romanesque writing works
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Romanesque Art
Pilgrimage Routes to Campo de Compostella
Trade Routes
Romanesque ArchitectureSaint Sernin, Toulouse• Central square at crossing is the module for the church• Each nave bay is ½ central square• Each side aisle is ¼ central square• Numerous identical volumes in the interior• All parts integrated into the architecture• Increased nave length• Doubling of side aisles• Vertical strips on exterior mark the internal structure of
bays• Opening in ambulatory for circulation of crowds• Ambulatory wraps around the apse• Radiating chapels spring from ambulatory• Very dark interior, small windows• Lack of clerestory darkens upper reaches of vault• Barrel vault main aisle, groin vault side aisles
Romanesque Architecture
Pisa Cathedral, PisaExterior:
• Multiple arcades and marble incrustation on façade
• Use of blind arcades• Continuous horizontal molding• Articulated bandings and geometric
veneers• Famous Leaning Tower is the
campanile• Prominent baptistery in front of
cathedralInterior:
• Crossing dome• Broadly projecting transepts• Timber roof interior, as in Early
Christian buildings 1063 – 1350 ce
Romanesque Architecture
Cathedral, Durham• Very long nave, typical of English
architecture• Ribbed vaults throughout: earliest
example• Vaults in relation to vertical
elements and compound piers• Abstract patterns on piers,
diamonds, chevrons: inspired by metalcraft from Early Medieval Art
• Earliest hint of Gothic pointed arches
1093 ce
West Tympanum, Cathedral of Autun, France
Gislebertus, C 1130 AD
Romanesque Sculpture
Gislebertus, St.-Lazare, Autun• Last Judgment: Christ in center
with four evangelists flanking• On his left: the sinister side,
those condemned to hell; on his right: the righteous side, those going to heaven
• Dead rising in lintel, some plucked from the earth by giant hands
• Angels and devils compete for souls
• Two pilgrims on center left of lintel carry staffs and satchels with a cross and a seashell badge indicating they are pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela
Blessed are ethereal and weightless
Scale is carefully gradatedAnatomical proportions are
distended and distortedFour angels in corners
announce the end of the worldElongated figuresFlattening patternZigzag and dovetail lines of
draperyFolds along torsosWide cheekbonesOriginally brightly paintedSculptor signed his name
below Christ’s feet
The Blessed
Weighing of the Souls
Separation of Good and Evil
Damned Awaiting Judgment
Capital, Suicide of JudasCathedral of Saint-Lazare, Autun, c. 1125
The first important monuments of Romanesque sculpture were created in the last decade of the 11th cent. and the first decades of the 12th cent. The primary source of artistic patronage was provided by the monastic institutions, for whom sculptors executed large relief carvings for the decoration of church portals and richly ornate capitals for cloisters. Romanesque sculpture produced an art of extraordinary ornamental complexity, ecstatic in expression, and abounding in seemingly endless combinations of zoomorphic, vegetal, and abstract motifs.
Eve, from Autun Cathedral by Gislebertus, c. 1130 CE
Wiligelmus, Creation and Fall, West Façade, Modena Cathedral, c. 1099
Wiligelmo, Adam and Eve, Modena Cathedral
• Inscription: “Among sculptors, your work shines forth, Wiligelmo”
• Modena proud of sculptor brought to decorate cathedral
• More three-dimensional than other relief carvings of the time
• Narrative elements• Figures have little
relationship to Romanesque arches behind
• Figures have large extremities, compact bodies
Romanesque Sculpture
1110 ce
Bayeux Tapestry 1073 - 83 AD
Bayeux Tapestry
• Called a tapestry, actually is an embroidery
• 20 inches high, 230 feet long• Narrative of the Battle of
Hastings in 1066 told in Latin• William the Conqueror vs. King
Harold of England• Commissioned by Bishop Odo,
half-brother to William the Conqueror
• A contemporary event told in full detail
• 75 scenes
• Controversy over where it was made: French or Anglo-Saxon in manufacture?
• Figures cast no shadows• Neutral background• Upper and lower registers have
fanciful beasts and birds• Behavior of people and animals
seems natural• Decorative patterning• Cf. Column of Trajan• Wealth of incident: soldiers
wading in water with coats wrapped up, sailors looking out from top of mast, roast served on long spits, farming techniques
The Normans seem to be getting the upper hand as the battle continues. Many more soldiers die, one appears to be having his head cut off. On the right is the best known scene in the Tapestry: the Normans killing King Harold. But how is Harold killed? He seems to be shown twice: first plucking an arrow from his eye, and then being hacked down by a Norman knight. The tapestry is difficult to interpret here, but the second figure is probably Harold being killed.
http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/Index.htm
Reliquary statue of Saint FoyLate 9th or 10th century
Relics and their reliquaries
San Foy
Romanesque Sculpture Morgan Madonna
• Byzantine in hieratic inspiration• Mary as the throne for Jesus,
she sits on a throne• Christ held a Bible in left hand
and raised his right in blessing• Soft modeling of forms• Rigid frontality• Emotionless• Unusual wooden sculpture• Christ depicted as a little man
rather than as a child
c. 1175 ce
Jamb Sculptures of St. Peter and Paul
Ste. Madeleine at Vézelay, c. 1125.
JERIMIAH PAUL
The Prophet IsaiahFrom the cathedral at Souillac, France
St. Etiennec. 1060 – 1077 CE
Spires – 13th century
Towers of Power
Clerestory
Gallery
Nave and aisles
Salient Butresses
Ribbed Vaulting
San Sernin
Barrel Vault
St. Michael’s Hildesheim
Santiago de Compestela
Romanesque Architecture
Pisa Cathedral, PisaExterior:
• Multiple arcades and marble incrustation on façade
• Use of blind arcades• Continuous horizontal molding• Articulated bandings and geometric
veneers• Famous Leaning Tower is the
campanile• Prominent baptistery in front of
cathedralInterior:
• Crossing dome• Broadly projecting transepts• Timber roof interior, as in Early
Christian buildings 1063 – 1350 ce
Romanesque Architecture
Cathedral, Durham• Very long nave, typical of English
architecture• Ribbed vaults throughout: earliest
example• Vaults in relation to vertical
elements and compound piers• Abstract patterns on piers,
diamonds, chevrons: inspired by metalcraft from Early Medieval Art
• Earliest hint of Gothic pointed arches
1093 ce
Illuminated Manuscriptsor Illustrated Books
• Dramatic Increase in 12th Century • Establishment of Universities at Bologna, Paris
and Oxford• Increased Interest in Learning (Scholasticism)
Romanesque Painting
Master Hugo, Moses Expounding the Law from the Bury Bible
• Upper: Moses and Aaron proclaim the law to the Israelites
• Lower: Moses points out the clean and unclean beasts
• Flatness of body• Intricacies of line• Bodies seem to float• Elongated figures• Cross-legged poses• Zigzag and dovetail lines of drapery• Gestures are deliberate and didactic• Arbitrary squares of color in background• Foliage border
1135 ce
Historiated Intials
The Romanesque period is marked by:
- Immense relief the world hadn’t ended at the turn of the millennium- The resurgence of cities and trade- The emergence of Europe as we know it- Strengthened Papal authority- The emergence of a middle class and merchant class- Evolution of the Romance languages- The peak in feudalism as a political system
Romanesque Art
• Large Heavy Churches – representative of Jerusalem and bulwarks against evil. Sources of civic pride.
• Depictions of fantastic creatures and distorted human figures
• Emphasis on religious themes (particularly salvation and damnation).
• A shared style throughout Europe.