Thus we trace in this MS. the sources of Carolingian art. The
MS. being dated, is important as affording a means of comparison with
other undated work. It was presented to St. Sernin on the occasion of
the visit of the Emperor and Empress with their son, the amiable Louis
"le Debonaire,"[14] just after the latter had been made King of
Aquitaine. Godeschalk, the writer of it, on the last two leaves tells us
that it took him seven years to accomplish. It is written throughout in
gold and silver letters on purple vellum, and is, moreover, ornamented
with borders, pictures, portraits, and panellings. At first it was kept
in a _cumdach_ of silver, set with precious stones, but that has
disappeared.
[14] Mod. Fr. "Debonnaire."
The Golden Gospels of St. M?dard, like the Centula MS., are similar, but
betoken an advance in both taste and execution. The figures are still
rude and deformed, but the artist shows a laudable desire, an ambition,
in fact, to imitate the work of better artists than himself.
Nevertheless, the calligraphy and borderwork are the best parts of his
performance. In this MS. the use of silver betrays a tendency to
prodigality. In design, the influence of the artists who built the new
church of San Vitale at Ravenna, a church which became the model for the
Abbey of St.
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