Lecture 6: Romanesque in Italy - School of Architecture and Planning

Lecture 6: Romanesque
in Italy
Italian Variations in Lombardy,
Pisa and Florence
1050 – 1200

“Italy has never fit comfortably
in a mainstream account of
Western medieval architecture.
architecture
Here several threads of our story
–native Roman­ness, Byzantium,
Islam, transalpine medievalism –
get intertwined…Medieval
architecture in Italy is hybrid
and impulsive. It does not easily
adhere to purist or logical modes
of design…”
(Kostof (Kostof, p316)
Political Map of Italy in the
Romanesque Era
C1000
Note: Later Norman Conquest
of Sicily

Three regions to look at:
• Lombardy / Milan –Northern Italy
• Pisa –on the coast of Tuscany
• Fl Florence, iinland, l d in i the h heart h of f Tuscany T
Then briefly at Sicily –with it’s eclectic mix of influences as basis to
start to talk about the Normans and the impact they ultimately
hhave on the h development d l of f Gothic G hi architecture hi out of f the h
Romanesque.
But that story line will be developed in the next lecture…
Today:
Italy as a variation on Romanesque themes:
The horizontal over the vertical
The urban over the rural

Toman p78
Santa Maria, Pomposa p ( (near Ferara,
Italy), 1063 ‐‐ church and tower

Santa Maria, Pomposa ‐‐ observations
about Northern Italian Romanesque:
• Continuation of basilica form (Roman
influence)
• Sometimes interior Byzantine y decorative
influence (esp. Ravenna)
• Separation of basic elements: rectangular
basilica / free ‐standing bell tower (campanile) /
often separate round or octagonal baptistery
• Interior proportions: low / square vs. tall and
rectangular northern examples (eg. France,
Germany)
• “First Romanesque” characteristic exterior
elements elements, mainly in brick: especially blind
arcades, Lombard bands
• Importance of façade: frontal reading in urban
public space, vs. “picturesque” stepped massing
of chapels p and towers in the north to be viewed
from a distance in the open country side.
Tower: classic progression from heavy to light
Santa Maria, Pomposa: Characteristic
“Fi “First t R Romanesque” ” style t l ttower
Toman p78

Aerial View
• LLow proportions i ‐‐ bbasilica‐like ili lik
• Separate bell tower
• Low dome at crossing ‐‐ vs. tower
• Characteristic Romanesque brickwork
• Atrium (courtyard): rare ‐‐ like early
Christian churches, St Peters
Sant Ambrogio, Milan (10th ‐12th centuries)
Restored 1863
Toman p83 p

Sant Ambrogio, Milan – Interior
Early example of rib­vaulted space
Photo P Sacred Destinatiions

Issue of rib‐vaulting at San
Ambrogio: Domical­shaped
Domical shaped
vault vs. later Norman /
Gothic development
Barrel Vault Groin Vault Ribbed Vault
SAH
Stalley p131

Low / square
proportioned space
Toman T p82
Sant Ambrogio, Milan – Section
Showing g domical ribbed vaults in nave/aisles /
p394
Conant p

Sant Ambrogio – exterior:
low, , horizontal pproportions p at apse p /
characteristic exterior brickwork
hoto Calkins
Ph

Sant Ambrogio ‐‐ plan and
nave wall treatment:
• Double bays / alternating
“heavy” and “light” piers
• Square proportions
• Logic of vaulting supports not
fully ydeveloped p or articulated
Photos Sacred Desstinations
t p172
Altet

Façade:
French, from Italian “faccia” = face
• The face or front of a building
• Any side of a building facing a public way or space and finished
accordingly
• A superficial p f appearance pp or illusion…
• or: A frontispiece to explain publically the character / interior
nature of the building
Facadism:
• The use of the façade as an important, principle architectural
statement
• AAn important i urban b ddevice i
• Facadism –an important role to play in Italian architecture

San Michele, , Pavia, , Italy y ( (1110‐1160) )
Front façade – facing urban street

San Michele, , Pavia, , Italy y
Looking back at front façade from interior

San Michele, Pavia: ideal section (Vaults actually built differently)
Characteristic section of Romanesque Northern Italian Vaulted Church:
• Façade as frontispiece, rises above nave
• Domical ribbed‐vaults
• Double‐bay nave wall system
• Dome at crossing
• S Square / llow proportions ti
• “ “split litllevel” l” at t alter/ lt / crypt
t
r Fletcher p355
Baniste

San Zeno Maggiore, gg , Verona, , Italy y ( (1123 and later) )
Front façade / tower – refined, well‐developed façade example…

Plan – double bay composition
Modena Cathedral, Italy
(1099‐1184)
(1099 1184)
Façade language adopted to
surrounding urban conditions : the
west front + the piazza to the east and
south
Conant p4033
West façade ‐‐ narthex / main entry
Altet p175

Compared p to Speyer p y Cathedral, Germany, y
apse. This portion of exterior 1082‐1182.
Stalley p200
Modena: (1099‐1184) East façade / apse
facing piazza (public square)
Although related to the design at Speyer, the blind arches at Modena embrace the gallery
producing a more integral composition (Roger Stalley)
Stalley p201

Façade language – detail (south façade) View from the south
Façade and Piazza:
Turning the corner at the southeast ‐‐
plan in urban context
Altet p176
Hegemann and Peets p12 p

Façade view – south, along the piazza
Note: Transept “included” in aisle:
exterior modified to fit urban conditions

Modena Cathedral: Interior – approaches pp the “ideal” section
Arcade / tribune (gallery) + clearstory
Kubach p101

Pisa and Florence:
Other significant g
Italian variations...

Pisa Cathedral Group: Duomo (Cathedral) / Tower / Baptistery (1063‐1350)
Trrachtenberg

Pisa Cathedral: View from leaning tower ‐‐ towards baptistery
Photo Scoott
Gilchrest

“Built outside and in
of dressed stone and
marble that has
weathered
beautifully, it is
luminous and lighthearted.
No towers
on the façade or at
the crossing, no
apocalyptic scare
over the portals or
on the capitals… capitals ”
“Pisan School”
Characteristics:
• Alternate striped
marble banding
• Proliferation of
stacked open p
arcaded galleries
• Rotated square
decorative motif
• simple basilica
form and structure
Pisa Cathedral: Façade (started 1089)
Open arcades as screen screen…
Photo Scoott
Gilchrest

Façade detail at open arcades:
polychrome revetment / richness of material
Photo Scott Gilchrest

Site Plan:
Baptistery on axis with
cathedral, bell tower to side
Toman p97
Plan:
• Basilica form: each transept as “mini‐
basilica” w/ apse
• wood truss roof / coffered ceiling
• double aisles ‐‐ groin vaulted
Pisa Cathedral: Plan / Site Plan /
Schematic Section
Conant p380

Interior Views
Looking towards nave:
• arcade
• gallery (tribune)
• clearstory l t
Basilica form – wood roof / coffered
ceiling
Toman p97 p
Photo Scott Gilchrest G

Crossing – under dome: Byzantine and Islamic decorative influences
Sumptuous interior
Photo P Scott Gilchrest

Baptistery (started 1153 / exterior Gothic remodeling and outer dome
structure 1250 1250‐1265) 1265)
Conant C p381
Toman T p97

Baptistery interior :
striped marble decoration
similar to cathedral
st
Photo Scott Gilchres

and the Leaning Tower…
st
Photo Scott Gilchres

San Michele, Lucca, Italy (begun 1143):
Example of Pisan school – adapted to urban piazza setting

Gilbert Herbbert
Typifies Italian Romanesque?
• Exaggerated façade as urban frontispiece
• Response to specific exterior conditions
• Clear example of basilica + bell tower in square
San Michele, Lucca, Italy
Asymmetric cross‐section: facades respond
to different urban conditions Gilbe
CUA archivees
ert Herbert

S Gi i F i i Pi l (12th San Giovanni Fuorcivitas, Pistola (12 )
th century)
Pisan Motif:
• insistent “zebra” striping / banding
• open arcades d as screens in i front f t of f
surface
• rotated square in arch
Pi Pisa vs. Florence
Fl
Toman p94
Badia Friesolana (12 th century)
Florentine Motif:
• composition of rectangular panels
• arches h and d frames f / flattened fl d classical l l
elements / proportional design
• groupings of two’s and three’s
• “proto­Renaissance”
Toman p92

San Miniato al
Monte , Florence,
Italy:
(1062‐1092 – façade
finished in 12 th
century):
“Proto­Renaissance”
Classicizing style
Tripartite façade:
• lower arcade zone
• middle zone w/
half pediments p
on
the side, over the
aisle roofs
• upper pediment
Renaissance
architects believed
these buildings to be
authentically
antique
Toman p92

San Miniato – Façade
details:
lchrest
Photos Scott Gil
Notice “un­classical” detail
at column architraves in
center panel. Frame bends
downward to meet column.
A paper thin façade?
Watkins p125

San Miniato – Interior:
• BBasilica ili fform
• Alternating bay rhythm, using transverse
arches
Altet p1881
Toman p93 p
Alteet
p180

Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy
(11th –12th century)
Has the feel of early Renaissance work. Later, bronze
doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1401­1424) mark beginning of
Renaissance…
Toman p92
composition sketch
Gilbert Herbert
Toman p92

Structural
Diagram
319
Kostof p
Baptistery of San
Giovanni ceiling:
Byzantine influence
mixed w/ proto‐
Renaissance style
bach p120
Ku

But how do we get to the Gothic?
Look at one more step – the contribution of the Normans
Norman Conquests c1100‐1150

Monreale, Sicily (1147‐1182) ‐‐ Norman/Sicilian Monastery
A perfect eclectic mix?
Altet p186

Axonometric at crossing
• Early Christian Christian, basilica structure
• w/ Byzantine influenced decoration
• w/ Islamic pointed arches
Kubacch
p175
Detail at nave arcade
Kubach p1881