The revival of the Western Roman Empire, an empire that lasted for over a millennium, an empire that rivaled the Byzantine Empire, an empire that helped shaping modern Europe as we know it, and they all came from a group of people with the same name as a shady bar, Franks. This empire was founded when Charlemagne, king of the Franks and Lombards of the Carolingian dynasty, was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III in AD 800. Charlemagne saw himself, as Dr. Nancy Ross put it, "as the new Constantine." , then Charlemagne implemented new reforms such as the church reforms from his "Adomonitio Generalis" and the cultural reforms from his "Epistola de litteris colendis". Those reforms led to the invitation "of the greatest scholars from all Europe to come to the court and give advice for its renewal of politics, church, art and literature", these reforms led to what is now known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The Carolingian Empire, soon known as the Holy Roman Empire, was intended to be the revival of the Western Roman Empire, but with a more Christian background, and Charlemagne wanted to emulate Constantine, as can be seen in all their art and architecture. The five works of art we will discuss in this article are the Portrait of Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels, the Portrait of Saint Mark from the Ebbo Gospels, the Palatine Chapel and the Holy Prasedde, and the cover of the Lindau Gospel. These works of art represent the influence that the Byzantine style, the Classical style, and the early Christian art styles had on the Carolingian Renaissance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Ebbo Gospels were an illuminated gospel book of the Carolingian Empire, the gospel contains many images but the two main ones are the portraits of Saint Mark and Saint Matthew which are perfect examples of how Carolingian art was influenced both from the Byzantine style to the classical one. The Byzantine influence in both of these works of art can be seen in the iconography in the way that these are literally saints spreading the word of God, and the other Byzantine influence is that the portraits are part of an illuminated manuscript that was a huge thing. in the Byzantine Empire. However, the question arises: why did the Byzantine Empire have such a great influence on these two portraits? As it turns out during the Carolingian Renaissance, the Byzantine Empire was going through the iconoclastic phase which saw the destruction of many works of art because they showed sacred figures in human form. With many Byzantine artists losing their jobs and seeing their works destroyed and a new empire forming inviting scholars from all over Europe it was the best place for Byzantine artists to move to, as Ruth Berenson said: "The Greek artists on the run from the Byzantine iconoclasm of the eighth century". The influence of the classical style can also be easily seen in the portraits of St. Matthew and St. Mark respectively in the Ebbo Gospels, as Dr. Nancy Ross and Dr. Jennifer Awes Freeman pointed out in their video “Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels”, in the portrait of Saint Matthew you can see these frenetic lines which may have been the Carolingian artists interpretation of the classical drawing style, they do not highlight the frenetic lines in the portrait of Saint Mark but it was still drawn in the same style. They are right though, the busy lines bear an uncanny resemblance to the tunics worn in portraits of the Roman Empire, but also to this writer it bears many similarities to the Primaporta statue of Augustus. While in the August lines the piled tunics are strangely similar. In the portrait ofSaint Matthew Dr. Ross and Dr. Freeman point out yet another influence of the classical style in their video “Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospels” at the top of the portrait you can see the classically drawn landscapes and buildings that can be seen throughout the entire period of Roman art, but for the writer they are like the Painted Garden, Villa di Livia. These two works of art clearly show the influence that the Byzantine and Classical styles had on Carolingian art. The Palatine Chapel was part of the Aachen Palace, which was the crown jewel of Carolingian architecture, but the architect of this magnificent building drew inspiration from Byzantine minds. The Palatine Palace was based on the San Vitale and according to Dr Freeman "The Chapel of San Vitale in Ravenna is probably the best comparison for what the Palatine Chapel looked like before its Gothic renovations". The Palatine Chapel follows the plan of San Vitale while the Palatine Chapel is a church with an octagonal and centralized plan. The Palatine Chapel is also inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which dates back to the period of early Christian art, the Palatine Chapel follows a centralized plan as noted previously but also has a surrounding ambulatory and upper gallery as Dr. Freeman notes in the article Palatine Chapel, Aachen. According to Dr. Freeman, it was created by Constantine's mother, Saint Helena. The Palatine Chapel also uses an octagonal dome which can be seen used throughout Byzantine architecture, but this dome is special because it also has iconographic features. According to a video released by UNESCO titled Aachen Cathedral, the number eight plays an important role in the Christian religion, an octagon can be drawn from two intersecting squares inside a circle, and the circle represents the eternity of God while the square represents the secular world. With that UNESCO video definition, the use of an octagonal dome on the Palatine Chapel is exceptional. The Palatine Chapel also contains many mosaics and, according to the iconography and symbolism, as Dr. Freeman said, "the original dome bore an apocalyptic mosaic program consisting of the Lamb of God surrounded by the tetramorph (symbols of the four writers of the Gospels ) and by the twenty-four elders described in Revelation 4:4”. Having the representation of Jesus and four of his disciples they are some of the greatest icon artists used in both the Carolingian Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the worlds of early Christian art. The Palatine Chapel is a glorious building, but this building would not exist in its current form if it were not for the works of the Byzantine Empire and the early Christian style of art. The funny thing about the Palatine Chapel is that it is based on a created building from the mother of the man Charlemagne was trying to emulate. Santa Prassede contains a beautiful mosaic in the apse of the Carolingian Empire which follows the Byzantine style. The subjects of the mosaic according to Richard Bowen, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker in the video Mosaics, Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Rome are, Santa Prassede, Jesus Christ, Saint Paul, the apostles represented by lambs leaving the city of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and Saint Paschal presenting the Church. The interesting thing about Saint Paschal, then Pope at the time this mosaic was created, is the square halo around his head. According to Mr. Bowen, Dr. Harris, and Dr. Zucker in their video Mosaics, Santa Prassede (Praxedes), Rome, the square halo in Christian iconography represents a saint who is still alive at the time of their depiction. Now, Saint Paschal was also Pope at the time of this mosaic, so this means that Pope Paschal canonized himself and it is logical that his depiction presents..