The Ada Gospels

For my special subject study this year I am studying the history of illuminated manuscripts - the recent exhibition that has opened in the British Library has loads of them on display...

http://www.bl.uk/royal

I have to admit that when I first looked at the possibility of studying medieval books for a year, it didn't really appeal when set alongside studying the intricacies of Stalinist thought, or the reign of Henry VIII. Yet, now that I've begun to appreciate how much these books tell us about the medieval world, I'm actually finding it all quite interesting...

Today, I presented my findings of the Ada Group of manuscripts which were produced in Charlemagne's court school up until he died. It is interesting to see how these manuscripts started off with quite a prominent insular influence (Irish and Anglo-Saxon art) and then moved on to a much more classical style with more sophisticated drawings and grander pictures.

Histories will often emphasise the desire of Charlemagne to make his reign like one of a Roman Emperor and the manuscripts and their art in this period shows the change over time and how this influence grew.

Here is a page from the Godescalc Gospel Lectionary - the first chronologically of this group, made c. 781-783:

The image is not yet very sophisticated and little attempt has been made to present 3D perspective in the picture. There is also a lot of insular interlace which shows the influence of insular art on the first books produced by this school.

A later manuscript in the Ada Group is the Harley Golden Gospels, thought to have been made c. 800. The images in this are much more sophisticated and classical with less of an insular influence.

The picture is quite classical and more sophisticated in the fact that the artist has made a serious attempt at introducing 3D perspectives into the picture. However, it is not completely sophisticated as can be seen by the foot stall that looks fairly out of perspective and the contours of his face are still quite 2D.

So it is interesting to look at not only how influences and styles changed, but also how artists grew and progressed in terms of depicting perspective.

What I find most interesting about studying history of this sort is that it makes a nice change from reading and interpreting texts - being able to look at a picture and make assumptions from it is in some ways more challenging but also makes a nice change!

Hopefully I'll be able to go to the exhibition at the British Library around Christmas and see some of them for myself!