The Age of Pilgrimages:
Romanesque Art
11th -12th c.
In the Romanesque period, a sharp increase in trade encouraged the
growth of towns and cities. Feudal lord granted independence to the
cities in the form of charters. Cities were often "free", in the sense
that they were directly protected by the king or emperor.
Europe About 1100Santiago de Compostela
(Saint James of Compostela)
One of the chief shrines of Christendom.
There in the early 9th c. the supposed tomb
of the apostle St. James the Greater was
reputedly discovered by a miracle.
Head reliquary of Saint Alexander, from Stavelot Abbey,
Belgium, 1145. Silver repoussé
(partly gilt), gilt bronze, gems,
pearls, and enamel, approx. 1’ 5
1/2” high. Musées Royaux, Brussels.
Reliquary is a container for
relics. These may be the
physical remains of saints, or
some object associated with
saints or other religious figures.
Saint
Thodolus
Saint
Eventius
Saint
Alexander
Comparison- Roman. Augustus of Primaporta, Italy, copy of a bronze original of
ca. 20 BCE. Marble
Head reliquary of Saint Alexander, Belgium,
1145. Silver repoussé, gilt bronze, gems, pearls,
and enamel, approx. 1’ 5 1/2” high.
Comparison – Byzantine.
Christ as Pantokrator, dome
mosaic in the Church of the
Dormition, Daphni, Greece,
ca. 1090–1100.
St. Foy. Reliquary Statue. Front and side views. 10th c. Gold, Silver, Wood, Precious & Semi-precious Stones. Height: 85 cm.
Conques Abbey Treasury. France
Bronze parade mask of a Roman officer.
2nd c.
St. Foy. Reliquary Statue. 10th c. Gold, Silver, Wood, Precious & Semi-
precious Stones. Height: 85 cm. Conques Abbey Treasury. France
Pilgrimage Churches
• Ambulatory – major innovation
• Radiating chapels
• Nave, transept, and side aisles
• Cruciform (overall shape of building)
• Crossing square
• Bays (3-D modules of nave and side aisles)
• Gallery/ tribune level
• Clerestory (usually small in Romanesque
churches)
• Barrel vault (the norm for Romanesque
naves)
• Groin vault (less common, used more in
side aisles)
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Important Elements of the Pilgrimage Church
Aerial view of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse,
France, ca. 1070–1120.
Comparison: Early
Christian Basilica-plan
church (old St. Peter’s)
Comparison: Ottonian church. The abbey church of Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim,
Germany, 1001–1031.
Exterior view of Saint-Sernin, The chevet, Toulouse, France, ca. 1070–1120.
Interior of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse,
France, ca. 1070–1120.
Romanesque takes its name from the Roman-like barrel and
groin vaults based on round arches employed in many European
churches. Romanesque vaults are made of stone, not concrete.
Comparison: Remains of the Basilica of
Maxentius and Constantine. Rome. 4th c. C.E.
Interior of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse,
France, ca. 1070–1120.
Barrel vault
Barrel vault
Groin vault
Interior view of aisle groin vaults
Groin vault
Comparison - Early Christian Basilica: Santa
Sabina. Interior. Rome, Italy, 422–432.
Interior of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse,
France, ca. 1070–1120.
Bay: A part of a
building marked off by
vertical elements, such as
columns or pilasters
Interior of Saint
Philibert, Tournus,
France, nave vaults, ca.
1060.
Restored cutaway view of the third abbey
church (Cluny III), Cluny, France, 1088-1130.
It was the largest church in Europe for 500
years. 500 foot long, three story nave, four isles,
radiating chapels and slightly pointed stone
barrel vaults.
Romanesque Sculpture
BERNARDUS GELDUINUS,
Christ in Majesty, relief in the
ambulatory of Saint-Sernin,
Toulouse, France, ca. 1096.
Marble, 4’ 2” high.
The revival of stone
carving is a hallmark of
the Romanesque age.
It was a means of
impressing and
educating the largely
illiterate audience.
The inscription on
the book reads:
Pax vobis = “Peace
unto you”
Comparison – Byzantine. Transfiguration of Jesus, apse mosaic, monastery of Saint
Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt, ca. 548–565.
Mandorla: almond
shaped aureola of
light
BERNARDUS GELDUINUS,
Christ in Majesty, relief in the
ambulatory of Saint-Sernin,
Toulouse, France, ca. 1096.
Marble, 4’ 2” high.
Christ as Pantokrator, dome
mosaic in the Church of the
Dormition, Daphni, Greece,
ca. 1090–1100.
Comparison - Ottonian.
Otto III enthroned, the Gospel Book
of Otto III, from Reichenau, Germany,
997–1000.
BERNARDUS GELDUINUS, Christ in Majesty, relief in the ambulatory of
Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1096.
Marble, 4’ 2” high.
South Portal of Saint-
Pierre, Moissac, France,
ca. 1115-1135
South Portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, ca. 1115-1135
Depicts the second coming of Christ as King and Judge of the world with 24
elders/kings who make music to praise him
Christ is the
door to salvation
- “I’m the door;
who enters
through me will
be saved”
- John 10:9
Lions and Old
Testament prophet
(Jeremiah or Isaiah?),
from the trumeau of
the south portal of
Saint-Pierre, Moissac,
France, ca. 1115–
1130. Marble, approx.
life-size.
The Prophet Jeremiah (Isaiah?)
Trumeau of the South portal
Hiberno Saxon - Cross-inscribed carpet page, detail,
Lindisfarne Gospels, ca. 698–721.
Tempera on vellum
Lions and Old Testament prophet from
the trumeau of the south
portal of Saint-Pierre,
Moissac, France, ca.
1115–1130. Marble,
Gislebertus, Last Judgment, west tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca.
1120–1135. Marble, approx. 21’ wide at base.
Gislebertus, Last Judgment, west tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca.
1120–1135. Marble, approx. 21’ wide at base. https://youtu.be/PATkTJhAUhM
Giselbertus
Tympanum.
Last Judgment.c. 1130-46
St. Lazare.
Autun.
Burgundy.
France.
Symbol of Zodiac: Pisces
Labor of the Month: February
Gislebertus, Eve. St. Lazare. Side portal. Lintel. Autun, France, ca. 1120–1135
"to live with a woman without danger is more difficult than to raise
the dead."
... The sins of a man are more pious, more acceptable to the Lord,
than the good deeds of a woman.“
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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WILIGELMO, creation and temptation of Adam and Eve, detail of the frieze on
the west facade, Modena Cathedral, Modena, Italy, ca. 1110. Marble, 3’ high.
Comparison - Early
Christian. Sarcophagus
of Junius Bassus, from
Rome, Italy, ca. 359.
Marble, 3’ 10 1/2” X 8’.
Museo Storico del Tesoro
della Basilica di San Pietro,
Rome.
WILIGELMO, creation
and temptation of Adam
and Eve, detail of the
frieze on the west facade,
Modena Cathedral,
Modena, Italy, ca. 1110.
Marble, 3’ high.
Lust (one of the seven
deadly sins) from
Saint-Pierre,
Moissac,
France, ca.
1115-1135
Devil with a Musician and Woman. La Madeleine, Veseley, France. 1120-35
Painting and Embroidery
4545
Hildegard receives her visions, detail of
a facsimile of a lost folio in the Ruperts-
berger Sciviasby Hildegard of Bingen,
from Trier or Bingen, Germany, ca.1150–
1179. Abbey of St. Hildegard,
Rüdesheim/Eibingen.
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
German abbess and visionary mystic. She
recorded her prophetic, symbolic, and
apocalyptic visions in books.
She founded a convent and her advice was
sought by the most powerful and eminent
figures of Europe.
Her works include a morality play, a book
of saints' lives, treatises on medicine and
natural history, and extensive
correspondence. Additionally, she is the
first woman composer in the Western
tradition whose music is known.
Initial R with knight fighting
a Dragon, Moralia in Job,
Citeaux, 1115-1125
Ink and Tempera on vellum
This manuscript was
produced before Saint
Bernard was able to ban
such work in 1134, after
which full page illustrations,
figurative initials and
initials with more than one
color were banned.
Lions and Old Testament prophet (Jeremiah
or Isaiah?), France, ca. 1115–1130. Marble,
approx. life-size.
Initial R with knight fighting
a Dragon, Moralia, Moralia in
Job, Citeaux, 1115-1125
Ink and Tempera on vellum
Hiberno Saxon: Man (symbol of Saint Matthew) The Book of
Durrow, ca. 660–680.
Ink and tempera on
parchment
Carolingian: Saint Matthew, Coronation
Gospels, ca. 800–810. Ink
and tempera on vellum,
Hiberno Saxon: Saint Matthew, Lindisfarne
Gospels, ca. 698–721.
Tempera on vellum
Initial R with knight
fighting a Dragon, Moralia
in Job, Citeaux, 1115-1125
Ink and Tempera on vellum
Saint Matthew, folio 25 verso of the
Lindisfarne Gospels, from Northumbria,
England, ca. 698–721. Tempera on
vellum, 1’ 1 1/2” X 9 1/4”.
Saint Matthew, Coronation Gospels
(Gospel Book of Charlemagne), from
Aachen, Germany, ca. 800–810. Ink and
tempera on vellum, 1’ 3/4” X 10”.
Master Hugo, Moses
Expounding the Law,
Bury Bible, c 1135 , ink
and tempera on vellum
Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge
51
Funeral procession to Westminster Abbey details of the Bayeux Tapestry, from
Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux, France, ca. 1070-1080. Embroidered wool on linen, 1’ 8” high
(entire length of fabric 229’ 8”). It consists of 79 consecutive scenes, with Latin
inscriptions and decorative borders. The needleworkers were either Norman or English
women. Centre Buillaume le Conquerant, Bayeux.
Norman Conquest: The conquest of England by the Normans under William the
Conqueror.
The Latin inscription reads "Here the
body of King Edward is carried to the
Church of St. Peter the Apostle."
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Battle of Hastings, detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, from Bayeux Cathedral,
Bayeux, France, ca. 1070-1080. Embroidered wool on linen, 1’ 8” high (entire length
of fabric 229’ 8”). Centre Buillaume le Conquerant, Bayeux.
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Discussion Questions
❖ Why do you think there was such a strong positive
reception of the concept of relics in Romanesque society?
❖ What were the various roles of figural art, both two-
dimensional and sculptural, during the Romanesque
period?