Romanesque Art - Painting Splendor of Western Europe

Romanesque Art was considered an early phase of the Gothic Art. It refers to the style prevalent in the Western Europe from tenth to twelfth century. The Romanesque Art peaked between 1075 AD and 1125 AD, in France, Italy, Britain, and the German fiefdoms. Romanesque Art was all about architectural, pictorial, and decorative styles, which literally means, "in the style of the Romans." Romanesque Art also has some occasional traces of Byzantine, Carolingian, Antique, and Eastern Art, especially in paintings. Romanesque Painting is strongly related to the Byzantine and late classical painting tradition, which had survived the barbarian invasions during several centuries. The 'Insular Art' of British Isles too had its role to play.

Close more to 'Abstraction' than 'Realism,' Romanesque Paintings have a marked didactic character and they are used almost exclusively for religious purposes. "Christ in Majesty," "Last Judgment," "Christ's Life," "Four Evangelists," "Gospel Books," "apostles," "prophets," "Apocalypse," "Noah's Ark," were the key themes portrayed. Blue-green, yellow ochre, reddish-brown, and black were the colors mostly used. Most of these paintings decorated the large wall surfaces and the plain, curving vaults of the Romanesque period. Mural painting percolated in well, especially in England, France, Serbia, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Very few of these large wall paintings have survived due to wear and tear. Some of the remaining frescoes can be found in the "Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe" in Poitou, France and in the "Church of S. George" at Oberzell. The paintings of sacred figures and objects were also made on glass panes. The "Cathedral of Saint Denis" near Paris has several examples of such glass paintings.

Romanesque Art also included illuminated manuscripts. The "Book of the Bible" was the most important manuscript of the Romanesque period and several illuminated copies of it were made. Many different versions of Bibles, as "Winchester Bible" were also carried out and they were adorned with the scenes from both Old and the New Testaments. Other manuscript illumination that arose in England, like the "Lindisfarne Gospels," were characterized by geometrically laced designs in capital letters, borders, and sometimes even on the entire page, which are often called carpet pages. The designs also frequently contained the representations of monstrous & grotesque human figures, birds, and beasts. There were several schools of manuscript illumination, developing distinct styles.

During Romanesque Period, wall paintings supplanted the church mosaics, with smoother forms and less aggressive designs. Romanesque Art reigned the West for almost around two centuries with its extraordinary creative richness, which even today is as captivating as it was then.

Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Is is also a venue for artists to display and sell their art . Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited. Please visit the website at http://www.labedzki-art.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2111290