Romanesque Art: Murals & Mosaics

Some of the most beautiful and intricately designed artwork still present in historical churches came from the Romanesque art period. First, let’s understand what “Romanesque” truly is. It is a “specific style of architecture, along with sculpture and other minor arts that appeared across France, Germany, Italy, and Spain during the 11^th century”. So, the epicenter of this time was from 1000-1200. Like any period of art, Romanesque art had it’s own style that characterized it. Some of these characteristics include: rich, elaborate, lavish designs done on a very large scale. The giant scale reflected the “greater social stability of the new millennium, and the growing confidence of the Christian Church in Rome”.  Romanesque art was richer and more grandiose than anything witnessed during the era of the Early Christian Art. Coming towards the end of the Middle Ages, the Romanesque world was seen as a large community that was united by Christianity.  This unity could be seen in the churches as art and Christianity joined together to create beautiful masterpieces.

Murals

Mural (noun): a painting or other work of art executed directly on a wall

During this time, churches often took advantage of their wall space by aiding the illiterate congregation with works of art. Murals were often done on large wall surface and on the curving vaults and ceilings.

“Tower of Babel” Mural in Abbey Church, Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe in Saint-Savin, France (c.1060)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fragment_des_fresques_de_la_nef_de_l%27église_de_Saint-Savin_Tour_de_babel_et_Saint-Joseph_%28Compartiment_A3_à_B4%29DSC_1688b.jpg

A classic scheme for a fully painted church may look something like this…

• The focal point would be in the semi-dome of the apse and would depict Christ framed four winged beasts, which are symbols of the four evangelists. However, if the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, then she may replace Christ as the focal point.
• The apse walls below would show saints and apostles, often in narrative scenes to help the congregation understand the stories of the Bible.
• The sanctuary arch could show apostles, prophets, and/or the 24 elders of the Apocalypse looking in towards a depiction of Christ or his symbol, the Lamb, at the top of the arch.
• The north wall of the nave generally had narrative scenes from the Old Testament.
• The south wall of the nave generally had narrative scenes from the New Testament.
• The rear west wall showed the Last Judgment with Christ enthroned at the top.

While Romanesque murals began in Italy, after 1100 the murals began to spread to Cologne and the Rhineland areas of Germany, as well as on to Spain. In Spain, there were strong Islamic influences so the murals there were brighter and more colorful.  Unfortunately because of time and dampness, many of the early murals have been somewhat destroyed. Some were also plastered or whitewashed over due to Reformation iconoclasm.

Apse of Sant Climent de Taul (c. 1123) in Catalonia, Spain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesque_art

Symbols in Apse of Sant Climent de Taul:

• Round surface beneath Christ’s feet: the earth
• Halo on Christ’s head: divinity
• Christ’s right hand: blessing
• Christ’s left hand: book with words EGO SUM LUX MUNDI “I am the light of the world”
• Alpha and Omega symbols: the beginning and the end
• 4 evangelists
• Below the mural: St Thomas, St Bartholomew, Mother of God, St John the Evangelist, St James, San Felipe

Mosaics

Mosaic (noun): a picture or pattern produced by arranging together small pieces of hard material, such as stone, tile, or glass

Mosaics are made with tesserae, which are roughly shaped cubes cut from various materials. Tesserae are usually pieces of black, white, and colored marbles and other stones and tile, as well as clear and colored glass and opaque glass, and pottery. The sizes of tesserae varied depending on the level of intricacy and the style the artist was trying to portray. Smaller tesserae were cut for finer details while larger tesserae were used for bolder, coarser images. Some pieces could be as small as 4mm cubes. The pieces are set as closely together as possible in fine mortar and once that has set, the area between the tesserae is grouted, cleaned, and polished. The artist often placed the tesserae at a slight angle to the wall or surface and to each other. This was done so that the edges would catch and reflect light. Also, to avoid flatness the pieces were placed at various depths so the light would reflect off of the uneven surfaces giving the work life.

“Coronation of the Virgin” Apse Mosaic at Santa Maria in Trastevere, Italy (c. 1291) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Trastevere

“Coronation of the Virgin” Apse Mosaic close up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Trastevere

The mosaic art style has Hellenistic foundations. “Pavements of tesserae with borders and motifs in black or color on a white ground developed in the Hellenistic world (possibly in Sicily) in the 3^rd century BC and were well established before 100 BC,” (Henig 116-17). After the decline of Greece, Greek craftsmen were recruited by Rome to make mosaics largely on the floors of domestic buildings. At this time, designs focused on gods, political leaders, domestic themes, and some patternwork.

During the Romanesque art period, in some cases, tesserae were arranged in abstract patterns on floors and walls, like a rug or wallpaper would have been used for. Besides being more elaborate, mosaics were sturdier and cleaned better. However, mosaics went beyond just patterns to mosaic pictures as well. Many artists strived to copy/imitate murals in their mosaics. Some would draw out the picture and then lay the mosaic down overtop it. As for a definitive, progression of style of Romanesque mosaics, it is nearly impossible to chart the different steps this art form took. In A Handbook of Roman Art, Martin Henig explains that “there can never be a history of Roman mosaics in the sense of a demonstrably lineal evolution of a single or universal style. The Empire was too vast and communications were too slow and intermittent for such an evolution to be possible”.

Apse mosaic of Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, Italy (c. 1200)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Clemente

Mosaics moved from domestic decoration to adorning churches, just like murals. “Roman interiors were conceived as entire and integrated designs,” so a lot of thought went into planning the mosaics in the church (Henig 49). Because the mosaic artists oftentimes imitated murals, the same sort of imagery would be seen in these mosaics on the church walls. While the mosaics were beautiful decorations and adorned the walls, they were also teaching tools. The illiterate could look at the story the art was depicting and understand what was going on.

The Last Judgement ceiling mosaic ceiling at the Baptistry of Il Duomo in Florence, Italy (c. 1225) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Baptistery#Mosaic_ceiling

Sources

Cole, Bruce. The Informed Eye: Understanding Masterpieces of Western Art. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1999. Print.

Henig, Martin. A Handbook of Roman Art: A Comprehensive Survey of All the Arts of the Roman World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1983. Print.

“Romanesque Art (c.1000-1200).” Romanesque Art: History, Characteristics. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2015. <http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/romanesque-art.htm#religion&gt;.

“Romanesque Art.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesque_art&gt;.