Romanesque
1000 -1200
Eastern Europe
Historical Context-Europe-1000-1100
Orthodox Christianity (Byzantine) converts a largely
pagan Russia (remember: Constantinople modern day
Istanbul)
 Further divided long standing rivalry between Roman
(ie Roman Catholic- centered in Rome), and Orthodox
(Byzantine)
 The Pope also increases his authority over central and
eastern Europe
 They eventually split in 1054- Orthodoxy in the decline
and has an exposed frontier with Islam
- Roman Catholicism would expand and grow
 Growth of the cult of the saints and the habit of
pilgrimage that was growing around their relics
 The church grew more wealthy, and new buildings
appeared along pilgrimage roads
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We can see the similarities of the Byzantine,
Greek Orthodox and Russian church
architecture and how they differ from the castle
and tower churches of Medieval Europe
Romanesque Architecture
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“Romanesque” is the first
international style since
the Roman Empire 10001200
Romanesque architecture
is massive, low, and solidlooking
Competition among cities
for the largest churches,
which continues in the
Gothic period via a “quest
for height.”
Religious in theme and designed to evoke wonder
and powerful response from the viewer
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Art and architecture were used
to demonstrate the churches
powerful role as political,
religious and cultural leader
of the West
Masonry (stone) the preferred
medium. Craft of concrete
essentially lost in this period.
Rejection of wooden
structures or structural
elements.
East end of church the focus
for liturgical services. West
end for the entrance to church.
Church portals as “billboards”
for scripture or elements of
faith.
Pilgrimage
church
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Cruciform plans. Nave and transept at right angles to
Stè Sernim Toulouse France
one another. Church as a metaphor for heaven.
Crossings (where the nave and transept crossed)
where often topped with towers, or domes, or laterns
Ambulatories , or walkways, were built around the
apse to allow for large processions needed to view the
relics
Columns separate the nave from the side aisles-create
strong feeling of rhythm
Interior space could not get great height because of
problems of weight and thrust
windows were small so not to weaken walls
Towers on side of entrance
Abbey Church
Jumieges France
Worms Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
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Roofs replace by masonry barrel
vaults
Groin vaults were often used to
stabilize naves
Ribbed groin vaults of
Durham Cathedral, England
began 1093
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Rounded
arches were
used
throughout
including over
windows and
niches that
contained
sculpture
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These heavy structures
spanned large naves
and created a lot of
tremendous outward
pressure, requiring
massive exterior
buttresses and thick
walls for support.
Buttresses: a massive
support built against a
wall to receive the
lateral thrust (pressure)
exerted by the vault,
roof or arch.
Pisa and its Leaning Tower
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Another important feature of
Romanesque architecture was
the use of a separate bell
tower, or campanile, that was
built beside the main church.
Made up of a cathedral, the
baptistery, and the campanile
( or bell tower-leaning tower)
White marble with horizontal
band of green marble
Tower will eventually fall
over as it tilts more each year
Cathedral- latin cross planapse at each end of the
transept and a pointed dome
over the center crossing
Façade tiers of
superimposed arches
CASTLES
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Found in Germany, France,
England, Italy and Spain
Marksburg Castle (Germany)
typical for 12th century
Stands on a cliff 495 ft above
the Rhine river
Main tower reaches 130 ft
more into the air
Resembles churches
ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE:
Associated with church
 Large in scale, attached to architecture
 mostly on capitals of columns, portals of doors,
or niches
 Expressive and placed to evoke an emotional
response from the viewer
tympanum-arched area above the
doorway lintel and the arch- used for bas
Mission of the Apostles,
relief sculpture
Sainte-Madeline in
Vezelay•Christ sending his
disciples to teach out into
the world
•Appropriate for many
Crusades left from here
•Rays of holy spirit
pouring down on the
apostles (they all have their
copies of the Gospels
•Lintel had grotesque
figures the heathen
(infidels) dog-headed, pig
like, dwarf, also the blind
and lame all awaiting
conversion for salvation
•Also contains zodiac
signs
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The Bayeux Tapestry is preserved and displayed in Bayeux, in
Normandy, France. Nothing is known for certain about the
tapestry’s origins.
Some historians argue that it was embroidered in Kent, England.
It is a very long and narrow hanging on which are
embroidered figures and inscriptions comprising a
representation of the conquest of England".
The Bayeux Tapestry was probably commissioned in the 1070s
It is over 70 metres long and although it is called a tapestry it is
in fact an embroidery, stitched not woven in woollen yarns on
linen..
1000-1100 Chart
Western Europe
Near East
India
Far East
Events
Norman expansion
First Crusade
Rapid increase of
population
Lands recovered by the
Byzantines 1025
Then defeated 1071 by
Seljuks
Capture of Jerusalem by
knights of the first
crusade
NW India invaded by
Mahmud of Ghnznizealous Muslim
Punjab annexed to to
his central empire
Great prosperity under
Norther Sung Dynasty
Large increase in
population
Rice introduced
Technology
Greek medicine
Astrolabe
Water power- mills
More refined
astronomical instruments
Improved navigational
tables
Religion
Spiritual power of
Pope extended
Pilgrimage routes
established
Split between
Roman and
Byzantine churches
Revitalization of Islam
brought about by the
emergence of the Seljuks
Decline of the tolerant
Fatimid dynasty of Egypt
South- Hindu cult of
Shiva
NW- Islam
established
Architecture
Romanesque
churches:
Westminster Abbey
Pisa Cathedral
Tower of Victory,
Afghanistan
Mosque of al- Juyushi,
Egypt
Temple of Shiva
Mount Abu temples
Colour of the iron
Pagoda, China
Tèien-ning temple
Peking
Art
Bayeux Tapestry
Bronze Doors St
Michales
Constantinople famed for
silks and ivories
Seljuk brickwork
Erotic sculptures of
Khajuraho
Jain sculptural
decorations
Period of unsurpassed
excellence in Chinese
ceramics and painting
Realism in Sung painting
Gunpowder first used in
warfare
Printing with movable
type
First compass
Astronomical
instruments perfected
Water driven clock
Confucian decline of
Buddhism among
governing classes