Romanesque
• 11th and 12th c. art and architecture
throughout Europe.
• The term Romanesque refers to medieval art
that is “Roman-like” in style.
• Similar features are:
• Round arches, barrel and groin vaults, thick walls, and
exterior relief sculpture.
• Romanesque art had influences from ancient
Rome, early Christian and Byzantine times.
• People believed in the
Giving
Thanks
year 1000, the world
would end.
• When it didn’t….
– they became more religiously devout
– many joined crusades
– others made pilgrimages to holy sites.
• Surge in building
Christian
architecture
• Churches and
their decorations
were the primary
means of
employment for
artists and
builders.
• Virtually all Romanesque art was sacred.
• It’s expressive and emotional in style and
mainly religious in theme.
• It was designed to evoke powerful responses
in the viewer.
• A typical theme was sin and damnation.
The Crusades
• a series of long and difficult military
campaigns from 12th-15th centuries
– recover the Holy Land from the Muslims.
• Spiritual benefits included:
– remission of time that one’s soul would spend
in purgatory
– promise of becoming a martyr if one were
killed.
Pilgrimages
• Christians went on pilgrimages to atone for
their sins
• Often visited churches with sacred relics
• Relics are believed to have miraculous
powers, including that of healing.
• In order to benefit from the relic, one had to
travel to it- that is make a pilgrimage.
Reliquaries
• The pilgrim had to see the relic and ideally,
touch it for the healing powers.
• If the relic could not be touched because of
its fragility, the reliquary could act as a
substitute.
• Very elaborate reliquaries were containers
for the relic.
Top 3 Pilgrimage Journeys
1. Jerusalem
– Events of Jesus’ life
– Church of Holy Sepulchre
2. Rome
– Center of Christendom of the West
– Home to the Pope
– Site of tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul
3. Compostela, Spain
– Site of Shrine of St. James
• 1st apostle martyred-beheaded by King Herod
Pilgrimage Routes to Compostela
Pilgrimages to Compostela
• Most popular-least dangerous
• Created a need for more churches and
lodgings along the way
Sante-Foy, Conques, France
• Earliest known Romanesque Church
• Holds Reliquary Statue of Sante-Foy
• Sante-Foy was a 3rd century virgin martyr
known in English as Saint Faith.
• She was martyred in 303CE while still a
child because she refused to worship pagan
gods.
• In the 9th century, her relics were stolen by
a monk and transported to Conques: Furta
Sacra
• The church of Sainte-Foy was erected over
her tomb and still stands today in a remote
village on the pilgrimage route.
• Reliquary Statue of
Sante Foy
• Gold and gemstones over a wooden core
• Saint Foy’s relics held inside
St. Sernin, Toulouse, France
• Pilgrimage Church
• Changes in church layout due to the large
number of pilgrims coming through
– visit the relics
– on way to other sacred shrines
• Ceilings were moving away from timbered
ceilings because of fires
– Cut stone barrel vault
St. Sernin exterior view
External Characteristics
• Churches were made of stone b/c the art
of concrete had been lost
• Stone walls are thick and heavy
• Round arches for the windows and portals
• Because of the thick heavy walls, the
windows had to be small
Interior of St. Sernin
Changing Internal Characteristics
•
•
•
•
•
widened transept
increased nave length
doubled the side aisles
added radiating chapels
made the apse bigger to accommodate
more clergy
• added upper galleries to accommodate
overflow
• Intersection of the nave and transept is
called the crossing square
• On the outside over the crossing square,
they added a tower to further emphasize
the focal area of worship.
• Barrel vaulting supports the nave
• Nave is lined on either side by an arcade• This “nave arcade” separates the nave
from the side aisles
• Tribune is the second level/the space
above the arcade and accommodated the
overflow of pilgrims.
Christ in Majesty, relief in the ambulatory of
St. Sernin
• Relief in the ambulatory of St. Sernin
• Tightness against mandorla
• Right hand is blessing- helps us to identify him
as Christ
• You can see the 4 evangelist symbols on the
corners.
–
–
–
–
John- Eagle
Matthew- Angel
Mark- Lion
Luke- Ox
The Abbey of St. Etienne, Caen,
France
• “Men’s Church”
• Church is an example of regional style
variance.
• Recognize it as Romanesque b/c of
– Round arches
– Small windows- their vaulting system could only
allow for small windows.
• Design also included an ambulatorywhich is an extra walkway surrounding the
apse (remember Santa Costanza from
EC?).
• Around the ambulatory were included
semi-circular niches which housed relicscalled radiating chapels.
– These allowed pilgrims to visit the relics
without disturbing the mass.
• Contains ribbed, sexpartite vaults- ribs
divide a square ceiling bay into 6 parts.
• A bay is a unit of measurement based off
of the size of the crossing area.
• A bay measurement can be either ¼ or ½
of the size of the crossing. This was
important because it kept everything
proportional
Pisa Complex
• Shows a strong Regional difference
– Shows Gothic elements
• Made up of the Baptistery, Cathedral, and
Bell Tower
Baptistery
Baptistery interior,
baptismal font
Top of Dome
• The baptistery has a rotunda like
appearance.
• Exterior was remodeled
– Upper part of the baptistery has gothic tracery,
• added later to the building during the Gothic period.
• those are the pointed tips.
• Entire exterior is of white marble, the
material favored in ancient Rome.
• There are also other colors of marble
incorporated into the exterior of the
design.
– This is called marble incrustation.
Cathedral
• Three entrances, each of which is flanked
by a blind round arch
• Four stories of freestanding columns
forming arcaded galleries.
• The arcades continue around the building
and create a dynamic surface pattern that
unifies the whole building.
Interior of Pisa Cathedral
• Has a flat wooden roof.
• Arcades separating the nave from the
aisles are formed of round arches resting
on Corinthian capitals.
• Marble incrustation
– Italian feature
Campanile of Pisa
• Campanile=bell tower
• Independent structure that is part of the
whole complex but not attached to the
church.
– Common characteristic in Italian churches.
• Six stories of arcaded galleries are
repeated on the cylindrical leaning tower.
• This tower started leaning during
construction.
• The tower leans because it was originally
built on a soft foundation; efforts to
compensate for the tilt have so far proved
unsuccessful.
• It is now some 13 feet off the vertical axis
• Fixed so it no longer sinks-stabilized
Baptistery of San Giovanni
• example of the Italian patterning and
marble incrustation
• FYI Octagonal building
• Number 8 meant “new life” in this
Christian time
Portal of St. Lazare, Autun, France
*this is the tympanum that includes FC #12
• Portal- entrance to the church
• Doorjambs- stone pieces on the sides of the
door
• Lintel- beam that extends over the door
• Trumeau- doors separated down the
middle, which is another vertical stone
piece, and it supports the lintel
• Tympanum- semi-circular lunette above the
doorway, comparable to a pediment.
• Archivolts- rows of round arches above the
tympanum
• Voissoirs- stones that make up any arches
Close up of tympanum
Gislebertus, Weighing of Souls, detail of Last Judgment,
Tympanum, St. Lazare, France
• The Last Judgement is a carved marble
relief into the tympanum
• Demons grab those that have been sent to
Hell by the central figure of Christ.
• Angels lift the blessed into Heaven
• Across the bottom, souls of the dead are
lining up to await their fate
• The subject expresses:
– the rigor of the religion,
– the judgmental quality of the faith
– absolute encouragement to keep the faith.
• Those that passed beneath the tympanum
as they entered the church could not help
but be reminded of the fate that would
await them.
• “Stories in stone” for the illiterate
congregation
• It is one of the earliest surviving figurative
sculptures that are signed by the artist
who sculpted it.
• GISLEBERTUS HOC FECIT (Gislebertus
made this)
Tympanum at Sante-Foy, The Last Judgment
Detail of Tympanum of Sante-Foy
• Christ is shown as the judge.
• His raised right hand reminds the viewer
that the souls on his right will be received
into heaven.
• His lowered left hand directs viewers’
attention to the damned souls falling and
being tortured by devils.
• The door to Hell is to Christ’s lower left on
the lower level.
• The gaping jaws of a sea monster mark
the entrance, poking its head through the
doorway to swallow sinners.
• A demon with spiked hair clubs people as
they enter.
• Satan is enthroned in the center of Hell,
surrounded by demons that torture the
damned.
Lions and Prophet Jeremiah, trumeau of the south portal of
St. Pierre, Mossaic, France
• Figure is thin and elongated
• stylized folds
• His hair and beard are long and flowing
• *Figure conforms to its frame
• Surrounded by lions, which are the church
protectors
• Use of trumeau to incorporate large scale
monumental sculpture
• Tight to frame-squished-trademark of
Rom.
Virgin and Child (Morgan Madonna), France
• Rare statuette-made for altar use
• Type known as the Throne of Wisdom. Her
lap is the throne for Jesus.
• Later version of a Byzantine Theotokos
(bearer of God) very much like Byzantine
art:
– Rigid and strictly frontal
– Bodies lack naturalism
– Folds on the clothing follow a pattern
• Notice similarity in Jesus and Mary’s faces
Bayeaux Tapestry
• Not really a tapestry
– Embroidered wool on linen
• 1’8” high and about 230 feet in length.
• It is about the Norman invasion or
conquest of England. Also known as the
Battle of Hastings
• Style is similar to Romanesque illuminated
manuscripts:
– Figures are rendered in a flat manner and lack
classical proportions.
• It is a continuous narration. It not only records
the battle of Hastings, but the events
preceding the invasion.
St. Pierre Cloister, Moissac, France
• Monastery cloister-secluded, away from the
world-place for contemplation
– Often a walkway around a garden
• Large figural reliefs on piers as well as
historiated (ornamented with figures)
capitals on columns
– Often show Bestiaries-collections of
illustrations of real and imaginary animals. Very
popular in Romanesque age. Composite
creatures-chaos in world without God
Wiligelmo, Adam & Eve, Modena
Cathedral, Italy
• High relief on frieze, going around façade
of Cathedral
• Influence of Greco-Roman temple
architecture
Nave of Durham Cathedral, England
• Nave contains ribbed seven-part groin
vaults with pointed arches.
• This type of vault allowed for slightly larger
windows in the clerestory.
In a nutshell…
• Romanesque architecture:
– Thick stone with some marble facing
– Christian in purpose
– Has small windows and round arches
– Provided instruction and a larger place to worship
for pilgrims
• Romanesque art is:
– Often in the form of reliquaries and Instructional
Biblical relief sculptures
– compositions that are often crowded and agitated,
and the figures seem pressed against the frame
– Strong emotional impact, swirling drapery, and
lack of body corporeality (real bodily existence)