Illustrated Architecture Dictionary .................................. Styles of Architecture

Romanesque / Romanesque Revival
Later 11th-12th centuries / 1840-1900

Table of Contents:

Roman

Examples:

Romanesque style

Romanesque style: Italy and France

The term "Romanesque" was first applied by critics in the early nineteenth century to describe the architecture of the later eleventh and the twelfth centuries, because certain architectural elements, principally the round arch, resembled those of ancient Roman architecture. Thus, the word served to distinguish Romanesque from Gothic buildings.

"In Romanesque style, the plain surfaces of Greek and Roman decorative art gave way to an abundance of formal surface decoration. The name given to the decorative style is confusing. The Roman Empire in the Western Mediterranean had collapsed, but the Eastern Empire continued. The style of decoration that is associated with the Eastern Empire, whose capital was Byzantium, is called Byzantine or Romanesque. The Classical Roman Empire had vanished, but the name persisted in this way, even though Roman design standards consisted of simple, plain surfaces. The senators and centurions would have hated the overabundance of decoration on Byzantine or Romanesque objects." - Michael Huntley, History of Furniture: Ancient to 19th C., 2004

While many regional expressions of form developed throughout Europe, Romanesque often refers to all works of this era, including the later Norman variations.

The style came to be characterized by the following:

  • Heavy articulated masonry construction with narrow openings,
  • The use of the round arch and barrel vault
  • Wall arcade or buttress
  • Development of the vaulting rib and shaft
  • Cylindrical apse and chapels
  • Introduction of central and western square, round or polygonal towers.
  • Ornamentation in the form of stylistically rendered animal and plants forms

Definitions:

  • Vault - a masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle
  • Barrel (or tunnel) vault - semi cylindrical in cross-section is, in effect, a deep arch or an uninterrupted series of arches, one behind the other, over an oblong space
  • Groin (or cross) vault - formed at the point at which two barrel (tunnel) vaults intersect at right angles
  • Ribbed vault - framework of ribs or arches under the intersections of the vaulting sections.

In general, the system fails in one critical requirement - that of lighting. Due to the great thrust exerted by the barrel vault, a clerestory was difficult to construct, and windows cut into the haunch of the vault would make it unstable. A more complex and efficient type of vaulting was needed.


Examples:

Romanesque style: England

Romanesque architecture in England is called "Norman."

"Norman" is a variation of "Northman," referring to the Scandinavians who conquered Normandy in France. In 1066, the mixed (Norman-French) race, under William the Conqueror, conquered England, ushering in Norman or Romanesque architecture.

The age is characterized by the building of great Benedictine abbeys, the two-tower facade supplementing a central tower over the crossing, and the use of geometric ornamentation. Nearly every cathedral and abbey was rebuilt. (Most of the bishops and abbots came from Normandy.)

Norman ("Romanesque") architecture in England continued until the rise of Gothic around 1180 with the building of the east end in Canterbury Cathedral.

Features:

  • Plain and massive
  • Geometrical ornament, e.g., zigzag, crenelation
  • Exterior: two facade towers
  • Exterior: square crossing tower
  • Interior: plain archways and capitals (cushion capitals) devoid of ornament
  • Interior: arcades
  • Interior: gallery
  • Interior: clearstory
  • Interior: open timber roof

See also: Mario Salvadori, Romanesque versus Gothic Cathedrals



Romanesque Revival in America

Romanesque Revival in America: In general 1840-1890

American architects experimented with the Romanesque in the 1840s and 1850s for churches and public buildings, using round arches, corbels and historically correct features such as chevrons and lozenges borrowed from the pre-Gothic architecture of Europe. But in texture and outline these early Romanesque structures resembled their Gothic Revival contemporaries. The outstanding example of this early phase of the style is the original Smithsonian Institution building (1847-55, James Renwick), Washington, D.C. It was designed with extremely irregular outlines, battlemented cornices and relatively smooth-faced ashlar walls.

As interpreted by Richardson in the 1870s and 1880s, the Romanesque became a different, and uniquely American, style.

Romanesque Revival in America: Houses

A hallmark of the Italian villa and Romanesque styles (and their close cousins, the Tuscan and Norman styles) is the three- or four-story tower with arched openings. The low roof, pitched (gabled) or hipped, has a wide overhang.

Constructed of solid masonry, Romanesque Revival houses were expensive and, with the exception of row houses built on speculation, largely the purview of architects designing for affluent clients. The style was popular in urban and suburban areas. Interest in it faded in 1890s.

Romanesque Revival in America: Victorian Romanesque 1870-1890

A polychromatic exterior finish combined with the semicircular arch highlight the Victorian Romanesque style.

The rock-faced stone finish is relieved by
  • different colored and textured stone or brick for window trim
  • arches
  • quoins
  • decorated bricks and terra cotta tiles in conjunction with stone trim
  • round arches usually supported by short polished stone columns
  • foliated forms
  • grotesques and arabesques decorate capitals
  • corbels
  • belt courses
  • windows varying in size and shape

Like Victorian Gothic compared to the Gothic Revival, Victorian Romanesque was a freer interpretation of historical forms, visually heavier and more ornate than Romanesque Revival It was also more readily adaptable to all types of construction, residential included, provided the scale was large enough to employ the characteristic heavy stonework

Romanesque Revival in America: Richardsonian Romanesque 1870-1900

Few architects are prominent and innovative enough to have an architectural style named after them.

As interpreted by H. H. Richardson in the 1870s and 1880s, the Romanesque became a different, and uniquely American, style. Still present were the round arches framing window and door openings, but gone were vertical silhouettes and smooth stone facings. Richardson's buildings were more horizontal and rough in texture.

Heaviness was an ever-present characteristic of the style -- emphasized not only by the stone construction but also by deep window reveals, cavernous door openings and, occasionally, bands of windows. These openings were often further defined by a contrasting color or texture of stone or by short, robust columns.

Richardsonian Romanesque was favored for churches, university buildings and public buildings such as railroad stations and courthouses. Consequently, towers were often part of the design. In the best examples, a single tower, massive and bold in outline, crowns the ensemble.

Just as one architect was responsible for this style, one building established its popularity. Richardson's 1872 design of Trinity Church in Boston won one of the most prestigious architectural competitions of the day.

Although Richardson produced fewer houses in the Romanesque style (he is also noted for his Queen Anne and Shingle Style designs), there were enough to inspire a plethora of followers.

A large house, such as the Glessner House in Chicago, the Ames Gate Lodge in Massachusetts, and the Gratwick House (demolished) in Buffalo,was required to support the massive stoniness of the Romanesque style, but elements of Richardson's work -- such as broad round arches, squat columns, eyebrow dormers and carved, intertwining floral details -- found their way into the vocabulary of many local builders. Numerous masonry row houses still exist to pay tribute to Richardson's creativity and immense popularity.

Some critics characterize Richardsonian Romanesque as being basically the Shingle style (H. H. Richardson is credited with popularizing the style) in masonry form.

Richardson's style is characterized by the following:

  • Massive stone walls
  • Dramatic semicircular arches. His arches are frequently not truly Romanesque but Syrian, an early Christian form which springs from the ground level.
  • Unusual sculptured shapes in stone which give his structures great individuality.
  • Heaviness was the ever-present characteristic of the style, emphasized by
    • Stone construction
    • deep windows,
    • Cavernous recessed door openings and
    • Bands of windows.
  • Contrasting color or texture of stone
  • Short, robust columns.
  • Towers occur in about 75 percent of Richardson's buildings, a second tower occurs in about 15 percent.

An early Richardsonian Romanesque building is the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.


Examples in Buffalo:

See also photos of the Givin Public Library in Pennsylvania which has Moorish Fretwork.

Romanesque Revival in America: Churches

Even as the Greek Revival flourished, the feeling grew that pagan forms were hardly appropriate for Christian worship, that the intensely religious Middle Ages could provide more appropriate models. Thus, in the 1840s and 1850s, the self-contained, horizontal, monumental, static mass of Greek temple-church gave way to the irregular, vertical, picturesque, and lively forms of the Gothic and Romanesque Revival styles.

While the Gothic Revival was particularly favored by Episcopalian and Catholic parishes, the German or Italian Romanesque or early Renaissance style was generally preferred by Congregationalist, Methodist, Baptist, and other low-church groups.

The distinguishing characteristics of the Romanesque was its use of the round arch for door and window openings and its distinctive rounded moldings. In mood, it was less spiritual than the Gothic, but more reasoned; less picturesque, but more serene.

Brick or ashlar masonry, laid with thin mortar joints, is characteristic of Romanesque and Renaissance Revival churches.


Examples in Buffalo:

Examples of capitals in New York City: St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

Romanesque Revival in America: Civic and Commercial Buildings


Examples in Buffalo:

Illustrated Characteristics of Romanesque Revival

Click on photos to enlarge

All buildings are in Buffalo, New York, unless indicated otherwise

Apse
The recess, usually semicircular, at the end of a Roman basilica or a Christian church.

Illustration: St. Mary of Sorrows/King Urban Life

Other Examples:

Arcade
A line of arches along one or both sides, supported by pillars or columns, either freestanding or attached to a building.

Applies to a line of arches fronting shops, and covered with a steel and glass skylight.

Illustration:St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Other Examples:

Barrel Vault
A vault having a semicylindrical roof

Illustration: First Presbyterian Church

Other Examples:

Belt course / Stringcourse / Band course
A projecting horizontal course of masonry, of the same or dissimilar material used to throw off water from the wall; usually coincides with the edge of an interior wall.

Illustration: Buffalo Gas Light Company

Brick masonry

Illustration: St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Other Examples:

Church - Romanesque Revival Style

Illustration: St. Francis de Sales RC Church

Other Examples:

Colored glass transom
Transom: A small (hinge) window above a door or another window.

Illustration: St. Mary of Sorrows/King Urban Life

Other Examples:

Compound arches
An arch formed by concentric arches set within one another

Illustration: Lafayette Presbyterian Church

Other Examples:

Corbel tables along the eaves
Corbel: A decorative formation supporting a projection, such as a cornice.

Corbel table: projecting stringcourse or masonry strip supported by corbels.

Eaves: The lower edge of a sloping roof; that part of a roof of a building which projects beyond the wall

Illustration: St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Other Examples:

Cushion capital
A capital resembling a cushion that is pressed down because of the weight on it.

In medieval, esp. Norman, architecture, a cubic capital with its lower angles rounded off

Illustration: St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Other Examples:

Deeply recessed windows

Illustration: Old County Hall

Other Examples:

Diaper pattern
An allover pattern with motifs placed in a repeated design, esp. on a rectangular or diagonal grid.

Illustration: St. Mary of Sorrows/King Urban Life

Other Examples:

Domed corner buttress

Illustration: Old Post Office/ECC (Victorian Gothic style building)

Flat roof

Illustration: St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Geometric medieval moldings carved on capitals

Illustration: St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Other Examples:

Groin(ed) vault/Cross vault
A compound vault in which barrel vaults intersect

Heavy, rough-cut stone

Illustration: Old County Hall

Monochromatic brick or stone

Illustration: Church of the Good Shepherd (Richardsonian Romanesque style building)

Other examples:

Richardsonian Romanesque

Illustration: Buffalo Psychiatric Center Administration Building

Other Examples:

Rinceau

An ornamental band of undulant and curving plant motifs, found in classical architecture

Illustration: St. Francis de Sales RC Church

Round-arch transom
Transom: A small (hinge) window above a door or another window.

Illustration: St. Mary of Sorrows/King Urban Life

Other Examples:

Semicircular arch for window and door openings

Illustration: Buffalo Psychiatric Center Administration Building (Richardsonian Romanesque style building)

Other Examples:

Squat dwarf-columns, sometimes engaged
Engaged: A column attached to, or partly sunk into, a wall of pier

Illustration: First Presbyterian Church

Other examples:

Tower

Illustration: St. Francis Xavier RC Church

Other examples:

Victorian Romanesque

Illustration: Old County Hall

Voussoir
(voo SWAR)
One of the wedge-shaped stones forming the curved parts of an arch or vaulted ceiling.

Illustration: Buffalo Psychiatric Center Administration Building (Richardsonian Romanesque style building)

Other examples:

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Sources:


See also: Highlights of Buffalo's History, 1840-1900
Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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