Schnell & Steiner The End of Time in the Order of Things: Science and Eschatology in Early Medieval Art

The study is based on a multidisciplinary approach from the perspective of science, religion and art. Biblical and scientific approaches - namely computistics and astronomy - are juxtaposed. By contrasting pictorial representations, written interpretations and historical facts, it becomes convincingly clear how strongly scientific representations and biblical iconography have influenced each other. Medieval scribes and illuminators did not separate these two genres. In the course of recent research, the work shows that Isidore of Seville, Beda Venerabilis or Alcuin were extremely important mediators of ancient cosmological knowledge for the modern world and that Christian authors have made lasting and still relevant contributions in the scientific field. One of these fields is computistics, originally the calculation of the exact date of Easter, in a broader sense the calculation of time. The spiritual nature of medieval science is extremely valuable for the comparison of science and art against the background of the main messages of the Christian faith. This work is the first to systematically describe the significance of the so-called Schematisms for the interpretation of medieval art, beginning in the Carolingian period and spanning a period of 300 years. Previously unknown illuminations are included in the analysis. The work convincingly illustrates the close interweaving of iconography - formed by schematic representations - and eschatology.