What were some of the motivations to go on pilgrimage? How did the churches adap
What were some of the motivations to go on pilgrimage? How did the churches adapt to the crowds of pilgrims who passed through their doors? Think about this in terms of both plans and decoration (i.e. portals, reliquaries).
How would you characterize Italian Romanesque churches?In what ways are they different from their northern counterparts (compare to the French and German churches)?
What advances in the Norman churches point the way to the Gothic style?
Bayeux Tapestry: What sorts of scenes are depicted? What was it intended to be?
Compare the images of Christ and others with those in contemporary Byzantine churches.Are images of Christ treated the same or differently?What were the goals of the church elders in promoting this kind of imagery?Why are most of the sculptures on the outside (remember – most Byzantine decoration is inside)
BEGINNER’S GUIDE
This section introduces the art, architecture, medieval churches and pilgrimage.
San Miniato al Monte, Florence, begun 1013 (photo: Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0)
The first international style since antiquity
The term “Romanesque,” meaning in the manner of the Romans, was first coined in the early nineteenth century. Today it is used to refer to the period of European art from the second half of the eleventh century throughout the twelfth (with the exception of the region around Paris where the Gothic style emerged in the mid-twelfth century). In certain regions, such as central Italy, the Romanesque continued to survive into the thirteenth century. The Romanesque is the first international style in Western Europe since antiquity—extending across the Mediterranean and as far north as Scandinavia. The transmission of ideas was facilitated by increased travel along the pilgrimage routes to shrines such as Santiago de Compostela in Spain (a pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place) or as a consequence of the crusades which passed through the territories of the Byzantine empire. There are, however, distinctive regional variants—Tuscan Romanesque art (in Italy) for example is very different from that produced in northern Europe.
Master of Taüll, apse painting, Sant Clement in Taüll, c. 1123 (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona)
Painting + sculpture + architecture
The relation of art to architecture—especially church architecture—is fundamental in this period. For example, wall-paintings may follow the curvature of the apse of a church as in the apse wall-painting from the church of Sant Climent in Taüll (also known as Saint Clement), and the most important art form to emerge at this period was architectural sculpture—with sculpture used to decorate churches built of stone.
Last Judgment Tympanum, c. 1130–46, Central Portal, West Façade, Cathedral of St. Lazare, Autun, France (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Many sculptors may have begun their career as stone masons, and there is a remarkable coherence between architecture and sculpture in churches at this period. The two most important sculpt