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Chapter 12Romanesque Europe

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 14e

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Europe About 1100

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Goals• Understand the term “Romanesque” in

designating the artistic style of a historic period. • Examine the need for large scale pilgrimage

churches, the growth of architecture and urban centers. 

• Understand the ‘millennial’ and apocalyptic mood of the Romanesque era and their impact on artistic themes.   

• Understand the role of relics and the artistic objects designed to contain relics.

• Recognize differences and similarities in regional Romanesque architecture and artistic styles.

• Understand the narrative function of the human figure in Romanesque sculpture.

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Romanesque Europe• Understand the term “Romanesque” as a style in

art and architecture.• Examine the result of pilgrimages and the

crusades in terms of architecture in Europe.• Understand the ‘millennial’ and apocalyptic mood

of the Romanesque era and their impact on artistic themes.

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Romanesque Architecture• Examine the result of pilgrimages and the

crusades in terms of architecture in Europe.• Identify architectural elements particularly those

associated with the large pilgrimage and monastery churches.

• Explain the function of specific architectural elements such as the ambulatory, radiating chapels, and crossing square

• Recognize differences and similarities in regional Romanesque architectural styles.

Important Elements of Romanesque Architecture

Recognize the following architectural features: • Ambulatory – major innovation• Radiating chapels• Portal and its parts• Nave, transept, and side aisles• Cruciform (overall shape of building)• Crossing square• Bays (3-D modules of nave and side aisles)• Gallery/ tribune level• Clerestory (usually small in Romanesque churches)• Barrel vault (the norm for Romanesque naves)• Groin vault (less common, used more in side aisles)• Cloister (element in a monastic abbey church)

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12-2 Reliquary statue of Sainte-Foy, late 10th to early 11th century with later additions. Gold, silver gilt, jewels, and cameos over a wooden core, 2’ 9 1/2" high. Treasury, Sainte-Foy, Conques.

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Figure 12-3 Interior of Saint-Etienne, Vignory, France, 1050-1057.

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12-4B Interior (looking east) of Saint-Philibert, Tournus, France. Vaults, ca. 1060.

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12-4A Interior (looking east) of Sant Vicenç, Cardona, Spain, ca. 1029–1040.

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Figure 12-4 Plan of Saint-Etienne, Vignory, France, 1050-1057. (1) nave, (2) aisles, (3) choir, (4) ambulatory, (5) radiating chapels.

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Pilgrimage Churches• Examine the pilgrimages and crusades in terms

of architecture in Europe.• Identify architectural elements associated with

the large pilgrimage and monastery churches.

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Geometry and Vaulting• Examine the architectural elements and scheme

that made possible Saint-Sernin’s in Toulouse, France.

• Understand that the design of a Romanesque church is based on mathematical ratios in relation to the size of its crossing square

• Understand the importance of Cluny and the Cistercian religious order in architecture and art.

14Figure 12-5 Aerial view (looking northwest) of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1070–1120.

12-7A Aerial view (looking southwest) of Sainte-Foy, Conques, France, mid 11th to early 12th century.

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Figure 12-6 Plan of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1070-1120 (after Kenneth John Conant). 16

Figure 12-7 Interior of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1070-1120.

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12-7B Interior (looking east) of Saint James, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, ca. 1075–1120.

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Emergence of Large Relief Sculpture

• Observe one of the large marble relief panels from Saint-Sernin

• Realize that these are the first precisely dated large relief panels of the Romanesque period and that they are by a known artist

• Understand the prominent role that sculpture will play during the Romanesque period

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Figure 12-8 BERNARDUS GELDUINUS, Christ in Majesty, relief in the ambulatory of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1096. Marble, 4’ 2” high.

12-8A Christ in Majesty (Maiestas Domini) with apostles, lintel over the doorway of the abbey church, Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines, France, 1019–1020. Marble, 2’ X 7’.

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12-8B Christ, Doubting Thomas, and apostles, pier relief in the cloister of the abbey church of Santo Domingo, Silos, Spain, ca. 1090–1100.

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Figure 12-9 Restored cutaway view of the third abbey church (Cluny III), Cluny, France, 1088-1130 (John Burge).

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Figure 12-10 General view of the cloister (left) and detail of the pier with the relief of Abbot Durandus (right), Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, ca. 1100–1115. Relief: limestone, 6’high.

Figure 12-12 The Romanesque church portal.25

Diagram of a Romanesque Portal

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Figure 12-13 Lions and Old Testament prophet (Jeremiah or Isaiah?), trumeau of the south portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, ca. 1115–1130.

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Figure 12-11 South portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, ca. 1115–1135. Left: general view. Right: detail of tympanum with Second Coming of Christ.

12-10A Notre-Dame, Fontenay, 1139-1147

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Regional Variations• Identify Romanesque architectural elements in

Germany, Lombardy, Normandy and England.• Examine the distinct qualities of Italian

Romanesque.

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Northern European Romanesque• Romanesque architectural elements in Germany,

Lombardy, Normandy and England.

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12-20 Interior of Speyer Cathedral, Speyer, Germany, begun 1030; nave vaults, ca. 1082–1105.

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Figure 12-21 Aerial view of Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, Italy, late 11th to early 12th century.

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Figure 12-22 Interior of Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, Italy, late 11th to early 12th century.

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Figure 12-30 West facade of Saint-Étienne, Caen, France, begun 1067.

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Figure 12-31 Interior of Saint-Étienne, Caen, France, vaulted ca. 1115–1120.

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Figure 12-32 Plan of Saint-Étienne, Caen, France.

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Figure 12-33 Interior (left) and lateral section (right) of Durham Cathedral, England ,begun ca.1093.

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Figure 12-34 Plan of Durham Cathedral, England (after Kenneth John Conant).

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Romanesque in Italy• Examine the distinct qualities of Italian

Romanesque.• Notice architectural elements such as stone

tracery, gables, and pinnacles that were later Gothic additions.

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Figure 12-26 Cathedral complex, Pisa, Italy; cathedral begun 1063; baptistery begun 1153; campanile begun 1174.

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Figure 12-27 Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy, dedicated 1059.

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Figure 12-27A Interior of San Miniato al Monte, Florence, Italy, ca. 1062–1090.

12-27B Entombment of Christ, fresco above the nave arcade, Sant’Angelo in Formis, near Capua, Italy, ca. 1085.

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Romanesque Sculpture• Examine the revival of stone sculpture, its

placement and iconography.• Observe how the arrangement and form of

Romanesque sculpture is closely tied to its architectural framework

• Understand the narrative function of the human figure in Romanesque sculpture.

• Understand the role of relics and the artistic objects designed to contain relics.

• Recall the names of two known Romanesque sculptors  

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Figure 12-28 WILIGELMO, creation and temptation of Adam and Eve, detail of the frieze on the west facade, Modena Cathedral, Modena, Italy, ca. 1110. Marble, 3’ high.

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Figure 12-1 GISLEBERTUS, Last Judgment, west tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca. 1120–1135. Marble, 21’ wide at base.

12-13A GISLEBERTUS, Suicide of Judas, historiated capital from the nave of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca. 1120–1135. Musée Lapidaire, Autun.

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12-13B GISLEBERTUS, Eve, detail of the lintel of the north portal of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca. 1120–1135. Stone, 2’ 4 1/2" X 4’ 3”. Musée Rolin, Autun.

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Figure 12-14 Pentecost and Mission of the Apostles, tympanum of the center portal of the narthex of La Madeleine, Vézelay, France, 1120–1132.

12-14A Central portal of the west facade of Saint-Trophîme, Arles, France, mid-12th century.

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12-11A West facade, Notre-Dame-la-Grande, Poitiers, France, ca. 1130–1150.

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Figure 12-29 BENEDETTO ANTELAMI, King David, statue in a niche on the west facade of Fidenza Cathedral, Fidenza, Italy, ca. 1180–1190. Marble, life-size.

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Figure 12-24 RAINER OF HUY, baptism of Christ, baptismal font from Notre-Dame-des-Fonts, Liège, Belgium, 1118. Bronze, 2’ 1” high. Saint-Barthélémy, Liège.

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Figure 12-19 Virgin and Child (Morgan Madonna), from the Auvergne, France, second half of twelfth century. Painted wood, 2’ 7” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1916).

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Figure 12-25 Head reliquary of Saint Alexander, from Stavelot Abbey, Belgium, 1145. Silver repoussé (partly gilt), gilt bronze, gems, pearls, and enamel, 1’ 5 1/2” high. Musées Royaux d ’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels.

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Romanesque Painting and Other Arts

• Examine the extent and styles of mural and fresco painting on walls and in vaulted ceilings.

• Explore the continuing art of manuscript illumination.

• Understand the artists, the themes, and the styles of Romanesque manuscripts.

• Examine other two dimensional art, particularly weaving and embroidery.

• Study the form and stylistic elements of the Bayeux Tapestry.

12-16 Initial R with knight fighting dragons, folio 4 verso of the Moralia in Job, from Citeaux, France, ca> 1115-1125. Oink and tempera on vellum, 1’ 1 ¾” X 9 ¼”. Bibliotheque Municipale, Dijon.

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12-15 Initial L and Saint Matthew, folio 10 recto of the Codex Colbertinus, from Moissac, France, ca. 1100. Tempera on vellum, 7 1/2" X 4”. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

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12-15A Saint Mark, folio 53 recto of the Corbie Gospels, from Corbie, France, ca. 1120. Tempera on vellum, 10 3/4" X 7 7/8”. Bibliothèque Municipale, Amiens.

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Figure 12-17 Nave (left) and painted nave vault (right) of the abbey church, Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, France, ca. 1100.

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Figure 12-18 Christ in Majesty, apse, Santa María de Mur, near Lérida, Spain, mid-twelfth century. Fresco, 24’ X 22’. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Figure 12-23 Hildegard receives her visions, detail of a facsimile of a lost folio in the Ruperts-berger Sciviasby Hildegard of Bingen, from Trier or Bingen, Germany, ca.1150–1179. Abbey of St. Hildegard, Rüdesheim/Eibingen.

12-23A RUFILLUS, Initial R, folio 224 recto of a Passional, from Weissenau, Germany, ca. 1170–1200. [Material and size needed]. Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, Geneva.

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12-35 Master Hugo, Moses expounding the Law, folio 94 recto of the Bury Bible, from Bury Saint Edmunds, England, ca. 1135. Ink and tempera on vellum, 1’ 1/8” X 1’ 2”. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

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12-35A Mouth of Hell, folio 39 recto of the Winchester Psalter, from Winchester, England, ca. 1145–1155. Tempera and ink on vellum, 1’ 3/4" X 9 1/8”. British Library, London.

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Figure 12-36 EADWINE THE SCRIBE, Eadwine the scribe at work, folio 283 verso of the Eadwine Psalter, ca. 1160–1170. Ink and tempera on vellum. Trinity College, Cambridge.

Figures 12-37 & 12-38 Funeral procession to Westminster Abbey (top) and Battle of Hastings (bottom), details of the Bayeux Tapestry, from Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux, France, ca. 1070-1080. Embroidered wool on linen, 1’ 8” high (entire length of fabric 229’ 8”). Centre Buillaume le Conquerant, Bayeux. 67

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Discussion Questions Identify key elements of Romanesque

architecture. What factors sparked the increase in

building of churches in Western Europe? Why do you think there was such a strong

positive reception of the concept of relics in Romanesque society??

What were the various roles of figural art, both two-dimensional and sculptural, during the Romanesque period?