Romanesque (Part Five).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: Durham Cathedral, England, 

has decorated masonry Columns, 

alternating with Piers of clustered Shafts 

supporting the earliest pointed High Ribs.

Català: Catedral de Durham.

Photo: 13 August 2010.

Source: Own work. 

"I had to pay a £15 fee for a daily photo permit."

Author: Oliver-Bonjoch.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Papal Basilica of the Minster of Saint Martin's, Bonn, Germany.

The Bonn Minster (German: Das Bonner Münster) is one of Germany's oldest Churches, having been built between the 11th- and 13th-Centuries. At one point, this Church served as the Cathedral for the Archbishopric of Cologne. However, the Minster is now a Papal Basilica.

Deutsch: Bonner Münster.

Photo: 7 July 2010.

Source: Own photograph. Originally uploaded to File:BOMUE00.jpg.

Author: Hans Weingartz.

Permission: CC-BY-SA-3.0-DE.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Because of the massive nature of Romanesque walls, Buttresses are not a highly significant feature, as they are in Gothic architecture. Romanesque buttresses are generally of a flat, square, profile, and do not project a great deal beyond the wall. In the case of Aisled-Churches, Barrel Vaults, or Half-Barrel Vaults over the Aisles, helped to buttress the Nave, if it was Vaulted.

In the cases where Half-Barrel Vaults were used, they effectively became like Flying Buttresses. Often, Aisles extended through two Storeys, rather than the one Storey which is usual in Gothic architecture, so as to better support the weight of a Vaulted Nave. In the case of Durham Cathedral, Flying Buttresses have been employed, but are hidden inside the Triforium Gallery.

The Arches used in Romanesque architecture are nearly always semi-circular, for openings such as doors and windows, for Vaults and for Arcades. Wide doorways are usually surmounted by a semi-circular Arch, except where a door with a Lintel is set into a large Arched recess and surmounted by a semi-circular "Lunette" with decorative carving. These doors sometimes have a carved Central Jamb.

English: Autun Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Lazare d'Autun) is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, and a national Monument of France, in Autun. Famous for its Cluniac inspiration and its Romanesque sculptures, by Gislebertus, it is a highlight in Romanesque art, in Burgundy, 

and is the Seat of the Bishop of Autun. 

Français: Cathédrale Saint-Lazare - Ville d'Autun, France.

Photo: 4 June 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarcJP46.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Narrow doors and small windows might be surmounted by a solid stone Lintel. Larger openings are nearly always Arched. A characteristic feature of Romanesque architecture, both ecclesiastic and domestic, is the pairing of two Arched windows or Arcade openings, separated by a Pillar or Colonette, and often set within a larger Arch. Ocular windows are common in Italy, particularly in the Facade Gable, and are also seen in Germany. Later-Romanesque Churches may have Wheel Windows or Rose Windows with Plate Tracery.

There are a very small number of buildings in the Romanesque style, such as Autun Cathedral, in France, and Monreale Cathedral, in Sicily, in which pointed Arches have been used extensively, apparently for stylistic reasons. It is believed that, in these cases, there is a direct imitation of Islamic architecture. At other Late-Romanesque Churches, such as Durham Cathedral, the pointed Arch was introduced as a structural device in Ribbed Vaulting. Its increasing application was fundamental to the development of Gothic architecture.

English: Autun Cathedral, France.

Français: Cathédrale Saint-Lazare - Ville d'Autun, France.

Photo: 5 June 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarcJP46.

(Wikimedia Commons)

An Arcade is a row of Arches, supported on Piers or Columns. They occur in the interior of large Churches, separating the Nave from the Aisles, and in large secular interior spaces, such as the Great Hall of a Castle, supporting the timbers of a Roof or Upper Floor. Arcades also occur in Cloisters and Atriums, enclosing an open space.

Arcades can occur in Storeys or Stages. While the Arcade of a Cloister is typically of a single Stage, the Arcade that divides the Nave and Aisles, in a Church, is, typically, of two Stages, with a third Stage, of window openings, known as the Clerestory, rising above them. 

Arcading on a large scale generally fulfils a structural purpose, but it is also used, generally on a smaller scale, as a decorative feature, both internally and externally, where it is frequently "Blind Arcading", with only a wall or a narrow passage behind it.

English: The Facade of Notre Dame du Puy, Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, France, 

has a more complex arrangement of diversified Arches: 

Doors of varying widths; Blind Arcading; Windows and Open Arcades.

Le Puy Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy) is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, and a national Monument of France, in Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne. It has been a centre of pilgrimage, in its own right, since before the time of Charlemagne, as well as forming part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Since 1998, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the "Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France". It is the Seat of the Bishop of Le Puy.

Français: Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy, Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, France.

La bildo estas kopiita de wikipedia:fr. La originala priskribo estas.

Photo: 20 October 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: GIRAUD Patrick.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire - France).

Cloisters of Notre Dame du Puy Cathedral (XIIth-Century).

Français: Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire - France),

cloître de la cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy (XIIe siècle).

Photo: 22 June 2003.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In Romanesque architecture, Piers were often employed to support Arches. They were built of masonry, and square, or rectangular, in section, generally having a horizontal moulding, representing a Capital, at the springing of the Arch. Sometimes, Piers have Vertical Shafts attached to them, and may also have horizontal mouldings at the base level.

Although basically rectangular, Piers can often be of highly complex form, with half-segments of large, hollow-core, Columns on the inner surface supporting the Arch, or a clustered group of smaller Shafts, leading into the mouldings of the Arch.

Piers that occur at the intersection of two large Arches, such as those under The Crossing of the Nave and Transept, are, commonly, cruciform in shape, each Arch having its own supporting rectangular Pier at right angles to the other.

Malmesbury Abbey, England, 

has hollow-core Columns, 

probably filled with rubble. (Gothic vault)

An inside picture of what remains of 

Malmesbury Abbey (Wiltshire, England). 

Picture by R Neil Marshman (c)2006. {{gfdl}} 

category:pictures by RN Marshman

(Wikimedia Commons)

Columns are an important structural feature of Romanesque architecture. Colonnettes, and attached Shafts, are also used structurally and for decoration. Monolithic Columns cut from a single piece of stone were frequently used in Italy, as they had been in Roman and Early-Christian architecture. They were also used, particularly in Germany, when they alternated between more massive Piers. Arcades of Columns, cut from single pieces, are also common in structures that do not bear massive weights of masonry, such as Cloisters, where they are sometimes paired.

English: The Nave, Mainz Cathedral, Germany, 

has rectangular Piers and possibly the earliest example of an 

internal elevation of three Stages. (Gothic vault).

Deutsch: Wandaufriss des Langhauses des Mainzer Doms.

Photo: 1/6/05.

Source: de.wikipedia.org.

Author: de:Benutzer:Moguntiner.

Permission: GFDL.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 

has large Drum Columns, 

with attached Shafts 

supporting a Barrel Vault.

Side Aisle and Gallery 

of the Cathedral.

Photo: 16 September 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Georges Jansoone.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In Italy, during this period, a great number of antique Roman Columns were salvaged and re-used in the interiors and on the Porticos of Churches. The most durable of these Columns are of marble and have the stone horizontally bedded. The majority are vertically bedded and are sometimes of a variety of colours. They may have retained their original Roman Capitals, generally of the Corinthian, or Roman Composite style. 

Some buildings, like Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and the Atrium, at San Clemente, in Rome, may have an odd assortment of Columns, in which large Capitals are placed on short Columns and small Capitals are placed on taller Columns to even the height. Architectural compromises of this type are seen where materials have been salvaged from a number of buildings. Salvaged Columns were also used to a lesser extent in France.


PART SIX FOLLOWS.