self
emperor of the Romans, also, and when the Franks saw all the splendor of
Rome and other parts of Italy, it was not difficult for the great emperor
to introduce the arts into the Frankish portion of his empire. All sorts
of beautiful objects were carried from Italy by the Franks, and great
workshops were established at Aix-la-Chapelle, the capital, and were
placed under the care of Eginhard, who was skilled in bronze-casting,
modelling, and other arts; he was called Bezaleel, after the builder of
the Tabernacle. We have many accounts of the wall-paintings and mosaics of
the Franks; but there are no remains of them that can be identified with
positive accuracy.

Miniature-painting flourished under the rule of Charlemagne and his
family, and reached a point of great magnificence in effect, though it was
never as artistic as the work of the Italian miniators; and, indeed,
gradually everything connected with art was declining in all parts of the
world; and as we study its history, we can understand why the terms Dark
Ages and Middle Ages are used to denote the same epoch, remarkable as it
is for the decay and extinction of so many beautiful things.

THE CENTRAL, OR ROMANESQUE PERIOD.

During the Romanesque Period (950-1250) architecture was pursued according
to laws which had grown out of the achievements and experiences of earlier
ages, and had reached such a perfection as entitled it to the rank of a
noble art. But this was not true of painting, which was then but little
more than the painting of the Egyptians had been, that is, a sort of
picture-writing, which was principally used to illustrate the doctrines of
religion, and by this means to teach them to peoples who had no books, and
could not have read them had they existed.

During all this time the art of painting was largely under the control of
the priests. Some artists were priests themselves, and those who were not
were under the direction of some church dignitary. Popes, bishops, abbots,
and so on, were the principal patrons of art, and they suggested to the
artists the subjects to be painted, and then the pictures were used for
the decoration of churches and other buildings used by the religious
orders. The monks were largely occupied in miniature-painting; artists
frequented the monasteries, and, indeed, when they were engaged upon
religious subjects, they were frequently under the same discipline as that
of the monks themselves.

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