Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.
Canterbury Cathedral, England.
West Front, Nave and Central Tower.
This Cathedral retains its fine Romanesque Crypt (see, below).
Photo: September 2005.
Source: Picture taken and post-processed by Hans Musil.
Author: Hans Musil.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Romanesque Crypt
of Canterbury Cathedral.
Photo: 29 October 2003.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Among the structures associated with Church buildings are Crypts, Porches, Chapter Houses, Cloisters and Baptisteries.
Crypts are often present as an underlying structure to a substantial Church, and are generally a completely discrete space, but, occasionally, as in some Italian Churches, may be a sunken space under a raised Chancel and open, via steps, to the body of the Nave. Romanesque Crypts have survived in many instances, such as
Canterbury Cathedral, when the Church itself has been rebuilt.
The usual construction of a Romanesque Crypt is with many short, stout Columns, carrying Groin Vaults, as at
Worcester Cathedral.
English: Parma Cathedral, Italy.
Italiano: Parma - Abside del Duomo.
Photo: August 2011.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
English: The Baptistry, Parma Cathedral.
Photo: 21 May 2005.
Source: Own work. Self-photographed
(Original text: “selbst fotografiert (www.schaefer-bonk.de)”).
(Wikimedia Commons)
Porches sometimes occur as part of the original design of a facade. This is very much the case in Italy, where they are usually only one Bay-deep and are supported on two Columns, often resting on
couchant lions, as at Saint Zeno, Verona. Elsewhere, Porches of various dates have been added to the facade, or side entrance, of existent Churches and may be quite a substantial structure, with several Bays of Vaulting, supported on an open, or partially open, Acade, and forming a sort of Narthex, as at the Church of Saint Maria, Laach Abbey, Germany. In Spain, Romanesque Churches often have large lateral Porches, like Loggias.
Chapter Houses often occur adjacent to Monastic or Cathedral Churches. Few have survived intact from the Romanesque period. Early-Romanesque Chapter Houses were rectangular in shape, with the larger ones sometimes having Groin, or Ribbed, Vaults, supported on Columns. Later-Romanesque Chapter Houses sometimes had an Apsidal Eastern End. The Chapter House at Durham Cathedral is a wide space with a Ribbed Vault, restored, as originally constructed, in 1130. The circular Chapter House at Worcester Cathedral, built by Bishop Wulfstan (1062–95), was the first circular Chapter House in Europe and was much imitated in England.
Florence Cathedral, Italy.
Deutsch: Beschreibung: Baptisterium (Florenz).
Photo: 9 September 2004.
Source: Own work.
Author: Christopher Kaetz
(Wikimedia Commons)
Cloisters are generally part of any
Monastic complex and also occur at Cathedral and Collegiate Churches. They were essential to the communal way of life, a place for both working, during daylight hours, and relaxing, during inclement weather. They usually abut the Church building and are enclosed with windowless walls on the outside and an open Arcade on the inside, looking over a Courtyard or "Cloister Garth". They may be Vaulted or have timber roofs. The Arcades are often richly decorated and are home to some of the most fanciful carved Capitals of the Romanesque period, with those of
Santo Domingo de Silos, in Spain, and the
Abbey of Saint Pierre Moissac, being examples. Many Romanesque Cloisters have survived in Spain, France, Italy and Germany, along with some of their associated buildings.
Baptisteries often occur in Italy as a free-standing structure, associated with a Cathedral. They are generally octagonal, or circular, and Domed. The Interior may be Arcaded on several levels, as at
Pisa Cathedral. Other notable Romanesque Baptisteries are that at
Parma Cathedral, remarkable for its galleried exterior, and the polychrome
Baptistery of San Giovanni, of Florence Cathedral, with Vault Mosaics of the 13th-Century, including Christ in Majesty, possibly the work of the almost legendary
Coppo di Marcovaldo.
The Crypt,
Worcester Cathedral, England.
Note the Groin Vaults.
Photo: 23 February 2011.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Arcading is the single most significant decorative feature of Romanesque architecture. It occurs in a variety of forms, from the
Lombard band, that is a row of small Arches that appear to support a roofline or course, to shallow Blind Arcading, that is often a feature of English architecture, and is seen in great variety at
Ely Cathedral, to the open Dwarf Gallery, first used at
Speyer Cathedral, and widely adopted in Italy, as seen on both
Pisa Cathedral and its famous
Leaning Tower. Arcades could be used to great effect, both externally and internally, as exemplified by the Church of
Santa Maria della Pieve, in Arezzo, Italy.
Photo: 2 April 2006.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
suggested as the origin of Lombard bands.
The Romanesque period produced a profusion of sculptural ornamentation. This most frequently took a purely geometric form and was particularly applied to Mouldings, both straight courses and the Curved Mouldings of Arches. In
La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, for example, the polychrome Ribs of the Vault are all edged with narrow
filets of pierced stone. Similar decoration occurs around the Arches of the Nave and along the horizontal course separating Arcade and Clerestory. Combined with the pierced carving of the Capitals, this gives a delicacy and refinement to the Interior.
In England, such decoration could be discrete, as at
Hereford and Peterborough Cathedrals, or have a sense of massive energy, as at Durham, where the Diagonal Ribs of the Vaults are all outlined with
Chevrons, the Mouldings of the Nave Arcade are carved with several layers of the same and the huge Columns are deeply incised with a variety of geometric patterns, creating an impression of directional movement. These features combine to create one of the richest and most dynamic Interiors of the Romanesque period.
Polychrome Blind Arcading of the Apse
The decoration indicates Islamic influence in both the motifs
and the fact that all the Arches, including those
of the windows, are pointed.
Photo: August 2004.
Source: Own work.
Author: Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka Bjs/.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Although much sculptural ornament was sometimes applied to the Interiors of Churches, the focus of such decoration was generally the West Front, and, in particular, the Portals. Chevrons and other geometric ornaments, referred to by 19th-Century writers as "barbaric ornament", are most frequently found on the Mouldings of the central door.
Stylised foliage often appears, sometimes deeply carved and curling outward, after the manner of the acanthus leaves on
Corinthian Capitals, but also carved in shallow relief and spiral patterns, imitating the intricacies of manuscript illuminations. In general, the style of ornament was more classical in Italy, such as that seen around the door of
San Giusto in
Lucca, and more "barbaric" in England, Germany and Scandinavia, such as that seen at
Lincoln and
Speyer Cathedrals. France produced a great range of ornament, with particularly fine interwoven and spiralling vines in the "manuscript" style occurring at
Saint-Sernin, Toulouse.
de la chapelle Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe (XIe siècle).
Porch of the Saint-Michel-D'aiguilhe Chapel (11th-Century).
Photo: 22 June 2003.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Photo: 22 June 2003.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
on a volcanic formation 85 metres (279 ft) high. The Chapel is reached by 268 steps
carved into the rock. It was built to celebrate the return from the
With the fall of the Roman Empire, the tradition of carving large works in stone, and sculpting figures in bronze, died out. The best-known surviving large sculptural work, of Proto-Romanesque Europe, is the life-size wooden Crucifix, commissioned by
Archbishop Gero of Cologne, in about 960 A.D. - 965 A.D.
During the 11th- and 12th-Centuries, figurative sculpture flourished in a distinctly Romanesque style that can be recognised across Europe, although the most spectacular sculptural projects are concentrated in South-Western France, Northern Spain and Italy.
English: The Portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France.
Français: Portal da Abadia Saint-Pierre de Moissac.
Author: Original file by Josep Renalias.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, has unusual features, including the Frieze of Roundels on the Lintel, the scalloped Jambs and figures of Prophets on the Central Jamb.
Major figurative decoration occurs particularly around the Portals of Cathedrals and Churches, ornamenting the
Tympanum, Lintels, Jambs and Central Posts. The Tympanum is typically decorated with the imagery of
Christ in Majesty, with the symbols of the
Four Evangelists, drawn directly from the gilt covers of Mediaeval
Gospel Books.
Nearby,
Autun Cathedral has a
Last Judgement of great rarity, in that it has uniquely been signed by its creator, Gislebertus (who was perhaps the patron, rather than the sculptor). The same artist is thought to have worked at
la Madaleine Vezelay, which uniquely has two elaborately-carved Tympanum, the early inner one representing the Last Judgement, and that on the outer Portal of the Narthex, representing Jesus
sending forth the Apostles to preach to the nations.
