Formgenese karolingischer Elfenbeine. Strukturen der Antikenrezeption

Often, we mention Renovatio Imperii when we talk about the reception of ancient art during the Carolingian period. We like to imagine that Carolingian artists, for both political and religious reasons, sought out normative examples in ancient art. However, the example of ivory carvings from the period serves to demonstrate that Carolingian artists were astonishingly freewheeling in their adaptation of models from Late Antiquity; in fact, virtually without exception, they produced highly innovative compositions rather than exact copies. Thus, the results of my inquiry show that the criteria for the reception of ancient art should be reformulated to account for innovative recreation rather than exact imitation.