Ancient Roman and Romanesque Art History

Roman Art & Architecture

Architectural Innovations

Roman architecture featured both lintel and vaulted constructions. The lintel system was employed in earlier buildings, while later, directly vaulted constructions hosted a large number of people and allowed for much larger spaces to be covered with a minimum of supports, unlike lintel buildings which required more ample space. Construction materials included brick vaults and other mortar buildings. In some cases, both building systems were combined, as seen in theaters and amphitheaters, which combined arch and lintel to take advantage of both systems.

This innovative system, combining arch and lintel, allowed for the creation of complex, overlapping structures. Romans continued using the arch-lintel combination in many of their buildings and even developed it into a decorative system called the Triumphal Arch scheme. While lintels were fundamental to their buildings, Romans also created two new architectural orders: the Tuscan, based on the Doric, and the Composite, a mixture of Ionic and Corinthian capitals.

Rome employed not only quarried stone but also lighter materials like mortar. They developed brick and a variety of brickwork forms for each work, such as opus reticulatum and opus testaceum.

Roman Sculpture & Relief

Roman sculpture and relief is an anthropocentric art, with the Roman man at its center. Their focus on practical realism and the depiction of reality led to two main themes: portraiture and historical relief.

Portraiture

• Public service portraits: For the state and powerful figures, depicting robed consuls and emperors in their legislative roles, or equestrian sculptures dedicated to military triumphs (like Marcus Aurelius), and sculptures of military harangues (like Augustus addressing his troops).
• Private portraits: For families, often funerary in nature. Families sought to preserve the image of the deceased, leading to the emergence of busts and family portraits, maintaining the tradition of funerary masks to preserve ancestors.

Bronze was used profusely for honorific statues installed in public places, while marble portraits were often reserved for individuals.

Historical Reliefs

Historical relief aimed to narrate events that occurred at crucial times in Roman history. This function appears in significant reliefs such as:

• The Ara Pacis, constructed to commemorate peace by Augustus.
• The Arch of Titus.
• Trajan's Column.

While portraiture focused on individuals, historical relief aimed to narrate events. However, some developments in Roman art were criticized for excessive schematization of features.

Romanesque Art

Defining Characteristics

Romanesque is considered the first international style of the medieval historical processes. Three key factors framed the birth of this continental art:

• Millennial Terror: A climate of anxiety as populations invaded Europe during the 10th century.
• Pilgrimages: A series of circumstances generated political unrest, leading to the propagation of apocalyptic religious prophecies, often spread through pilgrimages.
• Feudalism: The societal structure that influenced art.

Influences on Romanesque Art

Important monasteries gained significance in the 11th century, becoming devotional centers due to their possession of many great saintly relics. This led to a mass influx along pilgrimage routes, particularly to the emerging Santiago de Compostela, a significant site for worship linked by common artistic features.

Romanesque art, influenced by feudalism, was not only monastic and aristocratic but also an expression of the social superiority of the estates: the clergy and nobility.