UNIT 5. ROMANESQUE ART AND CULTURE.

1. ROMANESQUE.

Romanesque was the artistic and architectural style dominant in Western and Southern Europe between the 9th and 12th centuries. Romanesque was:

• characteristic of the feudal world.
• deeply religious.
• adopted Roman elements and developed along the Romance languages.

 1. 1. The rise of the romanesque.

10th century, due to the end of the second invasions took place:

• economic development.
• population growth
• apparition of new villages that needed churches.

11th century, apparition of the Romaneque art, the first artistic style common to all Christianity. The art was religious and depicted the glory of God.

1. 2. Development of the romanesque style.

Christian devotion during the 10th century was very important in the development of the Romanesque Art:

• The cult of relics (part of the body belonging to a saint) which were kept in churches.
• Pilgrimage routes to a sacred places where large pilgrimage churches where built.
• Cluny Abbey which controlled many monasteries in the pilgrimage routes and helped to spread the Romanesque art.

1. 3. Culture controlled by the Church.

• During the Middle Ages most of the population was illiterate. Only members of the clergy and the nobility could write and read.

• Monasteries were the most important learning institutions until the 12th century:

1. there people learn how to read and write and study.
2. had large libraries that contained a vast amount of knowledge.
3. In scriptorira, the monks copied the books by hand onto parchment and illustrated books from Antiquity.

• Latin was the main language of religion and culture.
•  In the Early Middle Ages, Latin Vulgar started to evolve into the Romance Language spoken in Europe such as Italian, Castilian, French, Portuguese, Galician and Catalan.

 2. Romanesque architecture.

  The main buildings were churches. Churches represented the glory of God on Earth.

2. 1. The floor plan.

They used the Latin cross plan (planta de cruz latina) to symbolise the place where Jesus died. It consisted of two parts:

• a long section that housed the naves (naves)
• a shorter section, transept (transepto).

The place where they met is called crossing (crucero) and usually is covered by a dome of tower.
The top part of the cross contained a central semicircular apse (abside) where  the altar is located.
Next to the main entrance is located a bell tower.
Pilgrimage churches had an ambulatory, a gallery in the apse that allow the pilgrims to move around.

2. 2. Vaults, walls and arches.

• To cover the buildings they used vaults that replaced wooden roofs:

1. Barrel vaults (boveda de cañón), semicircular vaults divided into sections by arches. Were very heavy
2. Groin vaults (boveda de arista), made of the intersection of two barrel vaults. Was lighter and supported by four pillars.

•  Buildings supported by very thick walls with a few spaces for windows, and reinforced by:

1. pillars and columns inside.
2. buttresses outside.

• Use of semicircular arches with capitals in doors and windows. 
• Use of domes with a square of octogonal plan to cover the crossing.
• In churches with three naves there is a tribune or triforium above the side naves.

1. 3. The main entrance.

• Was located on the west entrance and symbolised the door to Heavenly Jerusalem.
• Was decorated with reliefs and sculptures.

Reconstrucion of the Cluny III abbey.

Barrel vault. San Pere de Rodes.

Use of barrel vault. Basilique of Saint Sernin, Toulouse. File: Toulouse,_Basilique_Saint-Sernin-PM_51262.jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:PMRMaeyaert License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Groin vault, Maria Laach Abbey. File: Maria Lach 12.jpg Author: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:Goldi64 License: GFLD

Groin vault, Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy.

Groin vault. Speyer Cathedral, Germany. Sesafa1

Use of groin vault, Durham Cathedral. File:Durham_Cathedral._Interior.jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Oliver-Bonjoch License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Crossing of Speyer Cathedral, Germany. The crossing is covered by a dome supported by a octogonal base.

Santiago de Compostela, central nave. Tribune of triforium.File:SantCompostela21.jpg Author: Georges Jansoone License: BY-SA 3.0

Main entrance of Saint Trofimo's church. File:Arles_kirche_st_trophime_fassade.jpg Author: http://www.reserv-art.de/ License: CC BY-SA 3.0

3. LIFE IN A BENEDICT MONASTERY.

Monks lived in the countryside, far from the cities. They retired to monasteries to devote their life to God, through work, meditation and prayer.
 In order to become a monk you had to:

• pass a learning period (novitiate)
• make three vows to be ordained: obedience, poverty and chastity.

3. 1. Monastic orders.

Monasteries are ruled by an abbot (abad) or abbess (abadesa), who had overall authorithy over the comunity, but had to consult the rest of the community on the most important issues.
Monks and nuns are organised in monastic orders (ordenes monásticas) which were subject to monastic rules that explained how to organise the monasteries and the life of the monks. The main two orders were:

• The Benedictine Order, founded by St. Benedict in the 6th century in Italy.
• The Cisterian Order was a reform of the Benedictine Order and appeared in the 12th century.

3. 2. Daily life in a monastery.

Daily life in monasteries was centred on prayer and work, but not all the monks performed the same task: some copied manuscripts in the scriptorium, others worked in the garden and others looked after the sick.
Monks and nuns spent most of the day in silence and ate together. The monasteries were built around a churhc, surrounded by several buildings: a refectory or dining room, the cloister (claustro), the scriptorium or library), etc. 

4. Romanesque painting.

Romanesque painting had common characteristics:

• Its functions were educational (to teach the faithful), moralising (helping people to distinguish right from wrong) and decorative (to cover the walls).
• paintings had no depth, volume or perspective.
• Use of uniform colors (blue, red) with thick outlines.
•  Figures are always forward-facing and stylised, anti-naturalistic and hieratic.
• Scenes were adapted to the architectural framework.
• Characters are arranged hierarchically so that the most important ones are larger.
• The most common motifs were:

1. scenes from the bible and the life of saints.
2. representations of everyday life.

4. 2. Types of painting.

There were three types of paintings:

•  Frescos which covered the walls and the apses of the churches.
• Paintings on wooden boards covered with a layer or plaster (panel paintings) (pintura sobre tabla) to cover the front of the altar and the apse (altarpieces) (retablo).
• Miniatures for decorating and ilustrating religious books. Small, but detailed and full of colours.

Fresco painting was a complex and precise technique:

• First the wall was covered with layers of mortar and a thin layer of lime-based plaster.
• The artist drew an outline on parchment.
•  Then, he made holes in the parchment along the outline of the drawing. The parchment was placed in the wall and the artist blew soot through the holes.
• Pigments (earth mixed with egg) were applied to the plaster. The plaster was sprinkled with water to keep the wall wet.

 The most common images in the churches were: the patocrator and the theotokos:

• The pantocrator. Christ is represented inside and almond shape (mandorla). He blessed with his right hand and hold a book with his left. He is surrounded by the four Evangelists) with his symbols:

1. John, an eagle.
2. Matthew, an angel.
3. Mark, a lion.
4. Luke, a bull.

• Theotokos. The Virgin is represented as the mother of God, seated in a throne with the infant Jesus on her knees. 

Educational function. Painting was used to teach the Christian doctrine to the believers. Creation of Adam and the Original Sin, Museo del Prado.

Pantocrator.

Theotokos. The Virgin Mary represented as the throne of Christ Child.

Representation of the daily life. Peasants.

5. ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE.

5. 1. Main characteristics.

The main characteristics of the romanesque architecture are:

• Sculpture was used to teach the Christian doctrine.
• Most sculptures were atached to buildings and had to adapt to the shape and dimensions of the surface on which they were made.
• Carvings made of wood and brightly-coloured polychrome were put on churh altars.
• The sculptures were rigid, hieratic and lacked perspective.
• Sculptures groups were organised hierarchically and geometrically according to importance.
• The main themes were the crucifixion of Christ and the Virgin and the Child, but also scenes of everyday life.

5. 2. Capitals.

The capitals in cloisters were decorated with diverse themes:

• Religious with Biblical characters and historiated capitals that narrated entire stories.
• Everyday life.
• Real or fantastic animals and plant motifs.

5. 3. Entrances.

Sculptures were mainly located at the entrance of the churches to inspire awe among the faithful as they entered the church:

• the main scene, the figure of Christ in Majesty, is located on the tympanum.
• the lintel, doorframe and archivolts contians scenes from the Bible, the apostles and the saints, animals and geometrical motifs. 

Last Jugdment, Saint Lazare Cathedral. File:118_Autun_Cathédrale_Saint-Lazare_Le_tympan_(détail).jpg Author: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Moreau.henri License: CC BY-SA 3.0

6. ROMANESQUE ART IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA.

• Romanesque art reached the Iberian Peninsula at the of the 10th centruy and spreaded during the 11th and 12th centuries, specially along the Camino de Santiago.
•  Shared many characteristics with the Europan Romanesque but was inspired by Pre-Romanesque styles.

6. 1. Architecture.

We can distinguish two stages:

• First Romanesque, in Catalonia and Aragón, 10th century and early 11th century.
• Full Romanesque, all the Christian Kingdoms, 11th and 12th centuries.

We can distinguish three styles according to the dominant influence:

• French Romaneaque, in the Camino de Santiago. Best examples, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela; the Churches of Isidoro (León) and San Martín de Fromista. 
• Lombard Romanesque in Catalonia. Small churches decorated with lombard bands and with high bell towers. Best example: San Clemente de Tull.
• Mudejar Romanesque. Castile-León, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura and Aragón. Use of bricks and blind arcades (arquillos ciegos).

6. 2. Sculpture and paintings.

Main characteristics:

• French influence through the Camino de Santiago.
• Influence of the Islamic art.

Notable examples are:

1. the entrance of the monastery in Ripoll.
2. the cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos.
3. the Portico de la Gloria of Dantiago de Compostela.

About the painting the main themes were

•  In Catalonia, scenes form the Bible.
• in Castile and Leon, plant motifs and scenes from everyday life.

Santiago's de Compostela interior. File:Catedral,_Santiago_de_Compostela,_España,_2015-09-22,_DD_13.jpg Attribution: Diego Delso License: BY-SA 4.0

San Martín de Fromista.

San Clemente de Tahull. File:Taull001.jpg Author: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usuario:Airunp Lincese: BY-SA 2.5

San Tirso de Sahagún.

Annunciation of the Shepperds, Pantheon of the kings.