ROMANESQUE

1000 – 1200 AD
EUROPE IN 1100 AD
EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD
o The coronation of Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor in 800 AD marked the beginning of a new era
with the establishment of a new central European state, politically ordered and bound by ecclesiastical and
political ties to Rome.
o Monastic Rule: Development of Monastic Foundations supported by imperial patronage caused a great
economic revival LEADING TO Building of religious typologies
o ITALY :
o Popes began to influence politics
o Contact with eastern art through Constantinople
o By 11th c. Pisa emerged as a great commercial and naval power, followed by Florence in 1125 in Central Italy
o Venice emerged as a power in N. Italy with a republican form of government

o FRANCE:
o Influence of Monastic life by 11th c. – religious buildings - along with secular ambition of Crusades

o ENGLAND:
o The unification of different kingdoms until the Norman Conquest was characterized by the Benedictine reform and the
Monastic revival in the 10th c.
o A fully developed feudal system by 11th c.
o The influx of religious orders resulted in a lot of church building followed by architecture of fortifications and castles in
13th c.
LEARNING IN THE MONASTERIES
oSpread of Christianity and religious orders such as

oBenedictine order
oClunaic order,
oCarthusian order,
oCistercian order,
oSecular canons,
oAugustinian canons,
oKnights templar,
oMendicant order of Friars etc.

oErection of churches or monasteries along with towns

oBishops and abbots also became the military chiefs due to their feudal possessions

oIncrease in the power of the church

oSpread of the Benedictine houses with development of monastic system

oScience, art and culture were a monopoly of religious orders

oThe schools attached to monasteries trained young men for the service of the religion, monks and pupils were
designers of the churches

oCharterhouses provided separate cells for monks grouped around a cloister, severe and unadorned
PLANNING OF MONASTERIES
A developed monastery plan of the Middle Ages consisted
of:

oA square or a rectangular cloister to the south of the abbey

church.

oCloister - covered passages around an open space

connecting the church to the chapter house, refectory and
other parts of the monastery. Generally south of the nave
and west of the transept

oProjecting transept arm

oThe cloister had a covered walkway on four sides

supported on one side by arcades and the other by walls of
important convent buildings

oThe chapter house where formal meeting were held lay to

the east of cloister and south of transept arm

oA Dormitory lay south at first floor level

oTo the south of the cloister was a frater or refectory(dining

hall) with a pulpit and the kitchen
PLANNING OF MONASTERIES
oThe west contained abbots lodgings, guest rooms, cellar

oThe infirmary, brewhouse, bakehouse , stables and farmhouses were also

present

An Abbey Church consisted of two parts.

oEastern part for monks and the nave open to the lay

oPartitions or screen walls 2-3 bays west of crossing

oContained pulpit and the nave altar to the west

oMonks stalls to the east under the crossing

oMain apse had the high altar with radiating chapels ABBEY CHURCH CLUNY
oAll the buildings of the monastery were contained within a walled precinct with
gatehouses

PILGRIMAGE CHURCHES
The wealth generated along pilgrimage routes during 11th and 12th c. enabled
religious communities to build vast new churches. Masons and sculptors were in
constant demand spreading the Romanesque style along the routes

Eg. S James Santiago Compostella Spain

s Martin ,Tours, France

ST.SERNIN TOULOUSE
EVOLUTION OF GUILDS
oAn association of the masters of a particular craft, trade or profession (painters, goldsmiths, surgeons,
and so on) set up to protect its members' rights and interests. Such guilds existed in virtually every
European city in the 16th century.

o The guild monitored standards of work, acted as a court for those who brought their trade into
disrepute, and provided assistance to members in need.

oIn origin they were clubs which observed religious festivals together and attended the funerals of their
members, but in time they acquired other functions.

oEach guild was a stationary organization which usually possessed a monopoly of trade in its own
community, the laws of which were binding on the craftsmen. 

o The guilds of one trade wielded no control over those of another, but all together agreed on certain
rules and practices, such as those that appertained to apprenticeship, buying raw materials, marketing,
and all that.

oTheir economic function was to control standards and to enforce the guild's monopoly of particular
activities in a particular territory.
oTheir political function was to participate in the government of the city-state.
EVOLUTION OF GUILDS

oIn some cities, notably Florence in the 14th century, only guildsmen were eligible for civic office, thus
excluding both noblemen and unskilled workers like the wool combers and dyers. In Florence in 1378 these
groups demanded the right to form their own guilds, and there were similar movements of protest in Siena
and Bologna.

oGuilds were also patrons of art, commissioning paintings for guildhalls, contributing to the fabric fund of
cathedrals and collaborating on collective projects like the statues at Florence.

oThe guilds were not equal.

oIn general the guild hierarchy was reflected in the order of precedence in processions.

oThe great age of the guilds was the 13th and 14th centuries.
oThe economic recession after 1348 meant fewer opportunities for journeymen to become masters, and greater
hostility between master and man.

oThe shift from trade to land in the 15th and 16th centuries meant a decline in the social standing of the crafts.

o The guilds lost their independence and became instruments of state control by the 16th c.
ROMANESQUE RESOURCES

oStone popularly used

oBricks in NW Italy

oTimber also used

eg. In Florence which has a timber framed roof

oDevelopment of stone vaulting into a groined system capable of sculpture mosaics

spanning naves and aisles

oMosaics and wall paintings, decorative bronze panels to face

pilasters and walls

oGlass for window panes in Venice, stained glass also used later

oFigurative and non figurative sculpture in stone

oItaly – Marble, travertine, peperino, tufa, bricks

oFrance – fine grained caen stone, coloured pumice, tufa

Timber roofs
oBritain – timber, indigenous stone, flint etc.
ROMANESQUE techniques
Influence from the Roman and the Byzantine styles in
planning and decorative skills
oBasilican plan adopted
oMarble facing of rubble walls,
oapplication of mosaic and wall painting
oReligiously inspired sculpture, geometric bands around
recessed arches or corbel tables,
oarchitecturally related reliefs in tympana and capitals
oRoofs were timber framed originally and replaced with
stone for roofing on slender walls

Arch constructed at the re-entrant

angle of the square base

dome
Domes – Romanesque domes were found in SW
France ( Byzantine link)
Square Inferior SQUINCH system –
base arches or vault spanning the re-entrant angle of the
Re -entrant square bay. Four squinches reduced the square bay
angle oct. to an octagon on which the dome was raised. Domes
base were hence octagonal used over crossings
ROMANESQUE vaulting techniques
1. RIB VAULT – groin vault with projecting ribs
supporting or reinforcing the groins. The principle Groin rib/ diagonal
used is that of the diagonal of a square being longer rib –
hence diagonal arches or ribs are used for a greater segmental arch
span and same height resulting in a flatter segmental
shape, if the crown should not rise more than the side Semi circular arch rib
arches.
2. DOMICAL GROIN VAULT- used by the Lombards
where semicircular groins are used rising higher than
the sides of the vaults resembling domes. Heavy ribs of
rectangular sections are used to reinforce the groins.
Used only to cover several nave bays
3. LEVEL RIB VAULT – stilted side arches and
segmental ribs (used in Durham Cathedral). Use of
oblong bay and pointed arch. By using the oblong bay
with the short sides contained in the nave walls, the
difference of span between the diagonal and the long
side is reduced, thus semicircular diagonals would rise
only slightly higher than semicircular sides. Hence the
pointed transverse arch was used which was higher
and reduced lateral thrust.
ROMANESQUE vaulting techniques
ROMANESQUE architectural character
Typology:
 The contributions to architectural development in
mainly in terms of ecclesiastical buildings – churches.
 Secular construction in form of manor houses, town
houses, farm houses
 Military architecture in form of castles and
keeps(inner great tower of a castle)

Composition:
 Romanesque architecture is characterized by the
desire to articulate and stress every structural division
to produce unified compositions

Towered façade:
 The separate parts of the Carolingian church was
gradually incorporated into a single harmonious
composition by transforming the westwork into a
towered façade,
 This was done by absorbing the transept into the
design through a crossing and extending the aisles
around to form an ambulatory

Abbaye-aux-Hommes Caen
ROMANESQUE architectural character
Pier forms:

 Stressing of bay divisions by use of

complex piers and articulation of
interior elevations.

 Elements projecting from the face of the

pier were taken up to the whole height to
carry pilasters and become transverse Shafted pier
arches

 Introduction of half columns Eg.

Santiago de Compostela

 and later nook shafts or small columns

which carry the outer orders of the main
arches

Compound pier
ROMANESQUE architectural character
Triforium gallery

clerestory

Triforium Gallery:

Upper aisle used mainly in France.

Given importance in the elevation
from small twin arches into an
arcade. Eg. S.Etienne, Caen

Clerestory with wall

passage The arcade was often subdivided,
Triforium gallery breaking the smooth wall surfaces Main arcade between
into articulate architectural units. nave and aisle

nave aisle
ROMANESQUE architectural character
Crossing emphasised by a dome or tower
Transept & Crossing:
 The transept which was originally rooms(porticus) to
the N and S of the choir or was a virtually separate
building across the nave(continuous transept) was
unified by creating the regular crossing bordered on
each side with an arch of equal size corresponding to
the four arms of the church.
 Surmounted by a tower

apse

transept crypt
Wall passages:
 Contained within the thickness of the walls.
 Articulated the wall surface by forming columns and
arches.
 Confined to the upper sections of the walls where loss of
mass would not affect stability
 Opened outwards to decorate exterior wall faces or
inwards in front of the clerestory windows
ROMANESQUE architectural character
Ambulatories:
Extension of the aisle around the apsidal sanctuary
creating a continuous curved passageway with a number
of attached chapels creating a single composition Eg.
Santiago de Compostela

Wheel window

Arched corbel tables

External Massing: Wall passages

Legibility through stressing of elements.
The nave, aisles, transepts, crossing,
pilasters
chapels, stair turrets can be
identified from the exterior Wall passages

S zeno maggoire verona

ROMANESQUE architectural character
Architectural Sculpture:

Dramatic with a regional variation

Sculpture decoration and carved
mouldings confined to capitals,
doorways, windows and arcades.
Angle roll found on arches creating
continuity between the shafted pier
and arch.

Doorways with carved tympana

Columns with the antique Corinthian
capital
Coupled capitals Carved doorway

Carved pier

The cushion capital a purely

geometric form consisting of
Carved doorway
a cube and sphere is of Interlacing arch
german origin

Shafted pier
architectural character - Italy
CENTRAL ITALY
Plan: Basilican type of plan

Climatic influence:
•Arcades
•Small doors and windows
•Jambs in rectangular recesses , orders
filled with small shafts, crowned
with semicircular arches
S MINIATO FLORENCE S MARTINO LUCCA
Roofing: timber roofs over nave with rafters Ornamentation:
and tie beams decorated in colour. 1. Concentration on beauty and delicacy of
Aisles with groin vaults of small span, divided ornamentation, classical traditions
into compartments by transverse arches 2. Ornamental wall passages rising one above the
other into gables
3. Marble faced walls
Columns: S PISTOIA 4. Themes:
Division of nave and  Rows of apostles on lintels
aisles with antique  Decorative carvings and mosaic
columns  Monogram of Christ, emblems of
Variations of the evangelists and saints
classical type into  Symbolism represented by trees, birds,
finely carved and fishes and animals
slender twisted  Strong Byzantine influence in mosaics
5. Development of the bell tower in 6th c. gave it a
columns in cloisters,
special character
doorways and
windows
S GIOVANNI LATERANO ROME
architectural character - italy
NORTHERN ITALY

Typologies: churches and baptisteries

Plan: Basilican

Façade:
•Flat severe entrance facades with a central
projecting porch with columns standing on the
backs of crouching beasts and a wheel window to
light the nave
•Gable outlined with arched corbel tables and
arcades around the apse under the eaves
•Simple pilaster strip decoration from ground
ending in the arched corbel tables
Interiors: sturdy piers faced with half columns which
are carried up as vaulting shafts. Led to the
transformation of piers in Gothic period
Vault: Development of the rib vault, exterior wall
passage and arched corbel table(eaves decoration
consisting of corbels interconnected with arches)
•Vaulted nave and aisles with external wooden
roofs
•Aisles are often two storeys in height
S ZENO MAGGOIRE VERONA S AMBROGIO MILAN
Buttress: Thick walls between the side chapels act as
buttresses
Wall passages: around apses and octagonal lanterns add
to exterior massing
Towers: straight shafts, detached, without buttresses or
spires
Decoration:
•Roughly carved grotesques of men and beasts,
hunting scenes, incidents of daily life.
• Crouching beasts supporting columns of
projecting porches, interior furnishings such as
bishops thrones, fonts and corbel tables
Baptisteries: usually octagonal or circular eg.
S.Ambrogio Milan
Materials: Stone and brick used instead of marble hence
less refined
architectural character - italy
SOUTHERN ITALY

Influence:
•Byzantine in mosaic decoration
•Islamic in application of coloured
marble in striped patterns, and
stilted pointed arches
•Norman in planning and Monreale Cathedral
construction – cruciform plan
Baptistery Cremona –
Planning: Northern- Italy
•Domes rather then vaults adopted.
•Use of dome supported on 4
columns over central space

Decoration:
•Flat pilaster strips connected by
arched corbel tables
•Wheel windows made of
elaborately pierced sheets of marble La Zisa, Palermo
•Variety in columns and capitals –
nave arcade and coupled columns in
cloisters
•Bronze doors, coloured mosaics, S.Michelle –Pavia
geometric designs, bronze pilasters Northern- Italy

S. Giovanni degli Eremiti, Palermo

Pisa cathedral 1063 – 1118 / 1261 - 72 – Pisa, italy
The Pisa group consists of the Cathedral, Baptistery, Campo Santo
(monastery) and Campanile (Bell Tower)

The medieval cathedral is entitled to St. Mary. Style

•The Cathedral is one of the finest of the Romanesque period

Form
•Resembles early
Basilican churches in plan
•This is a five-naved
basilica with a three-
naved transept.
•Long rows of columns
connected by arches
•Double aisles and a nave
with a timber roof
Pisa cathedral 1063 – 1118 / 1261 - 72 – Pisa, italy

Exterior

Bands of red and white marble

Ground storey is faced with
wall arcading

Entrance façade is thrown into

relief by tiers of wall passages
which rise one above another
into the gable

Massive bronze main door

Above the doors there are four

rows of open galleries with, on
top, statues of Madonna with
Child and, on the corners, the
Four evangelists.
Pisa cathedral 1063 – 1118 / 1261 - 72 – Pisa, italy
Interiors
•The interior is faced with black and white marble
and has a gilded ceiling and a frescoed dome. It
was largely redecorated after a fire in 1595, which
destroyed most of the medieval art works.
•Impressive granite Corinthian columns 68 in no.
between the nave and the aisle
•The coffer ceiling of the nave was replaced after
the fire of 1595.

Transept
The transepts each has an apse in the end, an
advance from the simple basilican plan

Dome
Elliptical dome over the crossing is of a later
date

Details
The mosaics of the interior show a strong
Byzantine influence, while the pointed arches
point to Muslim influences.
Delicacy of ornamental features
The cathedral depends on the proportions
rather than any new structural development for
interest
Pisa cathedral 1063 – 1118 / 1261 - 72 – Pisa, italy
Pisa Campanile 1174 – 1271 – Pisa, italy
It is situated behind the Cathedral and it is the third structure in
Pisa's Campo dei Miracoli (field of Miracles).
Form:
•A cylindrical tower 16m in diameter
•Eight storeys in height consisting of encircling arcades
Dimensions
•The height of the tower is 55.86 m from the ground on the
lowest side and 56.70 m on the highest side.
•The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m and at the top
2.48 m.
Interiors
•In the thickness of the wall there is the staircase with 294
steps. The visitors may enter at each level a gallery
supported by 30 columns.
Summit
•The bell stage was added later in 1350. At the summit -
around the belfry there are 12 columns and there are
seven bells cast to reproduce the seven musical notes
•The upper part of the tower overhangs the base by more
than 4.2m due to subsidence in the foundation lending it a
very unstable appearance. It has an inclination of 5.5
degrees
Pisa Campanile 1174 – 1271 – Pisa, italy
Material
Constructed of white marble
Architectural detail
•Surrounded at its ground level by an order of tall
blind arcades resting on half columns, following an
architectural plan similar to the front of the
cathedral
•Above ground level are six floors of aerial open
galleries.
•The first floor is surrounded by pillars with
classical capitals, leaning against blind arches.
•At its highest part lies the cylindrical belfry of a
smaller diameter encircled by small arcades resting
upon consoles or small columns framing the
various openings.
•From the fourth floor up, the columns are thinner
on the side of leaning to lighten the weight in that
part.
Decoration
•The bas-reliefs, inscriptions, and graffiti found in
the Campanile, in the Cathedral or in the
Baptistery have no value but decorative, they were
taken from ancient constructions or from buildings
of conquered enemy towns.
•The architrave ends in a border, the two capitals
and the smooth pillars are not the original ones.
Pisa Baptistery 1153 – 1265 – Pisa, italy
The Baptistery, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, stands
opposite the west end of the Cathedral.

The round Romanesque building was built in Romanesque

style by an architect known as Deotisalvi.
It is the largest baptistery in Italy

Form
•Circular plan with a central space. 18.3, in diameter
•Separated by 4 piers and eight columns from the
surrounding 2 storey aisle which makes the building
39.3m in diameter

Exterior
•Surrounded on the lower storey by half columns
connected by semicircular arches
•A door under one of the arches
•A open arcade of small detached columns above
•This arcade is surmounted by gothic additions of the
14th c.
Pisa Baptistery – 1153-1265 – Pisa Italy
Pisa Baptistery 1153 – 1265 – Pisa, italy
Interior
•Plain and lacks decoration
•Notable acoustics

Roof
•Crowned by an outer hemispherical roof
through which penetrates a truncated cone
capped by a small dome covering the central
space

Decoration
•The portal, facing the facade of the
cathedral, is flanked by two classical
columns, while the inner jambs are executed
in Byzantine style.
•The lintel is divided in two tiers.
•The lower one depicts several episodes in the
life of St. John the Baptist, while the upper
one shows Christ between the Madonna and
St John the Baptist, flanked by angels and
the evangelists