Matthew from the Gospel Book made for Archbishop Ebb of Reims, circa 816 to 835 C.E. This illumination which measures about 10 by 8 inches portrays a rather frail-looking saint with his hair almost standing on end and his garment twisted around on his body and deeply wrinkled, perhaps from sitting much too long at his table while transcribing passages for a new edition of the Holy Bible. There is almost no background or landscape in this illumination but what there is of it appears very unnatural and sketchy. Also, the proportions of the saint's body appears to be somewhat unnatural, not to mention his face which appears to be almost a caricature or a cartoon of a real human face. Also, the expression on the saint's face makes him look as if he is not enjoying the task at hand, being the writing...

Overall, this illumination appears to have been rendered by someone without any real knowledge about art or how to present a person in real life. For example, his face is very simply drawn and his foot at the bottom resting on top of what appears to be a large book is also very crudely drawn. In general, my main reason for not liking this particular piece of art is because of its crude simplicity which does not express enough raw emotion nor does it offer any kind of personal inspiration. It is also much too dimensionally flat, meaning that there is no depth to it nor any kind of perspective; in essence, the figure of St. Matthew seems to close to the background which gives it a rather amateurish look…