ARTID121 - Romanesque Art

ART ID 121 | Study of Western Arts

Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

The Age of Pilgrimages: Romanesque Art

- The term Romanesque (meaning "Romanlike") is used to designate a period lasting approximately 150 years, from 1050 to 1200, when buildings incorporated certain architectural elements that resemble ancient Roman architecture.

- While mural painting and manuscript illumination continued much as before, there is a resurgence of monumental stone sculpture.

- Romanesque art was also greatly influenced by Byzantine art, especially in painting, and by the anti-classical energy of the decoration of the Insular art of the British Isles, and from these elements forged a highly innovative and coherent style.

Romanesque Art

- Romanesque architecture is noteworthy principally for:

- round arch

- stone barrel

- groin vaults

- thick and solid walls

- Most of the new buildings were cathedrals, churches, and monasteries that varied in style from one region to another.

- A number of churches were designed to accommodate visiting pilgrims.

Romanesque Architecture The term was invented by 19th century art historians, especially for Romanesque architecture, which retained many basic features of Roman architectural style - most notably round-headed arches, but also barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus-leaf decoration - but had also developed many very different characteristics.

The rise of towns:

-The increase in trade and the growth of towns and cities in the Romanesque period began to replace feudalism.

Monasteries and churches:

-Separated by design form the busy secular life of Romanesque towns were the monasteries and their churches.

Pilgrimages:

-The enormous investment in ecclesiastical buildings and furnishings also reflected a significant increase in pilgrimage traffic in Romanesque Europe.

Romanesque Art

plan & interior of Saint Etienne

Vignory, France

ca. 1050-1057

Regional diversity is evident in

Romanesque buildings. Specific

to northern style of French

Romanesque architecture is the use of large sawn blocks of stone to

construct the walls of the

buildings, but roofed with

timber.

Saint Philbertnave vaults

Tournus, France

ca. 1060

Further south, in southern France,

Spain, and Lombardy, early

Romanesque builders generally

preferred to construct their

edifices with brick or small bricklike blocks of stone and to cover

the nave and aisles with vaults.

Saint-Sernin

Toulouse, France

ca. 1070-1120

Saint-Sernin is an example of the new church of the "pilgrimage type".

Saint-Sernin

Toulouse, France

ca. 1070-1120

Saint-Sernin is located on the site of a previous basilica of the 4th century which contained the body

of Saint Saturnin or Sernin, the first bishop of Toulouse in c. 250

Saint-Sernin

Toulouse, France

ca. 1070-1120

The Saint-Sernin plan is extremely regular and geometrically precise. The crossing square, flanked by massive piers and marked off by heavy arches, served as the module for the entire church.

Interior of Saint-SerninToulouse, Franceca. 1070-1120

Nave of Saint-SerninToulouse, Franceca. 1070-1120

Nave of Saint-SerninToulouse, Franceca. 1070-1120

The central nave is barrel vaulted; the four aisles have rib vaults and are supported by buttresses.

Aerial view of Sant’ Ambrogio

Milan, Italy

late eleventh to early twelfth century

One of the most ancient churches in

Milan, it was built by St. Ambrose in 379-

386, in an area where numerous martyrs of

the Roman persecutions had been buried. The first name

of the church was in fact Basilica Martyrum.

Plan of Sant’ Ambrogio

Milan, Italylate eleventh to early twelfth century

One of the most ancient churches in Milan, it was built by St. Ambrose in 379-386, in an area where numerous martyrs of the Roman persecutions had been buried. The first name of the church was in fact Basilica Martyrum.

Interior of Sant’ Ambrogio

Milan, Italy

late eleventh to early twelfth century

The modular scheme and alternate-support system employed at Sant'Ambrogio in Milan created a series of domical ribbed groin vaults.

West façade of Saint-Etienne

Caen, France

begun 1067, ca. 1115-1120

Dedicated to Saint Stephen ("Saint Étienne"), Saint Etienne (Saint Stephen) is one of the most

notable Romanesque buildings in Normandy.The twin-towered façade of the church of Saint-

Étienne at Caen is divided into three bays.

Interior of Saint-Etienne (nave)

Caen, France

ca. 1115-1120

The nave employs an alternating system of compound piers with

engaged half-columns and piers with half-

columns attached to pilasters that rise

through three stories to support rib vaults.

Durham Cathedral

Durham, England

begun ca. 1093

Interior of Durham Cathedral

Durham, England

begun ca. 1093

Durham Cathedral alternates large

ornamented pillars with compound piers that

support a series of seven-part groin vaults

each covering two bays. It is the earliest example

of ribbed groin vaults placed over a three-story

nave.

Nave of Durham Cathedral

Durham, England

begun ca. 1093

In architecture, it signaled the importation of French

Romanesque building and design methods.

It was begun around 1093, in the generation following the Norman conquest, and is the centerpiece of a monastery,

cathedral, and fortified-castle complex on the Scottish

frontier.The church’s vaulted interior

which predates that of the remodeled Saint-Etienne at

Caen, retains its original severe Romanesque

appearance.

Plan & transverse section of Durham Cathedral

Durham, England

begun ca. 1093

Exterior of Durham Cathedral

Durham, England

begun ca. 1093

Pisa Cathedral complex in Pisa, Italycathedral begun 1063; baptistery begun 1153; campanile begun 1174Tuscan Romanesque architecture adheres closely to the traditions of the Early Christian basilica.

The cathedral complex at Pisa comprises a cathedral, a free-standing bell tower, and a baptistery. The cathedral has a timber ceiling and a nave arcade of reused classical columns. Arcaded galleries decorate the exterior of the leaning bell tower.

Pisa Cathedral complex in Pisa,

Italycathedral begun 1063

baptistery begun 1153 campanile begun 1174Partly paved and partly grassed, it is dominated by

four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral's

free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the

Camposanto.

Baptistery

Pisa Cathedral complex in Pisa, Italycathedral begun 1063 baptistery begun 1153 campanile begun 1174

The exterior of the octagonal Baptistery in Florence is decorated with polychrome marble incrustation.

Pisa Cathedral campanile

Pisa, Italy

begun 1174

Pisa Cathedral complex in Pisa,

Italycathedral begun 1063

baptistery begun 1153 campanile begun 1174

Interior of Pisa Cathedral

Pisa, Italy

cathedral begun 1063

The interior also at first suggests the basilica, with

its timber rather than vaulted ceiling and nave arcade of reused Roman

columns in unbroken procession.

Above the colonnade is a continuous horizontal

molding, on which the gallery arcades rest.The striped walls of

alternating dark green and cream-colored marble

provide a luxurious polychromy that became a

hallmark of Tuscan Romanesque and Gothic

buildings.

West façadeSan Miniato al

Monte

Florence, Italy

1062 and twelfth century

It sits, as its name implies, on a hillside overlooking the Arno River and the heart of

the Florence.The body of the church was

completed by 1090, the gable-crowned façade

during the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.Even more than Pisa

Cathedral, the structure recalls the Early Christian

basilica in plan and elevation, although its

elaborate geometric incrustation makes for a rich ornamental effects

foreign to the earlier buildings.

West façadeSan Miniato al Monte

Florence, Italy | 1062 and twelfth century

Interior of San Miniato al Monte

Florence, Italy

1062 and twelfth century

Though at first glance, the lowest level much resembles the patterning of

Florence’s baptistery, the arcades and panels do not reflect the buildings

structure.The façade’s upper levels, of much later date than the lowest level are filled capriciously with geometrical

shapes that have a purely, ornamental function.

The nave is divided into three equal compartments by diaphragm arches.The arches rise from compound piers and brace the rather high, thin walls.They also provide firebreaks beneath

the wooden roof and compartmentalize the basilican interior in the manner so

popular with most Romansque builders.

Bernardus Gelduinus

Christ in Majestyrelief in the ambulatory of Saint-Sernin

Toulouse, France | ca. 1096 | marble | 4 ft. 2 in. high

The sharply incised lines and

ornamentation of the marble

relief of Christ in Majesty is

characteristic of pre-Romanesque

metalwork.

WiligelmoCreation of Adam and Eve, frieze on the west façade, Modena CathedralModena, Italy | ca. 1110 | marble | approximately 3 ft. high

The high relief carving of the figures in the frieze at Modena breaks

through the arcaded frame format to produce a more continuous narrative.

Tympanum of the south portal of Saint-Pierre

Moissac, France | Marble | ca. 1115-1135

The tympanum at Moissac exhibits a distinctive style of Romanesque sculpture

characterized by figures with elongated bodies and draperies decorated with zigzag

and dovetail lines.

Christ in Majesty with angels and the Twenty-Four EldersTympanum of the south portal of Saint-Pierre

Moissac, France | Marble | ca. 1115-1135 | approximately 16 ft. 6 in. wide at base

Christ in Majesty with angels and the Twenty-Four

EldersTympanum of the s. portal of Saint-

Pierre

Moissac, France

marbleca. 1115-1135

approximately 16 ft. 6 in. wide at base

Lions and Old Testament prophet (Jeremiah or Isaiah?)

From the trumeau of the south portal of Saint-Pierre

Moissac, France

ca. 1115-1130marble

approximately life-size

The scalloped trumeau at Moissac shows an elongated, cross-legged

figure accompanied by roaring lions.

Cloister of Saint-Pierre

Moissac, France

ca. 1100-1115marble

piers approximately 6 ft. high

Cloister of Saint-Pierre

Moissac, France

ca. 1100-1115 | marble | piers approximately 6 ft. high

Abbey of Notre-Dame

Fontenay, Burgundy, France

1139-47

Abbey of Notre-Dame

Fontenay, Burgundy, France

1139-47

Gislebertus

Last Judgment (plaster cast)West tympanum of Saint-Lazare

Autun, France | ca. 1120-1135 | marble | approximately 21’ wide at base

Ascension of Christ and Mission of the ApostlesTympanum of the center portal of the narthex of La Madeleine

Vézelay, France

1120-1132

Ascension of Christ and Mission of the ApostlesTympanum of the center portal of the narthex of La Madeleine

Vézelay, France

1120-1132

Portal on the west façade of Saint-Trophime

Arles, France

second third of the twelfth century

For the church’s western entrance, a projecting portal resembling a

Roman arch was “attached” to the building’s otherwise simple façade.

Strictly Christian and thematically related to other Romanesque portals

already examined here.The tympanum shows Christ

surrounded by the signs of the Four Evangelists.

Portal on the west façade of Saint-Trophime

Arles, France

second third of the twelfth century

Benedetto Antelami

King Davidon the west façade of Fidenza

Cathedral

Fidenza, Italy

ca. 1180-1190marble

approximately life-size

The sculptor BENEDETTO ANTELAMI was active in the last quarter of the twelfth

century. Several relief's by his hand exist, including Parma Cathedral’s pulpit and the portals of

that city’s baptistery.His elbows are kept close to his body, and

his stance is stiff, lacking any hint of the contrapposto that is classical statuary’s

hallmark.Yet the sculptors conception of this prophet

is undeniably rooted in Greco-Roman art.

Virgin and Child ( Morgan Madonna)

from Auvergne, France

second half of twelfth century

painted wood2 ft. 7 in. high

A wooden statuette depicting the Virgin Mary with Christ

Child in her lap.The Morgan Madonna so named because it once

belonged to the financer and prolific collector J.Pierpont

Morgan.The type-known as the Throne of Wisdom, seldes sapientiae-

is a western European freestanding version of the

Byzantine Theotokos theme popular in icons and mosaics.

Head Reliquary of Saint Alexander

from Stavelot Abbey, Belgium

1145silver repoussé, gilt bronze, gems, enamel

17 1/2 in. high

Christ in Majestyapse fresco from Santa María de

Muir

near Lérida, Spain

mid-twelfth centuryfresco

22 x 24 ft.

The Vision of Hildegard of Bingen

Detail of facsimile of a lost folio

in the Scivias by Hildegard of Bingen

from Trier or Bingen, Germany

ca. 1050-1079

Initial R with knight fighting dragon

from the Moralia in Job

from Cîteaux, France

ca. 1115-1125ink and tempera on vellum

13 3/4 x 9 1/4 in.

Master Hugo

Moses Expounding the Lawfolio 94 recto of the Bury Bible

from Bury Saint Edmunds, England

ca. 1135ink and tempera on vellum

20 x 14 in.

12 Scenes from the Christmas StoryMS 37472 folio 1 recto

from Canterbury, England

ca. 1140ink and tempera on vellum

40.5 x 30 cm

Cat, Mouse and WeaselBestiary, MS 11283, folio 15,

(detail)

from England

ca. 1170ink and tempera on vellum

30 x 180 cm

Mouth of HellWinchester Psalter

from Winchester, England

ca. 1150ink and tempera on vellum

12 3/4 x 9 1/8 in.

Eadwine the Scribe(?)

Eadwine the Scribe at workfolio 283 verso of the Eadwine

Psalter

ca. 1160-1170ink and tempera on vellum

Funeral of Edward the Confessorprocession to Westminster Abbeydetail of the Bayeux Tapestry

From Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux, France

ca. 1070-1080 | embroidered wool on linen | 229 ft. 8 in. overall

Battle of Hastingsdetail of the Bayeux Tapestry

From Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux, France

ca. 1070-1080 | embroidered wool on linen | 229 ft. 8 in. overall

Christ in Majesty (Maiestas Domini) with apostles

Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines, France

1019-1020

Dated 1019-1020 by inscription, the lintel depicts Christ enthroned in a lobed mandorla supported by angels and flanked by apostles.To the left and right of Christ are inscribed the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, a reference to his role as Last Judge: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the Last, the Beginning and the End”.The Saint-Genis lintel is the earliest of many relief's on Romanesque church facades depicting or alluding to Judgment Day and the separation of those who will be saved from those who will be damned.

Rainer of Huy

Baptism of Christ

Baptismal font

from Notre-Dame-des-

Fonts

Liege, Belgium

1107-1118bronze

2 ft. 1 in. high

RAINER OF HUY, a bronze worker from

the Meuse River valley in Belgium, an area renowned for its

metalwork.In 1118 her

masterfully cast in a single piece the

baptismal font for Norte-Dame-des-

Fonts in Liege.The bronze basin

rests on the foreparts of twelve oxen, a reference to King

Solomon’s temple.The Old Testament

story was thought to prefigure Christ’s

baptism which is the central scene on

Rainer’s font.

Entombment of Christfresco above the nave arcade, Sant’Angelo in Formis

Near Capua, Italy | ca. 1085 | fresco

The Tree of JesseExplanatio in Isaiam

from Cîteaux, Franceca. 1125 | ink and tempera on vellum

15 x 9 in.

Sources

• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050907_kleiner/studyguide/ch17/ch17_1.html

• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesque_art • Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner