How can we successfully talk about (and write about) architecture? What are the characteristics of a Romanesque Church?
What are you certain to see? Please make a list. Romanesque Architecture
key ideas: Latin cross plan coherence of design: unity and symmetry heavy, thick walls and small windows the use of a Roman vaultinherently 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 Eucharistthe presence of GodGod made incarnate again nave arcade Autun Cathedral Cathedral of Saint-LazareBurgundy, France 12th century Can you find visual evidence that this church has small windows?
Can you find visual evidence that this church has thick walls and heavy piers? Can you find visual evidence that this church has symmetry? Can you find visual evidence that this church demonstrates visual unity? (Look for repeating shapes.) Can you find visual evidence that this church was designed using the Latin cross plan? floor plan Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy Conques, France nave La Madeleine at Vezelay France 1096-1132
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnxm4UQPDTo&index=38&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654 What is the boxed area called?
What is the lower portion called? What is the upper portion called? What is the boxed area called?
What is the purpose? What is the boxed area called?
What is the purpose? What are the architectural elements in the boxed area called?
Do you see any rib vaults? What do you see in the boxed area?
Why? This is an image of a side aisle.
What is in the boxed area? nave La Madeleine at VezelayFrance1096-1132 Nave, Abbey Church of Notre-Dame, Fontenay 1139--1147 What is the boxed area called?
What is the lower portion called? What is the upper portion called? What is the boxed area called?
What is the purpose? What are the architectural elements in the boxed area called?
Do you see any rib vaults? Where are the windows? blind arcade clerestory gallery nave string courses arcade blind arcade clerestory gallery nave ribs string courses vaulting engaged columnettes Gothic versus Romanesque Architecture
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. Gothic 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 roofone 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, France1125-1135 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/watch?v=lMlwnYObUKc 15:34 floor plan Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy Conques, France1125-1135
floor plan Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy Conques, France1125-1135 Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy Conques, France1125-1135 transept looking into the crossing Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France 1220-1288 standing on the steps of the choir looking into the apse 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=24N94rZ7XtU 17:46 Answer: The flying buttress.
Question: What made it possibleto dissolve the wallsso that windows could be enlarged? Answer: The flying buttress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKASY4H6QHo Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy Conques, France1125-1135
Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France Church of Saint-Etienne, Caen Normandy, France
begun 1064faade late 11th century Chartres Cathedral ca. 1194-1260
west faade Reims Cathedral west faade c. 1211-1428
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZpOd2pHiI0 PBS - Cathedral - David Macaulay