Miniature from The Benedictional of Aethelwold

       Miniature from The Benedictional of Aethelwold. written and illuminated by a monastic scribe at Winchester.

       "One of the miniatures, representing the Ascension; the coloring is extremely beautiful and harmonious, enhanced by a skillful use of burnished gold.

       Though the figures and especially the delicately modeled faces have a character of their own, peculiarly English in feeling, yet in the general style of the miniatures, and in their elaborate borders there are very distinct signs of a strong Carolingian influence, owing, no doubt, to the introduction of Frankish illuminators and the purchase of Carolingian manuscripts during the reign of Alfred the Great, more than half a century before the date of this manuscript." text by Middleton