Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/129

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OF THE MONASTERY OF ST. GALL.
87

one, else he would have finished the one before he demolished the other. The same ahbot set about to reconstruct the whole monastery on an enlarged scale, but did not live to complete it. Abbot Grimaldus succeeded in 841, and in his time Hartmotus, his sub-abbot, pro abbas, completed the whole of the claustral edifices, and erected the abbatia, or residence of the abbot. He also decorated the church with various ornaments. lie constructed for the most part the tomb of St. Gall with the other altars[1], the analogium, or pulpit, and the confessionary, provided silver coronas and other lights for the church, and decorated the apse behind the altar of St. Gall with gilding and painting.

The plan of the monastery which accompanies this essay is a fac-simile, on a reduced scale, of an original drawing which is preserved in the library of St. Gall. That it was intended to represent the monastery of St. Gall is shewn by the dedication of the high altar of the church, but it does not appear at first sight whether the plan is a representation of existing buildings or a design for new ones. There is an inscription upon the original, which runs in the following terms :

"For thee, my dearest son Gozpertus, have I drawn out this plan of the position and arrangement of the offices, concisely described; with which you may exercise your ingenuity and recognise my friendship, which I trust you have not found slow to satisfy your wishes. Do not imagine that I have worked out this scheme supposing you to stand in need of our artistic skill, but rather believe that out of love of thee and in the friendly zeal of brotherhood I have depicted this for your own private criticism. Farewell," &c.[2]

From the terms of this inscription ]Iabillon infers that the person who could thus address Abbot Gozpertus as his son must have been of high dignity, and he supposes that he was no other than the Abbot Eginhardus, who held the office of prefect of the royal buildings under Charlemagne, and was well skilled in architecture[3] This view he confirms by an inscrip-

  1. ↑ "Principio vero tumbam S. Galli cum réliquis altaribus, et analogio atque confessione ita innovari, miaxmaque ex parte totum ex intcgro fecit edificari, sicut hodie videtur .et cernitur." — Ratp., cap. ix. G. p. 29.
  2. ↑ "Hæec tibi dulcissirne fili, Cozperte de positione officinarum paucis exemplata direxi, qiiihus sollurtiam exerceas tuam, meamque devotionem utecumque cognoscas, qua tuæ bonæ voluutati satis facere nie segnem non inveniri confido. Ne susciperis autem me hæc ideo elaborasse, quod vos putemus nostris indigere magisteriis; sed potius, ob amorem tui, tibi soli perscrutanda pinxisse amicabili fraternitatis intitu crede, Vale in Christo semper memor nostri, Amen." — Mab. Ann., torn. ii. p. 571.
  3. ↑ He married Imma the daughter ofCharlemagne, but after the death of his royal master he adopted the monastic life,
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