Romanesque Art Period and Its Characteristics Essay

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Romanesque art is a period in the European direction, which is based on the flow of ancient art after the early Christian period. The era of Romanesque art dates back to the 12th century before the emergence of the Gothic style. Moreover, Romanesque art was also influenced by other different trends.

Thus, Byzantium and its architecture had a key influence on the development of this direction. In particular, this concerned iconography and mosaics, which, to a large extent, were inspired by famous buildings in Byzantium. Moreover, church officials, referring to the example of Byzantium, revived sculptures made of stone. There were many reasons for this, such as the fire resistance of the stone, the strength of this material, and the large capacity.

Romanesque churches are characterized by the presence of semicircular arches, doors, and arcades, while the buildings have massive pillars and walls with several windows. During the invasions, monasteries remained the only refuge of civilization, and so large Romanesque churches were erected under the cover and for the needs of the monasteries (Charles et al., 2016).

They were built during the wars, the chronicles of which are full of references to the fires of the old basilicas. By reconstructing them, church officials tried to protect the buildings from this kind of disaster and at the same time adapted them to the needs of the monastery. Thus, for reasons of fire resistance, wooden buildings were replaced with stone churches.

In this way, it becomes clear why the wood was replaced with stone. Throughout the Romanesque period, the cities were engulfed in bloody wars. The villages, along with their inhabitants, were forced to seek shelter, which was served by churches. Since stone is considered a fairly strong material that is difficult to destroy, people hid in churches, in fortresses. Moreover, during the wars, the opponents burned many settlements. Wood is a highly flammable material that allows the fire to spread at a high rate. Thus, replacing wood with stone significantly reduced the number of deaths in the fire.

Reference

Charles, V., & Carl, K. (2016). Romanesque art. Parkstone International.

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