Church of Saine-Foy
Conques, France
Romanesque Europe
Stone (architecture); stone and paint (tympanum); gold, silver, gemstones, and enamel over wood (reliquary)
Bayeux Tapestry
Romanesque Europe (English or Norman)
Embroidery on linen
Abbey
a monastery for monks, or a convent for nuns, and the church that is connected to it
Ambulatory
a passageway around the apse of a church
Apse
the end point of a church where the altar is
Arcade
a series of arches supported by columns. when the arches face a wall are are not self-supporting they are called a blind arcade
Archivolt
a series of concentric moldings around an arch
Axial plan (basilican plan, longitudinal plan)
a church with a long nave whose focus is the apse, so-called because it is designed along an axis
Bay
a vertical section of a church that is embraces by a set of columns and is usually composed of arches and aligned windows
Campanile
a bell tower of an Italian building
Cathedral
the principal church of a diocese, where a bishop sits
Clerestory
the window story of a church
Compound pier
a gathering of engaged shafts around a pier
Continuous narrative
a work of art that contains several scenes of the same story painted or sculpted in continuous succession
Embroidery
a woven product in which the design is stitched into a premade fabric
Gallery
a passageway inside or outside a church that generally is characterized by having a colonnade or arcade
Jamb
the side posts of a medieval portal
Last Judgement
in Christianity, the judgement before God at the end of the world
Mandorla
(italian for ‘almond’) an almond-shaped circle of light around the figure of Christ or Buddha
Portal
a doorway, in Medieval art they can be significantly decorated
Radiating chapel
a chapel that extends out in a radial pattern from an apse or an ambulatory
Reliquary
a vessel for holding a sacred relic. often reliquaries took the shape of the objects they held. precious metals and stones were the common material
Rib vault
a vault in which diagonal arches form riblike patterns. these arches partially support a roof, in some cases forming a web-like design
Tapestry
a woven product in which the design and the backing are produced at the same time on a device called a loom
Transept
an aisle in a church perpendicular to the nave
Transverse arch
an arch that spans an interior space connecting opposite walls by crossing from side to side
Triforium
a narrow passageway with arches opening onto a nave, usually directly below a clerestory
Trumeau
the central pillar of a portal that stabilizes the structure. it is often elaborately decorated
Tympanum
a rounded sculpture placed over the portal of a medieval church
Vault
a roof constructed with arches
Voussoir
a wedge-shaped stone that forms the curved part of an arch. the central voussoir is called a keystone