ROMANESQUE STYLE I

ROMANESQUE STYLE I

I. The Middle Ages

Migratory period (550-750)
Carolingian and Ottonian Empires (750-1000)
Romanesque phase (1000-1150)

Gothic period (1150-1400)

II. Charles the Great ("Charlemagne"): ruled from 742-814

Frankish king
His reign is referred to as the Carolingian Era, after his Latin name Carolus Magnus)
Conquers and forcibly converts peoples from the lands of Northern Spain, Barcelona, northern Italy in West and Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia in East.
Pope Leo III crowns him Holy Roman emperor on 12/25/800
Charlemagne considers himself a successor to the Roman imperial tradition.
He therefore encourages classical learning and artistry

Charlemagne oversees the systemization of curriculum, the encouragement of liberal arts programs, and the purification of Latin

III. Charlemagne and the origins of feudalism

Problem: What to do with all this land and people to rule over?

Solution: devise system in which "counts" would control small portion of land ("counties")
Hierarchical structure of feudalism

Intrafamilial hierarchy of Roman tradition becomes interfamilial hierarchy.

Everyone’s place is determined by birth: only counts beget counts; serfs beget serfs

IV. Artistic Renaissance under Charlemagne

Book of Kells

c. 800 AD

Created by Irish monastic scholars
Contains four gospels in Latin
Meant only for special occasions
Compare with Islamic art

Capella Palatina

(Charlemagne’s Chapel)

Modeled on San Vitale
Most of the mosaics from San Vitale have a new home in Capella Palatina

V. Romanesque Society

Continues the rigidity of the feudal structure begun by Charlemagne
Birth is main determinant of position in society/ and hence economic status

What is primogeniture?

Problem: where do all the younger brothers go?

VI. The Romanesque monastery

Christ: "For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall save it" (Luke 9:24)

The ever-continuing story of Body vs. Soul:

*turning eyes from this troubled world to the world to come "Our hearts and bodies…must be made ready for the holy warfare which consists of obedience to his commands; and let us ask God to supply by the help of His grace what we cannot do by nature. And if we want to attain eternal life, escaping the penalties of hell, then while there is yet time, while we are still in the flesh and able to fulfil all these things before darkness and death come upon us, let us hasten to do now what will benefit is in eternity."

-St. Benedict’s Rule (c. 480- c. 547)

Abbot- runs monastery

Benedict: abbots must
1) not favor one monk over the other
2) never act contrary to the will of God
3) realize that "more is expected of him to whom more is entrusted"
4) never lose sight that souls are more important than the day-to-day material needs of the monastery -an argument against married priests?

Hierarchy in the world; hierarchy enters the monastery

Abbey of Cluny
Largest and grandest of Romanesque monasteries
Function: primarily to provide for monastic pursuits

The self-sufficiency of monasteries

Cloister- (at St. Trophime Abbey)

1) for novices
2) for visiting monks and religious laymen
3) for the aged and infirm brothers

Hugh of Semur
Organizes many independent monasteries under Cluniac supervision
Hugh gains both secular power and religious authority

Third Abbey Church at Cluny

Organized monasticism: a paradox?
St. Bernard’s criticism

98 feet tall; it soon collapses

VII. Romanesque churches: refuges for relic pilgrims

Route to Santiago de Compostela
Transfer of ideas and money along routes
More money, more extravagance
Competition for relics
Competition for extravagance
The disparity between the pilgrims and the churches at which they pray
Are the monks immune from this?

VIII. Video: Art in the Western World (A White Garment of Churches)

Notes of interest:

ROMANESQUE STYLE II of II

Romanesque architecture

1) Structurally broad and massive
2) Semi-circular arches
3) relatively closely spaced columns and supports- security in an insecure world?
4) Weight is supported by walls and columns
5) Small windows

Sculpture at Vezelay

Bible stories symbolized

Tympanum (1120-1132)

Revelation (22:1-2)

The naïve ethnocentrism of the foreigners

Compare with nearby Auton Tympanum by Gislebertus (1120-1135);

Nave capital structures

A) Angel of Death killing Eldest Son of Pharaoh

B) Mystic Mill: Moses and St. Paul Grinding Corn

Monastic Painting

A blank page affords many possibilities for embellishment

Letter Q

Comparisons with Islamic Art

Becomes model for large murals in churches, sculpture above portals and columns, and later for stained glass windows

Christ in Glory

Music

Hildegard von Bingen:
Daughter of nobility; at age 8 entered convent
Claimed to have visions

Rosemary Altea (Oprah guest, psychic):

-her psychic career began in Novermber 1981 when "I awoke early one morning to find him standing by the bed, looking down at me. Although I was half asleep I knew he was no apparition, no specter in the night" (1995).

Hildegard, in her own words,...

Why doesn't Hildegard behold a vision consistent other faiths
1)-perhaps the Christian view is correct
2)-perhaps we see what we think we should see

3)-perhaps we just can't explain these experiences in a way that is distinct from familiar concepts: "It's important to avoid an automatic assumption that just because the religious terminology is employed, the experiences themselves must simply be a projection of the individual's personal beliefs and religious background, and hence, invalid" (George Gallup, Adventures in Immortality, 1982).

What would it take for you to believe that somebody had a religious vision?

Major musical contribution was called The Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations

music sample: Ordo Virtutum, Procession

monophony vs. polyphony

Musical notation

Odo of Cluny (abbot of Cluny from 927-942)

Assigns letters to notes
Makes learning songs possible without having to hear an example

Guido of Arezzo (c. 11^th century)

Assigns syllables to notes (from Hymn to St. John the Baptist):
Originally: ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la
7^th syllable, si, added as 7^th note later

For Guido, notes were in positions on staff lines

Secular Music: Minstrels (Fleming 185-6)

11^th century minstrels were not of noble birth
But they were welcomed at feasts of all kinds, including noble ones
Influenced by Church music
Song of Roland

was once set to music; music has since been lost

Worldly Romanesque

Protection of the sacred in an increasingly violent world: why?

Superstition? Respect? Not to stir up enemies?

Imperial Palace at Goslar in Germany

Mosaic of centaurs

Romanesque house in Cluny

Bayeux Tapestry

Some questions:

1) What is its subject matter?
2) Who are the principal characters?
3) Compare the technique used to separate the action scenes from the technique used in Trajan’s Column , Altar of Zeus frieze, Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, Parthenon frieze

Song of Roland (Chanson de Roland)
First great narrative poetry in French language

A justification of feudalism + the service of God:

"For his lord the vassal bears heat and cold,

Toil and peril endures for him,

Risks in service both life and limb.

For mighty blows let our arms be strung,

Lest songs of scorn be against us song.

With Christian is good, with the heathen ill:

No dastard part shall ye see me fill."

Roland is clearly the main protagonist; Charles is kept in the background

Roland fulfills a function: rear guard. Moreover, he excels at his job.

On doing one’s duty in life: Socrates, the Stoics, Jesus, Feudalism
A form of social control?
Argument for: the idea of duty keeps people from following their true desires to do otherwise (revolt, sin, etc.)
Argument against: Socrates and Jesus were outsiders. They were seen as threats to social control.

Fleming does not believe that the author was informed of true Muslim practices;

Norman Architecture

Tower of London

St. John’s Chapel (1078-97)

St. Etienne, Caen (1064-1135)

Ideas