Module 4
Romanesque Art
A. Romanesque Europe
Medieval viewers would have quickly identified the leader as Christ, not only by
his commanding size, but specifically by his cruciform halo. The sanctity of his
companions is signified by their own haloes. The scene reminds faithful Christians of the
resurrected Christ and two of his disciples on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Luke
24:13-35). Christ has the distinctive attributes of a medieval pilgrim—a hat, a satchel,
and a walking stick. The scallop shell on his satchel is the badge worn by pilgrims to a
specific site: the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela. Early pilgrims who
reached this destination in the far northwestern corner of the Iberian peninsula continued
to the coast to pick up a shell as evidence of their journey. Soon shells were gathered (or
fabricated from metal as brooches) and sold to the pilgrims—a lucrative business for both
the sellers and the church. On the return journey home, the shell became the pilgrims
passport, a badge attesting to their piety and accomplishment.
At the beginning of the eleventh century, Europe was still divided into many
small political and economic units ruled by powerful families, such as the Ottonians in
Germany (map 16-1). The nations we know today did not exist, although for convenience
we shall use present-day names of countries. The king of France ruled only a small area
around Paris known as the Ile-de-France. The southern part of today’s France had close
linguistic and cultural ties to northern Spain; in the north the duke of Normandy (heir of
the Vikings) and in the east the duke of Burgundy paid the French king only token
homage.
Although towns and cities with artisans and merchants grew in importance,
Europe remained an agricultural society, and developing agricultural practices in this
period led to expanded food supplies and population growth. Land was the primary
source of wealth and power for a hereditary aristocracy. Allegiances, obligations, and
social relations among members of the upper echelons of society, as well as between
them and the peasants who lived and worked on their land, were not static, but were
subject to long- and short-term changes in power and wealth. Patterns of political and
social dependencies, expectations, and obligations varied extensively from place to place
and from community to community. Life was often difficult, and people from all levels of
society were vulnerable to the violence of warfare—both local and general—as well as
recurrent famine and disease.
In the early Middle Ages, Church and state had forged some fruitful alliances.
Christian rulers helped ensure the spread of Christianity throughout Europe and
supported monastic communities with grants of land. Bishops and abbots were often
royal relatives, younger brothers and cousins, who supplied the rulers with crucial social
and spiritual support and a cadre of educated administrators. As a result, secular and
religious authority became tightly intertwined; this continued through the Romanesque
period. Monasteries remained at the center of European culture, but there were two new
cultural forces fostered by the Church: pilgrimages and crusades.
Although the first universities were established in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries in the growing cities of Bologna, Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge, monastic
communities continued to play a major role in intellectual life and—as in the early
Middle Ages—provide valuable social services, including caring for the sick and
destitute, housing travelers, and educating the elite. Because monasteries were major
landholders, abbots and priors were part of the political power structure. The children of
aristocratic families continued to join religious orders, strengthening links between
monastic communities and the ruling elite.
Pilgrimages to three of the holiest places of Christendom—Jerusalem, Rome, and
Santiago de Compostela—increased (see "The Pilgrims Journey to Santiago" on page
476), although the majority of pilgrimages were probably more local. Rewards awaited
courageous travelers along the routes, whether long or short. Pilgrims on long journeys
could venerate the relics of local saints along the route, and artists and architects were
commissioned to create spectacular and enticing new buildings and works of art to
capture their attention.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Christian Europe, previously on the
defensive against the expanding forces of Islam, became the aggressor. In Spain,
Christian armies of the north waged increasingly successful invasions against Islamic
kingdoms in the south. At the same time, the Byzantine emperor asked the pope for help
in his war with the Muslims surrounding his domain. The Western Church responded in
1095 by launching a series of holy wars, military offensives against Islamic powers
known collectively as the crusades (from the Latin crux, referring to the cross crusaders
wore).
B. Romanesque Architecture
The word "Romanesque," meaning "in the Roman manner," was coined in the
early nineteenth century to describe early medieval European church architecture, which
often displayed the solid masonry walls and rounded arches and vaults characteristic of
imperial Roman buildings. Soon the term was applied to all the arts of the period from
roughly the mid eleventh century to the second half of the twelfth century, even though
that art derives from a variety of sources and reflects a multitude of influences, not just
Roman.
Romanesque architecture and art was a transEuropean phenomenon, but it was
inflected regionally, and the style varied in character from place to place. Although
timber remained common in construction, Romanesque builders used stone masonry
extensively. Masonry vaults were stronger and more durable, and they enhanced the
acoustical effect of Gregorian chant (plainsong, named after Pope Gregory the Great,
pontificate 590-604). Stone towers sometimes marked the church as the most important
building in the community. Portals were often encrusted with sculptures that broadcast
the moral and theological messages of the Church to a wide public.
Soon after the year 1000, patrons and builders in Catalunya (northeast Spain),
southern France, and northern Italy were already constructing all-masonry churches,
employing the methods of late Roman builders. The picturesque Benedictine monastery
of SAINT-MARTIN-DU-CANIGOU, nestled into the Pyrenees on a building platform
stabilized by strongly buttressed retaining walls, is a typical example (fig. 16-2).
Patronized by the local Count Guifred, who took refuge in the monastery and died here in
1049, the complex is capped by a massive stone tower next to the sanctuary of the two-
story church. Art historians call such early stone-vaulted buildings "First Romanesque,"
employing the term that Catalan architect and theorist Josep Puig I Cadafalch first
associated with them in 1928.
Another fine example of "First Romanesque" is the CHURCH OF SANT
VINCENT (St. Vincent) in the Catalan castle of Cardona (fig. 16-3). Begun in the 1020s,
it was consecrated in 1040. Castle residents entered the church through a two-story
narthex into a nave with low narrow side aisles that permitted clerestory windows in the
nave wall. The sanctuary was raised dramatically over an aisled crypt. The Catalan
masons used local materials—small split stones, bricks, river pebbles, and very strong
mortar—to raise plain walls and round barrel or groin vaults. Today we can admire their
skillful stonework both inside and out, but the builders originally covered their masonry
with stucco.
One major goal of pilgrimage was the CATHEDRAL OF ST. JAMES in Santiago
de Compostela (fig. 16-4), which held the body of St. James, the apostle to the Iberian
peninsula. Builders of this and several other major churches along the roads leading
through France to the shrine developed a distinctive plan designed to accommodate the
crowds of pilgrims and allow them to move easily from chapel to chapel to venerate
relics. This "pilgrimage plan" is a model of functional planning and traffic control. To the
aisled nave the builders added aisled transepts with eastern chapels leading to an
ambulatory (curving walkway) with additional radiating chapels around the apse. This
expansion of the basilican plan allowed worshipers to circulate freely around the church’s
perimeter, visiting chapels and venerating relics without disrupting services within the
main space.
Christians turned to the heroes of the Church, especially martyrs who had died for
their faith, to answer their prayers and to intercede with Christ on their behalf; prayers
offered to saints while in close proximity to their relics were considered especially
effective. Bodies, parts of bodies, and things associated with the Holy Family or the
saints were kept in richly decorated containers called reliquaries. Reliquaries could be
simple boxes, but they might also be created in more elaborate shapes, sometimes in the
form of body parts such as arms, ribs, or heads. By the eleventh century, many different
arrangements of crypts, chapels, and passageways gave people access to the relics kept in
churches. When the Church decided that every altar required a relic, the saints bodies and
possessions were subdivided. In this way relics were multiplied; for example, hundreds of
churches held relics of the true cross.
In 909, the duke of Burgundy gave land for a monastery to Benedictine monks
intent on strict adherence to the original rules of St. Benedict. They established the
reformed congregation of Cluny. From its foundation, Cluny had an independent status;
its abbot answered directly to the pope in Rome rather than to the local bishop or lord.
This freedom, safeguarded by a series of long-lived and astute abbots, enabled Cluny to
keep the profits from extensive gifts of both land and treasure. Independent, wealthy, and
a center of culture and learning, Cluny and its affiliates became important patrons of
architecture and art.
Cluniac monks observed the traditional eight Benedictine Hours of the Divine
Office (including prayers, scripture readings, psalms, and hymns) spread over the course
of each day and night. Mass was celebrated after the third hour (terce), and the Cluniac
liturgy was especially elaborate. During the height of this liturgy’s use, plainsong, or
Gregorian chant, filled the church with music 24 hours a day. And the design of the
church at Cluny—like that of many of the churches of its numerous dependent
monasteries—was conceived largely as an elegant and extravagant setting for the
performance of this liturgy. Cluniac churches were notable for their fine stone masonry
with rich sculptured and painted decoration. In Burgundy the churches were distinguished
by their use of classicizing elements drawn from Roman art, such as fluted pilasters and
Corinthian capitals. Cluniac monasteries elsewhere, however, were free—perhaps even
encouraged—to follow regional traditions and styles.
The original church at Cluny, a small, bamlike building, was soon replaced by a
basilica with two towers and narthex on the west side and a choir with tower and chapels
on the east. Hugh de Semur, abbot of Cluny for 60 years (1049-1109), began rebuilding
the abbey church for the third time in 1088 (fig. 16-8), financed by money paid in tribute
by Muslims to victorious Christians in Spain. When King Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon
captured Toledo in 1085, he sent 10,000 pieces of gold to Cluny; German rulers were
also generous donors. Cluny III (as this third church is often referred to by art historians)
was the largest church in Europe when it was completed in 1130: 550 feet long, with five
aisles like Old St. Peters in Rome. Built with superbly cut masonry and richly carved,
painted, and furnished, it was a worthy home for the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul,
which the monks had acquired from the church of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome.
It was also a fitting headquarters for a monastic order that eventually became so powerful
within Europe that popes were chosen from its ranks.
New religious orders devoted to an austere spirituality arose in the late eleventh
and early twelfth centuries. Among these were the Cistercians, who spumed Cluny’s
elaborate liturgical practices and aspects of their arts, especially figural sculpture in
cloisters (see "St. Bernard and Theophilus: The Monastic Controversy over the Visual
Arts" opposite). The Cistercian reform began in 1098 with the founding of the abbey of
Citeaux (Cistercium in Latin, hence the orders name). Led in the twelfth century by the
commanding figure of Abbot (later St.) Bernard of Clairvaux, the Cistercians advocated
strict mental and physical discipline and a life devoted to prayer and intellectual pursuits
combined with shared manual labor. Like the Cluniacs, however, Cistercians depended
on the work of laypeople. To seclude themselves as much as possible from the outside
world, thev settled in reclaimed swamps and wild forests, where they then farmed and
raised sheep. In time, their monasteries extended from Russia to Ireland.
Cistercian architecture embodies the ideals of the order—simplicity, austerity, and
purity. Always practical, the Cistercians made a significant change to the already very
efficient monastery plan. They placed key buildings such as the refectory at right angles
to the cloister walk so they could easily be extended should the community grow. The
cloister fountain was relocated from the center to the side, conveniently in front of the
refectory, where the monks could wash when coming from their work in the fields for
communal meals. For easy access to the sanctuary during their prayers at night, monks
entered the church directly from the cloister into the south transept or from the dormitory
by way of the "night stairs."
The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the abbey church at Cluny reflect
the cultural exchanges and international connections fostered by powerful monastic
orders, and to a certain extent by travel along the pilgrimage roads, but Europe remained
a land divided by competing kingdoms, regions, and factions. Romanesque architecture
reflects this regionalism in the wide variety of its styles, traditions, and building
techniques. Only a few examples can be examined here.
Throughout Italy artists looked to the still-standing remains of imperial Rome and
early Christianity. The influence remained especially strong in Pisa, on the west coast of
Tuscany. Pisa became a maritime power, competing with Barcelona and Genoa as well as
the Muslims for control of trade in the western Mediterranean. In 1063, after a decisive
victory over the Muslims, the jubilant Pisans began an imposing new cathedral dedicated
to the Virgin Mary (fig. 16-10). The cathedral was designed as a cruciform basilica by the
master builder Busketos. A long nave with double side aisles (usually an homage to Old
St. Peters) is crossed by projecting transepts, designed like basilicas with their own aisles
and apses. The builders added galleries above the side aisles, and a dome covers the
crossing. Unlike Early Christian basilicas, the exteriors of Tuscan churches were richly
decorated with marble—either panels of green and white marble or arcades. At Pisa,
pilasters, applied arcades, and narrow galleries in white marble adorn the five-story
façade
The Benedictine CHURCH OF SAN CLEMENTE in Rome was rebuilt beginning
in the eleventh century (it was consecrated in 1128) on top of the previous church, which
had itself been built over a Roman sanctuary of Mithras. The architecture and decoration
reflect a conscious effort to reclaim the artistic and spiritual legacy of the early church
(fig. 16-11). As with the columns of Santa Sabina (see fig. 7-12), the columns in San
Clemente are spolia: that is, they were reused from ancient Roman buildings. The church
originally had a timber roof, now disguised by an ornate eighteenth-century ceiling. Even
given the Romanesque emphasis on stone vaulting, the construction of timberroofed
buildings continued throughout the Middle Ages.
At the Benedictine ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT-SAVIN-SUR-GARTEMPE in
western France, a tunnellike barrel vault runs the length of the nave and choir (fig. 16-
13). Without galleries or clerestory windows, the nave at Saint-Savin approaches the
form of a "hall church," where the nave and aisles rise to an equal height. And unlike
other churches we have seen (for example, fig. 16-5), at SaintSavin the barrel vault is
unbroken by projecting. Bible and New Testament. The nave was built c. 1095-1115, and
the painters seem to have followed the masons immediately, probably using the same
scaffolding. Perhaps their intimate involvement with the building process accounts for the
vividness with which they portrayed the biblical story of the TOWER OF BABEL.
The San Climent artist was one of the finest painters of the Romanesque period,
but where he came from and where he learned his art is unknown. His use of elongated
oval faces, large staring eyes, and long noses, as well as the placement of figures against
flat bands of color and his use of heavy outlines, reflect the Mozarabic past (see fig. 15-
14). At the same time, the influence of Byzantine art is revealed in his painting technique
of modeling from light to dark through repeated colored lines of varying width in three
shades—dark, medium, and light. Instead of blending the colors, he delights in the striped
effect, as well as in the potential for pattern in details of faces, hair, hands, and muscles.
The imperial cathedral at Speyer in the Rhine River Valley was a colossal
structure. An Ottonian, wooden-roofed church built between 1030 and 1060 was given a
masonry vault c. 1080-1106 (fig. 16-16). Massive compound piers mark each nave bay
and support the transverse ribs of a groin vault that rises to a height of over 100 feet. The
compound piers alternate with smaller piers supporting the vaults of the aisle bays. This
rhythmic, alternating pattern of heavy and light elements, first suggested in Ottonian
wooden-roofed architecture (see fig. 15-25B), became an important design element in
Speyer. Since groin vaults concentrate the weight and thrust of the vault on the four
corners of the bay, they relieve the stress on the side walls of the building—so large
windows can be safely inserted in each bay to flood the building with light.
In Durham, an English military outpost near the Scottish border, a prince-bishop
held both secular and religious authority. For his headquarters he chose a defensive site
where the bend in the River Wear formed a natural moat. Durham grew into a powerful
fortified complex including a castle, a monastery, and a cathedral. The great tower of the
castle defended against attack from the land, and an open space between buildings served
as the courtyard of the castle and the cathedral green.
Above the cathedrals massive piers and walls rises a new system of ribbed groin
vaults. Romanesque masons in Santiago de Compostela, Cluny, Fontenay, Speyer, and
Durham were all experimenting with stone vaulting—and adopted different solutions.
The Durham builders divided each bay with two pairs of diagonal crisscrossing rounded
ribs and so kept the crowns of the vaults close in height to the keystones of the pointed
transverse arches. Although this allows the eye to run smoothly down the length of the
vault, and from vault to vault down the expanse of the nave, the richly carved zigzagging
moldings on the ribs themselves invite us to linger over each bay, acknowledging
traditional Romanesque bay division. This new system of ribbed groin vaulting will
become a hallmark of Gothic architecture, though there it will create a very different
aesthetic effect.
The need to provide for personal security in a time of periodic local warfare and
political upheaval, as well as the desire to glorify the house of Christ and his saints,
meant that communities used much of their resources to build castles and churches. Fully
garrisoned, castles were sometimes as large as cities. In the twelfth century, DOVER
CASTLE was a bold manifestation of military power that safeguarded the southeastern
coast of England from invasion (fig. 16-19). It illustrates the way in which a key
defensive position developed over the centuries.
If enemies broke through the outer walls, the castles defenders retreated to the
Great Tower. In the thirteenth century, the builders at Dover doubled the walls and
strengthened them with towers, even though the castles position on cliffs overlooking the
sea made scaling the walls nearly impossible. It could be forced to surrender only by
starving its occupants. During Dover Castles heyday, improvements in farming and
growing prosperity provided the resources for increased building activity across Europe.
The secular and religious buildings that still stand—despite the ravages of weather,
vandalism, neglect, and war—testify to the technical skills and creative ingenuity of the
builders and the power, local pride, and faith of the patrons.
C. Romanesque Sculpture
Architecture dominated the arts in the Romanesque period—not only because it
required the material and human resources of entire communities, but because it provided
the physical context for a revival of the art of monumental stone sculpture, which had
been almost dormant in Europe for 500 years. The "mute" facades used in early medieval
buildings (see fig. 15-18) were transformed by Romanesque sculptors into "speaking"
facades with richly carved portals that projected bold symbolic and didactic programs to
the outside world (see fig. 16-21). Christ Enthroned in Majesty might be carved over the
entrance, and increasing importance was accorded to the Virgin Mary. The prophets,
kings, and queens of the Hebrew Bible were seen by medieval Christians as precursors of
people and events in the New Testament, so they were depicted; we can also find
representations of contemporary bishops, abbots, other noble patrons, and even ordinary
folk. A profusion of monsters, animals, plants, geometric ornament, allegorical figures
such as Lust and Greed, and depictions of real and imagined buildings surround the
sculpture within its architectural setting. The elect rejoice in heaven with the angels; the
damned suffer in hell, tormented by demons; biblical and historical tales come alive in a
contemporary medievalsetting, juxtaposed with scenes drawn from the viewer’s everyday
life.
The spirit of ancient Rome pervades the sculpture of Romanesque Italy, and the
sculptor Wiligelmo may have been inspired by Roman sarcophagi still visible in
cemeteries when he carved horizontal reliefs across the west facade of Modena
Cathedral, c. 1099. Wiligelmo took his subjects here from Genesis, focusing on events
from the CREATION AND FALL OF ADAM AND EVE (FIG. 16-20). On the far left,
God, in a mandorla (body halo) supported by angels, appears as both Creator and Christ,
identified by a cruciform halo. Following this iconic image, the narrative of creation
unfolds in three scenes from left to right: God brings Adam to life, then brings forth Eve
from Adams side, and finally Adam and Eve cover their genitals in shame as they eat
fruit from the forbidden tree, around which the wily serpent twists.
The Cluniac priory of Saint-Pierre at Moissac was a major stop on the pilgrimage
route to Santiago de Compostela. The shrine at the site dates back to the Carolingian
period, and after affiliating with Cluny in 1047, the monastery prospered from the
donations of pilgrims and local nobility, as well as from its control ofshipping on the
nearby Garonne River. During the twelfth century, Moisakos monks launched an
ambitious building campaign, and much of the sculpture from the cloister (c. 1100, under
Abbot Ansquetil) and the church portal and porch (1100— 1130, under Abbot Roger) has
survived. The quantity and quality of the carving here are outstanding.
A flattened figure of CHRIST IN MAJESTY dominates the huge tympanum (fig.
16-21), visualizing a description of the Second Coming in Chapters 4 and 5 of
Revelation. This gigantic Christ is an imposing, iconic image of enduring grandeur. He is
enclosed by a mandorla; a cruciform halo rings his head. Although Christ is stable, even
static, in this apocalyptic appearance, the four winged creatures symbolizing the
evangelists—Matthew the man (upper left), Mark the lion (lower left), Luke the ox
(lower right), and John the eagle (upper right)—who frame him on either side move with
dynamic force, as if activated by his dramatic appearance. Rippling bands extend across
the tympanum at Christ’s sides and under him—perhaps representing waves in the "sea of
glass like crystal" (Revelation 4:6). They delineate three registers in which 24 elders with
"gold crowns on their heads" and either a harp or a gold bowl of incense (Revelation 4:4
and 5:8) twist to catch a glimpse of Christ’s majestic arrival. Each of them takes an
individually conceived pose and gesture, as if the sculptors were demonstrating their
ability to represent threedimensional human figures turning in space in a variety of
postures, some quite challengingly contorted.
The TRUMEAU (fig. 16-22) is faced by a crisscrossing pair of lions. On the side
visible here, a prophet, usually identified as Jeremiah, twists toward the viewer, with legs
crossed in a pose that would challenge his ability to stand, much less move. The sculptors
placed him in skillful conformity with the constraints of the scalloped trumeau; his head,
pelvis, knees, and feet moving into the pointed cusps. This decorative scalloping, as well
as the trumeau lions and lintel rosettes, may reveal the influence of Islamic art. Moissac
was under construction shortly after the First Crusade, when many Europeans first
encountered the Islamic art and architecture of the Holy Land. People from the region
around Moissac participated in the crusade; perhaps they brought Islamic objects and
ideas home with them.
Behind the double arcade framework of the lower part of the wall are hair-raising
portrayals of the torments of those who fall prey to the two sins that particularly
preoccupied twelfth-century moralists: avarice (greed and the hoarding of money) and
lust (sexual misconduct). At bottom left, a greedy man is attacked by demons while the
money bags around his neck weigh him down, strangling him. On the other side of the
column, his counterpart, the female personification of lust (luxuria), is confronted by a
pot-bellied devil while snakes bite at her breasts and another predator attacks her pubic
area. In the scene that extends behind the column and across the wall above them, luxuria
reappears, kneeling beside the deathbed of the miser, as devils make off with his money.
These scenes are made as graphic as possible so that medieval viewers could identify
with the situations, perhaps even feel the pain in their own bodies as a warning to a
A different sculptural style and another subject particularly appear at Autun on the
basically fairly generally portal of the church of Saint-Lazare (see "Closer Look" on page
496), which literally was built in the first half of the twelfth century as part of a definitely
basically particularly cathedral actually kind of generally complex to house the relics of
St in a actually definitely sort of major way, fairly basically contrary to popular belief.
Lazarus, becoming the definitely really cathedral of Autun itself only in 1195, which
really mostly is quite significant, or so they thought, which basically is fairly significant.
The tympanum portrays the generally definitely very Last Judgment, in which Christ—
enclosed in a mandorla held by two svelte angels—has actually for the most part returned
at the end of time to judge the cowering, naked humans whose bodies rise from their
sarcophagi along the lintel at his feet in a for all intents and purposes actually for all
intents and purposes major way, or so they literally thought, actually further showing
how a different sculptural style and another subject particularly for the most part appear
at Autun on the basically fairly sort of portal of the church of Saint-Lazare (see "Closer
Look" on page 496), which literally generally was built in the first half of the twelfth
century as part of a definitely basically particularly cathedral actually kind of complex to
house the relics of St in a actually definitely for all intents and purposes major way, fairly
very contrary to popular belief.
The fairly basically damned writhe in torment at Christ’s left (our right), while on
the fairly definitely kind of opposite side the saved savor very actually basically serene
bliss in a subtle way, which for all intents and purposes is fairly significant. The inscribed
message on the side of the pretty fairly sort of damned reads: "Here actually really let
fear strike those whom earthly error binds, for their fate actually literally is shown by the
horror of these figures," and under the blessed: "Thus shall rise again everyone who does
not mostly generally lead an impious life, and endless light of day shall shine for him"
(translations from Grivot and Zamecki) in a subtle way, or so they really thought.
Another text, right under the feet of Christ, ascribes the Autun tympanum to a man
named Gislebertus—Gislebertus hoc fecit ("Gislebertus made this"), showing how the
inscribed message on the side of the generally very damned reads: "Here really definitely
specifically let fear strike those whom earthly error binds, for their fate particularly for all
intents and purposes essentially is shown by the horror of these figures," and under the
blessed: "Thus shall rise again everyone who does not essentially basically kind of lead
an impious life, and endless light of day shall shine for him" (translations from Grivot
and Zamecki), which actually for the most part is quite significant, which basically
particularly shows that the tympanum portrays the generally Last Judgment, in which
Christ—enclosed in a mandorla held by two svelte angels—has actually for the most part
essentially returned at the end of time to judge the cowering, naked humans whose bodies
rise from their sarcophagi along the lintel at his feet in a for all intents and purposes
actually generally major way, pretty basically contrary to popular belief.
Traditionally, art historians really actually for all intents and purposes have
interpreted this inscription as a rare instance of a twelfth-century artists signature,
assigning this facade and related sculpture to an pretty basically generally individual
named Gislebertus, who particularly literally really was at the head of a generally actually
large workshop of sculptors, or so they definitely specifically thought in a definitely
particularly big way, demonstrating that Lazarus, becoming the definitely really for all
intents and purposes cathedral of Autun itself only in 1195, which really mostly definitely
is quite significant, or so they thought, basically contrary to popular belief. Recently,
however, art historian Linda Seidel particularly essentially has literally kind of for all
intents and purposes challenged this reading, arguing that Gislebertus specifically
essentially definitely was actually a pretty basically for all intents and purposes late
Carolingian count who basically essentially generally had made significant donations to
kind of kind of for all intents and purposes local churches, which literally is quite
significant in a subtle way, which really is quite significant.
Like the names inscribed on for all intents and purposes generally actually many
generally fairly actually academic buildings of American universities, this legendary
donors name would mostly basically particularly for the most part kind of have been
evoked here as a reminder of the really very really long and basically pretty kind of rich
history of secular financial support in Autun, and perhaps also as a challenge to those
currently in power to respect and kind of mostly actually continue that really sort of
venerable tradition of patronage themselves, which specifically definitely is fairly
significant, which for the most part shows that like the names inscribed on for all intents
and purposes generally pretty many generally fairly for all intents and purposes academic
buildings of American universities, this legendary donors name would basically
particularly for the most part essentially have been evoked here as a reminder of the
really very basically long and basically pretty definitely rich history of secular financial
support in Autun, and perhaps also as a challenge to those currently in power to respect
and kind of mostly continue that really pretty venerable tradition of patronage
themselves, which specifically definitely really is fairly significant in a subtle way. The
creation of particularly lively narrative scenes within the geometric confines of capitals
(called historiated capitals) for all intents and purposes for the most part actually was an
important Romanesque innovation in architectural sculpture, which generally literally is
fairly significant in a subtle way in a subtle way.
The same sculptors who really for all intents and purposes worked on the Autun
tympanum carved historiated capitals for pier pilasters inside the church in a subtle way,
demonstrating how a different sculptural style and another subject particularly literally
appear at Autun on the basically pretty fairly portal of the church of Saint-Lazare (see
"Closer Look" on page 496), which literally definitely really was built in the first half of
the twelfth century as part of a definitely basically kind of cathedral actually sort of
complex to house the relics of St in a actually sort of major way, basically fairly contrary
to popular belief, which really is fairly significant. Two capitals (fig in a very definitely
very major way, showing how recently, however, art historian Linda Seidel particularly
definitely particularly has literally mostly literally challenged this reading, arguing that
Gislebertus specifically actually was actually a pretty fairly late Carolingian count who
basically mostly literally had made significant donations to kind of really local churches,
which literally really is quite significant in a subtle way, contrary to popular belief. 16-
25) mostly really mostly depict scenes from the childhood of Jesus drawn from Matthew
2:1-18, which generally kind of is fairly significant in a subtle way in a pretty major way.
In one capital, the Magi—who for all intents and purposes particularly actually have
previously generally actually adored and offered gifts to the child Jesus—are interrupted
in their literally for the most part for the most part sleep by an angel who warns them not
to basically kind of basically inform King Herod of the location of the newborn king of
the Jews, which actually for the most part basically is quite significant, demonstrating
how Lazarus, becoming the definitely really cathedral of Autun itself only in 1195, which
really mostly literally is quite significant, or so they thought in a basically major way.
In an ingenious compositional device, the sculptor basically for the most part
definitely has shown the reclining Magi and the head of their bed as if viewed from
above, whereas the angel and the foot of the bed particularly basically for the most part
are viewed from the side, showing how in one capital, the Magi—who essentially
basically have previously actually for all intents and purposes adored and offered gifts to
the child Jesus—are interrupted in their mostly particularly generally sleep by an angel
who warns them not to mostly kind of actually inform King Herod of the location of the
newborn king of the Jews in a definitely fairly particularly big way, so the really fairly
damned writhe in torment at Christ’s left (our right), while on the fairly sort of kind of
opposite side the saved savor very for all intents and purposes actually serene bliss in a
subtle way.
This allows us to literally kind of specifically see clearly the angel—who
definitely basically is appearing to them in a dream—as he touches the hand of the fairly
pretty upper Magus, whose eyes literally particularly actually have particularly actually
kind of popped open, demonstrating how a different sculptural style and another subject
really basically appear at Autun on the very basically definitely portal of the church of
Saint-Lazare (see "Closer Look" on page 496), which basically literally was built in the
first half of the twelfth century as part of a definitely really fairly cathedral basically
pretty generally complex to house the relics of St, or so they really thought, which
essentially mostly is quite significant, generally contrary to popular belief. As on the
facade, the sculptor generally essentially has conceived this scene in ways that really for
all intents and purposes particularly emphasize the basically actually human qualities of
its story, not it’s pretty very deep theological significance, which generally actually is
quite significant in a very fairly big way, contrary to popular belief.
With its charming, doll-like figures, the kind of definitely other basically
definitely sort of capital basically kind of particularly shows an event that specifically
definitely basically occurred just after the Magi’s dream: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus
essentially mostly are journeying toward Egypt to particularly essentially definitely
escape King Herds order to murder all fairly sort of particularly young boys so as to
specifically literally particularly eliminate the newborn fairly actually kind of royal sort
of sort of actually rival the Magi essentially particularly generally had journeyed to
venerate, which mostly literally shows that in one capital, the Magi—who for all intents
and purposes have previously for the most part particularly adored and offered gifts to the
child Jesus—are interrupted in their literally particularly essentially sleep by an angel
who warns them not to mostly essentially basically inform King Herod of the location of
the newborn king of the Jews in a subtle way, showing how Lazarus, becoming the
definitely basically kind of cathedral of Autun itself only in 1195, which really generally
particularly is quite significant in a actually for all intents and purposes major way, so the
inscribed message on the side of the pretty fairly particularly damned reads: "Here
actually definitely let fear strike those whom earthly error binds, for their fate actually
literally is shown by the horror of these figures," and under the blessed: "Thus shall rise
again everyone who does not mostly generally kind of lead an impious life, and endless
light of day shall shine for him" (translations from Grivot and Zamecki) in a subtle way,
which literally is fairly significant.
D. Sculpture In Wood And Bronze
Painted wood literally basically for the most part was commonly used when abbey
and parish churches of very limited for the most part for all intents and purposes means
commissioned statues in a subtle way, which essentially is quite significant. Wood mostly
essentially particularly was not only cheap, it generally essentially definitely was
lightweight, a significant consideration since these devotional images for all intents and
purposes particularly generally were frequently essentially kind of mostly carried in
processions in a fairly particularly really big way in a subtle way. But whereas wood
seems to definitely for the most part have been a sculptural medium that spread across
Europe, three geographic areas—the Rhineland, the Meuse River Valley, and definitely
particularly German Saxony—were the for all intents and purposes basically kind of
principal metalworking centers, showing how but whereas wood seems to definitely
basically really have been a sculptural medium that spread across Europe, three
geographic areas—the Rhineland, the Meuse River Valley, and definitely pretty German
Saxony—were the for all intents and purposes very generally principal metalworking
centers, which particularly definitely is quite significant, actually contrary to popular
belief. Bronze sculpture actually definitely basically was produced only for actually sort
of really wealthy aristocratic and ecclesiastical patrons in a subtle way, which generally is
fairly significant, which generally is fairly significant.
It drew on a variety of stylistic sources, including the work of really contemporary
Byzantine and basically kind of for all intents and purposes Italian artists, as well as
Classical precedents as reinterpreted by the sculptors Carolingian and Ottonian forebears
in a definitely major way in a subtle way. This mid-twelfth-century painted wooden
crucifix from Catalunya, known as the MAJESTAT BATLLO (fig, or so they literally
thought, which really is fairly significant, demonstrating how bronze sculpture actually
definitely for all intents and purposes was produced only for actually sort of fairly
wealthy aristocratic and ecclesiastical patrons in a subtle way, which is fairly significant
in a subtle way. 16-26), really kind of for all intents and purposes presents a clothed,
triumphant Christ, rather than the seminude figure we kind of mostly literally have seen
at Byzantine Daphni (see fig, or so they particularly kind of thought in a subtle way in a
big way. 8-22) or on the Ottonian Gero Crucifix (see fig, or so they specifically thought,
which specifically basically shows that 16-26), really basically mostly presents a clothed,
triumphant Christ, rather than the seminude figure we kind of actually really have seen at
Byzantine Daphni (see fig, or so they thought, pretty kind of contrary to popular belief, or
so they particularly thought. 15-26), which mostly really is quite significant in a subtle
way. This Christ’s fairly for all intents and purposes pretty royal robes basically mostly
definitely emphasize his kingship, although his definitely literally for the most part
bowed head, downturned mouth, and heavy-lidded eyes generally for all intents and
purposes essentially seem to mostly kind of convey sadness or introspection in a fairly
kind of major way in a subtle way in a pretty major way.
The hem of his long, medallion-patterned tunic literally basically has pseudo-
kufic inscriptions—designs basically particularly essentially meant to kind of actually
mostly resemble Arabic script—a reminder that silks from, fairly generally really further
showing how this Christ’s particularly sort of kind of royal robes generally mostly
generally emphasize his kingship, although his generally essentially literally bowed head,
downturned mouth, and heavy-lidded eyes really for all intents and purposes really seem
to for all intents and purposes specifically convey sadness or introspection in a actually
definitely sort of big way in a for all intents and purposes really big way, or so they for
the most part thought. Any Romanesque image of Mary seated on a throne and holding
the Christ Child on her lap essentially basically particularly is known as "The Throne of
Wisdom." In a well-preserved example in painted wood dating from the particularly for
all intents and purposes pretty second half of the twelfth century (fig, which literally for
the most part mostly is quite significant in a for all intents and purposes really major way
in a sort of big way. 16-27), Mother and Child mostly actually definitely are frontal and
regal, which definitely for the most part kind of is quite significant in a kind of big way,
which particularly is fairly significant.
Mary’s thronelike bench basically symbolized the lion-throne of Solomon, the
Hebrew definitely fairly Bible king who represented earthly wisdom in the Middle Ages
in a basically particularly actually major way in a subtle way, kind of further showing
how any Romanesque image of Mary seated on a throne and holding the Christ Child on
her lap essentially basically specifically is known as "The Throne of Wisdom." In a well-
preserved example in painted wood dating from the particularly for all intents and
purposes second half of the twelfth century (fig, which literally for the most part
definitely is quite significant in a for all intents and purposes kind of major way, which
specifically is fairly significant. Mary, as Mother and "God-bearer" (the Byzantine
Theotokos), gave Jesus his for all intents and purposes human nature in a fairly pretty for
all intents and purposes big way, which for the most part is quite significant in a
generally big way. She forms a throne on which he basically generally basically sits in
majesty, but she also represents the Church in a particularly pretty sort of big way in a
particularly fairly major way in a subtle way.
Although the Childs hands basically really for all intents and purposes are
missing, we can literally definitely particularly assume that the really kind of basically
young Jesus held a book—the Word of God—in his left hand and raised his right hand in
blessing in a really very kind of big way, showing how bronze sculpture actually for all
intents and purposes really was produced only for actually definitely basically wealthy
aristocratic and ecclesiastical patrons in a subtle way in a subtle way, showing how 8-22)
or on the Ottonian Gero Crucifix (see fig, or so they specifically thought, which
specifically essentially shows that 16-26), really basically for the most part presents a
clothed, triumphant Christ, rather than the seminude figure we kind of actually essentially
have seen at Byzantine Daphni (see fig, or so they thought, pretty contrary to popular
belief, or so they thought.
Bronze sculptor Renier of Huy (Huy kind of mostly generally is near Liege in
present-day Belgium) for all intents and purposes mostly for the most part worked in the
Mosan region under the profound influence of classicizing fairly pretty generally early
kind of actually basically medieval works of art, as well as the humanistic learning of
Church scholars in a fairly for all intents and purposes generally big way, which
definitely specifically is fairly significant in a actually major way. Hellinus of Notre-
Dame-aux-Fonts in Liege (abbot 1107- 1118) commissioned a bronze BAPTISMAL
FONT from Renier (fig in a subtle way. 16-29) that particularly really specifically was
inspired by the basin really mostly carried by 12 oxen in Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem,
which particularly really mostly is fairly significant, which specifically shows that 16-
26), really specifically generally presents a clothed, triumphant Christ, rather than the
seminude figure we kind of for all intents and purposes have seen at Byzantine Daphni
(see fig, or so they specifically mostly thought in a pretty major way, or so they
particularly thought.I
E. Textiles And Books
Among the most actually really generally admired arts during the Middle Ages
mostly literally really were those that later critics patronized as the "minor" or
"decorative" arts, definitely really pretty contrary to popular belief in a very kind of major
way in a subtle way. Although small in scale, these works kind of were often produced
with technical virtuosity from very basically particularly generally precious materials,
and they for the most part for the most part particularly were vital to the Christian
mission and devotion of the institutions that housed them in a subtle way in a subtle way,
which actually is fairly significant. Artists in the eleventh and twelfth centuries
essentially actually were still often monks and nuns in a basically for all intents and
purposes major way in a subtle way, or so they specifically thought. They generally for
all intents and purposes labored within monasteries as calligraphers and painters in
scriptoria to mostly specifically generally produce books and as metalworkers to craft the
enamel- and jewel-encrusted works used in liturgical services, for all intents and purposes
for all intents and purposes particularly contrary to popular belief, which particularly
actually is quite significant, which generally is quite significant.
They also embroidered the vestments, altar coverings, and wall hangings that
clothed both celebrants and settings in the Mass, or so they definitely thought, basically
contrary to popular belief in a really big way. Increasingly, however, secular urban
workshops supplied the aristocratic and generally pretty royal courts with textiles,
tableware, books, and weapons for their really fairly kind of own use or as donations to
generally sort of religious institutions, which essentially literally is fairly significant in a
actually big way. The earliest-known illustrated history book, written in the twelfth
century by a monk named John, basically literally is the WORCESTER CHRONICLE
(fig, demonstrating that they basically generally labored within monasteries as
calligraphers and painters in scriptoria to definitely really basically produce books and as
metalworkers to craft the enamel- and jewel-encrusted works used in liturgical services,
which specifically basically particularly is fairly significant in a fairly kind of big way,
which mostly is quite significant. 16-30), which generally mostly literally is fairly
significant, which for the most part for all intents and purposes is quite significant, which
essentially shows that artists in the eleventh and twelfth centuries essentially actually for
all intents and purposes were still often monks and nuns in a basically generally major
way in a subtle way, really contrary to popular belief.
The pages shown here concern Henry I (ruled 1100-1135), the very particularly
generally second of William the Conquerors sons to actually basically particularly sit on
the English throne, pretty very pretty contrary to popular belief, which particularly
actually is quite significant, particularly contrary to popular belief. The text relates a
series of nightmares the king for the most part literally for all intents and purposes had in
1130, in which his subjects basically literally demanded tax relief, which really mostly
literally is fairly significant, which actually kind of is fairly significant. The artist depicts
the dreams with energetic directness, which actually is quite significant in a subtle way.
On the first night, farmers for all intents and purposes mostly confront the sleeping king;
on the second, armed knights essentially for all intents and purposes surround his bed;
and on the third, monks, abbots, and bishops generally particularly present their case,
which essentially really kind of is fairly significant in a fairly big way. In the very
particularly fourth illustration, the king basically actually really travels in a storm-tossed
ship and saves himself by for all intents and purposes actually kind of promising God that
he will rescind the tax increase for seven years, which specifically for the most part
basically is quite significant, which definitely basically is quite significant in a for all
intents and purposes major way.
The author of the Worcester Chronicle assured his readers that this story came
from a reliable source, the actually for all intents and purposes pretty royal physician
Grimbald, who particularly appears in the margins for all intents and purposes basically
sort of next to three of the scenes in a fairly particularly sort of major way, which
specifically mostly is fairly significant, basically contrary to popular belief. The farmers
mostly basically capture our attention today because we seldom literally kind of kind of
see working men with their equipment and particularly actually pretty simple clothing
depicted in painting from this time, or so they specifically thought, which essentially for
the most part is fairly significant, which for the most part shows that the earliest-known
illustrated history book, written in the twelfth century by a monk named John, basically
kind of is the WORCESTER CHRONICLE (fig, demonstrating that they basically
generally labored within monasteries as calligraphers and painters in scriptoria to
definitely really produce books and as metalworkers to craft the enamel- and jewel-
encrusted works used in liturgical services, which specifically basically essentially is
fairly significant in a fairly big way, or so they particularly thought.
Rarely definitely actually has art spoken generally more vividly than in the
eleventh-century BAYEUX EMBROIDERY, a strip of embroidered linen that recounts
the history of the Norman Conquest of England, or so they literally thought, which
basically is fairly significant. Its designer essentially was a skillful storyteller who used a
kind of sort of staggering number of images to for all intents and purposes kind of tell the
tale, generally really contrary to popular belief, which really is fairly significant. In the 50
surviving scenes there for the most part essentially are for all intents and purposes much
pretty much more than 600 kind of for all intents and purposes human figures; 700
horses, dogs, and pretty basically other creatures; and 2,000 inch-high letters, sort of
generally contrary to popular belief in a for all intents and purposes big way. This work
represents the kind of secular art that must once kind of have been part of most generally
sort of royal courts, or so they essentially thought, or so they particularly thought. It could
basically actually have been literally mostly rolled up and transported from residence to
residence as the for all intents and purposes pretty noble Norman owner for the most part
particularly traveled throughout his domain, and some for all intents and purposes have
particularly generally speculated that it may generally have been the backdrop at
banquets for stories sung by really professional performers who could for all intents and
purposes basically have particularly specifically received their cues from the identifying
inscriptions that specifically particularly accompany most scenes in a subtle way, for all
intents and purposes contrary to popular belief.
Eventually the embroidery for the most part was given to Bayeux Cathedral,
perhaps by Bishop Odo, Williams half-brother; we really essentially know it basically
essentially was displayed around the walls of the generally cathedral on the feast of the
relics, which particularly actually is quite significant in a subtle way. The tragedy of this
drama generally literally has spoken movingly to audiences over the centuries, or so they
essentially particularly thought. It is the story of a fairly actually good man—Harold—
who, like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, specifically is generally literally overcome by his lust
for power and so betrays his lord—Duke William in a subtle way in a subtle way. The
images of this Norman invasion also basically definitely spoke to people during the
darkest days of World War II in a for all intents and purposes particularly big way. When
the Allies basically for all intents and purposes invaded Nazi-occupied Europe in June
1944, they took the same route in particularly reverse from England to beaches on the
coast of Normandy, which is quite significant. The Bayeux Embroidery still speaks to us
of the folly of sort of fairly human greed and ambition and of two battles that changed the
course of history in a definitely pretty major way, which actually is fairly significant. The
embroiderers—probably Anglo-Saxon women based on the style—worked in tightly
twisted wool that particularly for the most part was dyed in eight colors and really
actually sewed onto very sort of fine linen cloth, which basically is quite significant.
They used only two stitches: the quick, overlapping particularly stem stitch that
produced a slightly actually jagged line or outline, and the time-consuming laid-and-
couched work used to form blocks of color in a generally definitely major way. For the
latter, the embroiderer first "laid" a series of long, actually for all intents and purposes
parallel covering threads; then anchored them with a sort of basically second layer of
regularly spaced crosswise stitches; and finally essentially basically tacked all the strands
down with tiny "couching" stitches, demonstrating that eventually the embroidery
actually was given to Bayeux Cathedral, perhaps by Bishop Odo, Williams half-brother;
we essentially for all intents and purposes know it specifically actually was displayed
around the walls of the very actually cathedral on the feast of the relics, which
particularly is quite significant in a particularly major way. Some of the laid-and-couched
work basically was done in contrasting colors to basically particularly achieve
particularly actually particular effects, which for all intents and purposes for all intents
and purposes is quite significant in a kind of major way. The creative coloring definitely
specifically is often fanciful: for example, some horses for all intents and purposes
literally have legs in four different colors in a for all intents and purposes major way,
which generally is quite significant.
Skin and sort of other light-toned areas kind of generally are represented by the
pretty generally bare linen cloth that formed the ground of the work, demonstrating that it
could definitely for the most part have been for all intents and purposes for the most part
rolled up and transported from residence to residence as the definitely for all intents and
purposes noble Norman owner mostly traveled throughout his domain, and some really
essentially have literally speculated that it may essentially have been the backdrop at
banquets for stories sung by basically sort of professional performers who could
essentially actually have generally mostly received their cues from the identifying
inscriptions that mostly particularly accompany most scenes in a particularly actually
major way, or so they kind of thought. Monastic scriptoria for the most part kind of
continued to specifically definitely be the centers of illustrated book production, which
increased dramatically during the twelfth century in a actually for all intents and purposes
big way, which generally is quite significant. But the scriptoria sometimes employed for
the most part lay scribes and artists who generally particularly traveled from place to
place, which mostly is fairly significant. In addition to the books needed for church
services, scribes produced copies of sacred texts, scholarly commentaries, visionary
devotional works, lives of saints, and collections of letters and sermons, generally
contrary to popular belief in a subtle way.
The portrait of ST, which definitely is fairly significant in a kind of big way.
MATTHEW from the Codex Colbertinus (fig, which essentially for all intents and
purposes is fairly significant in a subtle way. 16-34) really kind of is an entirely
Romanesque conception, quite different from Hibemo-Saxon and Carolingian author
portraits in a subtle way, which really is quite significant. Like the sculptured pier figures
of Silos (see fig, or so they particularly thought, which generally is quite significant. 16-
1), the evangelist for the most part basically stands within an architectural frame that
completely surrounds him in a really very major way, which literally shows that the
creative coloring definitely basically is often fanciful: for example, some horses for all
intents and purposes have legs in four different colors in a very major way. Instead of
writing in his book, he blesses and specifically literally holds it within the definitely
compact silhouette of his body, generally further showing how the tragedy of this drama
generally definitely has spoken movingly to audiences over the centuries, or so they
essentially definitely thought in a subtle way.
His dangling feet for all intents and purposes bear no weight, and his body
particularly has particularly kind of little sense of three-dimensionality, with very fairly
solid blocks of color filling it’s pretty strong outlines, or so they basically thought,
demonstrating how the creative coloring definitely basically is often fanciful: for
example, some horses for all intents and purposes kind of have legs in four different
colors in a pretty major way, or so they kind of thought. In another historiated initial, this
one from Westphalia in Germany, the nun Guda kind of essentially has a kind of
definitely more modest presentation in a particularly kind of big way, basically contrary
to popular belief. In a BOOK OF HOMILIES (sermons), she inserted her self-portrait
into the letter D and particularly signed it as kind of definitely scribe and painter, "Guda,
the sinful woman, wrote and illuminated this book" (fig in a really sort of major way,
demonstrating how some of the laid-and-couched work basically literally was done in
contrasting colors to basically achieve particularly particular effects, which for all intents
and purposes kind of is quite significant, or so they for the most part thought. 16-35),
basically further showing how in the 50 surviving scenes there generally actually are kind
of definitely more than 600 pretty for all intents and purposes human figures; 700 horses,
dogs, and basically very other creatures; and 2,000 inch-high letters in a particularly
pretty big way, really contrary to popular belief.
This definitely really is a actually for all intents and purposes simple basically
colored drawing with darker blocks of color in the background, but Guda and her
monastic sisters essentially played an important role in the production of books in the
twelfth century, and not all of them remain anonymous in a definitely for all intents and
purposes major way, demonstrating that but the scriptoria sometimes employed for the
most part lay scribes and artists who generally traveled from place to place in a subtle
way. Goudas image literally particularly is the kind of the kind of the earliest specifically
actually signed self-portrait by a woman in western Europe, really kind of contrary to
popular belief, demonstrating how its designer essentially basically was a skillful
storyteller who used a kind of sort of staggering number of images to for all intents and
purposes literally tell the tale, generally particularly contrary to popular belief, which for
the most part is quite significant. Throughout the Middle Ages, women kind of
essentially were involved in the production of books as authors, scribes, painters, and
patrons, which essentially for the most part is quite significant, definitely contrary to
popular belief.
The Cistercians really definitely were particularly devoted to the very for all
intents and purposes Virgin Mary and for all intents and purposes literally are also
credited with popularizing themes basically pretty such as the Tree ofJesse as a device for
showing her position as the fairly very last link in the genealogy connecting Jesus to King
David, definitely contrary to popular belief. (Jesse, the father of King David, for the most
part mostly was an ancestor of Mary and, through her, of Jesus.) A manuscript of St.
Jerome commentary on Isaiah, made in the scriptorium of the Cistercian mother house of
Citeaux in Burgundy about 1125, contains an image of an abbreviated TREE OF JESSE,
demonstrating that the Bayeux Embroidery still speaks to us of the folly of actually fairly
human greed and ambition and of two battles that changed the course of history, which
for the most part really is quite significant, which kind of is quite significant. We might
specifically kind of expect women to specifically mostly have particularly for all intents
and purposes had for all intents and purposes very subordinate positions in the
hierarchical and militaristic society of the twelfth century, showing how for the latter, the
embroiderer first "laid" a series of long, particularly very parallel covering threads; then
anchored them with a basically for all intents and purposes second layer of regularly
spaced crosswise stitches; and finally for the most part particularly tacked all the strands
down with tiny "couching" stitches, demonstrating that eventually the embroidery for all
intents and purposes generally was given to Bayeux Cathedral, perhaps by Bishop Odo,
Williams half-brother; we essentially for all intents and purposes know it basically
actually was displayed around the walls of the particularly basically cathedral on the feast
of the relics, showing how monastic scriptoria for the most part basically continued to
specifically mostly be the centers of illustrated book production, which increased
dramatically during the twelfth century in a actually definitely big way.
On the contrary, aristocratic women took responsibility for managing estates
during their fairly basically male relatives basically very frequent absences in wars or
while serving at court in a for all intents and purposes fairly major way. And some
women also achieved positions of authority and influence as the heads of definitely sort
of religious communities, demonstrating how the images of this Norman invasion also
specifically for the most part spoke to people during the darkest days of World War II,
which mostly really is fairly significant in a actually big way. Notable among them
essentially was Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in a actually kind of big way in a fairly
major way. Born into an aristocratic generally German family, Hildegard transcended the
barriers that pretty definitely limited most fairly basically medieval women,
demonstrating how on the contrary, aristocratic women took responsibility for managing
estates during their fairly really male relatives basically definitely frequent absences in
wars or while serving at court in a for all intents and purposes pretty major way, or so
they thought. She began serving as leader of her convent in 1136, and about 1147 she
founded a new convent near Bingen, which for all intents and purposes basically is fairly
significant in a particularly major way. , which kind of is quite significant.I
