EARLY
MEDIEVAL
EUROPE
GARDNER CHAPTER 16-3
PP. 422-428
OTTONIANS

Charlemagne’s empire falls apart w/in 30 years
of his death in 814 -> Frankish lands are
partitioned -> Viking incursions -> Magyars
attack the Byzantine East -> Saracens in the
Mediterranean = confusion and chaos

In mid 10th century the eastern part of the
former empire consolidate under the rule of a
new line of Saxon emperors called the
OTTONIAN -> the three Ottos

Preserved and enriched the culture and
tradition of the Carolingian period

Ottonians encourage and sanctioned great
monastic reform

By early 11th century -> pagan marauders
became Christianized and settled
GERNRODE

Nave of the church of Saint Cyriakus,
Gernrode, Germany, 961-873

Ottonian architectects followed
Carolingian style w/basilican
churches with towering spires and
imposing westworks -> but also
introduced new features

The Ottonian church at Gernrode
shows how the Early Christian
basilica plan was modified -> added
a gallery above the nave arcade
and adopted an ALTERNATESUPPORT SYSTEM of piers and
columns -> eye leads upward
HILDESHEIM

Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim,
Germany, 1001-1031

Built by Bishop Bernwald, a great
art patron -> Saint Michael’s is a
masterpiece of Ottonian basilica
design

Two apses, two transepts, and
multiple towers -> distinctive profile
 Longitudinal
section (top) and
plan (bottom) of
the abbey church
of Saint Michael’s,
Hildesheim,
Germany, 1001–
1031
Saint Michael’s
entrances are on
the side
alternating piers
and columns
divide the space in
the nave into
vertical units ->
these features
transformed the
tunnel-like
horizontality of
Early Christian
basilica
 Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany, 1001–1031. One of the
great patrons of Ottonian art and architecture was Bishop
Bernward of Hildesheim, Germany.
HILDESHEIM DOORS

Doors with relief panels (Genesis, left
door; life of Christ, right door),
commissioned by Bishop Bernward for
Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany,
1015. Bronze, 16’ 6” high

Massive piece of art for its time -> a
technological marvel

Imperial overtones -> Pantheon had
bronze doors, Aachen had bronze doors
but with no decoration

Subject -> on left the Fall of Man (Old
Testament – Adam/Eve, Cain/Abel) and
on right the Redemption of Man (New
Testament – Annunciation, Resurrection)
Bernward’s doors vividly tell the story
of Original Sin and ultimate
redemption, and draw parallels
between the Old and New Testaments,
as in the expulsion from Paradise and
the infancy and suffering of Christ.
 Doors with relief panels (Genesis, left
door; life of Christ, right door),
commissioned by Bishop Bernward for
Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany,
1015. Bronze, 16’ 6” high. Saint Michael’s,
Hildesheim.

“Adam and Eve Reproached by the
Lord,” bronze panel from the doors
of Bishop Bernward at the cathedral,
Hildesheim, West Germany, 1015

Rectangular panels with few figures,
bare landscapes, emphasis on lively
gestures

Bony figures, vitality and liveliness

Emphasis on extremities -> hands,
feet, heads
HILDESHEIM COLUMN

Column with reliefs illustrating the
life of Christ, commissioned by
Bishop Bernward for Saint
Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany,
ca. 1015–1022. Bronze, 12’ 6” tall
 Column with reliefs illustrating the life
of Christ, commissioned by Bishop
Bernward for Saint Michael’s,
Hildesheim, Germany, ca. 1015–1022.
Bronze, 12’ 6” tall. Saint Michael’s,
Hildesheim.

Ottonian sculpture includes
examples of large-scale bronze
reliefs and monumental figural
sculpture in wood.

Modeled on the Column of Trajan
in Rome, the seven spiral bands of
the Hildesheim column relate the
life of Jesus in 24 scenes from his
baptism to his entry into Jerusalem.
GERO CRUICIFIX

Crucifix commissioned by Archbishop
Gero for Cologne Cathedral, Germany,
ca. 970. Painted wood, height of figure 6’
2”

Return of large monumental sculpture

Life-size wooden work

Emotional suffering

Rounded forms

Jesus Christ hanging from a cross for the
first time, seen as a human suffering
crucifixion

Commissioned by Archbishop Gero for
the cathedral in Cologne, Germany
UTA CODEX

Abbess Uta dedicating her codex to the
Virgin, folio 2 recto of the Uta Codex,
from Regensberg, Germany, ca. 1025,
tempera on parchment

Ottonian artists carried on the Carolingian
tradition of producing sumptuous books
for clergy and royalty

Illustrates the important role that women
could play both in religious life and as
patrons of the arts

Dedicatory page shows Uta presenting
her codex to the Virgin Mary
LECTIONARY OF HENRY II

Annunciation to the Shepherds,
folio in the Lectionary of Henry II,
from Reichenau, Germany, 1002–
1014. Tempera on vellum, approx.
1’ 5” X 1’ 1”

Highly successful fusion of
Carolingian-Ottonian anecdotal
narrative tradition, elements from
Late Antique paintiong (rocky
landscape w/grazing animals),
and the golden background of
Byzantine art
GOSPEL BOOK OF
OTTO III

Otto III enthroned, folio 24 recto of
the Gospel Book of Otto III, from
Reichenau, Germany, 997–1000.
Tempera on vellum, 1’ 1” x 9 3/8”

Otto III -> descended from
German and Byzantine imperial
lines -> enthroned and holding
scepter and cross inscribed orb of
universal authority

Clergy & barons on either side ->
church and state