Romanesque Architecture

by

Kip Fletcher

ARTS 1303

Fall 2016
 The word “Romanesque” means “in the Roman manner.” This word was initially used to

describe early medieval European church architecture, before being expanded to include all of

the arts of the period. The Romanesque period begins in western Europe in the 11th century and

continues through the 13th century. It originated from the Carolingian style and the efforts of

Frankish King Charlemagne to revive the artistic height of the Roman Empire. Medieval Europe

at this time was marked by holy wars and the spread of Christianity in addition to a boom in

building projects. Since the Catholic Church was the most powerful organization, the church

was the most common type of building during this period. As a result, architecture was the

dominant activity that outweighed all of the other forms of art. Across the region new castles,

churches, manor houses and monasteries sprung up. The Romanesque architecture that emerged

possessed many shared characteristics such as contrasts between light and dark, colored

ornamentation, extensive use of stone masonry, rose windows, relief sculptures and westworks.

But, the most prevalent theme was the vault.

The vault is a derivative of the classical Roman arch. It is constructed by combining a

series of round arches in a line to form an enclosed hall. The vault serves the function of

providing supports with the least amount of space and produces aesthetic appeal. There are three

main type of vaults: the barrel vault, groin vault,

and rib vault (Fig. 1).

The simplest type of vault is an arch

extended to take the shape of a barrel. An example

of such is the Benedictine abbey church of Saint-

Savin-sur-Gartempe in France (Fig. 2). Here, the

barrel vault is similar to a tunnel that houses the

entire nave and choir. The nave is the main body

1
of the church that, at Saint-Savin, appears nearly to
 3: Tower of Babel, nave vault painting, abbey church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, Poitou,
France. c. 1115
be a hall due to the absence of galleries or

clerestory windows. Since the barrel vault at

Saint-Savin is not separated by transverse arches,

as in a broken-barrel vault, it is well suited for

painting.

Like many Romanesque churches the

interior of Saint-Savin is adorned with decorative

paintings of scenes from the Hebrew Bible and

New Testament. Figure 3 illustrates the biblical

story of the Tower of Babel. God is shown by

the figure of Christ on the left who punished the

people for trying to reach heaven by building a

tower. The Tower is Romanesque in style, 2: Nave barrel vault, abbey church of
Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, Poitou, France.
evident by the groin vault at its base, which c. 1095-1115.

highlights the paintings relevance to the contemporary viewers. The energy and narrative
aspects of the work is also characteristic of Romanesque art.

Probably the most popular type of vault in this period was the groin vault. Unlike the

barrel vault, groin vaults do not require the support of thick walls on either side. Figure 4 shows

the groin-vaults or cross-vaults with clerestory windows in the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-

Madeleine in Vezelay, France. Also shown is the inclusion of light and dark contrasting colors

in the construction of the arches, a typical feature of Romanesque vaulting. Another common

element of Romanesque architecture visible at Sainte Madeleine is the addition of relief

sculpture. The purpose of the sculpture was not only for ornamentation but also to provide visual

imagery of the Christian teachings in order to better educate the largely illiterate population. In

Figure 5 the relief in La Madeleine portrays the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost with the

faces of the apostles bearing startled expressions. Aside from monasticism, the other central

component of religion during this period was pilgrimage. Men and women in search of salvation

5: Relief sculpture, La Madeleine 4: Groin vault, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay,

Tympanum, Vezelay, France. 1120-38. France. 1120-38.
and atonement for sins made pilgrimages to shrines that possessed the relics of saints. Sainte

Madeleine is one such pilgrimage road church established on the route to Santiago de

Campostela, one of the most famous pilgrimage destinations.

The Speyer Cathedral in Rhineland, Germany (Fig. 6) is another example of groin

vaulting. The intersection of the barrel vaults at right angles to form the groin-vaults is clearly

shown. The groin vaults divide the nave into bays – an important feature of Romanesque

architecture. These large open spaces provided excellent acoustics for the services sung by the

monks.

6: Groin vault, Speyer Cathedral, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. c. 1080-1106

The third major type of vault developed in the Romanesque period was the ribbed vault.

A rib vault is a groin vault with stone ribs placed in the joints to give additional strength to the

vault. The ribs support most of the structural strain and create compound piers. The cathedral of
St. Cuthbert in Durham, England (Fig. 7) is one of the earliest uses of rib vaulting as well as one

of the best-preserved and most well-known Norman churches in England. It is an example of

Norman Romanesque, a more refined version of the previous styles, borne of the Vikings of

Norway. Despite a lack of figural ornament it contains remarkable geometric patterns on its

piers, arches, and ribs. The cylindrical columns exhibit chevrons, spirals and diaper patterns

approaching that of Viking interlace work; and the arch moldings in the Galilee Chapel display

zigzag patterning. The constructional advantages of rib vaults led to a shift away from the

uninterrupted walls of the early Romanesque vaulted buildings to a skeletal system that

concentrated loads at specific points. This produced a new artistic convention of spaciousness

and light in the style of Gothic.

No other European artistic expression, aside

from Baroque art, is more widespread than the

Romanesque. Though this style was very

uniform, there were numerous regional

variations because it encompassed such a great

expanse. From these variations came modest

improvements that evolved into the architectural

advancements of the following historical period.

Developments in building technology, increased

financial resources, and new intellectual and

spiritual ambitions culminated in new art and

architecture that reflected the values of monastic

7: Ribbed vaulting, Durham Cathedral,
Northern England. 1087-1133 communities. As western Europeans strove to

erect cathedrals and churches with progressively taller naves and towers, walls of colorful glass,

and vast interiors, Romanesque architectural gave way to its successor – Gothic architecture.
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