# Three scribes at work

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257/three-scribes-at-work-r3b5849be4edabc>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [PRE-ROMANESQUE SCULPTOR, German](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257>)
- Date: 0851-0900
- Technique: Ivory relief

## Commentary

In the early Middle Ages monasteries were virtually the only source of literacy and of books. The copying of manuscripts, a highly specialized skill, was rewarded with appropriate esteem, and a number of scribes are known by name. The detailed organization of a monastic scriptorium is still imperfectly known, but illustrations show desks and writing materials.

## Related artworks

- [Charlemagne Coin](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257/charlemagne-coin-r7fa8a319231a39>)
- [Door \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257/door-detail-ra7f5447206e348>)
- [Door-handle](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257/door-handle-r81f10f1b850a45>)
- [Equestrian statue](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257/equestrian-statue-rfe4b59fba22476>)
- [Picture stone](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pre-romanesque-sculptor-german-r2e6eafd0dbc257/picture-stone-r78ce7a535a5951>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)