ABSTRACT
Given this role, it is understandable that Carolingian art always remained a relatively exclusive enterprise, rarely extending beyond the limits of imperial patronage, whether in the secular court or in the monasteries. Carolingian scribes created a clear readable script based on Roman letter forms, which was used throughout the Roman Christian Empire. Buildings such as the Abbey Church of Fulda demonstrate that Carolingian planners never produced slavish copies of Constantinian monuments, even when they claimed to be doing so. Consequently, it is more accurate to describe the Carolingian revival of Early Christian architecture as a reinterpretation of the older forms—a reinterpretation that integrated classical designs with the northern requirements and so laid the foundation for later medieval structures. The clearest picture of the Carolingian "renaissance" emerges not from the monumental arts but from a study of manuscripts, ivory carving, and other "cloister crafts."
