CULTURE
• Invasions centres of culture disappear
• Monasteries: monks copied out ancient manuscripts.
• Monastic and cathedral schools: imitated the model of the Palatine Academy at Aachen.
• The first universities were founded:
o Bologna (1088) and Oxford (1096)
o Teaching in Latin
o There were no time fixed to complete studies.
ROMANESQUE
• Christian Europe
• From the end of 10th century to the beginning if the 13th century
• Main features:
o It was essentially a religious art.
o It developed primary in rural areas.
o The monastic orders and pilgrim routes helped it to spread throughout Europe.
ARCHITECTURE
• Religious buildings: churches and monasteries
• Material: stone
• Vault:
Ashlar
Barrel vault Groin vault
• Semicircular arch
• The walls were thick and reinforced on the outside with buttresses.
• There were not many doors or windows, so that the walls could support the weight of the vaults better.
• The main support was the pillar.
• The columns had capitals, which were elaborated carved with foliage, mythical beast and monsters and human figures.
Other elements:
• Apses: semicircular or polygonal space covered with a vault.
• Ambulatory: circular nave situated in the chancel, around the back of the main altar.
Apses
SCULPTURE
• Frequently used on doors (archivolts and tympana) and capitals.
• “Law of the frame”: sculpture tended to be adapted to the architecture frame.
• Didactic purpose: teach the Christian beliefs to the people, who were mostly illiterate.
• The most common theme was the Pantocrator surrounded by the Evangelists.
Other kind of sculpture
• Free-standing sculptures (not attached to a wall)
• Main themes:
o Christ on the cross
o Virgin with the Child
• Figures were rigid, static and inexpressive.
PAINTING
• Mural painting done in fresco.
• They also illustrated manuscripts with miniatures, painted with tempera.
• The purpose was also didactic.
• They represented the same themes than sculpture.
• Colours were plain and the scenes depicted had to depth.
• The characters were in rigid poses and their faces showed no emotion.