Romanesque Art

In art history, the term ‘Romanesque art’ distinguishes the period between the beginning of the 11th and the end of the 12th century. This era showed a great diversity of regional schools each with their own unique style. In architecture as well as in sculpture, Romanesque art is marked by raw forms. Through its rich iconography and captivating text, this work reclaims the importance of this art which is today often overshadowed by the later Gothic style.

A fully updated and comprehensive companion to Romanesque and Gothic art history This definitive reference brings together cutting-edge scholarship devoted to the Romanesque and Gothic traditions in Northern Europe and provides a clear analytical survey of what is happening in this major area of Western art history. The volume comprises original theoretical, historical, and historiographic essays written by renowned and emergent scholars who discuss the vibrancy of medieval art from both thematic and sub-disciplinary perspectives. Part of the Blackwell Companions to Art History, A Companion to Medieval Art, Second Edition features an international and ambitious range of contributions covering reception, formalism, Gregory the Great, pilgrimage art, gender, patronage, marginalized images, the concept of spolia, manuscript illumination, stained glass, Cistercian architecture, art of the crusader states, and more. Newly revised edition of a highly successful companion, including 11 new articles Comprehensive coverage ranging from vision, materiality, and the artist through to architecture, sculpture, and painting Contains full-color illustrations throughout, plus notes on the book’s many distinguished contributors A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe, Second Edition is an exciting and varied study that provides essential reading for students and teachers of Medieval art.

All over Europe, examples of Romanesque architecture shape our image of the Middle Ages. This volume presents the grand views of cathedrals along with fascinating details drawn from sculpture and painting. The Romanesque was the first epoch of medieval art that encompassed all of Europe. Its origins hearken back to characteristic elements of Roman construction - reflected in the name of the period - and in the course of the High Middle Ages developed into the embodiment of Christian sacred art. Architecture, painting, and sculpture were permeated with the Christian worldview and the spirit of the religion. The book at hand helps us understand and even experience this tight integration and masterfully explains the manifold aspects of Romanesque artistic composition, in which the hopes and fears of the people of the time found their expression. AUTHOR: For this work, editor Rolf Toman gathered contributions from nine renowned authors with profound expertise in the fields of architecture and art history whose competent knowledge clearly elucidates the art of the Romanesque period. SELLING POINTS: Comprehensive contributions which incorporate aspects of culture and the mentality of the times in addition to art historical information An extensive introduction to the forms and shapes of the Romanesque explains the stylistic "tools" of sacred architecture, from round arches to the most varied development of choirs or crypts A separate chapter is devoted to the pictorial realm of Romanesque sculpture Photographs taken specially for this book show the diversity of forms of Romanesque architecture over 750 illustrations

Professor Conant's detailed studies of Santiago de Compostela and of the abbey church at Cluny fit him for this account of building in the period of the round arch which preceeded Gothic. In this volume he shows how, at the instigation of the monasteries during the little renaissance of Charlemagne, Roman methods of construction were revived and fused with local traditions to produce a distinctive Carolingian manner; and how such monuments as the Palatine Chapel at Aachen already contained hints of the nobler and more mature Romanesque style which was to become international. professor Conant extends his survey to cover the regions of medieval France, Spain, Portugal, the Holy Land, Italy, Germany, Northern Europe, and Britain.

The decades following the year 1000 marked a watershed in the history of the Iberian Peninsula when the balance of power shifted from Muslims to Christians. During this crucial period of religious and political change, Romanesque churches were constructed for the first time in Spain. Romanesque Architecture and Its Sculptural Decoration in Christian Spain, 1000-1120 examines how the financial patronage of newly empowered local rulers allowed Romanesque architecture and sculptural decoration to significantly redefine the cultural identities of those who lived in the frontier kingdoms of Christian Spain. Proceeding chronologically, Janice Mann studies the earliest Romanesque monuments constructed by Sancho el Mayor (r.1004-1035) and his wife, daughters, and granddaughters, as well as those that were built by Sancho Ramírez, king of Aragon (1064-1094). Mann examines groups of buildings constructed by particular patrons against the backdrop of changing social conditions and attitudes that resulted from increased influence from beyond the Pyrenees, the consolidation of royal power, and intensified aggression against Muslims. An in-depth study of the rise of an architectural style, this is the first book to examine early Romanesque architecture and sculpture of the Iberian Peninsula as it relates to frontier culture.