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Churches represented the primary type of Romanesque architecture. Despite regional variations, Romanesque architecture shares a multitude of common characteristics such as harmonious proportions, stone barrel vault, round arches supporting the roof, thick and heavy walls and pillars, or small windows. Also, most Romanesque churches feature round arches used for exterior and interior decoration, a nave with side aisles though there is also a number of small, more modest churches which do not have an aisle), galleries above the side aisles, separated from the nave by a triforium, a transept, an apse and an ambulatory around the apse. Also, most Romanesque churches have multiples towers, as well as sculptured decorations on portals and capitals, and painted decorations throughout the interior. One of the most important structural developments of Romanesque architecture was the stone barrel vault which was intended as an alternative to wooden roofs which were prone to fires (Butt...
However, the idea of the vault was continued in the ensuing centuries, making it a major innovation by Romanesque architects.
Charlemagne (742-814) was the King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that included much of Western and Central Europe, and was a strong promoter of Christianity who used arts in order to achieve his goal (Butt 173). During his reign there was a revival in arts that came to be known as "Carolingian Renaissance," and that exerted an important influence on Romanesque art. In fact, despite its rather rapid dissolution, the Carolingian Empire marked a vital first step towards European cultural revival. For instance, many Romanesque cathedrals and monasteries were built on the foundations of Carolingian architecture.
Sources
Browne, Edith A. Romanesque Architecture. Kessinger Publishing, 2005.
Butt, John J. Daily life in the age of Charlemagne.…
Sources
Browne, Edith A. Romanesque Architecture. Kessinger Publishing, 2005.
Butt, John J. Daily life in the age of Charlemagne. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.
Patterned after the old cathedral at Reims, the abbey church displays a similar set of volumes with east and west transepts with crossing towers; an especially large western apse balancing a triple apse at the opposite end. The massing of the towers around the main structure of the nave, and the rows of round arched windows set high in the walls are typical Romanesque features. The overall affect is one
Romanesque and Gothic Architecture There were a number of changes that happened to Romanesque architecture to make it uniquely Gothic. Romanesque architecture was principally that for churches, whereas Gothic architecture manifested itself in cathedrals. The difference between these two is not mere diction; Romanesque churches had thicker walls and were darker and on the whole smaller than Gothic cathedrals, which encompassed a number of structural innovations to make them extremely vertical,
The advantages in efficiency were evident, as are the ways of apprenticing younger members slowly into the family trade. The more probable model is that the skilled labour was taken from the guilds, whose power was on the rise throughout Europe after AD 1100. Artistic and trade guilds selected their members. Such pooled labour provided training, experience, a career trajectory, and security for the craftsman, who could eventually work through
Figures in sculpture were somewhat distorted to accentuate certain features, and in paintings where multiple figures appear often have these figures rendered in completely different scales to show the importance of one or more figures over the others represented -- figures of Jesus or of various saints often appear larger than the crowds around them, for example, forming one stylized element of Romanesque art (The Met 2010; HighBeam 2005). Another
To be sure, under the label Art Nouveau, there resides a long list of diverse artistic styles, from two dimensional arts to constructive and geometrical arts. Art Nouveau was an important architectural movement, inspired by the inherent patterns of nature. For example, C.F.A. Voysey's textile prints showcase plant forms in free curves, while Christopher Dresser's design philosophy stemmed from his knowledge of botany. Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98) is famous for his
Instead, for example, the artists who sculptured the tympanum of Beaulieu in the south of France were later asked by Abbot Suger to work on the sculptures of the west front of Saint Denis, in present day northern Paris. Although the latter which was finished in 1140 bore close resemblance to the tympanum at Beaulieu, Saint Denis offered a new feature i.e., the tall statues which replaced the columns