Carolingian art in the context of "Ottonian art"

The Codex Aureus of Saint Emmeram (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 14000) is a 9th-century illuminated Gospel Book. It takes its name from Saint Emmeram's Abbey in Bavaria, where it was for most of its history (named after Emmeram of Regensburg) and is lavishly illuminated. The cover of the codex is decorated with gems and relief figures in gold, can be precisely dated to 870, and is an important example of Carolingian art, as well as one of very few surviving treasure bindings of this date.

The upper cover of the Lindau Gospels is probably a product of the same workshop, though there are differences of style. This workshop is associated with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles II (the Bald), and often called his "Palace School". Its location (if it had a fixed one) remains uncertain and much discussed, but Saint-Denis Abbey outside Paris is one leading possibility. The Arnulf Ciborium (a miniature architectural ciborium rather than the vessel for hosts), now in the Munich Residenz, is the third major work in the group, along with the frame of an antique serpentine dish in the Louvre. Recent scholars tend to group the Lindau Gospels and the Arnulf Ciborium in closer relation to each other than the Codex Aureus to either.

The Lindau Gospels is an illuminated manuscript in the Morgan Library in New York, which is important for its illuminated text, but still more so for its treasure binding, or metalwork covers, which are of different periods. The oldest element of the book is what is now the back cover, which was probably produced in the later 8th century in modern Austria, but in the context of missionary settlements from Britain or Ireland, as the style is that of the Insular art of the British Isles. The upper cover is late Carolingian work of about 880, and the text of the gospel book itself was written and decorated at the Abbey of Saint Gall around the same time, or slightly later.

When J.P. Morgan, already in his early sixties, bought the book in 1901, it was his first major purchase of a medieval manuscript, setting the direction that much of his subsequent collecting was to follow.

The Stammheim Missal is an illuminated manuscript Roman Missal made between 1160 and 1170. It is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, having been acquired from the private collection of the barons of Fürstenberg, who sold it to raise funds to repair Schloss Körtlinghausen. A Carolingian ivory diptych had been used for its binding, but was removed in 1904 and was in the State Museums of Berlin until 1945, when it disappeared during the bombing of Berlin in World War II.

It was produced by the priest Henricus of Middel for Hildesheim Abbey, and was later held at Stammheim Castle. It was made in the same era as the Ratmann Sacramentary. It is richly decorated with full-page miniatures, including one showing Bernward of Hildesheim (died 1022, subject of a local cult from 1150 and formally canonised in 1192).

Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period (c. 300 – 800). It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in Britain and Ireland. It covers many different styles of art including the polychrome style and the animal style. After Christianization, Migration Period art developed into various schools of Early Medieval art in Western Europe which are normally classified by region, such as Anglo-Saxon art and Carolingian art, before the continent-wide styles of Romanesque art and finally Gothic art developed.

Since ancient times, the Italian peninsula has been home to diverse civilizations: the Greeks in the south, the Etruscans in the centre, and the Celts in the north. The numerous Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date back as far as 8,000 BC. Rich artistic remains survive from the Etruscan civilization, including thousands of tombs, as well as from the Greek colonies at Paestum, Agrigento, and other sites. With the rise of Ancient Rome, Italy became the cultural and political centre of a vast empire. Roman ruins across the country are extraordinarily rich, from the grand imperial monuments of Rome to the remarkably preserved everyday architecture of Pompeii and neighbouring sites.

Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Italy remained an important artistic centre throughout the Middle Ages. The country saw significant contributions to Carolingian art, Ottonian art, and Norman art, as well as the flourishing of Byzantine art in cities such as Ravenna.

The Aachen Gospels (German: Schatzkammer-Evangeliar "Treasury Gospels", or Karolingisches Evangeliar "Carolingian Gospels") are a Carolingian illuminated manuscript which was created at the beginning of the ninth century by a member of the Ada School. The Evangeliary belongs to a manuscript group which is referred to as the Ada Group or Group of the Vienna Coronation Gospels. It is part of the church treasury of Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, now Aachen Cathedral, and is today kept in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. The Treasury Gospels and the more recent Ottonian Liuthar Gospels are the two most significant medieval manuscripts on display there.

The Stuttgart Psalter (Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, Bibl. fol. 23) is a richly illuminated 9th-century psalter, considered one of the most significant of the Carolingian period. Written in Carolingian minuscule, it contains 316 images illustrating the Book of Psalms according to the Gallican Rite. It has been archived since the late 18th century at the Württembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart.