From such secondary models as
the Sacramentaries and Evangeliaries executed at Tours, Soissons, Metz,
and other busy centres of production, English illuminators succeeded in
forming a distinctive style of their own. In the French or, rather,
Frankish MSS., while the richness of the gold and the beauty and
delicacy of the colouring are in themselves most charming, and while
certain features may in general be recognised as no doubt suggestive
there is nothing which quite predicts the remarkable treatment which
characterises the English work. "Opus Anglicum" was its distinctive
title. The term, indeed, was applied to all English artistic productions
more or less--embroidery among the rest. The women of England, says
William of Poitiers, were famous for their needlework, the men excelled
in metal-work and jewellery. But it was the illuminated Service Books
that have perpetuated the term.
From the Lindisfarne Gospels to the Winchester Benedictionals is a far
cry--but Art is long and time is fleeting, hence many pages of
intervening description must be omitted. We may, however, refer the
reader to Westwood's _Pal?ographia Sacra Pictoria_, the Pal?ographical
Society's publications, and other works, for enlightenment on this
period.
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