ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
As elsewhere, the development of Romanesque sculpture in Italy was connected to the flowering of contemporary architecture. Nonetheless, sculpture here was not dictated by the structural requirements of architecture to the same extent as it was in France, as the demands were more of a liturgical nature. Instead, early works display strong decorative intentions, with the use of animal ornaments and abstract interlaced patterns derived from Lombard art.
The façade of the church of Santa Maria in Pomposa (Emilia-Romagna), placed in front of an atrium, is rather low and wide, constructed of many different colours of brick. In the centre the wall is broken up by three entrance arcades. Their archivolts are decorated with friezes of vine foliage, and on the front side these are framed by archivolts made of radially and tangentially arranged bricks. The three horizontal areas of the façade are produced by two long bands of terracotta. It is thought that the unknown master and his craftsmen came from Ravenna, as the structure of the façade is so Oriental, even Byzantine, in style.
Architectural Styles
Romanesque Revival Style
(1860-1900)
This style is named for the massive masonry forms
found in Medieval European churches. Not widely used for houses in Lancaster,
the Romanesque Revival style is more commonly used for public buildings,
schools and churches. Characteristics include:
- use of
brick or stone, giving a heavy appearance
- smooth
wall surfaces contrast with rough stone trim
- dark
colors
- massive
round-headed arched windows and doorways
- deeply
recessed openings
- round
or square towers of differing heights
Typical English Romanesque bay (from Peterborough Cathedral). (left) External elevation. (middle) Internal elevation. (right) Section through bay
ROMANESQUE
CHURCH DESIGN
The
standard design was that of the Roman basilica-the meeting hall. The basilica
consisted of a two story structure that could measure up to 65 ft wide. To this was added one or two story
side aisle on each side. The building was very wide and the clerestory windows
at the top of the nave or middle section
provided sufficient light for the entire building.
Often side arms, called
transepts, were added on either side of the nave to accommodate the great
number of people who came to worship. These
additions gave the churches a Latin Cross floor plan. The apse or the east end
was the place of the court in the Roman basilica. In the new church it became the holy of
holies- the sanctuary- the place of the altar. Between the apse and the nave
was an area known as the chancel or choir.
In the earliest days, the clergy, known as the cathedral chapter,
occupied this space for worship. With
the advent of popularity of relics, a means of “crowd control” was needed so
the area in the apse behind the altar became known as the ambulatory. Often small altars or chapels were
constructed in the ambulatory. The chapels generally contained a relic. Worshipper would enter one side and “amble”
around the apse to venerate these relics and exit on the other side. Tall
towers were added to the exterior. Often their was a pair on either side
of the front -West Facade. There were also towers build over the great
cross - the point where the nave, the transepts and the chancel met.
Capital of Corinthian form with
Byzantine decoration and carved dosseret, San Martín de Tours Church, Frómista, Palencia
Capital of simplified concave
Corinthian form with billeted abacus, simple dosseret and pronounced annulet.
Church of Santa Maria, San Martín de Castañeda
Capital of convex cubic form with
its abacus, concave dosseret and cable decoration defined by polychrome.
Herina. Capitals of this shape are often decorated with "Barbaric" carvings
of foliage, and mythical creatures.
Capital of amorphous form
surmounting a cluster of shafts. The figurative carving shows a winged devil
directing Herod to slaughter the Innocents. Monastery of San Juan de Duero, Soria
Capital retaining Corinthian form
decorated with intertwined beasts derived from Irish manuscripts. Grande-Sauve
Abbey, France
Vaults
The painted barrel vault at the Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe is supported on tall marbled
columns.
The aisles at Peterborough
Cathedral have
quadripartite ribbed vaults. (The nave has an ancient painted wooden ceiling.)
This drawing is a reconstruction by
Dehio of the appearance of the Romanesque Konstanz
Cathedral before its
alterations in the Gothic style. It has a typical elevation of nave and aisles
with wooden panelled ceilings and an apsidal east end.
This nave elevation of Arnsburg
Abbey, Germany, shows the typical arrangement of the nave arcade, aisle,
clerestory windows and ribbed vault
Interiors (see also sections
illustrating columns and roofs)
St Gertrude, Nivelles, Belgium,
(consecrated 1046) has a nave and aisles divided by piers supporting a
clerestorey. The nave is divided by transverse arches. The interior would have
been plastered and painted.
San Miniato
al Monte, Florence, (1013-1090) has basilical form,
open timber roof and decoration of polychrome marble and mosaic. The decoration
continued harmoniously until the apsidal mosaic of 1260.
The Church of St
Philibert, Tournus, (990-1019)
has tall circular piers supporting the arcade and is roofed with a series of
barrel vaults supported on arches. Small clerestory windows light the vault.
Abbey of St Mary Magdalene, Vézelay, (consecrated 1104) has
clusters of vertical shafts rising to support transverse arches and a groin vault.
The dressed polychrome stonework has exquisitely detailed mouldings. East end
is Gothic.
The nave of Peterborough
Cathedral (1118-93)
in three stages of arcade, gallery & clerestory, typical of Norman abbey
churches. The rare wooden ceiling retains its original decoration (c. 1230).
Gothic arches beneath tower (c. 1350).
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