Romanesque Architecture

Romanesque Architecture Architectural History ACT 322 Doris Kemp

Topics • Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and Southern Italy • Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy • Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany • High Romanesque in Normandy and England

Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and Southern Italy • Norman rulers arrived south of Rome in the mid 11th century • Influences of Byzantium and Saracenic entangled with northern European traditions • Important structures: • Norman Cathedrals of Cefalu • Church of S. Nicola, Bari

Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and Southern Italy • Norman Cathedral of Cefalu • Located in Palermo, Sicily • Massive east with choir flanked by lateral chapels • Twin-towered façade • Fragile basilican nave with columnar supports • Interior featured a Byzantine mosaic of Christ

Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and Southern Italy Photo: Sullivan

Romanesque Architecture: Sicily and Southern Italy • Church of S. Nicola • Located in Bari, Southern Italy • A fusion of early Christian with steep proportions of Norman models Photo: Sullivan

Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy • Structures in Northern Italy had a strong classical tradition, but openness to adventurous spirit • Less conservative than the south • Reflected the political and cultural individualism of the North

Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy • Cathedral at Modena • c. 1099 • 15th century rib vaulting • Diaphragm arches • Open timber roof • Double-bay system • Triple-gallery arcade

Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy Photo: Sullivan

Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy • S. Ambrogio, Milan • Triple apses • Barrel-vaulted forchoirs • Nave of four huge vaulted bays, aisles, and galleries • Atrium was almost as large as the church • Featured a deep facade structure flanked by towers • Rib vaulting • Became a major feature of Gothic architecture

Romanesque Architecture: Northern Italy Photo: Sullivan

Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany • Tuscany was fortunate to have a wide range of building materials • Marble • This helped to reinforce the classical tendency of their architecture

Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany • Pisan (Pisa) • Remarkable as a group of structures • Cemetery, basilica, tower, and baptistery • All featured a standard style • Same geometric clarity and sense of volume • Same decorative system and scale • Same color, texture, and materials

Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany Photo: Sullivan

Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany • Florentine • Rational, disciplined articulation • Sharp, exquisite Classical detail • Two dimensional • Key Structures • Baptistery of S. Giovanni, Florence • Church of S. Miniato al Monte, Florence

Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany • Baptistery of S. Giovanni, Florence • c. 1153 • Interior resembles the Pantheon • Centralized plan • Freestanding Corinthian columns • Exterior elevation mirrors the interior

Romanesque Architecture: Tuscany • Church of S. Miniato al Monte, Florence • Medium-sized unvaulted basilica • Interior separated by three large bays • Rich, paneled arcading • Features a half-dome mosaic

High Romanesque in England • In these locations a new concept of nave wall appeared • Major structures • Durham Cathedral, England • Ely Cathedral, England

High Romanesque in England • Durham Cathedral • c. 1093 -1130 • Linear decorative accents • Choir-aisle vaults • Nave vaults formed a unique double-X pattern of ribs • Shows that rib vaulting was a crucial development for the Gothic period of architecture

High Romanesque in England Photo: Sullivan

High Romanesque in England • Ely Cathedral Photo: Sullivan

High Romanesque in England • Winchester Cathedral Photo: Sullivan

References • Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/ • http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html • Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity • Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture

Romanesque Architecture Architectural History ACT 322 Doris Kemp

Romanesque Architecture