ROMANESQUE

ROMANESQUE

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ART. 11th-13th Centuries

Index

› Introduction › › › › ›

Intro

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Architecture general characteristics

Regional styles

Sculpture

Painting

Intro

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Romanesque art originated in France The Romanesque art was the first Christian art which extended over all Europe, although each country is going to have differences in styleThe religious topic was omnipresent because the church was the only client and because the art was seen as a way to glorify god (and the church) and the better way to teach about religion to the illiterate masses

Arquitecture General Characteristics

The most important buildings were churches, cathedrals and monasteries. These architectural elements made the buildings small and more horizontal than vertical

PLAN

WALLS & BUTRESSES

A ROMANESQUE LIGHT

ARCHES & VAULTS

PLAN

The most used plans were the latin cross plan which had the following parts.

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Walls

Due to the weight of the roofs they had to use big buttresses in the walls and the windows were very small

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*BUTRESSES*

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Vaults and Arches

› They used semicircular arches, groin vaults and barrel vaults.

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Semicircular

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Windows

› Due to the small windows the buildings were slightly illuminated. This, combined with the aromatic herbs used to cover the bad smell, and the language (Latin) used , made the religious ceremonies mysterious for the general population

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A Romanesque Light

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Regional styles

French Architecture

Even if this style had its origIns in France its political disunion made 4 different styles appeared

Normandy

Burgundy

Provence

Poitiers

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Normandy

The Norman style was characterized for having taller churches with two high towers in the façade, this style set the basis for the Gothic style. One of the most important building is the Women’s Abbey in Caen

Burgundy

The Burgundian style was the one which extended through Europe, so its characteristics are the ones of the General Architecture. Its best example is the Madeleine of Vezelay

Poitiers

The Poitiers style took elements from the Byzantine style like the Scaled domes, like in the cathedral of Poitiers

Provence

The Provence style had simple buildings but columns and sculptures in their facades. The best example is the church of Saint Trophime of Arles

German Romanesque

Being the place of the Holy Roman Empire, which emperor was the second most important figure in the Christendom, made that the buildings had to be impressive The cathedrals were huge and with a verticality reinforced by big towers. Sometimes they had independent parts inserted in the cathedrals plan They could have double transept and double crossing The most famous examples are Saint Michael of Hildesheim and Mainz Cathedral

England

Wilhelm the Conqueror the Norman who conquered England in 1066 brought the Norman architecture style with him, influencing definitely English RomanesqueEnglish style is going to share some characteristics with the French Norman style, but the cathedrals are going to be bigger and the square towers of the façade are going to be massiveThe best example of these style is going to be the Cathedral of Durham

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Italy

› The Italian Romanesque was very different from the European one, because they still have lot of influences from their Roman pastTheir buildings are going to have triangular facades which reminded the Roman templesThe churches are going to use multicolored marble in the exterior and usually they are going to have columns in the façade instead of sculpturesIn Italy the bell tower and the baptism building are going to be separated from the churchThe best examples of these architecture are the Church of San Miniato al Monte in Florence and the Cathedral of Pisa

Lombardy/Cataluña

The catalonian style is very similar to the northern italian style (Lombard)

They are going to have decorative elements like Lombard bands, little wall sided arches.The most important buildings are the churches of San Clemente and Santa Maria de Tahull with wooden flat roofs, and the monastery of Ripoll with its 5 naves and 7 apses

Saint-Jaques Path

› Inspired by the French architecture developed an unique way of building temples.They are going to use decorative elements like the “Taqueado Jaques” and polylobbed arches like in San Isidoro de Leon The most important building is the Santiago cathedral with its ambulatory for the pilgrims circulation

Castilla

› Different influences make all the Castilian buildings very different one from each otherSome of them like San Millan of Segovia have porticosOthers like the Colegiata de Toro have scaled domes influenced by Poitiers and Byzantine artAnd others like San Juan de Duero have influence from Holy Land

Sculpture

Given that the church was the only client the only topic was the religious oneAlmost all of the sculptures were reliefs with only a few free standing sculpturesThe main material was stone although some of them were made of wood and alabasterThe sculpture had a didactic purpose, to teach religion to the illiterate massesThe figures were rigid, inexpressive, had unrealistic proportions and were adapted to the frame like in “La duda de Santo Tomas”The two most important themes were the “Pantocrator” and the “Tetramorphos” which is the Pantocrator with the 4 evangelists.

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Placement

Painting

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San Isidoro de León (Castilla) Movement, no perspective

Santa María de Tahull

Same characteristics as sculpture. Backgrounds made of plain color stripes.

Puzzle to see the different parts of a Romanesque Portal. Click on the image

Santa Fe de Conques