Presentation by slides:
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Romanesque Art
1066-1180
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Romanesque Art was one of the first innovative and coherent styles to spread across the whole of the catholic world.
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Quick Facts
~ The Romanesque period in English architecture can be roughly dated to the years 1066-1180
~ The style is also known as "Norman"
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The most obvious characteristic of the Norman Romanesque is its reliance on sheer bulk. Everything is larger, more solid, and carries with it an air of permanence very much at odds with earlier Saxon work. Cathedral and castle walls were as thick as 24 feet at the base.
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Walls
The walls of Romanesque buildings are often of massive thickness with few and comparatively small openings. They are often double shells, filled with rubble.
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The building material differs greatly across Europe, depending upon the local stone and building traditions. In Italy, Poland, much of Germany, and Holland, brick is generally used. Other areas saw extensive use of limestone, granite, and flint.
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Piers
In Romanesque architecture, piers were often employed to support arches. They were built of masonry and square or rectangular in section, generally having a horizontal molding representing a capital at the springing of the arch. Sometimes piers have vertical shafts attached to them, and may also have horizontal moldings at the level of base.
Cross-section of a Romanesque pier
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Columns are an important structural feature of Romanesque architecture.
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Capitals
The Corinthian capital is essentially round at the bottom where it sits on a circular column and square at the top, where it supports the wall or arch.
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Arches and openings
Arches in Romanesque architecture are semicircular. Narrow doors and small windows might be surmounted by a solid stone lintel. Larger openings are nearly always arched.
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Vaults and roofs
The majority of buildings have wooden roofs, generally of a simple truss, tie beam, or king post form.
Vaults of stone or brick took on several different forms and showed marked development during the period
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Barrel vault
The simplest type of vaulted roof is the barrel vault in which a single arched surface extends from wall to wall, the length of the space to be vaulted, for example, the nave of a church.
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Abbey and cathedral churches generally follow the Latin Cross plan. In England, the extension eastward may be long, while in Italy it is often short or non-existent, the church being of T plan, sometimes with apses on the transept ends as well as to the east.
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Towers
Towers were an important feature of Romanesque churches and a great number of them are still standing. They take a variety of forms, square, circular, and octagonal, and are positioned differently in relation to the church in different countries.
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Decorative elements
Decorative elements were few in the 11th century; the most distinctive being the Norman chevron (zigzag) pattern, most frequently found on the recessed orders framing doors and windows. Other decoration also relies on simple geometric patterns. In the 12th century, you see more elaborate decoration appearing, such as four-pointed stars, lozenges, and scallop shapes.
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The decorative elements were carved in shallow relief; it is only as the 13th century nears that you see deeply cut carvings appear. Subject matter for carvings covered Biblical scenes, but also human, animal, and floral shapes.
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The most definitive example of the Romanesque style in England may be seen at Durham Cathedral
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Topic for report and PowerPoint Presentation
Major Romanesque buildings to visit in England:
Several major English cathedrals contain excellent examples of Romanesque architecture.
- Canterbury Cathedral
- Durham Cathedral
- Ely Cathedral
- Gloucester Cathedral
- Rochester Cathedral
- Southwell Minster
- Tower of London.
