Romanesque Art: Pilgrimage and the Crusades

ReadingStokstad, 453-489.

Range1000-1150Romanesque

Terms/Conceptspilgrimage, relic, reliquary, bodily relic, contact relic, idols, idolatry, martyr, saint, pilgrim, absolution, pilgrimage plan, furtum sacrum (furta sacra), peregrini, crusades.

Monument List:Reliquary statue of Sainte Foy (St. Faith), Conques, France, 9th-10th centuries. Transept, Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122. Giselbertus (?), Last Judgment Tympanum, Autun Cathedral, 1120-1130, or 1130-1145.Tympanum, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Representation of a typical pilgrim.

Floppy hat with scalloped shell

Shabby tunic

Walking stick/staff

Practical boots

“Santiago” is Spanish for St. James

entrance

Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

View of Entrance, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

Plan of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

France Town

Trancept. Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

ChapelsLantern

Transept

Interior view. Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

Nave

Reconstruction drawing of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

Plan of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

radiating chapels

radiating chapels

radiating chapels

radiating chapels

Reconstruction drawing of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

Windows with rounded arches permit light to enter.

Plan of Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 1078-1122.

entrance

westwork

Each radiating chapel contains some kind of relic or holy image.

Santiago (St. James)

Casket of Santiago, Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 19th century.

Reliquary

Casket of Santiago, Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, 19th century.

The stone under the altar, Santiago de Compostela, 3rd or 4th century.

Thought to be where the boat carrying the saint body docked, but actually dedicated to a Roman god.

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Main Entrance

Transept

Apse and Chapels

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Apse

ChapelChapelChapel

Chapel

EntranceEntrance

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Tympanum

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Christ in MajestyChrist in Majesty

Good WickedGood Wicked HellHellHeavenHeaven

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Hell Mouth Ammut the Devourer, The Book of the Dead of Hunefer

Ladder of Divine Ascent,St. Catherine’s, Mt. Sinai

Last Judgment (Detai), Tympanum, Ste. Foy, Conques, France, i

Scales

Heaven Hell

Giselbertus (?), Last Judgment Tympanum, Autun Cathedral, 1120-1130, or 1130-1145.

Monastery of Ste. Foy, Conques, France, 11th and 12th Century.

Reliquary statue of Sainte Foy (St. Faith), Conques, France, 9th-10th centuries.

Furtum Sacrum = “Sacred Theft”

St. Madeleine = Mary Magdalene

At first, the crusades were referred to with the same language as pilgrimage.

Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Abbey Church, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Plan, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

North Portal, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Tympanum, North Portal (Center), Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-32.

People of the WorldPeople of the World

People of the WorldPeople of the World

Zodiac and the Labors of the SeasonsZodiac and the Labors of the Seasons

Christ and apostles

Christ and the Apostles, Tympanum, North Portal (Center), Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-32

Rays of Holy Power

Signs of the Zodiac and Seasonal Labors, North Portal (Center), St. Madeleine, Vezelay, 1120-1132

Gemini

CancerThreshing Hay

People of the World, Lintel, North Portal (Center), Tympanum, Ste. Madeleine, Vezaley, 1120-1132.

Pygmy/DwarfBig-eared People

People of the World, North Portal, Tympanum, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Monstrous Races of the World, A Crusader’s Handbook, 12th Century.

Reliquary of Ste. Madeleine

Plan, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Nave, Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1120-1132.

Reliquary of Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1281.

Reliquary of Ste. Madeleine, Vezelay, France, 1281.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How is the relationship between monasteries and their royal benefactors complicated?

2. What is the relationship between monasteries and pilgrimage?

3. How did relics function in the devotional practices in Western European Christianity?

4. What is the so-called “Pilgrimage Plan”? What function does it serve in some Romanesque churches?

5. What does furtum sacrum mean? Why is it important? How is it justified?