Art History Journal

The term Romanesque was coined by historians in the 19th century to describe early roman architecture and art styles. The revival of early roman architecture was notable in the round-headed arches, but also barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus-leaf decoration.
The people of this era focused on apocalyptic christian art. Jesus transitioned from the cross to to heaven, portrayed as a judge. As Christianity began to convert the majority of European countries the church began to take control of its people, thus creating a theological government system. So with the church in control taxes became to be used to create massive churches. This is mostly where the Romanesque style is seen with the stone vaults and roman arches. A major reason for the development of masonry vaulting was the need to replace the highly flammable wooden roofs of the pre-Romanesque structures.

Contemporary illuminated manuscripts were a major work to the Romanesque time period. These manuscripts follow early christian art and Byzantine styles to a great extent. They exhibit highly developed ornamentation, including interlaces of Irish origin and Germanic animal motifs. Examples can be found in the columns of churches, decorations on the walls or hanging fabrics.Pictorial compositions, particularly narrative scenes illustrate the Bible and the lives of the saints, they were also painted on the broad wall surfaces.

This revival of early artwork that was reinvented brought bigger churches, more power to the church because people at this time were extremely illiterate so the manuscripts could have been interpreted by the church to their own benefit. This new era was about to bring great change to the church and thus creating a new outlook on how art is to also change.