Chapter: 10 Romanesque Europe: Cult of Relics and Embroidered Arts

Cult of Relics

• A relic is a body part, piece of clothing, or object associated with a saint or holy figure.
• Relics were believed to perform miracles and represent the power and provide comfort.
• Churches would steal relics to attract more pilgrims.
• Pilgrims ideally touch relics, but due to value and fragility, they are often housed in reliquaries.

Reliquaries

• A reliquary is a vessel or receptacle that holds the relic.
• Touching the reliquary was considered valuable if the relic itself couldn't be touched.
• Sometimes relics were displayed behind cases or screens.

Head Reliquary of Saint Alexander

• Made for a church in Belgium.

• The relic belonged to Pope Alexander.

• The head is idealized, resembling Roman Emperors Augustus and Constantine.

• Created using repousse technique: hammering a metal sheet from the back to create relief patterns.

• Features gems, enamel, and dragon legs.

• Combines classical Roman references with Romanesque context.

• The reliquary shows the stylistic diversity of the Romanesque period.

Reliquary of Saint Foix

• Features gold, silver and jewels to illustrate the value of relics.
• Illustrates how important relics were to individuals of the Romanesque Era due to the time spent to create the reliquaries.

Criticism of Relic Obsession

• Bernard of Clairvaux criticized the excessive focus on the beauty of reliquaries over the veneration of the sacred.
• He pointed out the hypocrisy of the church adorning stones with gold while neglecting the poor.

Sculpture and the Cult of Relics

• The veneration of relics led to a demand for smaller items for chapels and altars.

Virgin and Child (Morgan Madonna)

• A painted wooden sculpture, about two and a half feet high.
• Mary is represented as the Throne of Wisdom.
• Christ, originally holding a Bible, embodies wisdom.
• Mary's seated posture resembles a throne for Jesus.
• In Byzantine art, Mary was Theotokos (Mother of God).
• In Romanesque art, she is the Throne of Wisdom.
• In Gothic art, she will be the Queen of Heaven.

Embroidered Arts

Bayeux Tapestry

• Despite the name, it is embroidery, not a tapestry.
• Patterns are sewn onto the fabric with threads.
• Manuscript borders with animals or events relating to the story are common.
• Dimensions: 20 inches high, 230 feet long.
• Features 50 surviving scenes as a continuous narrative.
• The artists are unknown but some suggest that women at Norman court or English stitchers created the tapestry.
• Bishop Odo, half-brother of William the Conqueror, was the patron.

Subject

• Depicts the Norman defeat of the Anglo-Saxons at Hastings in 1066.
• Records the events leading to William the Conqueror's claim to the English throne after King Edward the Confessor's death.
• Commissioned by Bishop Odo and donated to Bayeux Cathedral.

Funeral Procession to Westminster Abbey

• Represents King Edward's funeral.
• Shows Westminster Abbey with attention to its architectural features like the tower, nave, and arcades.
• Every English monarch coronation since William the Conqueror has been held in Westminster Abbey.

Battle of Hastings

• Depicts the battle in October when King William took over England.
  (\text{October }1066)
• Features cavalry fighting on horseback and the dead/wounded in the lower border.
• Action and movement are emphasized.

Comparison to Column of Trajan

• Both feature continuous freeze compositions that tell about victories in battle.
• The continuous narrative documents events (preparations for war, building ships, eating, drinking).

Significance

• Differs from other Romanesque art as it depicts a contemporaneous historical event.
• Depicts the conquest that had taken place a few years prior to this.
• It is a historical narrative, not depicting Bible heroes.