Romanesque Architecture

Revision

Introduction

• This art appeared during the Middle Age

• It is the first style that can be found all over Europe, even when regional differences

• The expansion of the style was linked to the pilgrimages, mainly to Santiago.

Introduction

• Romanesque art developed thanks to a series of causes:– The end of Barbarian invasions– The decomposition of Cordoba’s caliphate – The establishment of peace in

the Christian world, with the

development of the cities,

commerce and industry.

Expansion

• The factors of the expansion of Romanesque arte were:– Development of feudal system,

that demanded works (castles)– The expansion of religious orders

(Benedictines), expanded the monasteries– The pilgrimage routes– The crusades

Typologies

• There are three main architectonical typologies:

Churches

Monasteries Castles

Monastery

• It was designed as a microcosm, as the city of God

• They had several dependencies:– Church– Cloister– Chapter room– Abbot’s house– Monks/ nuns rooms– Refectory – Hospital

                                                                            

Church

• It was the main building

• It symbolized God’s kingdom

• The holiest part was the apse

• It had cross shape

• Symbolism was important:– Circular parts reflect perfection so they were

linked to God– Squared parts are related to the human.

Church

• Characteristics:– Monumental, trying to imitate the Roman models in

the Pilgrimage churches– Small in country churches– They were designed for advertising Catholic church– They were lasting, made of stone– Plans could be:

• Latin cross• Polygonal• Basilical

Latin cross Polygonal Basilical

Church

• Parts of the plan

Church

• Parts from the outside

Church

• Elevation:• The church is covered by stoned vaults• Wall are thick• They need strong buttresses• Foundations are strong• Few windows

Church

• Interior elevation: it consists of three levels:

• First floor with columns or cross-shaped pillars

• Second floor with the tribune (corridor over looking the nave, over the aisles)

• Clerestory: area of windows opening to the outside.Column

Pillar

Tribune

Clerestory

Church

• Type of covers:

Barrel vault: it was used mainly to cover the central nave

Groin vault was common in aisles and ambulatory

Dome: spherical were used in apses. The central could stand on pendentives or squinches

Castle

• Castles were defensive constructions

• They were fortified for providing shelter

• The wall was one of the essential elements

• They tend to be build in stepped areas, easier to defend.

Romanesque in France

• It was the original region of Romanesque art

• It appeared in Cluny’s abbey

• From there it expanded thanks to the pilgrimage routes, specially to Santiago in Spain.

Romanesque in France

• It is characterized by various vaulted styles

• Provence: pointed domes and façades decorated with arches

• Auvergne with long choir, side aisles around the semicircular sanctuary forming the ambulatory in which radiating chapels open

Saint Trophime, Arles

Saint Sernin

Toulouse

Romanesque in France

• Burgundy: barrel-vaulted, three-aisled basilica

• Normandy: Lombard influences with groined vaults supported by flying buttresses and façades with two flanking towers.

Sainte Magdalene, Vezelay

Cluny

Romanesque in Italy

• Italian provinces developed a great diversity of architectural styles– Lombardy with groined

vaults of heavy proportions– Central Italy classical

decorative elements: Corinthian capitals, coloured marble, open arches, colonnades and galleries and façades with sculptures

Saint Ambroggio, Milan

Saint Miniato, Florence

Romanesque in Italy

– South with Byzantine and Arabic influences, using mosaics, interlaced pointed-arches.

• Three separate buildings: church, baptistery and bell tower.

Cefalu, Sicily

Pisa Cathedral, in Tuscany, presents three separate buildings.

Romanesque in Germany

• Churches were planned on a large scale• They used to be very high• They had an apse or sanctuary at each end.• Numerous round or octagonal towers that conferred

them a picturesque silhouette.

Laach

Worms

Romanesque in England

• Before the 10th century were made of wood

• Stone buildings were small and roughly constructed

• The Norman Romanesque style replace the Saxon in 11th century

Romanesque in England

• Long, narrow buildings were constructed with heavy walls and piers, rectangular apses, double transepts and deeply recessed portals

• Naves were covered with flat roofs, later replaces by vaults, and side aisles were covered with groined vaults.

Romanesque in Spain

• First Romanesque: Catalonia

• In the 11th century the region was almost assimilated to France

• Due to this they receive the art early

• The rest of the Spain would receive it with the pilgrimage

Romanesque in Spain

• Catalan churches present, in the outside, ordered volumes

• Wall are decorated with Lombard bands, and blind arches and galleries

• The plan has three naves, with a small narthex

• The head has triple apse

Romanesque in Spain• Pilgrims route to Santiago was an important

route for Romanesque Art expansion.

Romanesque in Spain

• Characteristics of pilgrimage churches:– Plan with three to five aisles and a transept– In the transept there are radial chapels– Inside there is a tribune– The head has ambulatory and radial chapels

Romanesque in Spain

• There are polygonal buildings too

• They are related to the Temple

• They are inspired in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre

• Examples are Eunate, Torres del Rio (both in Navarre) and Veracruz (Segovia).

Romanesque in Spain

• Castile and Leon:• It is deeply influenced

by the pilgrimage routes

• The churches are identified with the spirit of the Reconquist

Romanesque in Spain

• Buildings are simple and small

• It created a contrast in relation to the refined Hispano Muslin architecture.

• They frequently have a covered area in the outside for the meetings of the councils.

Romanesque in Spain

• The best examples are:– Santiago’s cathedral– Fromista– Sant Climent de Tahull– San Pere de Roda– San Juan de la Peña

• There are other buildings such as castles (Loarre, in Huesca) or bridges, essential for pilgrims (Puentelarreina, Navarre)