The Romanesque in context: where, when and how

Frontal d’Avià
 

The Romanesque in context: where, when and how

 

The Romanesque in context: where, when and how

The term Romanesque was adopted in the 19th century for designating some artistic movements that were considered to be indebted to the Roman art from ancient times, especially in terms of architecture.  Since then, this word has been applied, but it should be taken into account that the art which was developed in the heart of the middle ages, fundamentally during the 11th and 12th centuries, presented a wide variety of tendencies.

In its beginning it was linked with the Carolingian world (from the last decades of the 8th century to the 9th century) and with the Ottonian world (from the middle of the 10th century to the first third of the 13th century), while at the end it coexisted with the first manifestations of Gothic art, which emerged approximately from 1140 onwards.   

Geographically it makes up a very important part of Europe, especially the south and west, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, although it was also introduced in the Holy Land.  Romanesque is the first western medieval art that was to achieve homogeneity and internationalisation, even though it presented numerous regional variations.