Faces of the Romanesque

[dick bird]

One of the few advantages of Covid, for me at least, was that being unable to walk the camino I was forced to read and learn about it and so I came to the Romanesque, a term used to refer to early Mediaeval architecture. It is really a misnomer apparently devised by early Gothic revivalists (Gothic itself was originally a pejorative and equally inaccurate term) to indicate that it was a style belonging to a culture that had yet to master the pointed arch and was so forced to rely on Roman models. It is a doubly misleading term because not only is the ´following Roman models´ argument questionable, it tends to shift the focus onto architecture and away from sculpture, despite the work of Arthur Kingsley Porter (and his wife) and Meyer Schapiro, and if there is one thing you can say about Romanesque sculpture, it did not follow Roman or Classical models. On the contrary, it completely rejected the idea that sculpture should express noble ideals through representations of the idealised human body. Looked at through 20th or 21st century eyes, it is expressive, lively, sometimes unsophisticated but is always trying to represent humans and their feelings as they really are

I hope that doesn´t sound too pretentious. Anyway, the last couple of caminos I´ve made a conscious effort to photo as much Romanesque and early mediaeval sculpture as I could. I put this video together as a bit of fun. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[mspath]

dick bird,

Thanks for your video and sharing your wonderful memories.

In graduate school 60 years ago I attended courses by the great art/architecture historian Meyer Schapiro. Several erudite lectures focused on the architecture along the Camino Frances, not only famous monuments but also simple vernacular buildings.

Schapiro stressed the importance of carved shells as the major iconic motif for identifying all related to Saint James as well as the immense social impact of the camino path across northern Spain.

Bingo I was hooked and decided that someday I would walk that path myself. I did in 2004 for the first of many times.I loved walking the camino then and continue to love those memories now. ...Again thank you for sharing yours.

 

[JustOneGuy]

I am glad you opened this thread, @dick bird. I was about to do something similar myself!

I was born and lived in Rome for about half my life. I don't know if you've ever been there but the city obviously has a patchwork of western architectural styles that are hard to find elsewhere: Roman antiquities, Middle Age, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, etc. You name it!

My good fortune is that my father, a failed architect because of the IIWW, but still an architecture enthusiast, used to take me almost every Sunday on very long walking tours of ancient Rome, introducing me also to gems that are unknown to most, half-hidden perhaps in the hallway of some Renaissance palace or in the many ancient city parks.

In this way I learned two things: first, to walk a long way and... second, to appreciate architecture. In short, I do not lack a “culture” of ancient architecture and various styles. To live in a city where there are almost a thousand churches, where you can absent-mindedly look at a zillion of Roman antiquities on your way to school, or visit 6 Caravaggio for free (in as many churches), or walk past works by authors such as Michelangelo, Bernini or Borromini every day is incredibly fortunate. The unique richness of materials, the beauty of certain architecture, are unparalleled elsewhere.

Yet...

Yet on a recent trip to the North of Spain - the same trip that made me start thinking about a Camino de Santiago... - I discovered Asturian Preromanesque ("prerromanico" as they call it there), and I was literally hypnotized by this style. It is reminiscent of something one might encounter in some regions of Italy (Tuscany or Lombardia for example), with austere but at the same time delicate facades built in warm-colored stones, but it remains different. The ratio of height to width of the facades, the ancestral faces of certain statues, the seriousness and at the same time lightness of certain constructions left me, who knows why literally astonished.

I stood staring at Santa Maria del Naranco or San Miguel de Lillo for a good hour each, circling them while trying to understand the impenetrable secret of so much fascination.

 

[Barbara]

Thank you. I enjoyed watching that.

 

[LibbyM]

One of the few advantages of Covid, for me at least, was that being unable to walk the camino I was forced to read and learn about it and so I came to the Romanesque, a term used to refer to early Mediaeval architecture. It is really a misnomer apparently devised by early Gothic revivalists (Gothic itself was originally a pejorative and equally inaccurate term) to indicate that it was a style belonging to a culture that had yet to master the pointed arch and was so forced to rely on Roman models. It is a doubly misleading term because not only is the ´following Roman models´ argument questionable, it tends to shift the focus onto architecture and away from sculpture, despite the work of Arthur Kingsley Porter (and his wife) and Meyer Schapiro, and if there is one thing you can say about Romanesque sculpture, it did not follow Roman or Classical models. On the contrary, it completely rejected the idea that sculpture should express noble ideals through representations of the idealised human body. Looked at through 20th or 21st century eyes, it is expressive, lively, sometimes unsophisticated but is always trying to represent humans and their feelings as they really are

I hope that doesn´t sound too pretentious. Anyway, the last couple of caminos I´ve made a conscious effort to photo as much Romanesque and early mediaeval sculpture as I could. I put this video together as a bit of fun. Hope you enjoy it.

That was amazing. Thank you!

 

[Barbara]

I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your thread, but I thought you might like to see some paintings in the Abbey Church of Saint Savin, on the Tours route eastern variant. Video of Saint Savin
We don't see many pilgrims on this route, which is a shame, as there is some wonderful architecture, as well as great scenery and French food.