Romanesque
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp
Topics
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque: Structures
Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque Architecture: Early Romanesque in
Germany and Normandy
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque
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After the move of the seat of the Roman
Empire to Constantinople, the Greco-Roman
culture went into collapse
Latin was displaced as the common language
 Disintegration of Roman law
 Cessation of urban life
 A major decline in monumental art and architecture
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque
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Charlemagne
King of the Franks who vowed to restore the
Roman culture to its height
 Crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Roman pope
on Christmas Day, 800 A.D.
 Carolingian Renaissance
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Latin for Charles the Great (Charlemagne)
 Renewal of the Latin language, literature, art, and
architecture
 Birth of Pre-Romanesque architecture
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque
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Pre-Romanesque
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Architecture looked back to Rome in its glory days
The style was never recaptured despite the effort
 Structures were reinterpretations of antiquity, forwardlooking and innovative
 Non-Roman qualities of abstraction, fragmentation, and
volumetric energy
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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Traits of Carolingian Pre-Romanesque
structures:
Strongly defined spatial units
 Chains of modular construction
 fragmentation
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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Palatine Chapel
c. 796 – 805
 Located at Charlemagne's palace at Aachen
 Domed
 Double-shelled
 Two-storied octagon plan
 Monumental façade
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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Palatine Chapel
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Reminiscent of early
Christian and Byzantine
Architecture
Was a rebuilt version of S.
Vitale
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One of the most
impressive of late antique
Roman structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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St. Riquier
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Transformed the fundamental concept of the early
Christian basilica
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More complex, composed of many independent group
formations
Powerful vertical massings at both ends
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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Gatehouse/Torhalle
Located in Lorsch, Germany
 c. 767 – 774
 Saddle-roofed central block flanked by twin vertical
stair towers
 Features a chapel originally dedicated to St. Michael
 Resembles Roman triumphal arches
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Two-storied facades
 Richly ornamented
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Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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Germigny-des-Pres
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Located on the Loire
River
c. 806
Reflects the influences of
both Byzantium and
Islam
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
Photo: Sullivan
Carolingian Pre-Romanesque:
Structures
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The main aspects of the standard monastery
were conceived during the Carolingian period
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St. Gall plan
Ideal architectural plan of a traditional monastery
 Was never built
 Plan included:
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A small city featuring a medical center and a cemetery
U-shaped corridor to provide orderly traffic flow
Romanesque Architecture
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Charlemagne’s death in 814 led to a dark century
for Europe due ton invaders
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Slavic, Magyar, Arab pirates, and Vikings
When the invasions ceased economic conditions
improved
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Cultural revival and religious enthusiasm brought
about a wave of church-building
Romanesque Architecture:
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Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Imperial Romanesque (Germany)
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Antithetical tendencies
Conservative and nostalgic
 Looked back fondly to the works of Charlemagne
 Inventive and progressive
 Drew on early Christian, imperial Roman, and Byzantine
models
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Romanesque Architecture:
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Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Munster Cathedral
Located in Essen, Germany
 Late 10th century
 Retrospective, loosely based on St. Riquier and St.
Gall
 Freedom in design and energy that contrast with the
perfectionist spirit of the cathedral’s Byzantine
models and the determination of Charlemagne's
architecture
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Romanesque Architecture:
Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture:
Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
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St. Michael’s Cathedral
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Located at Hildesheim,
Germany
More contemporary style
than at Munster
Square schematic
c. 1001 - 1033
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture:
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Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Imperial Cathedral of Speyer
Located in Speyer, Germany
 c. 1030 – 1060
 Built by Emperor Konrad II
 Impressive wall articulation
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Crucial for the development of Romanesque architecture
 Wall shaped into powerful multilayer configuration
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Romanesque Architecture:
Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture:
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Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Norman Romanesque
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In the early tenth century the Vikings settled in
Normandy, France
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Buildings in Normandy were crucial to the development
in France
Romanesque Architecture:
Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
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Mont-Saint-Michael
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Medieval shrine in
Normandy, France
Norman counterpart to
the Speyer Cathedral in
Germany
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture:
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Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Abbey Church of Notre Dame de Jumieges
Notable for the immense height of its crossing
tower
 Facade was derived from Carolingian westwork
tradition
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Central structure was set forward between twin bases of
square towers that rise as octagons above lines of the roof
 Set precedence for the twin-towered facades that
dominated the exteriors of the major French Gothic
cathedrals
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Romanesque Architecture:
Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Photo: Sullivan
Romanesque Architecture:
Early Romanesque in Germany and
Normandy
Photo: Sullivan
References
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Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to
Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture
Romanesque
Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp