Art History Visual (Formal) Analysis Paper

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ART HISTORY 131

Late Medieval:

Romanesque

Romanesque
(c. 1050-1200)

    • period: “Romanesque”
    • term  in the Roman manner
    • adopts Roman arch & vaulting systems

 

    • context: political
    • nation/states not yet created; Europe fragmented into many small territories
    • led to distinctive regional styles

 

    • context: economic (feudal)
    • predominantly agricultural society

 

    • context: pilgrimages
    • journey to holy places/shrines of Christendom
    • aim: to venerate saints’ relics & miraculous powers

 

    • context: First Crusade (c. 1095 AD)
    • aim: to liberate Holy Land from Moslem rule
    • result: revival of trade, travel & culture

 

  • context: Apocalypse
  • millennium came & went w/out predicted end
  • imagery corresponds to era of psychological terror

Romanesque

  • St.-Sernin (c. 1100 CE)
  • site: Toulouse, FR
  • pilgrimage church
  • built along roads to Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage center in northwestern SP
  • designed to accommodate large crowds of lay worshipers
  • long nave and transept
  • plan: Latin cross
  • facade: indicates double aisles
  • nave: barrel vault
  • supported by “transverse” arches
  • aisles: “groin” vaults
  • transept: wide projection
  • apse: radiating chapels
  • tower: later addition

Romanesque

 

  • St. Sernin (cont.)
  • plan: Latin cross (“cruciform”)
  • wide projecting transept
  • west portal
  • broad nave
  • side aisles (2x)
  • lantern
  • elongated sanctuary
  • choir
  • apse
  • ambulatory
  • radiating chapels

Diagram: ribbed vaults

Romanesque

  • St. Sernin
  • nave: barrel vault
  • transverse “ribbed” arches
  • slender, projecting arch-like member
  • supports vault
  • divides surface into sections (“bays”)
  • piers: “compound”
  • attached columns on four (4) sides
  • Corinthian capitals
  • also organize architectural space by marking-off “bays”

Romanesque

 

    • St. Sernin (cont.)
    • aisles: “groin” vaults
    • intersection of two barrel vaults of equal size
    • sharp edges where two vaults meet
    • “bay”  divided into four compartments
    • support:
    • transverse “ribs”
    • piers
    • bundled columns w/ Corinthian capitals

 

Romanesque

 

  • Christ in Majesty (c. 1100 CE)
  • location: St. Sernin
  • figure: “cabochon” relief
  • convex bulging forms
  • plays against concave niche
  • facial features: schematic
  • drapery: schematic
  • symbols/iconography:
  • four evangelists
  • “mandorla”

Romanesque

 

  • Apostle (c. 1100 CE)
  • location: St. Sernin
  • aesthetic: blends Late Classical & Byzantine
  • squat proportions
  • Byzantine iconic frontality
  • reverse perspective
  • drapery:
  • parallel pleats
  • “wet” attempt to reveal figure beneath

Romanesque

 

  • St. Étienne (1070 CE)
  • site: Normandy (Caen, FR)
  • a.k.a. “Abbaye aux Hommes” (“Men’s Abbey”)
  • dedication: St. Steven
  • west façade:
  • minimal decoration
  • buttress: projecting support
  • built against external wall
  • counteracts lateral thrust of vault or arch
  • divides front of church into three vertical sections
  • also indicates three-tier elevation

Romanesque

 

  • St. Étienne (cont.)
  • plan: Latin cross
  • narthex  massive piers buttress façade
  • nave  sexpartite rib vaulting
  • aisles  ribbed
  • transept  length of two aisle bays
  • apse  surrounded by
  • ambulatory
  • radiating chapels

Romanesque

 

  • St. Étienne (cont.)
  • elevation: three-tiered
  • arcade
  • gallery
  • clerestory
  • nave: “ribbed” vault (b. 1120 CE)
  • sexpartite vaulting
  • rib vault divided into six bays
  • two diagonal ribs
  • three transverse ribs

Romanesque

 

  • Autun Cathedral (c. 1125 CE)
  • function: martyrium/pilgrimage church
  • obtained some relics of Lazarus (c. 970 CE)
  • crowds demanded new church
  • exterior: west tympanum
  • Last Judgment sculpture (Gislebertus)
  • elevation: three-story
  • arcade
  • “triforium”
  • clerestory
  • nave: barrel vault
  • pointed transverse arches
  • exerts less outward pressure than semicircular arch
  • supported by “compound” piers

Autun Cathedral
elevation
(c. 1125 CE)

“Last Judgment”
tympanum at Autun Cathedral
(c. 1125 CE)

“Last Judgment”
tympanum at Autun Cathedral
(c. 1125 CE)

Romanesque

 

  • Durham Cathedral
  • date: 1093-1130 CE
  • significance: precursor to Gothic
  • definitive building of Anglo-Norman Romanesque
  • “siamese-twin” rib vaulting system over nave
  • oldest surviving example
  • pointed transverse arches
  • supported on relatively slender composite piers
  • alternated w/ massive drum columns
  • scale: enormous (over 400’ length)
  • effect: possible to cover far more elaborate and complicated ground plans

 

Romanesque

 

  • Durham Cathedral
  • plan: Latin cross
  • nave: 1/3 wider than St. Sernin
  • aisle bays  twice (2x) as long
  • alternating support (columns & piers)
  • “Siamese-twin” ribbed vaults

Romanesque

 

  • Durham Cathedral
  • supports: alternating pier system
  • cylindrical columns
  • zig-zag textured design
  • compound piers
  • engaged columns & pilaster shafts bundled to square or oblong core
  • nave: “ribbed” vaulting system
  • transverse arches heavily delineated
  • seven sections form double design
  • a.k.a. “Siamese-twins”

Siamese-twin “ribbed” vaulting system
Nave of Durham Cathedral
(c. 1125 CE)

Romanesque

    • Abbey of St. Pierre (c. 1065)
    • location: Moissac, FR
    • function: on pilgrimage route of Santiago de Compostela
    • significance:
    • cloisters 
    • narrative capitals  46 of 76 illustrate themes lives of the saints
    • relief sculpture
    • tympanum  Last Judgment

 

Romanesque

 

 

  • Christ in Majesty (1100 CE)
  • location: St. Pierre (Moissac, FR)
  • placement: “tympanum”
  • relief: high
  • iconography:
  • “mandorla”
  • Christ surrounded by four (4) beasts
  • figures: elongated
  • drapery: schematic

Romanesque

  • Jeremiah (c. 1100 CE)
  • location: St. Pierre (Moissac, FR)
  • placement: “trumeau”
  • center post supporting lintel
  • style: expressive
  • figure: elongated
  • pose: stylized
  • reverse perspective
  • “chiasmic”
  • crosses legs; dance-like movement
  • turns head toward interior of church
  • drapery: restless rhythms of calligraphic line

Detail of the Jeremiah “trumeau”
from St. Pierre (Moissac, FR)

“Christ in Majesty”
Tympanum on south portal
St. Pierre, Moissac, FR
(c. 1125 CE)

“Mission of the Apostles”
tympanum at Ste. Madeleine (Vezelay, FR)
(c. 1125 CE)

Romanesque:
painting/tapestry

  • Bayeux Tapestry (c. 1075 CE)
  • subject: events leading up to Norman Conquest of England as well as invasion itself
  • technique: while conventionally referred to as a “tapestry,” it is in fact an embroidery
  • composition: registered
  • border strips perform framing function
  • functions both decoratively & as narrative
  • style: devoid of classical refinements
  • figures: caricature-like
  • poses: complicated movements & gestures

“Battle of Hastings”
Bayeux Tapestry
(c. 1075 CE)

Romanesque:
illuminated manuscripts

  • Moralia in Job (c. 1100 CE)
  • form: “initial page”
  • subject: series of initials
  • design: imaginatively follows shape of letter
  • color: richly ornamental
  • aesthetic: schematic
  • figures:
  • attempt at classical proportions
  • twisted perspective
  • pinched waist
  • complicated poses
  • drapery: schematic
  • metallic
  • reveals musculature

Romanesque:
illuminated manuscripts

 

  • Bury Bible (c. 1100 CE)
  • artist: Master Hugo
  • influence: Byzantine
  • figures: schematic
  • drapery: schematic
  • color: rich & vibrant
  • iconography:
  • four (4) evangelists
  • Christ in mandorla

Romanesque:
illuminated manuscripts

  • Gospel Book of Abbot Wedricus
  • date: c. 1150 CE
  • style: combines Carolingian & Byzantine influences
  • reverse perspective
  • attempts Classical canon of proportions
  • schematic/idealized face
  • drapery: schematic linear abstract patterns
  • theme: “St. John the Evangelist”
  • iconography: conventional emblems placed around St. John
  • donor (Abbot Wedricus)  ink for St. John
  • hand of God  holds dove of HS that serves as J’s inspiration
  • eagle  identifying symbol of J
  • other circular pictorials  scenes from St. John’s life
  • decorativeness:
  • inter-lacing designs
  • floral ornament (Classical acanthus)

IMAGE INDEX

  • Slide 3: Aerial view, St.-Sernin, Toulouse, France (c. 1100 CE).
  • Slide 4: Nave and choir, St.-Sernin.
  • Slide 5: Diagram of ribbed vaults.
  • Slide 6: View of “ribbed” vault in nave, St.-Sernin.
  • Slide 7: View of “groined” vault in aisle, St.-Sernin.
  • Slide 8: Christ in Majesty (c. 1100 CE), ambulatory, St.-Sernin, Toulouse, FR.
  • Slide 9: Apostle (c. 1100 CE), stone, St.-Sernin, Toulouse, FR. Slide 10: Exterior, St.-Étienne (1070 CE).
  • Slide 11: Plan, St.-Étienne.
  • Slide 12: Nave, St.-Étienne (vaulted 1115-20 CE).
  • Slide 13: Nave wall, Autun Cathedral (c. 1120-32 CE), France.
  • Slide 14: Elevation of Autun Cathedral.

IMAGE INDEX

  • Slide 15/16: “Last Judgment,” tympanum, Autun Cathedral (c. 1125 CE).
  • Slide 17: Exterior, Durham Cathedral (1093-1130 CE), England.
  • Slide 18: Plan, Durham Cathedral.
  • Slide 19: Nave (completed c. 1100 AD), Durham Cathedral.
  • Slide 20: Ribbed groins of nave, Durham Cathedral.
  • Slide 21: Abbey of St.-Pierre, Moissac, FR.
  • Slide 22: Diagram of Romanesque portal ensembles.
  • Slide 23: Prophet Jeremiah (early 12th century CE), south portal (“trumeau”), Abbey of St.-Pierre, Moissac, FR.
  • Slide 24: Detail of Prophet Jeremiah, Abbey of St.-Pierre, Moissac, FR.
  • Slide 25: Tympanum of the south portal (c. 1115-1135 CE), diameter 16’ 6”, Abbey of St.-Pierre, Moissac, FR.

IMAGE INDEX

  • Slide 26: The Mission of the Apostles (c. 1125 CE), center portal of narthex, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, FR.
  • Slide 28: “The Battle of Hastings” (c. 1075 CE), detail from the Bayeux Tapestry, wool embroidery on linen, height approx. 19 1/2”, total length approx. 231’.
  • Slide 29: Initial R with “St. George and the Dragon,” from the Moralia in Job (early 12th century CE), illuminated manuscript, 13 3/4 x 9 1/4”, Citeaux, FR.
  • Slide 30: Master Hugo. “The Vision of Ezekiel” (early 12th century CE), Bury Bible, illuminated manuscript, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England.
  • Slide 31: “St. John the Evangelist”, from Gospel Book of Abbot Wedricus (c. 1150 CE), tempera on vellum, 14 x 9 1/2”, Société Archéologique et Historique, Avesnes-sur- Helpe, France.
 
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