Romanesque Art and Architecture
...int-Savin in western France and Sant'Angelo in Formis in S Italy. Manuscript Illumination Manuscript illumination of the Romanesque period was characterized by a vast enlargement of the traditional fund of figurative imagery, although in terms of overall execution and calligraphic quality Romanesque illuminated books often show a certain carelessness and lack of refinement. The Psalter, as in the early middle Ages, continued to be the most widely read volume for religious use, and numerous extravagantly illuminated copies of this work were executed. The Romanesque scriptorium also produced large editions of the Bible, often extending to several volumes. A splendid example of such a work is the Winchester Bible, executed in the course of several generations and decorated with numerous scenes from the Old and the New Testaments. Romanesque manuscripts are enlivened by elaborate and highly creative initial letters, on which the artists of this period lavished their bent for rich ornamental display. This illumination from the Gospel Book of Abbot Wedricus, entitled St. John the Evangelist, shows conventional emblems placed around the figure of St. John. (The right hand extended in a gesture implies that the character was speaking.) The donor of the manuscript, Abbot Wedricus, is supplying the ink for the figure of St. John. The hand of God holds the dove, the traditional symbol for the Holy Spirit that serves as St. John 's inspiration. The eagle is the identifying symbol of St. John himself. The other circular pictorials show scenes from St. John's life (Janson, 296). In illuminated manuscripts, the artists could dispense with the mandates of natural illusion and space and arrange the figures and forms in a purely ornamental fashion. The portrait was virtually non-existent throughout both the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Artists would work from a conventional figure and add insignias of office such as a scepter or a crown for a king, sometimes writing the names beneath the drawing. Artists widely used the conventional figure or symbol. They would work from patterns. Aspiring artists would first study as apprentices with artists learning these symbols. There were not many celebrated artists at this time because they wished to give glory to the work instead of to themselves. Romanesque Architecture The Romanesque period was from approximately 800 A.D. to 1100 A.D. The term Romanesque was first given to this type of architecture in the 19th Century due to it's similarities between the barrel vault and the Roman arch. Church buildings, art, and sculpture, were all used for the purpose to spread the Christian Gospel Romanesque architecture was a combination of features from Roman and Byzantine structures characterized by heavy, round-arched churches. Romanesque churches had thick walls, close-set columns, and small windows. During this time in Europe there was a very large interest in religion. Large numbers of people traveled on pilgrimages to visit sites of saints and martyrs. People believed that holy relics had the power to do miracles. The routes to the more famous holy places, such as Santiago, became very well traveled and required larger buildings to hold the large crowds. The basilica style church could not hold the large crowds which were coming. They began to build churches in the shape of the Latin cross. The pilgrim would enter the church through the nave. They would then come to the area known as the crossing, which was under a groin vault, where the vaults of the nave and the transepts would intersect. The relics of the church would be held and displayed in the region of the high alter. The pilgrims would be allowed to view the relics from the ambulatory which allowed for a good traffic pattern for these large crowds. The more famous the relics a church held, the larger the crowds it would attract. The architects also wanted to get away from using wood for the ceilings. They began to use stone ceilings on the new type of churches. Barrel or groin vaults were used in the ceiling. The stone was supported in the middle by the arch construction but was very heavy. The weight of the ceilings would tend to buckle the walls outward. This pressure outward is known as outward thrust. To support the walls, large piles of stone would be stacked along the wall in intervals to buttress (or support) the walls from pushing outward. Due to the weight of the stone ceiling, the wall of the church had to be very thick. Windows had to be small to keep the strength of the wall strong. Because of this, the churches interior was dim. This was not solved till the gothic church design was used. St.-Sernin Church in Toulouse, France was a Romanesque pilgrimage church. It was built along the roads leading to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage center in northwestern Spain. Designed to accommodate large crowds of lay worshipers, it has a long nave and transept. The vaulted nave eliminated the hazard of fire that was a common problem with the wooden roofs of earlier churches. The design of the church is a Latin cross. It was during this period that the Christian church donned the role of the militant leader. It was the duty of the church to fight the dark powers on earth until the end of the world as described in Revelations. The crusaders became representatives of this militant church as they set out to seize Jerusalem from the Muslims, claiming this Holy City in the name of Christianity (Gombrich, 120). The art, architecture, and furnishings of the church all reflected this viewpoint--most characteristically, the sculptures. Sculpture The first important monuments of Romanesque sculpture were created in the last decade of the 11th century and the first decades of the 12th century. The primary source of creative support was provided by the simple institutions, for which sculptors executed large relief carvings for the decoration of church portals and richly elaborate capitals for cloisters. Romanesque sculpture produced an art of extraordinary decorative intricacy, ecstatic in expression, and abounding in seemingly endless combinations of zoomorphic, vegetal, and abstract motifs. In France themes portrayed on tympanums of such churches as Moissac, Vézelay, and Autun emphasized the awesome splendor of Christ as ruler and judge of the universe. They often depicted terrifying spectacles of hell. English sculpture showed a tendency toward geometric ornamentation. However, with the introduction in England of continental influences in the mid-12th century there also appeared gruesome renditions of the Last Judgment, e.g., at Lincoln Cathedral. In contrast with the demonic nature and dynamic quality of sculpture in France and in England, there was an affirmation of more massive and ponderous figures in N Italy, with the narrative reliefs from Genesis designed by Wiligelmo in Modena and by Niccolò in Verona The tympanum at the church of La Madeleine at ...