The Age of Pilgrims and Crusaders:  Romanesque Art
The Romanesque era begins at approximately 1066, the date of the Battle of Hastings, when William the Conqueror and the Normans invaded England.  The Bayeux Tapestry, shown below, illustrates the event in a needlework style that already had a long tradition as an art form in England and France.  The "tapestry" is actually an embroidery of wool on linen and was created either by nuns in a Norman convent or by ladies of the Norman court.  It measures 21" in height and nearly 230 feet in length.  It was created shortly after 1066 and is located at the Musee de l'Eveche, Bayeux.
Image from the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidery on linen.
Image from the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidery on linen.
From the Bayeux Tapestry. Harold and his knights take the ship to Normandy. 
King Edward the Confessor addresses Harold.
Another image from the Bayeux Tapestry.
Another image from the Bayeux Tapestry.
Harold and his knights at William's palace.
The death of King Edward.
Funeral procession to Westminster Abbey (top), and the Battle of Hastings (bottom), details from the Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070-1080.  See page 456* in the Gardner text.  Follow this link to the full Bayeux Tapestry!
The term "Romanesque" was first used in the 19th Century to describe buildings that appeared to incorporate earlier Roman elements such as the rounded arch and the barrel/tunnel vaulting.  Although not quite "Roman-like" in other ways, like in the use of stone and wood rather than concrete (the recipe had been lost during the middle ages), Romanesque became a useful term to distinguish these structures from both earlier and later Gothic architecture.  The Romanesque era is usally dated from 1050 to 1200.
West facade of the Church of Sainte-Foy.
Front of the Abbey Church of Ste. Magdalene.
Image of the Cloisters and the Bell Tower from Moissac.
West facade of the Church of Sainte-Foy, Conques.  c.1050-1130.
Abbey Church of Ste. Magdalene, Vezelay.  c.1120-1132.
Cloisters and the Bell Tower of Sainte-Pierre, Moissac.  11-12th Century.
Image of the Southeast tower at St. Michael's Church.
General view of St. Michael's Church, Germany.
The Southeast tower at St. Michael's Church. c. 1010-1030.
General view of St. Michael's Church at Hildesheim, Germany. 
Aerial view of Saint Ambrogia
Left, aerial view of Sant'Ambrogia, Milan, Italy.

See page 446 in the Gardner text.
Exterior view, St. Sernin
Left, Basilica of St. Sernin, Toulouse, France.  1080-1118. 

Right, Interior of St. Sernin.
Interior view, St. Sernin
Romanesque interiors made use of a barrel or tunnel vaulting, some cross-wise ribbing (seen in the Durham Cathedral, below), coffered ceilings (see Pisa below) and narrow aisles supported by heavy columns or piers.  Interiors tended to be dark with few windows, giving the appearance of a fort rather than a church.
Interior, Speyer Cathedral
Left, Interior of the Speyer Cathedral, Speyer, Germany.  Begun 1030.

See page 446 in the Gardner text.
Romanesque interior from the Durham Cathedral in England.
Italian Romanesque interior from the Pisa Cathedral.
French Romanesque interior from Toulouse.
Interior of the Durham Cathedral, England.  View of the Nave toward the Choir.  c.10-13th Century.
Interior of the Pisa Cathedral, Pisa, Italy.  View of the Nave toward the Apse.  c.1063-1274.
Interior of the Church of St. Sernin, Toulouse, France.  View of the Nave toward the Apse. 11-13th Century.

During the Romanesque era sculpture was primarily architectural, although by the end of the era high relief sculpture in the tympanum, lintel and columns at the entries and porches of churches was becoming increasingly in the round.  In sculpture and other church-related large scale art forms, the subject matter was often the "last judgment" and the "apocalypse," usually showing the "sinful nature of humankind" rather than the spiritual nature seen in the Byzantine art.
West tympanum at St. Lazare, "The Last Judgment"
Detail from the Last Judgment
Above, west tympanum of St. Lazare, The Last Judgment, by Gislebertus.  c. 1120-1135.
Detail from The Last Judgment.
"The Last Judgment" by Gislebertus
The Last Judgment, by Gislebertus, St. Lazare, Autun, France.  The 'last judgment' was a common theme and could be seen carved into the tympanum of many churches in the Romanesque era.  See page 441 for the Gislebertus image above in the Gardner text.
"The Last Judgment" from Conques
"The Last Judgment" from Moissac
"The Last Judgment," from Conques. 
"The Last Judgment," from Moissac. 
Romanesque relief sculpture from Toulouse.
Romanesque relief sculpture of an angel from St. Sernin, Toulouse.
Relief sculpture from the bronze doors of the Hildesheim Cathedral.
"Christ Enthroned" from the ambulatory of St. Sernin Church, Toulouse, France
"Seraph" from St. Sernin, c. 11-13th Century.
"Eve Suckling Cain" from the bronze doors of the Hildesheim Cathedral, c.1015.

Explore Vincent Paley's site on Romanesque Sculpture

Click here to continue on to view Romanesque castle in Germany,
Northern Spanish carved ivory and gold reliquaries...

*Page numbers refer to Gardner 13th edition.
Page Updated 8/03/09
Go to Art History Survey I Home
 Copyright  M.Hoover and Visual Arts Department,
San Antonio College,  April 2001