Chapter: 10 Romanesque Europe Sculptures Notes

Romanesque Sculpture

Early Christian Architecture vs. Romanesque

• Early Christian churches featured raw, undecorated exteriors with lavishly decorated interiors.
• Romanesque churches, in contrast, are extensively sculpted and decorated on the exterior.

Key Areas of Focus: Tympanum and Lintel

• Lintel: A horizontal bar above the doorway.
• Tympanum: A half-circle above the lintel.

Purpose of Exterior Decoration

• Pilgrims traveling long distances would see the sculptures on the tympanum and lintel right before entering the church.
• The exterior decoration served as a transition, preparing pilgrims for worship.

Comparison to Greco-Roman Temples

• Greek, Roman, and Etruscan temples also had decorated exteriors which had pediments similar to the tympanum
• Unlike Romanesque churches, worship in the Greco-Roman world took place outside (except at the Pantheon).
• Romanesque churches used exterior decoration to welcome pilgrims and prepare them for worship inside.

Rich Decoration of Portals

• Romanesque portals were richly decorated, with different doorways around the church (main doorway, transept doorways).

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles)

• The bronze double doors depict various stories, many related to the Virgin Mary.

Saint Lazar Cathedral: West Portal

• Built by a bishop to house the relics of Saint Lazarus (brother of Mary and Martha, resurrected by Christ).
• Function: Served the liturgy of burial and commemoration of the dead.
• The Last Judgment theme was used to instill fear but also offer hope and salvation, fitting the church's purpose.
• Gislebertus: The sculptor who created the Last Judgment image.
• The clergy and patrons often dictated the subject matter of the sculptures.

Last Judgment Depiction

• Christ in the center (hierarchical scale), inside a mandorla (oval shape).
• Angels are trumpeting the last judgment.
• The elect (saved) are on Christ's right (our left), ascending to heaven.
• Sinners are on Christ's left (our right), condemned to hell.
• The dead are rising from their graves, awaiting judgment on the lintel.

Inscription Carved into the Mandorla

• An inscription around Christ’s mandorla explains the meaning of the scene:
  • "I alone arrange all things and crown the deserving. Punishment with me as judge holds in check those whom vice stimulates. Whoever is not seduced by an impious life will rise again in this way, and the light of day will shine on him forever. May this terror terrify those whom earthly error binds, for the horror of these images here in this manner truly depicts what will be."

Details on the Lintel

• Pilgrims are depicted holding bags with symbols (cross and cockle shell), indicating they completed a pilgrimage and are on the path to salvation.
• Souls of the dead are being grabbed by demonic hands and taken to hell.
• The weighing of souls: an angel on the left, a demonic figure on the right.
• Angels acted as intercessors, offering refuge to those fearful of judgment.
• Demonic figures are depicted with emaciated bodies and striated lines, in contrast to the graceful, elongated angels.
• A fiery furnace shows people being pulled in by grotesque demonic figures.
• Angels on the sides announce the judgment.
• People are grabbing onto the angel's skirt, seeking to be taken to heaven, but the angel points them to Jesus as the final judge.

Main Message

• A warning to those who do not believe or abide by religious principles.
• Reassurance to pilgrims that their pilgrimage and sacrifice will be rewarded with salvation.

Tympanum in Vezelay: Pentecost and Mission of the Apostles

• Vezelay was a starting point in France for the pilgrimage to Santiago De Compostela.
• Depicts the Pentecost and the mission of the apostles (Acts 1:4-9).
• Christ is in the center (hierarchical scale), extending his hands.
• Light rays emanating from his right hand symbolize the Holy Spirit being given to the apostles.
• The Pentecost occurred on the seventh Sunday after Easter.
• Apostles on either side of Jesus are holding gospel books, ready to preach the gospel to all nations.
• The arrangement of the bodies facing different directions indicates their readiness to travel.
• The lintel depicts the people of all nations whom the apostles are meant to reach.

Message for Worshippers

• God's presence and power are symbolized.
• Teaching about the Holy Spirit coming to believers.
• Emphasis on the mission expected of believers.

Appropriateness to Vezelay

• Vezelay was closely associated with the Crusades.
• The Crusades were seen as a second mission to the believers/apostles.
• The tympanum depicts the Pentecost, the power they will receive, and their mission.

Interior of Vezelay Church

• Features a barrel vault.
• Directs the eye towards the apse.

Benedetto Antelami's King David Statue

• Found outside in a niche on the church facade.
• Unusual to have life-sized freestanding statuary in the Romanesque period.
• King David is represented in a confined manner, with elbows close to the body.
• The figure is dictated by the architecture.
• Freestanding statues were seen in the Greco-Roman world and would later be seen in the Renaissance.

Comparison with Renaissance Sculpture

• Donatello's Saint Mark: A freestanding, life-sized statue in a niche, with movement (contrapposto, tilted hips).
• Nanni di Banco's Crowned Saints at Orsanmichele: Interacting in the space, showcasing the evolution of creativity in niches.

Conclusion

• Romanesque sculptures, particularly tympanums, conveyed messages to pilgrims.
• Biblical characters were found in niches outside churches.
• King David is an example of a figure found within a niche.