ROMANESQUE
EUROPE
GARDNER CHAPTER 17-1
PP. 431-437
ROMANESQUE EUROPE BACKGROUND
Romanesque is a title art historians

invented to describe medieval art
that appeared “Roman-like”

Romanesque designates the history
and culture of western Europe
between 1050 and 1200

MANOR

LIEGE LORD

VASSALS

FEUDALISM

Rise of cities and trade -> prosperity

Boom in church building
ROMANESQUE EUROPE

Romanesque” broadly designated the
history and culture of western Europe
between about 1050 and 1200

Feudalism saw the warrior lords of the
early Middle Ages eventually settle down
and establish themselves as landholding
barons

Two great Monastic orders the Cluniac
and Cistercian grew in importance. The
Cluniacs especially fostered the arts.

The pilgrimage was the principal feature
of Medieval Christian life. Shrines housed
relics that attracted pilgrims with the most
famous being Santiago de Compostela in
Spain. Many Romaesque cathedrals
were developed as travel way stations
enroute to Santiago de Compostela, as
well as important spiritual destinations in
their own right.

Romanesque architecture varied but has
basic style characteristics: overall blocky
appearance, a grouping of large, simple,
easily definable geometrical masses
(rectangles, cubes, cylinders, etc.).
PILGRIMAGES AND THE CULT OF
RELICS

RELICS = bones, clothing, body parts, or
other objects associated with the holy
family or saints

Veneration of relics

PILGRIMAGE -> greatest display of public
devotion

Could take more than a year to
complete -> hardship and danger ->
often undertaken as repentance or last
resort

Rome and Jerusalem -> holiest

The tomb of St. James at Santiago de
Compostela in N.W. Spain
 Led to changes in church design
 Established the routes that later became
major avenues of commerce and
communication
ARCHITECTURE AND
ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTURE

Pronounced regional differences
in exist in Romanesque art and
architecture

Italy retained wooden roofs of the
Early Christian style -> stone
vaulting was common elsewhere

France and N. Spain -> innovative
uses of stone vaulting and some
timber-roofed churches
SAINT-ETIENNE, VIGNORY

Interior of Saint-Etienne, Vignory,
France, 1050-1057

The timber-roofed abbey church
of Saint Stephen at Vignory reveals
a kinship w/the three story naves
of Ottonian churches -> features
and alternate-support system of
piers and columns
SAINT-ETIENNE,
VIGNORY

Innovative plan of the east end of
the Vignory abbey church
features an ambulatory around
the choir and three semi-circular
radiating chapels opening on to it
for the display of relics
1 = nave
2 = aisles
3 = choir
4 = ambulatory
5 = radiating chapels
SAINT-SERNIN, TOULOUSE

Aerial view of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse,
France, 1070-1120

Pilgrimages were a major catalyst for the
art and architecture of the Romanesque
period -> clergy vied w/one another to
provide magnificent settings for the
display of holy relics

“pilgrimage church” -> increased length
of nave, doubled the side aisles, added a
transept, ambulatory and radiating
chapels for viewing relics

Increased pilgrim traffic led to changes in
church design
St. Sernin, Toulouse (France) offers
good examples of Romanesque
architectural qualities.

fireproof ceiling of stone supported by semicircular barrel vaults.

Radiating chapels as separate units projecting from the mass of the
building.
Inadequate
lighting: the central problem of Romanesque architecture
was the development of a masonry vault system that admitted light.
Tribunes,
or upper galleries to accommodate large crowds
Ambulatories
(extension of aisles around the eastern end) to aide in the
circulation of all the people.
SAINT-SERNIN

Groin vaulted tribune galleries housed
overflow crowds and buttressed the
stone barrel vault over the nave

Groin vaults (X) absorbed pressure from
the barrel vault along the nave

Extremely regular and geometric plan

Nave walls w/engaged columns on the
piers = compound piers

Transverse arches
TIMBER ROOFS AND STONE VAULTS

Canterbury Cathedral in England

In 1174 it was accidentally set
ablaze and destroyed -> big
problem -> led to the use of stone
vaulting in many churches

Desire to provide majestic setting
for display of relics and better
acoustics
CHRIST IN MAJESTY

Bernardus Gelduinus, Christ in Majesty, relief
in the ambulatory of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse,
France, ca. 1096, marble

One of the earliest series of large
Romanesque reliefs decorated the
pilgrimage church of Saint Sernin

The models were probably Carolingian or
Ottonian book covers in metal of ivory

Revival of stonecarving is a hallmark of the
Romanesque age

Beautify the house of God -> churches now
served the lay public and provided
inspiration and educ.
CLUNY III

Restored cutaway view of the third
abbey church (Cluny III), Cluny,
France, 1088-1130

Primary patrons of Romanesque
sculpture were the monks of the
CLUNIAC ORDER -> famous for their
scholarship, music, and art

Cluny III was the largest church in
Europe for 500 years -> largely
destroyed today -> had a 500 foot
long, three story nave, four aisles,
radiating chapels, and slightly
pointed stone barrel vaults
CLUNY III