Romanesque Architecture
key ideas:
•Latin cross plan
•coherence of design: unity and symmetry
•heavy, thick walls and small windows
•the use of a Roman vault—inherently limited; the barrel vault
creates tremendous thrust at the springing point
•large, ordered space which contrasted strongly with the chaos and
uncertainty outside the church walls
•creates a wonderful “stage” for the miracle of the Eucharist—the
presence of God—God made incarnate again
floor plan
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France 1125-1135
1. Can you find visual
evidence that this
church has small
windows?
2. Can you find visual
evidence that this
church has thick
walls and heavy
piers?
3. Can you find visual
evidence that this
church has
symmetry?
4. Can you find visual
evidence that this
church demonstrates
visual unity? (Look
for repeating
shapes.)
5. Can you find visual
evidence that this
church was designed
using the Latin cross
plan?
nave
La Madeleine at Vezelay
France 1096-1132
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnxm4UQPDTo&index=
38&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654
1. What is the boxed area called?
2. What is the lower portion called?
3. What is the upper portion called?
1. What is the boxed area called?
2. What is the purpose?
1. What is the boxed area called?
2. What is the purpose?
1. What are the architectural elements
in the boxed area called?
2. Do you see any rib vaults?
1. What do you see in the boxed area?
2. Why?
This is an image of a side aisle.
What is in the boxed area?
nave
La Madeleine at Vezelay
France 1096-1132
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
blind arcade
clerestory
gallery
nave
string courses
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
arcade
blind arcade
clerestory
gallery
nave
ribs
string courses
vaulting
engaged columnettes
Gothic versus Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque
Gothic
• The earliest churches were based on
Greek temples and Roman basilicas
(secular government buildings);
essentially there was a substitution of a
church plan for a temple plan:
colonnades were shifted from the
interior to the exterior; an arch was
placed directly on a pier instead of
placing a lintel directly on a pier
(column)
•The classic temple is a system of
sturdy walls and colonnades all helping
to sustain a solid roof. A Romanesque
church follows essentially the same
principles, except that an arch is placed
over the colonnades.
•All the parts of a Romanesque building
contribute their share to the stability of
the whole.
•The structure stands through virtue of
inertia.
• In a Gothic church the highly
organized framework of piers, arches,
and buttresses are organized so that
the spaces of the wall and roof
between them serve merely as an
enclosure.
• A Gothic church is a skillfully
balanced system of thrusts and
counterthrusts that are concentrated
on special points of support.
• All the different levels of the church
interior are brought into homogenous
composition: great vaulting shafts that
articulate the massive piers rise from
the floor; at the clerestory level these
shafts become more decorative than
supportive and spring from corbels in
order to trace the vaulting that
articulates each bay.
•Flying buttresses allowed the walls to
be dissolved.
Flying buttresses
allowed the walls
to be dissolved.
Roman barrel vault
The force lines converge at the
point where the barrel vault
springs from the wall.
In order to support a heavy
roof—one that is very wide--the
walls of the nave would have to
be very, very thick.
Flying Buttress
The lines of force created by the
weight of the roof and the arches is
redirected (or distributed) by the
flying buttresses past the walls of the
church to external piers (outside the
child walls).
As a result, windows can larger and
the nave can be taller.
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis, France 1140-44
floor plan
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France 1125-1135
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis, France 1140-44
Standing in the choir, looking
northeast at about 1:30.
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis, France 1140-44
Looking into one of the radial
chapels.
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=lMlwnYObUKc
15:34
floor plan
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France 1125-1135
floor plan
Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France
1220-1288
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France 1125-1135
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France 1125-1135
transept looking into the crossing
Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France
1220-1288
looking down the nave toward the apse
Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France
1220-1288
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24N
94rZ7XtU
17:46
Question: What made it possible
to dissolve the walls
so that windows could be enlarged?
Answer: The flying buttress.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKASY4H6QHo
The Flying Buttress
The lines of force created by the
weight of the roof and the arches
is redirected (or distributed) by the
flying buttresses past the walls of
the church to external piers
(outside the child walls).
As a result, windows can larger
and the nave can be taller.
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France 1125-1135
Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France
1220-1288
Church of Saint-Etienne, Caen
Normandy, France
begun 1064—façade late 11th century
Reims Cathedral
west façade
c. 1211-1428
Chartres Cathedral
ca. 1194-1260
west façade
flying buttresses
Question: What made it possible
to dissolve the walls
so that windows could be enlarged?
Answer: The flying buttress.
The Flying Buttress
The lines of force created by the
weight of the roof and the arches
is redirected (or distributed) by the
flying buttresses past the walls of
the church to external piers
(outside the child walls).
As a result, windows can larger
and the nave can be taller.
What do the red-orange arrows represent?
Amiens Cathedral: do you notice that the flying buttresses are lighter?
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris France
Gargoyles at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris France. I think these gargoyles are decorative.
Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Samuel or Aaron, David 1200-1210 north transept
south transept entrance: Saint Theodore, Saint Stephen, martyr, martyr
The Beautiful Virgin
The nave ceiling—looking directly up at the vaulting. Can you find a
rib? Can you find a key stone? Can you find the main vault? Can you
find where the engaged columnette joins the vaulting?
Who is this?
Who is this?
Is this Gothic?