Sculpture and Painting
Originally a ducal family from Saxony, the Ottonians (named after their first King Otto I the Great) seized power after the collapse of Carolingian rule in Europe and re-established the Holy Roman Empire. Ottonian rule was accompanied by renewed faith in the idea of imperium (Latin, roughly translated as "power to command" and referring to the sovereignty of state over individual) and also coincided with a period of significant church reform. Both combined to create the Ottonian Renaissance (circa 951-1024), a period of heightened cultural and artistic fervor and achievement.
The Ottonian Dynasty desired to confirm a sacred Roman imperial lineage that connected them to the Christian rulers of Late Antiquity such as Theodoric and Justinian, as well as to their Carolingian predecessors, particularly Charlemagne. Ottonian art reflected this desire, fusing traditions and influences from late Roman, Byzantine, and Carolingian art. The style is generally grand and heavy, sometimes to excess, and initially less sophisticated than the Carolingian equivalents. Additionally, the Ottonian style exhibits no direct influence from Byzantine art and less understanding of its classical models. Surviving paintings from this period exist predominantly in the form of illustrations from illuminated manuscripts and a small number of mural and fresco fragments. In fact, illuminated manuscripts are the best source of painted imperial portraiture from the Ottonian Renaissance.
Ruler Portraits
Ottonian ruler portraits usually combine ancient Roman elements with contemporary (medieval) ones. Portraits are most frequently found in the dedicatory prefaces of illuminated manuscripts. Ottonian art eschews naturalism for a more abstract style, focusing on symbolism to convey deeply philosophical and theological concepts.
A portrait of Otto II enthroned depicts the emperor wearing a bejeweled crown in lieu of a laurel wreath and a large disc bearing the cross in place of an imperial orb. However, his upright posture and general pose with one raised hand somewhat recalls the Colossus of Constantine, which once sat in the Basilica Nova in the fourth century. Likewise, his attire slightly resembles that of a Roman toga, a sartorial mainstay among emperors and senators of ancient times. In a departure from classical art, however, Otto and the figures who flank him appear flat. Furthermore, their scale is hierarchical, which organizes size in relation to their importance. In other words, Otto is the largest of the five figures depicted. Lastly, the architectural space that surrounds the emperor fails to convey a sense of naturalistic recession into space.
Master of the Registrum Gregorii. Otto II Enthroned (c. 985).
Ottonian art was created to confirm a direct Holy and Imperial lineage as a source of legitimized power linked from Constantine and Justinian.
Wall Paintings
Although it is clear from documentary records that many churches were decorated with extensive cycles of wall painting, surviving examples are extremely rare, usually fragmentary, and in poor condition. Generally their condition leaves their dates of production uncertain. Many have been restored, further complicating the matter. Most surviving examples are clustered in south Germany, although there are also important examples from north Italy. There is a record of bishop Gebhard of Constance hiring lay artists for a now vanished cycle at his newly founded Petershausen Abbey (983), and laymen may have dominated the art of wall painting, perhaps sometimes basing their designs on monastic illuminations. The artists seem to have been rather mobile, regularly moving throughout Europe.
The church of St. George at Oberzell on Reichenau Island has the best-known surviving example of wall paintings. However, much of the original work has been lost, and the remaining paintings to the sides of the nave have suffered from time and restoration. The largest scenes show the miracles of Christ in a style that both shows specific Byzantine input in some elements, and a closeness to Reichenau manuscripts such as the Munich Gospels of Otto III. They are therefore usually dated around 980–1000. Indeed, the paintings are one of the foundations of the case for Reichenau Abbey as a major center of manuscript painting.
Jesus and the Gadarene Swine (tenth century)
Nave fresco in St George, Oberzell, Reichenau Island.