The Age of Pilgrimages: Romanesque Art
  
       
  Architecture :: Sculpture :: Painting   Images courtesy of
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  SCULPTURE

Architectural Sculpture

Stone sculpture revived:

The revival of stonecarving is one of the hallmarks of the Romanesque age. Individual Romanesque sculptural motifs and compositions often originated in Carolingian and Ottonian ivory carving, metalwork, and manuscript illumination. But Roman sculptures throughout France, Italy, Germany, and Spain provided a powerful spur to the imaginations of Romanesque patrons and artists alike.

Cloister Sculpture:

The beginnings of a revived tradition of stonecarving can be seen in the carved capitals of northern Romanesque churches. The most extensive preserved ensemble of sculptured early Romanesque capitals is found in the cloister of Saint-Pierre at Moissac in southwestern France.		    
       
 

12-20: Cloister of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, ca. 1100-1115. Limestone with marble relief panels, piers approx. 6' high.

  1. Cloister
  2. Cloister
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Art and the laity:

The Romanesque period also witnessed the spread of a sculpture to other areas of the church, both inside and out. With the rise of towns in the Romanesque period, churches, especially those on the major pilgrimage routes, increasingly served the lay public.

Sculpture at Toulouse:

The sharply incised lines and ornamentation of the marble relief of Christ in Majesty is characteristic of pre-Romanesque metalwork.		  



       
  12-21: BERNARDUS GELDUINUS, Christ in Majesty, relief in the ambulatory of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France, ca. 1096. Marble, 4' 2" high.
  1. relief
  2. relief
Genesis at Modena:

The high relief carving of the figures in the frieze at Modena breaks through the arcaded frame format to produce a more continuous narrative.		  
       
  12-22: WILIGELMO, creation and temptation of Adam and Eve, frieze on the west facade, Modena Cathedral, Modena, Italy, ca. 1110. Marble, approx. 3' high.
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The second coming at Moissac:

The tympanum at Moissac exhibits a distinctive style of Romanesque sculpture characterized by figures with elongated bodies and draperies decorated with zigzag and dovetail lines.		  
       
 

12-23: South portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, ca. 1115-1135. Marble, approx. 16' 6" wide at base.

  1. tympanum
  2. detail
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  7. tympanum

A prophet at the door:

The scalloped trumeau at Moissac shows an elongated, cross-legged figure accompanied by roaring lions.

  
       
 

12-24: 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.

  1. trumeau
  2. detail
  3. trumeau
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Judgment day at Autun:

The tympanum at Autun shows figures carved in relief with expressive facial expressions and gestures.		  
       
 

12-25: GISLEBERTUS, Last Judgment, west tympanum of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France, ca. 1120-1135. Marble, approx. 21' wide at base.

  1. tympanum
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  6. portal
Vézelay and the Crusades:

The tympanum at Vézelay shows elongated, angular figures with agitated poses. Drapery patterns are linear with zigzags, loops and whorls.		  
       
 

12-26: Ascension of Christ and Mission of the Apostles, tympanum of the center portal of the narthex of La Madeleine, Vézelay, France, 1120-1132.

  1. tympanum
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Provence and Rome:

The portal of Saint-Trophîme resembles a Roman arch.

  
       
 
 
       
       
 

12-27: Portal on the west facade of Saint-Trophîme, Arles, France, mid twelfth century.

  1. Portal
  2. Portal
  3. Portal
  4. Portal
Benedetto Antelami:

The revival of monumental stone sculpture in Italy shows a classical sensibility rooted in Greco-Roman art.

12-28: BENEDETTO ANTELAMI, King David, statue in a niche on the west facade of Fidenza Cathedral, Fidenza, Italy, ca. 1180-1190. Marble, approx. life-size.
  1. David
  2. Isaiah
  3. David
  4. David
  5. David
Metalwork and Wood Sculpture

Rainer of Huy:

Rainer of Huy's bronze baptismal font shows a Classicizing style with idealized bodies and faces and heavy clinging drapery.

12-29: RAINER OF HUY, Baptism of Christ, baptismal font from Notre-Dame-des-Fonts, Liège, Belgium, 1107-1118. Bronze, 2' 1" high. Saint-Barthélémy, Liège.
  1. font
  2. font
The throne of wisdom:

The soft modeling of the faces of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child on a wooden reliquary lends the figures a human warmth and intimacy.		  
       
 

12-30: Virgin and Child (Morgan Madonna), from the Auvergne, France, second half of twelfth century. Painted wood, 2' 7" high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1916).

  1. Reliquary
  2. Reliquary
Wibald's silver reliquary:

A reliquary of Saint Alexander is a life-size idealized head.

12-31: 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.
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