Durham Cathedral Cloister The order and the Sanctuary Romanesque

Durham Cathedral Cloister

The order and the SanctuaryRomanesque

Fig 153a Aachen Cathedral, 792-805

Romanesque

Western Europe in the 11th – 12th centuries developed a style which critics of the 19th century would call ROMANesque

Fig 153b Aachen Cathedral Interior, 792-805

Romanesque takes its roots from the Ancient Roman style of construction incorporating heavily the Roman Vault in its design

Fig 153b Aachen Cathedral Interior, 792-805

Romanesque’s fortress-like appearance can be attributed to the 700 years of turmoil that occurred in Europe

Fig 153c Aachen Cathedral Interior, 792-805

“... the course of the several centuries that preceeded the millenium, those barbarian hordes we saw in the Dark Ages devastating cities and destroying culture had undergone a transformation… – Medieval Christendom”

Nuttgens

Fig 153c Aachen Cathedral Interior, 792-805

Charlemagne (or Charles the Great)

He conquered vast territories and brought a semblance of administrative

and cultural order to Europe.

Charles the Great

He set about to revive the Roman Empire and on Christmas Day, 800 AD, he was crowned Emperor of the West in Rome

THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE (Carolinian

Monarch)

Carolingian Restoration

Charlemagne saw his return to the days of the Roman Empire as embracing the triumph of the Church. He saw religion not only as a means of personal salvation but as an instrument to transform society.

Charles the Great

Module #5b: Mediterranean in Early Middle Ages 11

Charlemagne Palace and Chapel, Aachen, Germany

Charlemagnes’s Cathedral at Aachen: best example of Carolingian Architecture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSiD5Jinpuw&feature=related

Charlemagne Palace Chapel

Aachen Cathedral cut-

through Section & Interior, 792-

805

16-sided outer polygonInner octagon supporting a dome

Aachen Cathedral resembles, in plan, St. Vitale in Ravenna but the interior emphasis on sturdy piers

and complex spaces make it a new creation.

Aachen Cathedral St. Vitale in Ravenna

Romanesque Architecture has a unique feature that cannot be seen in the original Ancient Roman Architecture nor in its revival during the renaissance…

San Miniato al Monte, Florence

Distinctive character of the Romanseque Style as seen in the Corinthian column in San Miniato al Monte, Florence and in the Cathedral at Pisa

San Miniato al Monte, Florence

Cathedral at Pisa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUo5Ss46TKw&NR=1

Baptistry, Cathedral & Leaning Tower at Pisa

Baptistry, Cathedral & Leaning Tower at Pisa

Cathedral & Leaning Tower at Pisa

Cathedral’s Interior at Pisa

Durham CathedralRomanesque architecture know as Norman Style12th century

Durham Cathedral is the greatest Norman building in England

Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral, InteriorDistinctive influential Romanesque form established by the Normans

Durham Cathedral Sketches / Sections

Durham Cathedral

• Whiteshire, England

Anglo-Saxon Church of St. Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon, Whiteshire 10th-11th

Distinguished building built with a high standard of quality and skillIt exhibits a well-cut ashlar stonework (could have been reused Roman masonry) which is not equaled until the eleventh century churches

http://www.britannia.com/church/saxchurch/bradford2.html

Church of St. Lawrence, Plan

It has a small nave, eastern chancel, north porticus and traces of a south porticus

Church of St. Lawrence, Elevation

Anglo-Saxon Church of St. Lawrence, Blind Arcading Bradford-on-Avon, Whiteshire 10th-11th

St. James, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1078-1122

Passion for Pilgrimage

Wider Naves and Broader TranseptsThese accommodated large pilgrimages gather for the daily rituals and processions

St. James, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1078-1122

Plan

Krak des Chevaliers, Syria, c1142-1220

The Crusaders and the Holy Land

Krak des Chevaliers, Syria, c1142-1220“The Bone in the Saracen’s Throat”

Krak des Chevaliers, Syria c1142-1220


Crusader fortress in SyriaKrak from Syriac’s Karac meaning fortress



• The Abbey was a key structure in the spread of devotion

• Often located just outside the city gates

• It provided work, medical care, education, a place to stay for pilgrims and even sanctuary for criminals

• Demonstrated the supremacy of the churchAbbey of St. Gall, Switzerland

Plan

• Plan of Abbey church is usually cruciform in shape

• The Altar located at the east to capture the rays of the morning sun

• The main door is at the west

Abbey of St. Gall, SwitzerlandPlan

Earliest known drawing (Plan)of a great abbey: Abbey of St. Gall, Switzerland in the year 820

Workshops often happen in an Abbey where craftsmen experimented on building techniques and

got their inspirations that blossomed into the Romanesque Style

Module #5b: Mediterranean in Early Middle Ages 42

Monasteries• Plans developed to keep

resident monks and transient worshippers apart.

abbey: Plan of abbey of St. Germain-des-Prés, Paris, 13th cent. A, church; B, cloister; C,

city gate; E, chapter house; F, chapel; G, refectory; H, cellars and presses; I, abbot’s

lodging; K, ditches; L, gardens

Evolution of the Church form• Churches were rectangular halls with or without

and apse, and with or without transepts.

basilica: Typical plan. A, apse; B, B’, secondary apse; C, high altar; D, bishop’s throne; G, transept;

H, nave; J, J’, aisles

• The altar was at times built over a crypt

• In a pilgrim church, this will have a chevet (crypt)and ambulatory with chapels behind the altar

Worms Cathedral, Germany c1016

• The pile-up roof with its semi-conical caps emphasizes the location of the altar as seen from the exterior

• The Worms Cathedral in Germany showing the twin towers of the western apse

Worms Cathedral, Germanyc1016

Worms Cathedral, Germany c1016

Worms Cathedral, Germanyc1016

Gislebertus, Sculture of the Three Magi Sleeping, Autun Cathedral, France c1120-40

• Christ in judgment• West front façade

richly sculpted from a Christ-figure on the tympanum typical of Romanesque Architecture

Autun Cathedral, France c1120-40

Autun Cathedral, France c1120-40

Autun Cathedral, France c1120-40 Nave

Autun Cathedral, France c1120-40 Nave

Notre-Dame, la GrandeMassive sunken portals Poitiers, France, 1130-4

Notre-Dame, la Grande, Poitiers, France, 1130-48



Plan

• Three tiered sculpture works of saints, prophets, creatures and foliage. With the bottom tier showing the life of Jesus

Barrel-vaulted nave with no clerestory

Notre-Dame, la Grande, Poitiers, France, Barrel vault1130-48

Notre-Dame, la Grande, Poitiers, France, 1130-48Detail


Detail


Detail

San Miniato al Monte 1018 - 62

FlorenceBrick with Marble facing, typical material used in Italian churches in the Romanesque style

Floor Plan: San Miniato al Monte, Florence

Massive and long stretches of stone-works - characterizes Romanesque ArchitectureAshlar for churches and roughstone on castles

• The semicircular shape, round-headed arch and its extension, barrel vault borrowed from Ancient Roman Architecture are classic features of the Romanesque Church

St. Sernin Toulouse, FrancePilgrim church enroute to Santiago de Compostela1080-1120

Tunnel-vaulted Nave

• These rounded shapes are not only seen in three dimensional structures but can also be seen in the floor plans and decorations used during the period

St. Sernin Toulouse, France1080-1120

Worms Cathedral, Nave Germanyc1016

• The barrel vault is the structural basis of the Romanesque Architecture

• Barrel vaults are heavy thus requiring massive walls and buttressing

Durham Cathedral, InteriorRibbed Vaults emphasizing the groinsNaves or aisles are divided into square compartments by diaphragm arches

• The workmanship of the masons on the roughstones on castles identifies the workshops where they were trained

• Skills in stonework are of great importance during this period

Rochester Castle, Kent c.1130

• Plain or carved masonry, few window openings are features that makes the Romanesque style fortress-like

Rochester Castle, Kent c.1130

Tower Houses, San Gimignano, Italy

Towers built by feuding families in Italian city states.


Solid at the base with single apartments on the upper floors



Warning bell at the top

Coffee Break

Documents

Durham Cathedral Cloister The order and the Sanctuary Romanesque