Romanesque (Part Six)

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

English: Maulbronn Monastery, 

a former Cistercian Monastery, 

situated in Maulbronn, Germany. 

Since 1993, the Monastery is part of UNESCO World Heritage.

Deutsch: Klosterkirche Maulbronn (Innenansicht), 

durch Bildverarbeitung verfremdet.

Photo: 30 October 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Andreas Zschorsch.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Galilee is a variation of the Atrium, or the Narthex, in the Western part of a Church. The Galilee to the Convent Church of Maulbronn is also called The Paradise (1210 - 1215). It is regarded as a unique and perfect example of art from the time of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. The influences from Burgundy, France, are obvious and can be seen 

in the special finish of the Capitals and in the High Plinths. 

[This paragraph can be found in Romanesque - Architecture - Sculpture - Painting, 

Edited by Rolf Toman. Published by KONEMANN.]

Deutsch: Kloster Maulbronn.

This File: 12 March 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: User:Fb78.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In most parts of Europe, Romanesque Columns were massive, as they supported thick upper walls with small windows, and sometimes heavy Vaults. The most common method of construction was to build them out of stone cylinders called Drums, as in the Crypt at Speyer Cathedral.

Where really massive Columns were called for, such as those at Durham Cathedral, they were constructed of ashlar masonry, and the hollow core was filled with rubble. These huge untapered Columns are sometimes ornamented with incised decorations.

A common characteristic of Romanesque buildings, occurring both in Churches and in the Arcades that separate large interior spaces of Castles, is the alternation of Piers and Columns. The most simple form that this takes is to have a Column between each adjoining Pier. Sometimes, the Columns are in multiples of two or three. At Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, an ABBA alternation occurs in the Nave, while an ABA alternation can be seen in The Transepts.

English: Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, Aachen, Germany. 9th-Century.

Modelled on the Byzantine Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

Deutsch: Aachener Dom.

Photo: 23 April 2009.

Source: Bojin, on request by Túrelio.

Author: Bojin.

Permission:

The permission to use this work has been archived in the Wikimedia OTRS system. It is available as ticket #2009102710046455 for users with an OTRS account. If you wish to reuse this work elsewhere, please read the instructions at COM:REUSE. If you are a Commons user and wish to confirm the permission, please leave a note at the OTRS noticeboard.

Ticket link: https://ticket.wikimedia.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom&TicketNumber=2009102710046455

(Wikimedia Commons)

At Jumièges, there are tall Drum Columns between Piers, each of which has a Half-Column supporting the Arch. There are many variations on this theme, most notably at Durham Cathedral, where the mouldings and Shafts of the Piers are of exceptional richness and the huge masonry Columns are deeply incised with geometric patterns.

Often, the arrangement was made more complex by the complexity of the Piers, themselves, so that it was not Piers and Columns that alternated, but, rather, Piers of entirely different form from each other, such as those of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, where the nature of the Vault dictated that the alternate Piers bore a great deal more weight than the intermediate ones and are, thus, very much larger.

The foliate Corinthian style provided the inspiration for many Romanesque Capitals, and the accuracy with which they were carved depended very much on the availability of original models, those in Italian Churches, such as Pisa Cathedral, or Church of Sant'Alessandro, in Lucca, and Southern France, being much closer to the Classical than those in England.

Interior of Saint Mary's Cathedral and Saint Michael's Church,

Hildesheim, Germany. 

The Corinthian Capitals are clearly seen.

Photo: Autumn 2005.

Source: de:Image:St.MichaelInnen.jpg.

Author: Dronkitmaster.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Corinthian Capital is essentially round at the bottom, where it sits on a circular Column, and square at the top, where it supports the wall or Arch. This form of Capital was maintained in the general proportions and outline of the Romanesque Capital. This was achieved most simply by cutting a rectangular cube and taking the four lower corners off at an angle, so that the block was square at the top, but octagonal at the bottom, as can be seen at Saint Michael's, Hildesheim, Germany.

This shape lent itself to a wide variety of superficial treatments, sometimes foliate, in imitation of the source, but often figurative. In Northern Europe, the foliate Capitals generally bear far more resemblance to the intricacies of manuscript illumination than to Classical sources. In parts of France and Italy, there are strong links to the Pierced Capitals of Byzantine architecture. It is in the figurative Capitals that the greatest originality is shown. While some are dependent on manuscript illustrations of Biblical scenes and depictions of beasts and monsters, others are lively scenes of the legends of local Saints.

English: The Ribbed Vaults, 

at Saint-Étienne, Caen, France,

are sexpartite and span two Bays of the Nave.

Français: Nef de l'église Saint-Étienne 

de l'ancienne abbaye aux Hommes de Caen.

(Calvados, Basse-Normandie).

Photo: 23 March 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Harmonia Amanda.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Capitals, while retaining the form of a square top and a round bottom, were often compressed into little more than a bulging cushion-shape. This is particularly the case on large masonry Columns, or on large Columns that alternate with Piers, as at Durham Cathedral.

The majority of buildings have wooden roofs, generally of a simple truss, tie beam or king post form. In the case of trussed rafter roofs, they are sometimes lined with wooden ceilings in three sections, like those that survive at Ely and Peterborough Cathedrals, in England. In Churches, typically the Aisles are Vaulted, but the Nave is roofed with timber, as is the case at both Peterborough and Ely. In Italy, where open wooden roofs are common, and tie beams frequently occur in conjunction with Vaults, the timbers have often been decorated, as at San Miniato al Monte, Florence.

Vaults of stone or brick took on several different forms and showed marked development during the period, evolving into the pointed Ribbed Arch characteristic of Gothic architecture.

Peterborough Cathedral, South Choir Aisle.

The Aisles at Peterborough Cathedral 

have quadripartite Ribbed Vaults. 

The Nave has an ancient painted wooden ceiling.

Photo: 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: TTaylor.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe 

is located in Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, in Poitou, France. 

The Romanesque Church was begun in the Mid-11th-Century 

and contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-Century murals, 

which are still in a remarkable state of preservation. 

[Note the decorated Columns and the decorated Nave roof.] 

It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

Français: Vue vers l'orient de la nef de l'abbatiale 

de Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe.

Photo: 12 June 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: GO69.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The simplest type of Vaulted roof is the Barrel Vault, in which a single Arched surface extends from wall to wall the length of the space to be Vaulted, for example, the Nave of a Church. An important example, which retains Mediaeval paintings, is the Vault of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, France, of the Early-12th-Century. However, the Barrel Vault generally required the support of solid walls, or walls in which the windows were very small.

Groin Vaults occur in Early-Romanesque buildings, notably at Speyer Cathedral, where the High Vault, of about 1060, is the first employment in Romanesque architecture of this type of Vault for a wide Nave. In later buildings employing Ribbed Vaultings, Groin Vaults are most frequently used for the less visible and smaller Vaults, particularly in Crypts and Aisles. 

A Groin Vault is almost always square in Plan and is constructed of two Barrel Vaults intersecting at right angles. Unlike a Ribbed Vault, the entire Arch is a structural member. Groin Vaults are frequently separated by Transverse Arched Ribs of low profile, as at Speyer Cathedral and Santiago de Compostela. At Sainte Marie Madeleine, Vézelay, the Ribs are square in Section, strongly projecting and polychrome.

PART SEVEN FOLLOWS.