Romanesque Art

Question 1

Church of Sant Vincenc

Answer 1

To strengthen the exterior walls and enrich their sculptural presence, the masons added vertical bands of projecting masonry (called strip buttresses) joined by arches and additional courses of masonry to counter the weight and outward thrust of the vault
On the interior these masonry strips project from the piers and continue up and over the vault, creating a series of transverse arches
Additional projecting bands line the underside of the arches of the nave arcade. The result is a compound, sculptural pier that works in concert with the transverse arches to divide the nave into a series of bays. This system of bay division became standard in Romanesque architecture

Question 2

The Cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostela

Answer 2

Builders of this and several other major churches along the roads leading through France to the shrine developed a distinctive plan designed to accommodate the crowds of pilgrims and allow them to move easily from chapel to chapel to venerate relics
This “pilgrimage plan” is a model of functional planning and traffic control
To the aisled nave the builders added aisled transepts with eastern chapels leading to an ambulatory (curving walkway) with additional radiating chapels around the apse
This expansion of the basilican plan allowed worshipers to circulate freely around the church’s perimeter, visiting chapels and venerating relics without disrupting services within the main space
The Crusades were a response to centuries of Muslim expansion

Question 3

Sainte Foy

Answer 3

This type of reliquary—taking the form of a statue of the saint—was quite popular in the region around Conques, but not everyone was comfortable with the way these works functioned as cult images.

Early in the eleventh century, Bernard of Angers prefaces his tendentious account of miracles associated with the cult of Sainte Foy by confessing his initial misgivings about such reliquaries, specifically the way simple folks adored them. Bernard thought it smacked of idolatry

Question 4

Sant Cugat

Answer 4

The Monastery of Sant Cugat was originally founded in the 9th century as a Benedictine abbey. However, much of the current structure was built during the 11th and 12th centuries, aligning it with the Romanesque period

It became an important religious center, especially during the Middle Ages, and was a key stopping point for pilgrims on the route to Santiago de Compostela

Included architecture styles such as naves, as well as rounded arches

The carvings include biblical scenes with expressive figures, demonstrating the period’s focus on divine subjects and often a sense of solemnity and gravity