Romanesque art and architecture 629conduct, and activity remained contemporary. They were
read and enjoyed not only by the knightly aristocracy, but
by the literate mercantile class.
See alsoALEXANDER ROMANCES; CHANSONS DE GESTE;
CHRÉTIEN DETROYES; EPIC LITERATURE;GAWAIN AND THE
GAWAIN ROMANCES; HARTMANN VONANE;ROMAN DE LA
ROSE;WACE.
Further reading:W. R. J. Barron, English Medieval
Romance(London: Longman, 1987); Douglas Kelly, The
Art of Medieval French Romance(Madison, University of
Wisconsin Press, 1992); Roberta L. Krueger, ed., The
Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance(Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2000); Eugène Vinaver,
Form and Meaning in Medieval Romance (Cambridge:
Modern Humanities Research Association, 1966).
Roman de la Rose (Romance of the Rose) The
Romance of the Rosehas been regarded as the greatest of
the Old French medieval romances. This poem, 23,000
lines long, was written by William de Lorris (d. 1240)
and JEANde Meun, both from near Orléans. William was
the author of the earlier and much shorter section of the
Roman de la Rose;almost nothing has been discovered
about him except that he lived in the region of the Loiret.
He wrote the first 4,500 lines, which were characterized
by a vivid allegorical story and beautiful language. His
technique of allegorical presentation was an innovation
and became a model for later writers. The whole first part
was rich in allegory and the main ideas of COURTLYlove.
In it love was attainable while the VIRTUES AND VICESwere
portrayed in the context of life and love. There were
numerous disapproving observations about idleness,
pleasure, danger, shame, the evils of clerical CELIBACY, the
abuse of power, and jealousy. The second very popular
and much more ironical and satirical part by Meun, was
written as a continuation of the first between 1275 and
- It told the tale of a youth who dreamed about a
rose or maiden enclosed in a GARDEN. He struggled to
reach her and encountered and overcame numerous
problems and confrontations along the way. Immensely
popular in France and England, especially for the long
digressive speeches, the poem had references to real con-
temporary characters and problems.
Further reading:Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de
Meun, The Romance of the Rose,trans. Charles Dahlberg
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971); Kevin
Brownlee and Sylvia Huot, Rethinking the Romance of the
Rose: Text, Image, Reception(Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1992); John V. Fleming, The Roman
de la Rose: A Study in Allegory and Iconography(Prince-
ton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969).
Romanesque art and architecture The term
Romanesque was first used pejoratively by a French
archaeologist in the 19th century to describe a style
supposedly derived from Roman art and paralleling
the development of Romance languages. It was formerly
considered meager and impoverished in comparison with
the glorious GOTHIC style that followed. The term
Romanesque now describes the art of Western Europe
from the 10th to the 13th century. It varied over time and
according to local influences and circumstances. The
sources of Romanesque art were not only Roman, but
also Byzantine, Islamic, Germanic or Nordic, and Celtic.RANGE AND FEATURES OF STYLE
Romanesque art began to evolve in the 11th century
and became dominant in the 12th century. Its origins
were closely linked with the reform of religious life and
ritual in the 10th and 11th centuries. This artistic style
was predominantly the result of monastic patronage
and was often produced by monastic workmanship.
The development of GREGORIAN CHANT suggested a
need for the good acoustic space that was provided by
its new system of vaulting. The early copying of liturgi-
cal and other texts for worship and reading in this style
was done in the monasteries, although the decoration
of books with miniatures soon passed to secular or lay
artisans.
Some of the standard Romanesque characteristics
were simplicity, sequences in spaces and spacing, a love
of decorative pattern, and grandeur in size, scale, and
desired effect. Stylistic similarities existed in book ILLUMI-
NATION, MOSAIC, intricate GOLDwork, IVORYcarving, TEX-
TILES, and sculpture in wood and stone. The craftsmen
and artisans were experienced and highly trained to work
in several media. Each region under Romanesque influ-
ence developed a particular artistic tradition and style, all
now classified as Romanesque.ARCHITECTURAL INNOVATIONS
Besides vaulting large spans to improve acoustics and
help protect a building from fire, Romanesque MASONS
and architects introduced several innovations, including
a choir with ambulatory and radiating chapels enclosing
an eastern apse. This was ideal for the display of shrines
with RELICSand for the easy circulation of large crowds
of pilgrims. The interiors of these Romanesque build-
ings were divided into bays through the use of shafts,
columns, and other devices. Rib vaulting prefigured the
Gothic style of vaulting. Romanesque churches still
required thick walls to carry the great weight of this
stone vaulting. Only later pointed arches enabled build-
ings to have spans over bays of various shapes and of
larger sizes. Windows were small, since the walls had to
bear considerable weight. Interiors were thus dark.
Sculptural decoration using stiff and formal figures
became common, in particular by doorways and later
in pulpits. Mural painting also was regularly employed
for interior decoration, though more abstract than
earlier work.