Friday 25th Oct -
Please add notes in during midterm & complete 2008 Q. 1(below)
Romanesque
Art & Architecture……
Because
of the dominant role of the Church, most Romanesque art is religious. Architecture was the main focus of the period
and the 11th and 12th centuries saw a frenzy of church
building activity. Many examples of Romanesque
architecture can be seen today around Europe, but some of the finest are
detailed below.
Cluny Abbey
·
Cluny Abbey in east central France is of
paramount importance to Romanesque Art.
By the end of the 11th century Cluny had become extremely
influential and powerful and was famous far and wide for its splendor and great
wealth.
·
The Cluniac order placed great emphasis on
elaborate religious services. Singing
and music were essential parts of its liturgy and the vaulting system was
designed to enhance sound.
·
It also had an extremely high regard for art,
particularly architectural sculpture, using it both as ornament and as a means
of spreading the message of Christianity.
·
Accounts describe not only the splendor of its
beautiful carved capitals but also its arches, windows and cornices, which were
surrounded by sculptured ornament.
·
In
addition, there would certainly have been murals, carpets, huge chandeliers,
figures of saints, golden liturgical vestments and gleaming ornaments set with
precious stones.
·
In terms of splendor, no castle or palace of
the period would have compared with this abbey in any way because rulers had to
invest most of their money in soldiers and military equipment and also because
the church forbade the faithful to accumulate wealth or display it
ostentatiously.
The demolition of Cluny:
The
church and its surrounding monastic buildings were destroyed, so the only
remaining part of the abbey church is the majestic clocher de L’Eau – Benite (Holy
Water Belfry)
Churches in the
pilgrimage route:
The
style of building first explored at Cluny soon became common throughout France,
Spain, Italy and England.
The
churches built along each of the four main pilgrimage routes in France were
remarkably similar in design.
Characteristics of a
typical Romanesque Church:
·
Blocky in shape – they had a solid geometric
appearance.
·
Rounded arches – Roman arches were used
extensively for doors, windows, on the towers and even ornamental arcades on
walls.
·
Stone roofs – The Romanesque building boom went
hand in hand with a number of technological innovations, but the supreme
achievement was the development of the stone vault, which not only insulated
against fire but also greatly improved acoustics (sound quality)
·
Massive walls – A huge amount of stone was
needed to construct high stone roofs, and in order to carry this weight, walls
and pillars had to be strong and thick.
·
Interiors – They had a dark and solemn aspect
because there were few window openings (which would have weakened the walls)
·
Roman basilica – Early Christian churches were
based on the roman basilica rather than roman temple. The basilica served a general community
purpose in Roman towns and this model was chosen over the round Roman temples,
which had a pagan association.
Romanesque builders continued using this model.
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