What The Types of Romanesque Art.

In the evolution of Romanesque Art we can differentiate three phases.

First Romanesque:

It includes the entire 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century.

It has its origin in northern Italy. Later it spread throughout northern Catalonia and Aragon, as well as southern France.

In this style, squared but not polished stone is used. The temples are covered with stone barrel and oven vaults. The columns are no longer used to use the pillars. The naves are wider and higher than the preceding pre-Romanesque buildings. At this stage there is no sculptural figuration.

Second Romanesque:

arrives in Spain at the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century.

It has its origin in France. Through the Camino de Santiago it spreads geographically.

It is a more harmonious style, of great beauty and balance of forms. It is the noblest phase of the style.

Its architecture is sober but with a grace and balance not achieved in other styles.

Late Romanesque

This style developed from the middle of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century.

This style evolves towards more ornate and precious shapes. This is the latest evolution of the style.

In terms of architecture, Romanesque and Gothic forms are combined.

In this period, sculpture detaches itself from its symbolic character and moves decisively towards naturalism.

Cistercian monasteries had a spectacular development throughout Europe during the 12th century and part of the 13th. France was the focus of these peculiar features.

In France, this final phase of the Romanesque period led to the construction of truly spectacular temples due to their baroque style. The greatest example is found in the spectacular church of Notre Dame la Grande de Poitiers.

However, in Spain, this style develops unevenly. In any case, we can highlight the church of Santo Domingo de Soria as an emblematic construction.

Mudejar Romanesque:

It is an exclusively Spanish style in which Romanesque structural forms are combined with Muslim decorations typical of the Mudejars that were left in the territories conquered by the Christians from the Muslims.

The volumes are basically the same as the stone Romanesque ones, limited by the differences in material. The set of blind arches, alfices, corner friezes or sardinel bricks is widely used to decorate the walls. These new characteristics cause it to lose the typical sculptural figuration of the Romanesque.