Editing Matthew Paris (section)

==Paris as an artist==
[[File:DublinTrinityCollegeMSEi40LifeAlbanFol38vHeracliusTakesDownAlbansHead.jpg|thumb|Framed tinted drawing of Heraclius taking down the head of [[Saint Alban]], from the [[Trinity College, Dublin]] ''Life''|220x220px]]
In some of Paris's manuscripts, a framed miniature occupies the upper half of the page, and in others, they are "marginal" – unframed and occupying the bottom quarter (approximately) of the page. Tinted drawings were an established style well before Paris, and became especially popular in the first half of the 13th century. They were certainly much cheaper and quicker than fully painted illuminations. The tradition of tinted drawings or outline drawings with ink supplemented by coloured wash was distinctively English, dating back to the [[Anglo-Saxon art]] of the mid-10th century, and connected with the [[English Benedictine Reform]] of the period. A strong influence on one branch of the style was the Carolingian [[Utrecht Psalter]], which was at [[Canterbury]] from about 1000 to 1640. This was copied in the 1020s in the [[Harley Psalter]], and in the [[Eadwine Psalter]] of the mid-12th century.

[[File:Richard Marshal unhorses Baldwin Guines at a skirmish by Matthew Paris.jpg|thumb|Unframed marginal drawing of [[Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke]], from the Corpus Christi College ''Chronica''|left|220x220px]]Recent scholarship, notably that of Nigel Morgan, suggests that Paris's influence on other artists of the period has been exaggerated. This is likely because so much more is known about him than other English illuminators of the period, who are mostly anonymous. Most manuscripts seem to have been produced by lay artists in this period. [[William de Brailes]] is shown with a clerical tonsure, but he was married, which suggests he had minor orders only. The manuscripts produced by Paris show few signs of collaboration, but art historians detect a School of St Albans surviving after Paris's death, influenced by him.

Paris's style suggests that it was formed by works from around 1200. He was somewhat old-fashioned in retaining a roundness in his figures, rather than adopting the thin angularity of most of his artist contemporaries, especially those in London. His compositions are very inventive; his position as a well-connected monk may have given him more confidence in creating new compositions, whereas a lay artist would prefer to stick to traditional formulae. It may also reflect the lack of full training in the art of the period. His colouring emphasises green and blue, and together with his characteristic layout of a picture in the top half of a page, is relatively distinctive. What are probably his final sketches are found in ''[[Vitae duorum Offarum]]'' in BL MS Cotton Nero D I.