Architectural Styles Overview: Romanesque and Gothic

This set of flashcards covers essential aspects and characteristics of Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles across different regions in Europe, including key features, functions, and examples for each style.

What characterizes Romanesque architecture in Europe (outside Italy)?

Architecture of mass, solidity, and structural clarity with thick walls, heavy piers, round arches, and sculptural decoration.

What were the main features of Lombard Romanesque architecture?

Preference for brick construction, rhythmic façade articulation, restrained ornament, and strong pier systems.

How did Tuscan Romanesque differ from other variations of Romanesque architecture?

It emphasized classical balance, surface richness, polychrome marble façades, and civic images in architecture.

What is a key distinguishing feature of Gothic architecture in northern Europe (outside Italy)?

Height and light from pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses that allow tall walls and large windows.

What role did cathedrals play in Northern Gothic architecture?

They served as symbols of civic pride and spiritual instruments, with an emphasis on light representing divinity.

What architectural innovations are associated with French Gothic structures?

Strong use of chevet with ambulatory and radiating chapels, reduced wall mass, and stained glass dominance.

How did Italian Gothic architecture adapt Gothic elements?

It featured less extreme verticality, a focus on façade surfaces, and integrated local classical traditions.

What are pilgrimage churches designed to do?

Manage crowds while providing access to relics without interrupting liturgical functions through features like ambulatories and multiple altars.

What defines medieval cities during the Middle Ages?

They were shaped by defense systems, mixed-use urban fabric, and institutionally layered environments, creating dense settlements.

What is the significance of Filippo Brunelleschi in Renaissance architecture?

He emphasized rational, modular space, breaking from Gothic complexity, using classical vocabulary as a structural system.