Monday, April 27, 2009

Romanesque period and how the art was a reflection of the times

The Romanesque period between 1050 and 1200 towards the end of the black plague. There was also a tendencie for artists to emmulate roman art and archetecture. The use of stone vaults, both barrel and groin vaults, and roman arches tie the romanesque period to it's name and the roman classical period. The belief of the time was that God was judgin the people of Europe and thusly they need to reform their ways. The sculpture Gislebortus "last Judgment" shows the christ figure as judge of the world. Below him are those waiting to be judged. To the right are angels or deamons, whicever you see in them, and they are picking up the person to be judged with gargoyle like hands and weighing their soul for entry into heaven. Lots of religiously centered building projects took place during this time. Churches grew larger and larger with huge geometricly accurate designs with super tall cielings that forced the viewer to look up. The vertical design of churches became more apparent during this time which was later essentuated by the gothic period. Paintings were diverse for the time but mostly centered on religious figures. Manuscript Illumination also became big buisness because of the number of pilgramages taking place and the fact that nobody in Europe could read so pictures had to tell the stories. The romanesque period brought back the old and mixed it with the new art of the beginning of a century that did not end with an apocolyptic 1000 year scenario!

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