Romanesque

Architecture
and
Sculpture
11th and 12th
Century
France
Images and some text
from
Alan Peterson’s Art
History Site
and
Gardner’s Art History
ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE 1000 - 1140

 
The term Romanesque ("Roman-like") was first used to
designate a style of architecture that used Roman arches and
had thick, heavy walls, based upon the basilica. The style is
pervasive throughout Europe.

                                                                                                     

Arch of Titus 81 AD
                 Plan of a Roman Basilica
The Romanesque Era is marked by:
• Immense relief that the world had not ended at the
turn of the millennium
• The resurgence of cities and trade
• The emergence of Europe as we know it
• The strengthened authority of the Pope
• The emergence of a middle class and merchant class
• The evolution of the Romance languages
• The peak of feudalism as a political system
The Great Age of
Monasteries
Monasteries housed the relics of saints,
and during the Romanesque period the
cult of relics became a major cultural
factor influencing architecture. Devout
Christians would undertake long
pilgrimages in order to visit and
venerate the relics of saints and
martyrs. People traveled widely to visit
sites and see relics because they
believed them to have curative powers.
The large numbers of travelers created
standard routes from one monastery to
another: “Pilgrimage Roads” became
routes of trade/commerce as well as
travel.

Nave of St. Savin. Poitou, France c. 1100

Pilgrimage Routes to Santiago de Compostella
A Medieval Building Boom
To meet the needs of large
numbers of travelers, large scale
building projects were
undertaken - the first massive
building resurgence since the
Roman Empire had collapsed
more than six hundred years
before.
A boom in building occurred
due to the need, in some cases,
to replace wooden churches
which had been burned by the
Norsemen.
The boom contributed to the
continued growth in the cult of
religious relics and pilgrimages.
St. Sernin Toulouse 1080 - 1120
Romanesque
Architecture:
• Thick heavy walls support stone roofs.
• Blocky, earthbound appearance
• Simple geometric masses
• The exterior reflects the interior
structure and organization.
• Interiors tend to be dark because the
massive walls dictate small windows.
• Over time, a growing sophistication in
the understanding of how to use
vaulting to span the large spaces led to
the use of groin vaults and rib vaults.

San Sernin, Toulouse

The Plan of a
Romanesque Cathedral
• San Sernin, in Toulouse, is a typical
pilgrimage church in the Burgundian
style.
• The floor plan is a Latin cross with
clearly defined parts.
• It is modeled on a basilica plan
modified for large crowds to provide a
large apse.
• The square of the crossing is the
module for the rest of the plan:
½ (crossing square) = 1 (bayside aisle)
The Plan of a
Romanesque Cathedral
• The side aisles form a continuous
circuit around the transept nave and
transept.
• The ambulatory aisle enclosed the Transept
choir- the area east of the transept-
was separated by a screen to give
privacy to monks during the mass or
other services.
• The side aisles allow visitors to walk
back to view the relics without
disturbing anything going on in the
nave or choir areas.
Relics: The Attraction

• During the Romanesque period

churches were in the relics
business: more relics= more
business= more donations.
• Each chapel would have different
relics funded by wealthy donors

St. Sernin, looking toward

the altar and apse
Looking up at the dome in the crossing. Note the massive blocks of
multi-colored stone.
A prominent feature of many Romanesque churches is the addition
of multiple chapels "radiating chapels".
Stone barrel vaults require massive support because they create a
lateral thrust requiring heavy, buttressed walls.
 Sainte-Foy
Conques, France, c. 1050-1120
Sainte-Foy Cathedral

Sainte-Foy is one of the earliest

surviving examples of a
Romanesque pilgrimage church: a
church designed specifically to
accommodate visiting pilgrims.
Sainte Foy, to whom the church is
dedicated, was martyred as a child
in 303 CE. The church was built
above the site of her tomb, and it
holds relics associated with her.
You can see from  the plan of Sainte-
Foy that it shares much in common
with the plan of St. Sernin. Sainte-
Foy, however, is much shorter in
proportion. It does have radiating
chapels and a circumambulatory
aisle: key characteristics of
pilgrimage churches.
Another view of the apse, transept and bell-tower. This is a nice
illustration of the massive quality of Romanesque buildings.
Sainte-Foy’s Nave
In this view of the nave, looking
towards the altar, you can see how
dark the interior seems. Notice the
windows around the base of the
bell-tower near the upper-left of
the image.
Gregorian Chant: Introit: Puer
natus est nobis
St. Etienne Cathedral
• Caen (Normandy) 1067 – 1120 CE.
• St. Etienne is a good example of the
Norman style of Romanesque architecture.
The style developed during the rule of
William the Conqueror. He's buried here
at St. Etienne.
• Buttresses divide the facade into three
bays: a tripartite facade; there are also
three horizontal divisions. (The spires
were both added during the Gothic
period.)
St. Etienne is seen as a precursor of the
Gothic style of church architecture that
emerged in 1140 with the re-building of
St. Denis in Paris. Website: St. Etienne
St. Etienne’s Vaulting System

Ribbed groin vaults (or just rib vaults)

replace barrel vaults and allow the addition of
clerestory windows. Rib vaults are groin
vaults reinforced with extra stone ribbing.
These vaults at St. Etienne are some of the
earliest ribbed vaults. They are supported by
large complex piers covered with pilasters
and engaged columns.
St. Etienne’s Nave

The floor plan reflects a regular system

of square modules. The ribbed vaults
may be described as sexpartite because
there are six elements to each rib vault.
St. Etienne A view of the apse and towers of the east end.
Romanesque Sculpture
Large scale stone sculpture was revived during
the Romanesque period. For a long time there
had been no large scale sculptures produced
after the fall of the western the Roman
Empire. (No idols!) Romanesque sculpture
shows little consideration of earlier (Greek
and Roman) styles.
Portals of churches were covered with
sculpture for pilgrims to study while they
waited to enter, so most early Romanesque
sculpture is architectural, not freestanding.
Tympanum scenes are typically of the
enthroned Christ and the Apocalypse or the
Last Judgment. Early Romanesque sculpture
shows little integration with it's architectural
setting. Sculptors had no experience with large
scale sculpture, so they are conservative.
Apostle
St. Sernin 1090
 Christ in Majesty with Apostles St. Denis 1019 - 1020
This relief panel is carved on a lintel very abstract (flat and decorative) and
iconographic Christ, supported by angels, is framed in a mandorla, a nimbus or glory
(halo) The Apostles are integrated with the architectural setting
Sainte-Foy’s Sculpture

Some of the most notable sculpture of

the Romanesque period can be found
in the portals of Romanesque
churches. You can see the portal as
the round arch and the semi-circular
tympanum above the doors here on
the facade of Sainte-Foy.
Tympanum of Sainte-Foy
Center
On the right side of Christ (your left) are the lucky souls who
have been saved: the elect.
On his left, though, are poor souls being tortured by demons and dragged
off to Hell.
Below
Below
The Church of
St. Lazare
Autun, France
St. Lazare had the relics of
Lazarus, a friend of Christ whom
he raised from the dead. There
was a medieval legend that he had
sailed from the Holy Land to
Marseilles and become the first
bishop of that city.
 Tympanum, St. Lazare, c. 1130
This tympanum scene depicts the Last Judgment- something very much on the minds
of medieval Christians who were driven by the fear and the faith of the time.
Tympanum, St. Lazare

•Angels blow the horns

announcing the Day of
Judgment.
•Christ is supposed to look as if
he is sitting! But it seems that the
sculptor had a hard time figuring
out how to represent
foreshortened knees. He is static
and still, removed from the
activity below him.
•Two men at the lower left carry
staffs and bags, identifying them
as pilgrims.
Tympanum, St. Lazare

The Archangel Michael

oversees the scales.
•The weighing of souls
of the dead who are
lifted from the earth
and fought over by
angels and demons.
•Notice that the demon
tries to tip the scales
(compare to The Miller
in Chaucer’s tale)
• The condemned are
dragged into hell while
those waiting seek
protection from the
angels.
 Souls Waiting for Judgment
The inscription reads, “Here let fear strike those whom earthly
error binds, for their fate is shown by the horror of these figures”
The poor souls are agitated and distorted, nothing classical in
their figures at all. The figures are contorted to fit the setting but
also for expressive purposes.
 A poor soul
being plucked
up to judgment.
Vezelay, France
1120-32
The Launching Point of the
Crusades:
Pope Urban II had intended to preach
about the mission of the First
Crusade here thirty years before the
tympanum was built. Saint Bernard
preached the Second Crusade here,
and in 1190, Richard the Lionhearted
and King Phillip of France set out on
the Third Crusade from Vezelay
Vezelay, Nave
Portal fr. the Narthex of St. Madeleine, Vezelay, 1120
 Here again we see Christ is enthroned in a manner reminiscent of examples
from Early Christian churches and manuscript paintings. Note the very
stylized figures and drapery and the rays of the holy spirit that emanate from