Romanesque Art: Pilgrimage and the Crusades
ReadingStokstad, 453-489.
Range1000-1150Romanesque
Terms/Conceptspilgrimage, relic, reliquary, bodily relic, contact relic, idols, idolatry, martyr, saint, pilgrim, absolution, pilgrimage plan, furtum sacrum (furta sacra), peregrini, crusades.
Monument List:Reliquary statue of Sainte Foy (St. Faith), Conques, France, 9th-10th centuries. Transept, Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122. Giselbertus (?), Last Judgment Tympanum, Autun Cathedral, 1120-1130, or 1130-1145.Tympanum, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Representation of a typical pilgrim.
Floppy hat with scalloped shell
Shabby tunic
Walking stick/staff
Practical boots
“Santiago” is Spanish for St. James
entrance
Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
View of Entrance, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
Plan of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
France Town
Trancept. Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
ChapelsLantern
Transept
Interior view. Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
Nave
Reconstruction drawing of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
Plan of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
radiating chapels
radiating chapels
radiating chapels
radiating chapels
Reconstruction drawing of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
Windows with rounded arches permit light to enter.
Plan of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.
entrance
westwork
Each radiating chapel contains some kind of relic or holy image.
Santiago (St. James)
Casket of Santiago, Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 19th century.
Reliquary
Casket of Santiago, Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 19th century.
The stone under the altar, Santiago de Compostela, 3rd or 4th century.
Thought to be where the boat carrying the saint body docked, but actually dedicated to a Roman god.
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Main Entrance
Transept
Apse and Chapels
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Apse
ChapelChapelChapel
Chapel
EntranceEntrance
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Tympanum
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Christ in MajestyChrist in Majesty
Good WickedGood Wicked HellHellHeavenHeaven
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Hell Mouth Ammut the Devourer, The Book of the Dead of Hunefer
Ladder of Divine Ascent,St. Catherine’s, Mt. Sinai
Last Judgment (Detai), Tympanum, Ste. Foy, Conques, France, i
Scales
Heaven Hell
Giselbertus (?), Last Judgment Tympanum, Autun Cathedral, 1120-1130, or 1130-1145.
Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.
Reliquary statue of Sainte Foy (St. Faith), Conques, France, 9th-10th centuries.
Furtum Sacrum = “Sacred Theft”
St. Madeleine = Mary Magdalene
At first, the crusades were referred to with the same language as pilgrimage.
Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Abbey Church, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Plan, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
North Portal, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Tympanum, North Portal (Center), Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-32.
People of the WorldPeople of the World
People of the WorldPeople of the World
Zodiac and the Labors of the SeasonsZodiac and the Labors of the Seasons
Christ and apostles
Christ and the Apostles, Tympanum, North Portal (Center), Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-32
Rays of Holy Power
Signs of the Zodiac and Seasonal Labors, North Portal (Center), St. Madeleine, Vezelay, 1120-1132
Gemini
CancerThreshing Hay
People of the World, Lintel, North Portal (Center), Tympanum, Ste. Madeleine, Vezaley, 1120-1132.
Pygmy/DwarfBig-eared People
People of the World, North Portal, Tympanum, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Monstrous Races of the World, A Crusader’s Handbook, 12th Century.
Reliquary of Ste. Madeleine
Plan, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Nave, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.
Reliquary of Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1281.
Reliquary of Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1281.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. How is the relationship between monasteries and their royal benefactors complicated?
2. What is the relationship between monasteries and pilgrimage?
3. How did relics function in the devotional practices in Western European Christianity?
4. What is the so-called “Pilgrimage Plan”? What function does it serve in some Romanesque churches?
5. What does furtum sacrum mean? Why is it important? How is it justified?
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