During Romanesque times, 1050-1200, we see a slow transition from Ottonian architects, who built basic basilican churches with towering spires and imposing westworks (based upon Carolingian models) to the alternate-support system and galleries of the interior naves. Gone virtually overnight, are the timber roofs, replaced for both fireproofing and acoustic sensibilities by barrel and then elaborate groin vaulting.
Norman and English Romanesque architects introduced new features to church design: rib groin vaults over three-story naves (arcade-tribune-clerestory) and the experimentation with quadrant arches in the tribune to buttress the nave vaults; all precursors to the French Gothic architecture to come.
Church campaniles and baptisteries were usually freestanding and independent of the facing churches.
Cathedrals, based on the Latin ‘chathedr’ or seat of holy power, became the building of choice.
Because of the introduction of Pilgrimages, numerous churches (basilicas and cathedrals) sprang up along the pilgrimage roads leading to major shrines and houses of worship. Saint James at Santiago de Compostela was large enough to accommodate crowds of pilgrims who came to view the relics displayed in a new architectural feature, the radiating chapels.
I was at Westminster Abbey, in London, April of 2008. Originally built in 1100s, but then rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 1200s, this was my first exposure to radiating chapels. Of course, I didn’t know then what I know now (funny how that is the way it always is), so I’m on a quest to find us images of Romanesque radiating chapels from the inside so we can see first hand what’s inside…
http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/eng/hst/gothic/sandeni5.html
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/highlights
Each of Westminster-abbey’s radiating chapels holds the sarcophagi (many the size of full size American pickup trucks) of famous religious and political figures:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45166
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/highlights/the-north-transept
Yum! Architectural Sculpture…
Almost non existent during the Early Medieval times according to our text save the wooden portal of the stave church at Urnes, Norway, and the doors at Hildesheim, Germany. Architectural sculpture seemed to rear its expressive and artistic head again in the Romanesque period. A precursor for what’s to come with the great Gothic Cathedrals (e.g., Reims Cathedral, Cologne Cathedral, and of course, my favorite so far: Notre Dame in Paris).
From plain and austere interiors, designed to encourage contemplation and worship, sprouted the reintroduction of marble friezes, such as at the Modena Cathedral, in Modena, Italy. Both interiors and exteriors seemly sprouted artistic expression ala the interior of San Miniato al Monte in Florence with its elaborate marble incrustations and the niche statue of Kind David at the Fidenza Cathedral.
http://www.buffaloah.com/a/virtual/italy/flor/min/source/14.html
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2856519
Facades became the focal points with their high relief tympanum, trumeau, jambs and lintels. Whether depicting the Last Judgment, the Pentecost and their accompanying bestiaries, the message was clear: “Christ is the door to salvation.”
Our video viewing changed this week from Faith and Reason to a Matter of Fact. But I was left wanting more!!! What follows are the important things that I learned…
In the middle ages, art was a tool to help keep facts in head. Since writing and reading were reserved for the monks, the spoken word was king. People employed mnemonics like rhyming to keep facts straight. And, those who could read, read aloud, this is where we get the term “audit”. Writing was considered mystical and it was devised to keep knowledge, most importantly holy knowledge alive. As we learned, monks, living in monasteries spent their scholarly time reading and copying of books. This devotion was considered a type of worship.
Even the tools the monks used had religious meaning. For example, the split nib represented the love of god and your neighbor, the ruler, a straight line to god, the blank paper on which the monk’s would write equaled a clear conscious to fill with goodness, and to hold them in check, the pen knife was related to the a sharp fear of god.
While the movie goes on to talk about the advent of the first moveable type and the Guttenberg printing press, accounting, capitalism, Indulgences, and ultimately the invention of the computer. It is the books that I found most intriguing.
Books began as sacred objects of veneration. And the ability to print, in mass production the same book over and over again, meant that no longer were books reserved for the educated and rich. Now the tillers of the land, could have books. They may not have been able to read initially, but like the video pointed out, pamphlets, the precursors of full on books, were written in colorful cartoons for the plebeians, German for the locals, and Latin for the Churchmen. This tri-translation made it possible even for the most uneducated to, through the use of imagery, understand the message being broadcasted.
The publication of biblical text meant that the standardization of worship and approved texts throughout Christendom. And with publication came expression. If you could write it, get it printed, and distribute it, you too could be read around the world. Now the people, not just royalty or the religious scholars had access to propaganda.
For the first time since Classical time, armed with knowledge itself – people could check the facts for the first time and the church could be called into question.
http://libraries.slu.edu/archives/digcoll/mssexhibit07/manuscripts/eadwine.html
Some historical goodies:
The first book ever printed.
If woodblock printing, which requires laboriously hand carving a wood block for every page of the book, is considered a contender, then the Diamond Sutra is the oldest surviving example of a printed book. A copy in the British Library dates to 868 CE. There's a catch, however: other block printed books are probably older, but are undated, making the Diamond Sutra the first printed book with a verifiable date, not the oldest printed book and most certainly not the first.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-first-printed-book.htm
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/diamondsutra.html
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