Monasticism

Romanesque Art: The Basics and Monasticism

Reading:Stokstad, 452-489.

Range:1000-1150Romanesque

Terms/Concepts:Monasticism, Benedictine, Cistercian, barrel vault, groin vault, oblates, novices, postulants, cloister, historiated column, trumeau, tympanum, jambs.

Monument ListExterior, Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, French Pyrenees, 1001-1026.Nave, Abbey Church of Notre-Dame, Fontenay, 1139-1147.Christ in Majesty, South Portal, Priory Church Moissac, 1115.Hildegard and Volmar, from Liber Scivias of Hildegard of Bingen, 1150-1175.

St. Gall

Schematic plan for a monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland, 9th Century CE.

Schematic plan for a monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland, 9th Century CE.

Although it was never built, the plan of St. Gall remains the model for ideal monasteries.

Schematic plan for a monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland, 9th Century CE.

Schematic plan for a monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland, 9th Century CE.

Model of the city of Rome.

Monasteries were meant to be self-sufficient communities much like many cities.

Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, French Pyrenees, 1001-1026.

Flavian Amphitheater (Coliseum), Rome, 72-80 BCE.

★ The Romans were known for their advancements in arch and vault technology.

Groin Vault

Flavian Amphitheater (Coliseum), Interior Vaults, Rome, 72-80 BCE.

★ Roman vaults were typically made with concrete, which is lighter and easier to form than stone.

★ The knowledge to make concrete was lost to Medieval Europe.

Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, French Pyrenees, 1001-1026.

Groin Vault

Cluny Reconstruction, France, 1088-1130.

Cluny Plan

Cluny Plan, France, 1088-1130.

Cluny Nave, Reconstruction, France, 1088-1130.

Cluny Today Archaeological Park, 2010.

Priory Church, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

South Portal, Priory Church, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

Diagram of Romanesque portal.

Tympanum

South portal of Saint-Pierre. Moissac, France. c.1115.

Christ in Majesty, South portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, c.1115.

Matthew

Mark Luke

John

Twenty-Four Elders

Trumeau

South portal of Saint-Pierre. Moissac, France. c.1115.

Trumeau, South Portal

Lions and Old Testament Prophet (Jeremiah or Isaiah?)

c.1115

Church of Saint-Pierre

Moissac, France

(Stokstad 15-23)

Trumeau, South Portal, Lions and Old Testament Prophet (Jeremiah or Isaiah?), Church of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, c.1115

Trumeau, South Portal, Lions (Jeremiah or Isaiah?), Church of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, c.1115

Vices/Lazarus, Porch, South Portal, Priory Church at Moissac, France, c. 1115.

Lazarus and Dives, Porch, South Portal, Priory Church at Moissac, France, c. 1115.

DivesDives

Lazarus the LeperLazarus the Leper

SoulSoulSoulSoul

Death of a Miser

Torment of Avarice

Torment of Lust

Scene of Torment

Historiated Column

Cloister, Priory Church, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

Cloister Relief

“Dove Capital,” Cloister, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

The Followers of Jesus, Historiated Capital, Cloister, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

“Monsters”

Historiated Capital with Lions’ Heads, Cloister, Priory Church, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

Lions’ Heads

Griffons attacking lions

Cistercian Abbey at Fontenay, France, 1139-1147

Fontenay Abbey, Plan, France, 1139-1147.

Portal, Fontenay Abbey Portal, Priory Church, Moissac

Façade, Fontenay Abbey, France, 1139-1147.

“immoderate height of [Cluniac] churches…their immoderate length, their excessive width, sumptuous decoration and finely executed pictures, which divert the attention of those who are praying.” – Bernard of Clairvaux, Apologia.

Nave, Fontenay Abbey, France, 1139-1147.

Nave, Monastery at Cluny, France, 1088-1130.

Capital DetailCapital Detail

Nave, Fontenay Abbey, France, 1139-1147

Cloister, Priory Church, Moissac,

“What profit is there in those ridiculous monsters, in that marvelous and deformed comeliness, that comely deformity?...So many and so marvelous are the varieties of divers shapes on every hand that we are more tempted to read in the marble than in our books, and spend the whole day in wondering at these things than in meditating upon the law of God. For God’s sake, if men are not ashamed of these follies, why at least do they not shrink from the expense?” –Bernard of Clairvaux

Historiated Capital with Lions’ Heads, Cloister, Priory Church, Moissac, France, c. 1115.

Example of Cistercian Proportions

Nave, Fontenay Abbey, France, 1139-1147.

Example of Cistercian Proportions

Nave, Fontenay Abbey, France, 1139-1147.

Double Monastery, Disibodenberg, Germany,

“a fiery light, flashing intensely, came from the open vault of heaven and poured through my whole brain.”

The vision of Hildegard of Bingen, from Scivias (detail of facsimile). 1150-1175.

Author Page, from Scivias (detail of facsimile). 1150-1175.

Reconstruction drawing of Cathedral. Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

The vision of Hildegard of Bingen, from Scivias (detail of facsimile). 1150-1175.

“After this I saw a vast instrument, round and shadowed, in the shape of an egg, small at the top, large in the middle, and narrowed at the bottom; outside it, surrounding its circumference, there was a bright fire with, as it were, a shadowy zone under it. And in that fire there was a globe of sparkling flame so great that the whole instrument was illuminated by it.”

Vision, from Scivias (detail of facsimile). 1150-1175.

Hubert Airy, Illustration of visual migraine aura, 1870.

“Outward, my eyes are open. So I have never fallen prey to ecstasy in the visions, but I see them wide awake, day and night. And I am constantly fettered by sickness, and often in the grip of pain so intense it threatens to kill me.”

Vision, from Scivias (detail of facsimile). 1150-1175.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What does the term “Romanesque” mean? From where does it originate?

2. What is the ideological function of high vaulting?3. Why does monasticism become more popular in the

Romanesque period? What are some of the major qualities of a monastery?

4. What were some of the justifications for the use of profuse relief sculpture in Romanesque churches?

5. What is the difference between Benedictine and Cistercian ideology? How does it impact their art and architecture?