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Romanesque Art

Western Europe

11th – 12th century

Sandrine Le Bail AP Art History

Objectives

• Explore the emergence of Romanesque architecture – with its emphasis on the aesthetic qualities of a sculptural wall – out of early masonry construction technique.

• Investigate the integration of painting and sculpture within the Romanesque building, and consider the themes and subjects that were emphasized.

Objectives

• Assess the cultural and social impact of monasticism and pilgrimage on the design and embellishment of church architecture.

• Explore the 11th and 12th centuries interest in telling stories of human frailty and sanctity in sculpture, textiles, and painting – stories that were meant to appeal to the feelings as well as to the minds of the viewers.

Europe in 1092

Historical Background

• End of the great migration

• Economic Growth

• Political stability

• Increase of the population

• Vikings Christianized (10th century): Normandy / Britain / Sicily

• Beginning of the reconquest of Spain by Christians

Feudal System

Allegiance

Importance o Church

Importance of the church

Importance of the church

• Importance of the pope

• Monasteries – important economic and intellectual centers

Age of pilgrimages

• Fear of Apocalypse in 1000

• Crusades (from 1095 to 15th century)

• Pilgrimages (Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago)

• Importance of Relics

• Last Judgment scenes popular

PilgrimagesSantiago / Rome / Jerusalem

Pilgrimage Roads

Liber Sancti JacobiGuide for Pilgrims

Consequence of pilgrimages

• Multiplication of the relics

• New important religious centers “building boom”

• Massive flow of People – Need of a new kind of architecture

• Flow of ideas around the continent

Characteristics of Romanesque Architecture

• Revitalization of large scale architecture (monumentality and solidity)

• Large apse

• Stone Roofs (fireproof)

In Italy – wood ceilings

• Thick walls

• Small Windows (dark interiors)

• Rib vaults

Barrel vault

Groin Vault

Rib Vault

Thick walls and

Buttresses

Tribune

A Romanesque Bay3 story-nave

Arcade

Triforium

Clerestory

Ambulatory

Transept

Nave

Radiating Chapels

Aisles

Choir

Chevet

Crossing

Crossing Square = ½ nave bay= ¼ side aisle

Romanesque Architecture

Romanesque takes its name from the Roman-like barrel and groin vaults based on round arches employed in many European churches built between 1050 and 1200. Romanesque vaults, however, are made of stone, not concrete.

Romanesque Architecture

Numerous churches sprang up along the pilgrimage roads leading to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Campostela. These churches were large enough to accommodate crowds of pilgrims who came to view the relics displayed in radiating chapels off the ambulatory and transept.

France

Sainte-Foy at Conques, c.1050-1120

Reliquary of Sainte Foy, Conques, late 10th-11th century

Portal

Tympanum

Last Judgement, tympanum of the west portal, Sainte Foy, Conques,

c.1130

Second coming of Christ

MaryS. PeterCharlemagne

Saint-Paul, Moissac

South porch, Saint-Pierre, Moissac, c.1115-1135

archivolts

Lintel

Trumeau

Tympanum

Voussoir

Jamb

Second coming of Christ

The elders

Trumeau of Saint Pierre,

Moissac

Jeremiah

Saint Paul

Portal of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France (1120-1135)

Gislebertus Hoc Fecit

Controversy in Burgundy: Citeaux vsCluny

Cluniacs:

Opulently decorated

Cistercians:

Austere, simpleDignified interiors

S. Bernard de Clairvaux

Characteristics of Romanesque Sculpture

• Revitalization of large scale sculpture

• Importance of the church portal sculpture (Last Judgment)

• Flattened look / zigzagging drapery

• Importance of expression (bigger head and hands)

• Hierarchy of scale

Morgan Madonna (1150-

1200)

Romanesque sculpture

The Romanesque period brought the revival of monumental stone relief sculpture in cloisters and especially in church portals, where scenes of Christ as last judge often greeted the faithful as they entered the doorway to the road to salvation.

The leading patrons of Romanesque sculpture and painting were the monks of the Clusiacorder. In contrast, the, Cirstercians under the leadership of Bernard de Clairvaux, condemned figural art in churches and religious books.

Italy

Cathedral Complex, Pisa

Pisa Cathedral, 1063-1118, completed 1272.

Baptistery, Pisa, 1053-1272

Campanile of Pisa Cathedral, 1174-1271

Romanesque in Italy

The regional diversity of Romanesque art and architecture is especially evident in Italy, where the heritage of ancient Rome and Early Christianity was strongest.

Romanesque in Italy

Romanesque churches in Pisa and Florence have timber roofs in contrast to the vaulted interiors of northern European buildings. The exterior often feature marble paneling of different colors. Churches campaniles were usually freestanding, as were baptistery, which took the form of independent central-plan building.

Wiligelmo, Creation and Temptation of Adam and Eve, Modena Cathedral, Italy,

c.1110

Precursors of Gothic

12th century

Saint Etienne, Caen, 1067

Sexpartite vaults

Quadran arch

Durham Cathedral, England, begun 1093

Seven-part vault

Norman and English architecture

Norman and English Romanesque architects introduced new features to church design that later greatly influenced French gothic architecture. Saint Etienne at Caen and Durham cathedral are the earliest examples of the use of rib groin vaults over a three-story (arcade-tribune-clerestory) nave. The Durham builders also experimented with quadrant arches in the tribune to buttress the nave vault.

Romanesque Painting

Saint Savin surGartempe,

France, XI-XIIthcentury

• ←→←

Mary and Christ and two Angels, Chapel of Castel Appiano, Italy, c.1200

Christ in majesty, from the StavelotBible, 1093-1097

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Romanesque Painting

• Manuscripts and Mural painting

• Figures outlined in black and colored

• Rich colors

• Bi dimensional (flat)

• No reality (figures float)

• Importance of drapery for decoration (no definition of the body)

• Importance of human figure

Bayeux Tapestry

c.1070-1080

Bayeux Tapestry,

Bayeux Tapestry, c.1070-1080

• Embroidery

• Norman Invasion of England (1066)

• Commissioned by Bishop Odo, half brother of William the Conqueror

• 230 feet / 70,10 m.

• 628 human figures

• 731 animals

• 376 boats

• 70 buildings and trees

Embrodery vs tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry

After their conversion to Christianity in the early 10th century, the Vikings settled on the northern coast of France. From there, Duke William of Normandy crossed the channel and conquered England in 1066.

The Bayeux Tapestry chronicles that war – a unique example of contemporaneous historical narrative art in the Middle Age.

Romanesque Art is a mixture of:

• Roman style

• Insular Style

• Byzantine Style

Romanesque Art is a mixture of:

• Roman style

• Insular Style

• Byzantine Style

Romanesque Art is a mixture of:

• Roman style – Roman-style architecture without concrete

• Insular Style – Interlace and abstracts animals

• Byzantine Style – Emotional depictions of Bible stories and the fairly realistic bodies under the drapery

Questions

• Discuss what is meant by the term “Romanesque” and distinguish some of the key stylistic features associated with architecture in this style.

• Discuss the sculpture that was integrated into the exteriors of Romanesque churches. Why was it there? Whom did it address? What were the prominent messages? Make reference to at least one church discussed in this chapter.

Questions

• What is a pilgrimage site? How did pilgrimage sites function for medieval Christians? Ground you answer in a discussion of Santiago de Campostela, focusinf on secific features that were geared towards pilgrims.

Question

• Analyze one example of Romanesque work of art in this chapter that tells a story of human frailty. Who was the intended audience? How does it style relate to the intended moral message?