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ROMANESQUE

BVS

LEE XIN

DEFINITION

THE FRENCH TERM "ROMANE" WAS FIRST USED IN THE ARCHITECTURAL SENSE BY ARCHAEOLOGIST CHARLES DE GREVILLE IN A LETTER OF 18 DECEMBER 1818 TO AUGUSTE LE PRÉVOST TO DESCRIBE WHAT GREVILLE SEES AS A DEBASED ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. IN 1824 GREVILLE'S FRIEND ARCISSE DE CHAUMONT ADOPTED THE LABEL "ROMAN" TO DESCRIBE THE "DEGRADED" EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE FROM THE 5TH TO THE 13TH CENTURIES, IN HIS ESSAI SUR L'ARCHITECTURE RELIGIEUSE DU MOYEN-ÂGE, PARTICULIÈREMENT EN NORMANDIE, AT A TIME WHEN THE ACTUAL DATES OF MANY OF THE BUILDINGS SO DESCRIBED HAD NOTBEENASCERTAINED

BELLTOWEROFANGOULÊMECATHEDRAL, CHARENTE,SWFRANCE

THE

C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S

AN ARCADE IS A ROW OF ARCHES, SUPPORTED ON PIERS OR COLUMNS. THEY OCCUR IN THE INTERIOR OF LARGE CHURCHES, SEPARATING THE NAVE FROM THE AISLES, AND IN LARGE SECULAR INTERIORS SPACES, SUCH AS THE GREAT HALL OF A CASTLE, SUPPORTING THE TIMBERS OF A ROOF OR UPPER FLOOR. ARCADES ALSO OCCUR IN CLOISTERS AND ATRIUMS, ENCLOSING AN OPEN SPACE.

ARCADES CAN OCCUR IN STORIES OR STAGES. WHILE THE ARCADE OF A CLOISTER IS TYPICALLY OF A SINGLE STAGE, THE ARCADE THAT DIVIDES THE NAVE AND AISLES IN A CHURCH IS TYPICALLY OF TWO STAGES, WITH A THIRD STAGE OF WINDOW

OPENINGS KNOWN AS THE CLERESTORY RISING ABOVE THEM. ARCADING ON A LARGE SCALE

GENERALLY FULFILS A STRUCTURAL PURPOSE, BUT IT IS ALSO USED, GENERALLY ON A SMALLER SCALE, AS A DECORATIVE FEATURE, BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY WHERE IT IS FREQUENTLY "BLIND ARCADING" WITH ONLY A WALL OR A NARROW PASSAGE BEHIND IT.

COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF SAINT GERTRUDE, NIVELLES, BELGIUM,

THIS NEW STYLE WITH EXOTIC DOMES AND RICHER MOSAICS WOULD COME TO BE KNOWN AS "BYZANTINE" BEFORE IT TRAVELED WEST TO RAVENNA AND VENICE AND AS FAR NORTH AS MOSCOW. MOST OF THE CHURCHES AND BASILICAS HAVE HIGH-RIDING DOMES, WHICH CREATED VAST OPEN SPACES AT THE CENTERS OF CHURCHES, THEREBY HEIGHTENING THE LIGHT. THE ROUNDARCHISAFUNDAMENTALTO BYZANTINE STYLE. MAGNIFICENT GOLDEN MOSAICS WITH THEIR GRAPHIC SIMPLICITY BROUGHT LIGHT AND WARMTH INTO THE HEART OF CHURCHES. BYZANTINE CAPITALS BREAK AWAY FROM THE CLASSICAL CONVENTIONS OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME WITH SINUOUS LINES AND NATURALISTIC FORMS, WHICH ARE PRECURSORS TOTHEGOTHICSTYLE.

C H A R A C T

H A R A C T E R

R O M A N E S Q U E

COLUMNS

RCOLUMNS ARE AN IMPORTANT STRUCTURAL FEATURE OF ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE COLONNETTES AND ATTACHED SHAFTS ARE ALSO USEDSTRUCTURALLYANDFOR DECORATION MONOLITHIC COLUMNSCUTFROMASINGLE PIECE OF STONE WERE FREQUENTLYUSEDINITALY

AS THEY HAD BEEN IN ROMAN AND EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE[1] THEY WERE ALSO USED, PARTICULARLYINGERMANY,WHENTHEYALTERNATED BETWEEN MORE MASSIVE PIERS[24] ARCADES OF COLUMNS CUT FROM SINGLE PIECES ARE ALSO COMMON IN STRUCTURES THAT DO NOT BEAR MASSIVEWEIGHTSOFMASONRY,SUCHASCLOISTERS, WHERETHEYARESOMETIMESPAIRED

THE FOLIATE CORINTHIAN STYLE PROVIDED THE INSPIRATION FOR MANY ROMANESQUE CAPITALS, AND THE ACCURACY WITH WHICH THEY WERE CARVED DEPENDED ON THE AVAILABILITY OF ORIGINAL MODELS CAPITALS IN ITALIAN CHURCHES, SUCH AS THE PISA CATHEDRAL OR THE CHURCH OF SANT’ALESSANDRO IN LUCCA AND SOUTHERN FRANCE, ARE MUCH CLOSER TO THE CLASSICAL FORM AND STYLE THAN THOSEINENGLAND

CORINTHIANSTYLECAPITALS:CAPITALOFCORINTHIANFORM WITHANTHROPOMORPHIZEDDETAILS,PISACAMPANILE

COLUMNS

THE BASILICA OF SANT'APOLLINARE NUOVO IS A BASILICA CHURCH IN RAVENNA, ITALY IT WAS ERECTED BY THE OSTROGOTHIC KING THEODORIC THE GREAT AS HIS PALACE CHAPEL DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 6TH CENTURY (AS ATTESTED TO IN THE LIBER PONTIFICALIS). THIS ARIAN CHURCH WAS ORIGINALLY DEDICATED IN 504 AD TO "CHRISTTHEREDEEMER".

ITWASRECONSECRATEDIN561AD,UNDERTHERULE OFTHEBYZANTINEEMPERORJUSTINIANI,UNDERTHE NEW NAME "SANCTUS MARTINUS IN COELO AUREO" ("SAINT MARTIN IN GOLDEN HEAVEN"). SUPPRESSING THE ARIAN CHURCH, THE CHURCH WAS DEDICATED TO SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, A FOE OF ARIANISM. ACCORDINGTOLEGEND,POPEGREGORYTHEGREAT ORDERED THAT THE MOSAICS IN THE CHURCH BE BLACKENED, AS THEIR GOLDEN GLORY DISTRACTED WORSHIPERS FROM THEIR PRAYERS THE BASILICA WAS RENAMED AGAIN IN 856 AD WHEN RELICS OF SAINT APOLLINARIS WAS TRANSFERRED FROM THE BASILICA OF SANT'APOLLINARE IN CLASSE BECAUSE OF THE THREAT POSED BY FREQUENT RAIDS OF PIRATESFROMTHEADRIATICSEA.

ITS APSE AND ATRIUM UNDERWENT MODERNIZATIONATVARIOUSTIMES,BEGINNING IN THE 6TH CENTURY WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF MOSAICS WHOSE THEMES WERE TOO OVERTLY ARIAN OR WHICH EXPRESSED THE KING'S GLORY, BUT THE MOSAICS OF THE LATERALWALLS,TWENTYFOURCOLUMNSWITH SIMPLIFIED CORINTHIAN CAPITALS, AND AN AMBO ARE PRESERVED. ON SOME COLUMNS, IMAGES OF ARMS AND HANDS CAN BE SEEN, WHICH ARE PARTS OF FIGURES ONCE REPRESENTING PRAYING GOTHS AND THEODORIC'S COURT, DELETED IN BYZANTINE TIMESRENOVATIONS(ANDALTERATIONS)WERE DONE TO THE MOSAICS IN THE MID19TH CENTURYBYFELICEKIBEL THEPRESENTAPSEIS A RECONSTRUCTION AFTER BEING DAMAGED DURINGWORLDWARI.

BYZANTINECOMPOSITECOLUMN FROMTHEBASILICAOF SANT'APOLLINARENUOVO (RAVENNA,ITALY)

HISTORY HISTORY HISTORY ROMANESQUE

ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH, HILDESHEIM HASSIMILARCHARACTERISTICSTOTHE CHURCHINTHEPLANOFSAINTGALL.

ORIGINS

DATING SHORTLY AFTER THE PALATINE CHAPEL IS A REMARKABLE 9TH CENTURY SWISS MANUSCRIPT KNOWN AS THE PLAN OF SAINT GALL AND SHOWINGAVERYDETAILEDPLANOFA MONASTIC COMPLEX, WITH ALL ITS VARIOUS MONASTIC BUILDINGS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS LABELLED THE LARGESTBUILDINGISTHECHURCH,THE PLAN OF WHICH IS DISTINCTLY GERMANIC, HAVING AN APSE AT BOTH ENDS, AN ARRANGEMENT NOT GENERALLY SEEN ELSEWHERE. ANOTHER FEATURE OF THE CHURCH IS ITS REGULAR PROPORTION, THE SQUARE PLAN OF THE CROSSING TOWERPROVIDINGAMODULEFORTHE REST OF THE PLAN THESE FEATURES CAN BOTH BE SEEN IN THE PROTO ROMANESQUE ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH, HILDESHEIM,10011030

SPEYERCATHEDRAL,BEGUNBYCONRADII, HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR IN 1030, AS AN EXPRESSION OF IMPERIAL POWER AND ARCHITECTURALINNOVATION

POLITICS

CHARLEMAGNEWASCROWNEDBYPOPELEO IIIINOLDSTPETER'SBASILICAONCHRISTMAS DAY OF 800, WITH AN AIM TO RE ESTABLISHING THE OLD ROMAN EMPIRE CHARLEMAGNE'S POLITICAL SUCCESSORS CONTINUEDTORULEMUCHOFEUROPE,WITH A GRADUAL EMERGENCE OF THE SEPARATE POLITICAL STATES THAT WERE EVENTUALLY TOBECOMEWELDEDINTONATIONS,EITHER BY ALLEGIANCE OR DEFEAT INTO THE KINGDOMOFGERMANYGIVINGRISETOTHE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE THE INVASION OF ENGLANDBYWILLIAM DUKEOFNORMANDY IN1066 SAWTHEBUILDINGOFBOTHCASTLES AND CHURCHES THAT REINFORCED THE NORMAN PRESENCE SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT CHURCHES THAT WERE BUILT AT THIS TIME WERE FOUNDED BY RULERS AS SEATS OF TEMPORAL AND RELIGIOUS POWER, OR PLACESOFCORONATIONANDBURIAL THESE INCLUDE THE ABBAYESAINTDENIS, SPEYER CATHEDRAL AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY (WHERE LITTLE OF THE NORMAN CHURCH NOWREMAINS)

ACCORDING TO THE SAGAS, HARALD FAIRHAIR WAS THE FIRST NORWEGIAN KING(872930)OFNORWAY IN866,HE MADE THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF CONQUESTS OVER SEVERAL PETTY KINGDOMS ONE OF THE ENCOUNTERS LEADING TO THE OVERALL CONQUEST WASWITHSKALLAGRIMKVELDULVSSØN IN VESTRE SLIDRE IN 872, AFTER WINNING THE BATTLE OF HAFRSFJORD NEAR STAVANGER, HE FOUND HIMSELF KING OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY IN THE HEIMSKRINGLAATTRIBUTEDTOSNORRI STURLUSON, IT IS RECORDED THAT IN 1023 KING OLAV CAME UNANNOUNCED FROMSOGNASPARTOFHISCAMPAIGN TO CHRISTIANIZE NORWAY AT SLIDRE HE CAUGHT THE PEASANTS UNAWARE AND SECURED ALL THEIR BOATS AS A CONDITION FOR HAVING THEIR BOATS RESTORED, THEY ACCEPTED CHRISTIANITY

MANYPARISHCHURCHESACROSSEUROPE, SUCHASTHISINVESTRESLIDRE,NORWAY, AREOFROMANESQUEFOUNDATION RELIGION

THE ROMANESQUE PERIOD WAS A TIME OF GREAT DEVELOPMENT IN THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF DEFENSIVE ARCHITECTURE. AFTER CHURCHES AND THE MONASTIC BUILDINGS WITH WHICH THEY ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED, CASTLES ARE THE MOST NUMEROUS TYPE OF BUILDING OF THE PERIOD. WHILE MOST ARE IN RUINS THROUGH THE ACTION OF WAR AND POLITICS, OTHERS, LIKE WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR'S WHITE TOWER WITHIN THE TOWER OF LONDON HAVE REMAINED ALMOST INTACT.

IN SOME REGIONS, PARTICULARLY GERMANY, LARGE PALACES WERE BUILT FOR RULERS AND BISHOPS. LOCAL LORDS BUILT GREAT HALLS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, WHILE RICH MERCHANTS BUILT GRAND TOWNHOUSES. IN ITALY, CITY COUNCILS CONSTRUCTED TOWN HALLS, WHILE WEALTHY CITIES OF NORTHERN EUROPE PROTECTED THEIR TRADING INTERESTS WITH WAREHOUSES AND COMMERCIAL PREMISES. ALL OVER EUROPE, DWELLERS OF THE TOWN AND COUNTRY BUILT HOUSES TO LIVE IN, SOME OF WHICH, STURDILY CONSTRUCTED IN STONE, HAVE REMAINED TO THIS DAY WITH SUFFICIENT OF THEIR FORM AND DETAILS INTACT TO GIVE A PICTURE OF THE STYLE OF DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE THAT WAS IN FASHION AT THE TIME.

EXAMPLES OF ALL THESE TYPES OF BUILDINGS CAN BE FOUND SCATTERED ACROSS EUROPE, SOMETIMES AS ISOLATED SURVIVALS LIKE THE TWO MERCHANTS' HOUSES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF A STEEP HILL IN LINCOLN, ENGLAND, AND SOMETIMES GIVING FORM TO A WHOLE MEDIEVAL CITY LIKE SAN GIMIGNANO IN TUSCANY, ITALY. THESE BUILDINGS ARE THE SUBJECT OF A SEPARATE ARTICLE.

ROMANESQUE

Z A N T I N E

OVERVIEWOF EXTANTMONUMENTS

EARLY BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE DREW UPON EARLIER ELEMENTS OF GRECOROMAN ARCHITECTURE. STYLISTIC DRIFT, TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT, AND POLITICAL AND TERRITORIAL CHANGES MEANT THAT A DISTINCT STYLE GRADUALLY RESULTED IN THE GREEK CROSS PLAN IN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.

BUILDINGS INCREASED IN GEOMETRIC COMPLEXITY, BRICK AND PLASTER WERE USED IN ADDITION TO STONE IN THE DECORATION OF IMPORTANT PUBLIC STRUCTURES, CLASSICAL ORDERS WERE USED MORE FREELY, MOSAICS REPLACED CARVED DECORATION, COMPLEX DOMES RESTED UPON MASSIVE PIERS, AND WINDOWS FILTERED LIGHT THROUGH THIN SHEETS OF ALABASTER TO SOFTLY ILLUMINATE INTERIORS. MOST OF THE SURVIVING STRUCTURES ARE SACRED, WITH SECULAR BUILDINGS HAVING BEEN DESTROYED

THE 6TH CENTURY CHURCH OF HAGIA IRENE IN ISTANBUL WAS SUBSTANTIALLY REBUILT AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE IN THE 8TH CENTURY

Y Z A N T I N E

S T A N B U L, T U R K E Y

MARK'SBASILICA,VENICE

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE SURVIVING BYZANTINE MOSAICS OF THE HAGIA SOPHIA IN

INTERIOR OF ST SOPHIA'S CHURCH, SOFIA (6TH CENTURY)

MOSAIC ABOVE THE ENTRANCE PORTAL OF THE EUPHRASIA BASILICA IN POREČ (6TH CENTURY)