emblem of Christ’s triumph over Evil and Death; and on each side the dead are rising and stretching out their hands towards their Redeemer.