By:
Brandon Shafer
Italian Architecture
Romanesque
In 800A.D to 1,100A.D, between the byzantine and gothic architectural periods, the Romanesque period was one of the most creative and fruitful artistic period in Italian history. People moved away from wooden roofs, making larger and thicker walls more neccessary. Buildings were generally build out of marble or stone and did not have large amounts of decorations like the previous period. During this feudal time period, protection was more important than aestetic appeal, creating practicality of thicker walls and little decorations. With the start of the crusades, the architectual fervor was strong all over Europe, causing people to build large churches, parrishes, and monestaries in the romanesque style in order to pray for loved one's or one's killed during the crusades.
History:
Background
Walls:
Styles
The walls of romanesque buildings were generally very thick will little openings. In Italy, bricks were often used as well as limestone as they were available and relitively inexpensive materials.
Vaults:
Barrel vaults were simple vaults that streched from wall to wall along the roofs of large building. A groin vault has two intercepting arches and is usually placed at a 90 degree intersection of barrel vaults. Ribbed vaults are similar to groin vaults in their design, but the horizontal arch is the main suport.
Piers:
Piers were generally rectangular prisms that supported arches. It allowed larger and heavier scructures to be placed on top of arches, allowing people to build higher and it suported the thicker and heavier walls.
In the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, there are thick walls that correlate with the style of the time and the vaults and piers also represent the popular architectural structures of the Romanesque time period.
This famous structure is seen by thousands of tourists a day, and yet little people realize the Romanesque architecture. The thick walls with little and small windows, the vaults and arches inside, and the piers all show the popular style of the Romanesque time. This clear and stylistic depiction is why it is such a famous monument.
This abbey in Tuscany, Italy shows it's Romanesque style, especially in the walls. They are a perfect image of what Romanesque walls were at the time with small, narrow windows, and thick, strong walls. On the inside, there are many vaults that also show the popular style of the time.