Romanesque Images

Question 1

Title: Interior, Church of Sant Vincenç
Location: Cardona, Spain
Time Period: 1020s-1030s

Answer 1

1. One of the best examples of “First Romanesque”
   - A descriptor for early stone-vaulted buildings, coined in 1928 by Catalan architect and theorist Cadafalch
2. Indicators of Romanesque design:
   - A shift from wood to stone (the roofing is stone)
   - Inclusion of arches

Question 2

Answer 2

Pier
- a vertical structural component or a section of a wall located between two openings
- crucial in supporting and stabilizing structures

Question 3

Answer 3

Arch
- a curved structural element that spans an opening and supports loads from above
- efficiently distributes weight

Question 4

Answer 4

Bay
- any division of a building between vertical lines or planes
- the negative space between two columns/piers etc.

Question 5

Title: Cathedral of St. James, Santiago de Compostela
Location: Galicia, Spain,
Time Period: 1078-1122

Answer 5

1. Its importance lies in its use as a pilgrimage site
   - holds the body of St. James (apostle to the Iberian Peninsula)
2. Narrow structure of the nave
   - Church builders of the time developed a distinctive plan design that accommodated crowds of pilgrims an allowed them to move easily
   - Seen as a model of functional planning and traffic control
3. Oblong arch is indicative of Romanesque design

Question 6

Title: Reliquary Statue of Sainte Foy (St. Faith)
Location: Abbey Church, Conques, France
Time Period: Late 9th or 10th century
Medium: Silver gilt over a wood core
- with gems and cameos of various dates

Answer 6

1. Sainte Foy was a young girl who was beheaded in 303CE by pagan Romans because she refused to renounce her faith
2. A “relic” is a body part of an important holy figure
   - Alternatively, a “contact relic” is something that has come into contact with a holy figure
   3.Worshipping relics was considered idol worship from certain religious officials
3. Owning and displaying a relic was to enhance one’s own prestige substantially
   - The relic of Sainte Foy was actually stolen during the 9th century (that’s when her skull was encased in the reliquary)

Question 7

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Title: Sant Cugat Monastery
Location: Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain
Time Period: Founded in the 9th century, completed in the 14th century

Answer 7

1. Monastic life was the core of the Romanesque period
2. Functioned as small communities, the center of the urban communities around them, and intertwined with politics because of its association with the ruling
   class
   a) Was a place for study, permanent residence, work, hospitals, hostels etc.
   - Hints to the university system that will develop
   b) Monasteries were very connected to ruling families/elite classes
3. A center for Christian learning
   - Away from urban centers to allow for focus on religious studies
4. An example of “hybrid architecture”
   - 2 different religious iconographies coming together to create something new (i.e. the bell tower was repurposed into an Islamic minaret)
5. Using capitals to tell stories is a distinct feature of Romanesque architecture
   - The presence of the sphinx shows how ancient iconography surviving into the middle ages
   - An artefact and a primary source as the sculptor sculpted himself sculping the monastery
   - Emphasizes the importance of modesty through use of the bible

Question 8

Answer 8

1. Archivolts
   - Outer beam surrounding the portals arch
2. Voussoirs
3. Tympanum
   - Contains the most important imagery
   - Often used to describe something beyond earthly (i.e. Jesus, heavenly features, etc.)
4. Lintel
5. Trumeau
   - Supports the lintel and the tympanum
6. Jamb
   - Supportive structures