Romanesque Tympanums: End Of The Dark Ages

Romanesque Tympanums The Romanesque time period marked the end of the “Dark Ages” by rekindling the need for creativity, monasticism, and historical principles. Much of the Roman educational progress and design principals had been lost due to famine, pestilence, and barbaric destruction. The Romanesque period marked a calmer period of time that encouraged introspection and religious pilgrimage. Much of the Romanesque architecture is a testament to the Christian faith and religious teachings. In his book Design and construction in Romanesque architecture, Edson Armi states, “In turn monasticism, through religious reform and the control it exercised over property, caused an enormous resurgence in church building” (Armi, 2003). Although,

The entryway of a church was meant to be a passageway that helped people leave the outside world behind and invited the passerby in. According to Victoria Charles, in her book Romanesque Art (Art of Century), “The Romanesque style really belongs to the Middle Ages with its feudalistic society. At the time, there was no middle of art in the modern sense; all art was religious, and the artist normally remained anonymous” (Charles, 2012). Much of the world was illiterate at the time, so the art of the time needed to be visual representations of widely known material. The most widely known literature of the time consisted of Christian stories from the bible; secular imagery is the main motif in much of the Romanesque architectural sculpture (Figure A). “The often-seamless connection among structure, construction, and design opens a window into the creative process, particularly for buildings that are not well documented” (Armi, 2003). During this time, many Christians took religious pilgrimages and Christianity began to have more followers. As a result, more churches were constructed to house the influx of worshipers. Christian churches needed to stand out from one another, unique and detailed architecture answered that need. Church tympanums of the time, can be related to modern day billboards, store fronts, and advertising. The goal was to not only visually appeal to the eye, but to entice more of the population to enter their