It is now in the
National Library at Paris.
Before speaking of Othonian illumination it may be well to refer to that
of the Netherlands in these earlier centuries.
The most ancient writings known in this district were charters and other
documents, and the pious effusion of the occupants of the monasteries,
such as St. Amand, Lobbes, Stavelot, etc.
It was the revival of art and literature under Charlemagne that was the
beginning of artistic calligraphy, then followed the production of books
outside the monasteries, classical authors, chronicles, and mirrors of
various sciences. In the eleventh century we find monastic books and
others of which the ornamentation is sometimes even splendid, such as
Psalters, Evangeliaries, Bibles, and Missals, glowing with gold and
colours. Already the Abbeys of Stavelot and Li?ge were high-class
centres of production. St. Martin's of Tournay had a famous scriptorium
also, noted for the beauty of its writing and its grand initial letters.
Immediately following St. Martin's, the Abbeys of Gembloux, St. Bavon at
Ghent, and others, produced or acquired MSS. of the most sumptuous kind,
and before the thirteenth century the Netherlands had established quite
a distinguished reputation.
In a later chapter we shall deal with the development of its remarkable
schools, whose work eventually took rank, not only among the most
artistic, but the most prolific in Europe.
Pages:
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109