How To Distinguish Romanesque From Gothic: Their 4 Main Differences
Romanesque and Gothic are two words that are very familiar to us. Anyone who has been minimally introduced to medieval art will know, broadly speaking, the main differences between one style and another.
But we are not always clear about its characteristics, and we often confuse one with another. Therefore, in this article we will see a summary of the differences between Gothic and Romanesque with some examples.
Fundamental differences between Romanesque and Gothic: distinguishing between both styles
Architecture was the main art in the first centuries of the Middle Ages. All other arts were subordinated in one way or another to that, and especially in the Romanesque. Later, During the first manifestations of Gothic, we began to perceive an incipient emancipation between the different artistic techniques
In any case, one thing must be made clear from the beginning: no style is absolutely pure. That is to say, we will not find in any century a Romanesque that displays absolutely all of its canonical characteristics. Sometimes we will find oriental influences, other times an original and unique expression, as in the case of Northern Europe. And the same with the Gothic. Of course, it is not the same to talk about French or German Gothic as that which developed in the Mediterranean area.
However, it is possible to find a series of guidelines that can help us a lot to distinguish one style from another. Let’s go see them.
1. Dark fortresses versus multicolored cathedrals
During the Romanesque period, we find solid and strong buildings, which remind us of medieval castles. The walls are thick and lack openings, so the interiors are rather dark.
This is one of the main differences between both styles: During the Gothic period, a change in mentality is perceived, and open-plan interiors and plays of light are promoted achieved through enormous stained glass windows and high, thin walls.
This change was, in part, a consequence of the improvements developed by Gothic architects, who managed to satisfactorily contain the pressure of the roof using original techniques. This facilitated the lengthening of the walls and the appearance of large windows
Therefore, if we find ourselves inside a church or cathedral and it is full of stained glass, we can immediately relate it to Gothic. During the Romanesque period, the technique of retaining walls had not developed enough to allow such openings in the walls. If they had, the church would have collapsed.
2. The new Gothic techniques
How did Gothic architects achieve it? Through the invention of a unique and original element: the buttress Visually, we can recognize it immediately: it is what gives the Gothic construction the appearance of a huge crawling spider.
The flying buttresses are exterior arches that start from the walls of the building and discharge their pressure outward. To counteract this pressure, buttresses are arranged against these flying buttresses, also on the outside, so that all the pressure is perfectly balanced.
So seeing these enormous “spider legs” in a church or cathedral implies being in front of a Gothic monument.
3. They have different types of vaults
This is a much more technical characteristic, but also unmistakable to distinguish Romanesque and Gothic. We will see them exemplified with images from Wikimedia Commons.
In the early Romanesque, the most used type of roof was the barrel vault, the simplest of all the alternatives. It is simply a semicircular arch (that is, semicircular) expanded in space. This type of vault is very typical of the French area.
In the full Romanesque, the Normans invented another type of vault, the so-called groin vault, which is nothing other than the crossing of two barrel vaults. This type of vault allows a greater containment force for the weight of the roof.
Finally, we find the ribbed vault at the end of the Romanesque period. It is the characteristic vault of the later Gothic period, which we observe in all Gothic cathedrals. This type of vault holds all the pressure of the ceiling in the ribs, which then transfer it to the floor. Therefore, the rest of the roof is just “filling”, since it no longer has the supporting function that the Romanesque gave it.
4. From rigidity to naturalness
Romanesque sculpture and painting did not seek to copy nature exactly This is one of the ideas that we have to be clearer about if we want to quickly distinguish one style from the other.
In the first centuries of the Middle Ages, art was just a vehicle to express ideas. Of course beauty was taken into account (just look at the wonderful miniatures in the codices), but, in the first instance, Romanesque is a style much more expressive than decorative Images of him, whether in wood carvings or frescoes, convey a message; Each element is placed following an established order, a scheme, a conceptual logic.
With the arrival of the Gothic, everything transformed. Or rather we could say that it is the Gothic style that best expressed this change: Little by little, artists are becoming interested in copying reality, the world around them It is the triumph of humanism and naturalism. Let’s look at some details that will help us understand this process.
The porches
In both the Romanesque and the Gothic, the facades of the churches and cathedrals speak to us. It must be taken into account that, during the Middle Ages, the vast majority of the population did not know how to read or write, so, To make the Bible known, art was used as a vehicle of expression
In the Romanesque porticos we always find the same structure: the access door (sometimes divided in two by a profusely decorated pillar) and, above it, the semicircle in which the tympanum is located. On the tympanum we always see, as the central figure from which all the others are distributed, the Pantocrator or Christ in Majesty, surrounded by a mandorla (almond in Italian) that symbolizes his divine essence, and which also serves to highlight his figure. in the composition.
Around the Pantocrator it is common to find the Tetramorphs, that is, the representation of the four evangelists: the Eagle of Saint John, the Bull or Ox of Saint Luke, the Lion of Saint Mark and the Angel or Man of Saint Matthew. Although the iconography around Christ may vary (there may also be representations of other saints, or even simple geometric figures), the sculptural style in a Romanesque church will always be the same: hieratic, majestic, repetitive and lacking any attempt at naturalistic representation. If we find ourselves in front of a portico like this, we will be in front of a Romanesque building.
On the other hand, in the Gothic everything begins to transform. The mentality is no longer the same, it is the time of cities, of active commerce From the bourgeoisie, from the first bankers. We are no longer facing a rural society, but rather an eminently urban one. Individualism begins to take its first steps, and with it the revaluation of the human being and his emotions.
Thus, sculptural representations also begin to become humanized Although the motifs continue to be maintained (Christ in Majesty, representations of saints, etc.), its appearance has changed significantly. In the sculptures of Gothic cathedrals (such as Chartres, in France), saints become beings of flesh and blood. Their faces soften. His gestures are more natural. The folds of their clothes fall with more ease and realism. The repetition of schemes becomes less and less forceful, and the artist gradually acquires a certain freedom of representation.
Images of the Virgin
If you have had the opportunity to see a Romanesque carving of the Virgin and Child, you will have realized that the artist wanted to represent everything except the idea of motherhood. Mary is not a woman with her newborn child, but she is nothing more than a throne for the little redeemer. The Virgin limits herself to holding the Child, but does not interact with him Jesus seems unaware of his mother’s presence; He looks at us and blesses us. He is not a baby, he is not a child: he is God himself.
However, with the advance of Gothic and its incipient naturalness, these representations also transformed. Little by little, María is becoming a mother And in an authentic mother: she goes from being a mere seat of the Child, to being a mother who plays with her baby, caresses it, kisses it, gives it toys or food. And Jesus, in turn, goes from being God incarnate to being, simply, a child. He turns around, looks at her mother, raises his little hand and plays with her blanket, wriggling in her arms like a real baby. It is the triumph of Gothic humanity.
Again, without any doubt: if you see a representation like this, you are looking at a Gothic sculpture. Because although we find somewhat “naturalized” examples in the Romanesque, and also hieratic examples in the Gothic, the most common thing is that from the 12th century onwards, the virgins began to smile and the Children began to play and behave like children.
The Gothic is the era of the great altarpieces. And what is an altarpiece? We could define it as an enormous medieval comic, which tells us a story in a succession of juxtaposed scenes whether from the life of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint.
In the Romanesque period, painting was limited to fresco (on the wall), on panel (wood) and on paper (the miniatures of the books). Already at that time, stories were conceived as “comics”, but it is in the Gothic when this form of expression finds its great splendor.
Churches and cathedrals are filled with colorful altarpieces, which show bright and cheerful colors, especially blue, red and gold. The figures represented in them become increasingly more human, as in the case of the Virgins mentioned above. Artists began to give importance to the landscape, to the spatial elements, something that in the Romanesque had not been given the slightest importance.
In this sense, the Italian Giotto (13th century) establishes what will be a new art in painting, by providing his scenes with a more or less precise location and try a trick of perspective and proportion
Gone are the Romanesque panels, where different characters and realities were juxtaposed without any type of spatial relationship between them. Gothic is still a medieval language and we cannot think of it as a Renaissance art; It still preserves the fantastic language and maintains the union of worlds, of heaven and earth, of past and present. It is not yet a naturalistic art.
But little by little artists are giving more and more importance to the representation of reality, of the world that your eyes see; and already in the 15th century, in the late Gothic, the Flemish primitives, among them Van Eyck, definitively immersed themselves in the representation of sensible reality with all profusion of details.
So, when you go to a church and see a wonderful altarpiece, all shiny with gold and colors, with juxtaposed comic-like scenes and a certain hint of realism, you will be looking at a Gothic work. In the same way, if you see a painting where the artist has tried to represent (with some difficulty) a perspective and a proportion, even when this is represented in full medieval language, you will also be looking at a Gothic work.
If, on the other hand, what you see is a fresco in the apse of a church, with colossal and majestic figures, absolutely flat and without any sense of space and proportion between them; If above all, in the center of the image stands a magnificent Christ in Majesty, you are probably in front of a Romanesque work.
