THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOQ
their culmination in Justinian's great structure of St. Sophia at Constantinople. Closely akin to mosaic was mural painting proper. This was probably used in the more humble churches, and the few scanty specimens extant are chiefly from Egypt, some of them showing a curious similarity to the miniatures on Egyptian papyri.
II. The Carolingian and Othonian Period: The western peoples that came into contact with Roman culture possessed a distinct type of art which consisted in developments of the spiral, the use of animal figures belonging to a later period. This art was exemplified chiefly in miniatures, shown in such Irish manuscripts as the Lindisfarne Evangelary, the Book of Kells, and the Cathach Psalter. The object was purely calligraphic, and the artistic significance lies in the fantastic development of the ornamentation and the delicate sense of color. Anglo-Saxon miniature painting is almost identical in spirit with Irish, while the Frankish miniatures show a certain approximation to early Christian art. This influence is first perceptible in the reign of Charlemagne, as in the Evangelary of Godescalc at Paris, the Ada manuscript at Treves, and the Evangelary of Charlemagne at Vienna; it first becomes potent in the reign of Louis the Pious, enriched by Syriac influence and typified in the Bibles of Alcuin; and it reaches its acme in the Bible of Charles the Bald at Paris. The school is characterized by a happy blending of the national and the classical, by originality and imagination, and by admirable coloring and fantasy in combination of picture and ornamentation. Tours, Metz, and Reims were the chief centers, and the court itself took part. The general effect is one of uniformity, though in more remote places, as St. Gall, Fulda, and Corvey, a certain degree of independence and naturalism is perceptible. The fall of the Carolingian power rendered it possible for painting to develop freely, and under the German Othos it transcended its former development, reaching its pinnacle in the reigns of Otho III. and Henry II. The chief centers, with their principal productions, were not only Treves (where Archbishop Egbert fostered artistic life), Cologne (the Aachen Otho manuscript), and Echternach (the Echternach Evangelary at Gotha), but especially the Reichenau (the Codex Egberti at Treves and the Psalterium Egberti at Cividale) and Regensburg (Evangelary of Abbess Uota at Munich). The technic is early Christian, and delicate shading is rare. Literary sources show that mural painting was also employed with great frequency, though no specimens from the Carolingian period have been preserved, and but few from the succeeding period. To the latter belong, however, the mural paintings of the Church of St. George at Oberzell in the Reichenau, apparently dating from the late sixth century and unmistakably influenced strongly by primitive Christian art. At the same time there is here a directness and truth, combined with a breadth of concept, which make these mural paintings second to no others of the early Middle Ages in importance for the history of art.
III. Byzantine: Unlike the West, with its political vicissitudes, the eastern empire maintained a
continuity with classic culture; and in this very fact lies the distinction between the medieval art of Byzantium and of the Latin and Teutonic lands. Even the storms of the iconoclastic controversy (see Images and Image Worship, II., §§ 2-3) could not destroy the artistic spirit, typically pan-Hellenic and uniting classical and Christian motifs, which had grown up from the very foundation of Constantinople, and especially after the reign of Justinian. The exact reverse was the case, for at the very time when the West saw the triumph of national over classical art, the East, under the Macedonian dynasty (beginning with 867) witnessed a wonderful renaissance of classicism. Evidence of all this is furnished by the miniatures, especially those of a Psalter, probably of the tenth century, and a still earlier manuscript of the homilies of Gregory Nazianzen, written for Basil, the first of the Macedonian dynasty (867-886) — both in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Gr. nos. 139 and 510). Here the characteristics are fresh grasp of theme, careful execution of detail, magnificent coloring, and classical influence, only the conventionality in drapery betraying the copyist. Toward the end of the eleventh century a decline in artistic creativeness set in, conventionality in figure and theme appeared, and naturalism gave place to lofty pomp; but even so, classical art remained potent down to the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders, and Byzantine art came to an end without breaking with the past. Mural paintings of the Byzantine period are no longer extant, though a surrogate is furnished by the paintings on Mt. Athos after the sixteenth century. Mosaics are rare. Almost all those of St. Sophia, now hidden under the later wall covering, seem to belong to the early Macedonian period, while mosaics from the twelfth and thirteenth century respectively are preserved in the monastery churches of Daphni near Athens and Chora in Constantinople. The last phase of Byzantine art is closely connected with the " Painter's Book " of Mount Athos, the author of which, the monk Dionysius (flourished after 1500), doubtless used older materials, although chance elements and personal preferences may be perceived. Byzantine art exercised scant influence on the West, even though exceptional instances may be traced, especially in Italy, as in the Capella Palatina and cathedral of Palermo, the cathedral of Cefalil, and St. Mark's in Venice.
IV. The Middle Ages: Until long after the zenith of the Middle Ages art was courtly and clerical. Secular themes were deemed of secondary importance and were comparatively rare. Under Henry II. miniature painting was in full i. Minia- bloom, but about the middle of the tures and eleventh century a tendency to mere Books. imitation, devoid of real sympathy with its models and their spirit, led to a sudden decline. Technic deteriorated and coloring became coarse, while body colorings were often neglected entirely, and pen drawings were deemed sufficient, specimens of this decay being the Wyschehrad Evangelary in Prague and the Antiphonary in the abbey of St. Peter at Salzburg (first half of the twelfth century). About the middle of