Romanesque Architecture

DEFINITION
The word Romanesque, means descended from Roman, was first used in English to designate what are now called Romance languages. It is a French term that means Roman. Architecturally, the term was first applied in French by the archaeologist Charles de Gerville or his associate Arcisse de Caumont, in 1818, to describe European architecture from the 5th to the 13th centuries, at a timewhen the actual dates of many of the buildings so described had not been ascertained.
The word was used by Gunn to describe the style that was identifiably Medieval and prefigured the Gothic, yet maintained the rounded Roman arch and thus appeared to be a continuation of the Roman tradition of building.
As the name indicates, Romanesque is ultimately inspired by Roman architecture. Similaritiesbetween Roman and Romanesque include round arches, stone materials, and the basilica-style plan (used for secular purposes by the Romans).
But the influences that led to the Romanesque style are far more complex than that. Romanesque architecture also shows influences from Visigothic, Carolingian, Byzantine and Islamic architecture.
The Romanesque period cannot be precisely defined – history israrely as neat as historians terminology – but Romanesque architecture generally dates from 1000 to 1150, when Gothic began to take over. Romanesque was at its height between about 1075 and 1125.
In some conservative regions, Romanesque-style churches continued to be built well into the 1200s, and there was considerable overlap between the styles. Features that lie somewhere between Romanesque andGothic are called Transitional.
HISTORY
Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire.
Despite the impression of 19th century Art Historians that Romanesque architecture was a continuation of the Roman, in fact, Roman building techniques in brick and stone were largely lost in most parts of Europe, and in the more northern countries had neverbeen adopted except for official buildings, while in Scandinavia they were unknown.
There was little continuity, even in Rome, where several great Constantinian basilicas continued to stand as an inspiration to later builders. It was not the buildings of ancient Rome, but the 6th century octagonal Byzantine Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna that was to inspire the greatest building of the DarkAges in Europe, the Emperor Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, Aachen, Germany, built around the year AD 800.
Dating shortly after the Palatine Chapel is a remarkable 9th century Swiss manuscript known as the Plan of Saint Gall and showing a very detailed plan of a monastic complex, with all its various monastic buildings and their functions labeled.
The largest building is the church, the plan ofwhich is distinctly Germanic, having an apse at both ends, an arrangement not generally seen elsewhere. Another feature of the church is its regular proportion, the square plan of the crossing tower providing a module for the rest of the plan. These features can both be seen at the Proto-Romanesque St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim, 1001–1030.
Architecture of a Romanesque style also developedsimultaneously in the north of Italy, parts of France and in the Iberian Peninsula in the 10th century and prior to the later influence of the Abbey of Cluny. The style, sometimes called First Romanesque or Lombard Romanesque, is characterized by thick walls, lack of sculpture and the presence of rhythmic ornamental arches known as a Lombard band.
BUILDINGS AT THE ORIGINS OF ROMANESQUE ARCHITETURE
*Santa Maria in Cosmedin
The Basilica of Saint Mary is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa.
The church was built in the 8th century during the Byzantine Papacy over the remains of the Templum Herculis Pompeiani in the Forum Boarium and of the Statio annonae, one of the food distribution centres of ancient Rome (another is to be found at theatre of Balbus). A...