Romanesque Writing Works

Romanesque Art

Pilgrimage Routes to Campo de Compostella

Trade Routes

Romanesque Architecture
Saint 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

Pisa Cathedral, Pisa
Exterior:
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 cathedral
Interior:
Crossing dome
Broadly projecting transepts
Timber roof interior, as in Early Christian buildings
1063 – 1350 ce

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 gradated
Anatomical proportions are distended and distorted
Four angels in corners announce the end of the world
Elongated figures
Flattening pattern
Zigzag and dovetail lines of drapery
Folds along torsos
Wide cheekbones
Originally brightly painted
Sculptor signed his name below Christ’s feet

The Blessed

Weighing of the Souls

Separation of Good and Evil

Damned Awaiting Judgment

Capital, Suicide of Judas
Cathedral 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

1110 ce

Bayeux Tapestry 1073 - 83 AD

Bayeux Tapestry
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
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

http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/Index.htm
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.

Reliquary statue of Saint Foy
Late 9th or 10th century

Relics and their reliquaries

San Foy

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 Isaiah
From the cathedral at Souillac, France

St. Etienne
c. 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

Pisa Cathedral, Pisa
Exterior:
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 cathedral
Interior:
Crossing dome
Broadly projecting transepts
Timber roof interior, as in Early Christian buildings
1063 – 1350 ce

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

HistoriatedIntials

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.

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Romanesque Writing Works

by bassmanb on Nov 13, 2009

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Romanesque Writing Works — Presentation Transcript