Formal aspects

Museu Nacional Art Catalunya | Aspectes formals
 

Formal aspects

Formal aspects

Despites its internationalisation, Romanesque art presents a great variety of stylistic movements that depend on the moment and the area, and also the cultural and artistic background of the promoters and the artists.  In general, in the figurative arts, the shapes tended to be distorted compared with the natural shapes, towards a dependence on geometric patterns, abstraction and a certain rigidity. But solutions could also be provided, based on a certain expressiveness and dynamism, or of others inspired by the art of antiquity. 

Another characteristic of Romanesque is the vivacity of the colours.  The density of the cleanly defined folds and contours in bodies without any reference to the third dimension.  Around the year 1200, however, art underwent a strong renovation, as for example the moulding of the bodies, with more volume, a treatment more similar to the movement and gestures, and of more expressive faces.  

Regarding sculpture, the sense of moulding was recuperated, that searched for contrasts of light and shadow in the stone.  The contribution of antiquity is especially visible in some ensembles inspired by ancient Roman sarcophaguses (this contribution is especially significant in the celebrated work of Mestre de Cabestany), and also in the Corinthian type capitols.  It can be seen in this way in the capitols of Besalú, with a scheme based on two or three rows of acanthus leaves and in the vaults developed in angles.  Alongside this attention to vegetable themes, figurative representations were also developed, as can be seen in the pillars of Sant Miquel de Camarasa.