The Ottonian Renaissance (951-1024) was a period of cultural and artistic achievement inspired by the revival of the Holy Roman Empire.
Sculpture and Painting
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. Ottonian rule was accompanied by a renewed faith in the idea of imperium (Latin, roughly translated as “power to command”), referring to the sovereignty of the state over the individual). This coincided with a period of significant church reform. Both combined to create the Ottonian Renaissance (circa 951-1024), a period of heightened cultural and artistic fervour and achievement.
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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 and 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. Additionally, the Ottonian style exhibits no direct influence from Byzantine art and less understanding of its classical models. Surviving paintings from this period exist predominantly in illustrations from illuminated manuscripts and a small number of mural and fresco fragments. In fact, illuminated manuscripts are the best source of painted imperial portraiture from the Ottonian Renaissance.
Ruler Portraits
Ottonian ruler portraits usually combine ancient Roman elements with contemporary (medieval) ones. Portraits are most frequently found in the dedicatory prefaces of illuminated manuscripts. Ottonian art eschews naturalism for a more abstract style, focusing on symbolism to convey deeply philosophical and theological concepts.
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A portrait of Otto II enthroned depicts the emperor wearing a bejewelled crown in lieu of a laurel wreath and a large disc bearing the cross in place of an imperial orb. However, his upright posture and general pose with one raised hand somewhat resembles the Colossus of Constantine, which sat in the Basilica Nova in the fourth century. Likewise, his attire slightly resembles a Roman toga, a sartorial mainstay among emperors and senators of ancient times. In a departure from classical art, however, Otto and the figures who flank him appear flat. Further, their scale is hierarchical, which organizes size in relation to importance. Otto is the largest of the five figures depicted. Lastly, the architectural space that surrounds the emperor fails to convey a sense of naturalistic recession into space.
Wall Paintings
Although it is clear from records that many churches were decorated with extensive wall painting, surviving examples are extremely rare, usually fragmentary, and in poor condition. As a result, their dates of production are uncertain, especially since many have been restored. Most surviving examples are clustered in south Germany, although there are also important examples from northern Italy. There is a record of bishop Gebhard of Constance hiring lay artists for a now-vanished cycle at his newly founded Petershausen Abbey (983). Laymen may have dominated the art of wall painting, perhaps basing their designs on monastic illuminations. The artists seem to have been nomadic, regularly moving throughout Europe.
The church of St. George at Oberzell on Reichenau Island has the best-known surviving example of wall paintings. However, much of the original work has been lost, and the remaining paintings to the sides of the nave have suffered from time and restoration. The largest scenes show the miracles of Christ in a style that shows both specific Byzantine elements and similarity with Reichenau manuscripts such as the Munich Gospels of Otto III. They are therefore usually dated around 980-1000. Indeed, the paintings are one of the foundations of the case for Reichenau Abbey as a major center of manuscript painting.
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