THE GOAL:"History," wrote Jacob Burkhardt, "is what one age finds worthy of note in another." Ours is a fascinating time to study the Romanesque period, not the least because of the shifts in what is to be considered "worthy of note" in the past several decades of scholarship. Where past generations of scholars argued for the Romanesque as an indigeneous Western European culture marked by a coherent pilgrimage architecture, researchers today are finding evidence for a much more "open" Romanesque era, one energized by the call to the Crusades in Jerusalem, permeated by the Islamic culture thriving in the Holy Land and Muslim Spain, involved in an almost constant process of self-reinvention, and animated by a stunningly varied and multi-valent visual culture. Our process in this class will be to examine the works of art of this wondrous and ever-changing culture for its constructions and transformations of fundamental precepts of the human condition, such as the divine, power, beauty, love, death, fear, and the miraculous. back to top

THE CLASSROOM: Our time together will be spent in our on-going attempt to make sense of the images and objects of Romanesque art. To be prepared for this endeavor, you must be critically engaged with your texts - to my mind, this entails a thorough reading underlining key passages, quick notes as to the thesis and argument of the text, and three questions which the text either provoked or left unanswered. I will be very interested to know of those points and questions which intrigued you. Class participation will thus count for 20% of your grade, which is dependent on both your presence (after the third absence, your final grade decreases by a third of a letter grade), and your contributions. Please note the term participation in the phrase “class participation.” Coming to class is the minimum requirement for participation. Contribution is understood as voluntary, consistent, and productive participation in classroom discussion. back to top

THE READINGS: A look through the syllabus will reveal what I will readily acknowledge is a copious amount of reading. Please interpret this abundance in two ways: first, as my esteem for the great work that you are capable of, and secondly, as a stimulus to research for your final paper. Beyond those two interpretations, here are my goals for the readings: to give you a thorough context for these works of art through a combination of original, medieval sources and critical, modern texts; to provide you with the opportunity for you, yourself, to be critical of the material by presenting dissenting points of view about the works of art, and, finally, to initiate you to some of the great writing in art history. I've gathered these materials for you in a photocopy packet, which is available from the University Bookstore. Andreas Petzold's book Romanesque Art and M.F. Hearn’s Romanesque Sculpture await you at Fine Print Bookstore (off the square in Greencastle).back to top

THE TESTS:There will be two of them, the first covering the East-West, Islamic-Christian art and exchange (Crusade), and the second addressing developments in the West (Cloister). Both will be closed-notebook tests comprising a combination of short answer (identifications, maps) and long answer (comparative and analytical essays) writing. These tests make up 40% of your final grade. back to top

THE PAPER: One of the most rewarding aspects of an upper-level art history class is the writing of a final paper. I dub it so because of the exploration, discovery, and understanding that ensues from researching a particular image to your satisfaction. Throughout this semester, you will be building a relationship with a specific work of art through this process of research and questioning. Because so much of Romanesque art remains mysterious, it will help to have almost a detective's mindset when approaching your object. You will be able to choose an image from an array available on the web page. Your curiosity about this image will help your research and your writing, so make sure that you are gripped by your object of choice! Once your choice has been made, I would like you to meet with me so that we can talk about the reasons for your interest, the issues of the object that you would like to study, and which research sources will help you most immediately. After that, you will be on your own for research, although you may, of course, consult with me at any point. The paper itself should be no less than 8 and no more than 12 pages, typed in Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1" margins all around, footnotes (to be discussed), appended images, and a Bibliography of Consulted Sources. You will have an opportunity to disclose your findings to your colleagues at the end of the class, in a 10 minute presentation. The paper and presentation combined will make up the remaining 40% of your final grade. Below is my attempt at a lucid time-table for your research and writing efforts: the only dates to which you are truly beholden are the underlined ones.

Weeks 1-4 choose your image
Monday, February 18 - hand in image choice and inital interest in image (100 words)
Weeks 5-8 determine salient issues and themes to be discussed - meet with Anne
Friday, March 22 - hand in research plan (250 words)
Weeks 9-13 research and write first draft
Friday, April 26 - hand in rough draft (minimum 6 pages)
Week 14 - polish paper and present results
paper due on day of presentation (either Monday, May 6 or Wednesday, May 8)

.back to top

THE SCHEDULE: back to top

Week 1: Getting To/At the Romanesque
Monday, January 28: Introduction to the Class, the Concepts

Wednesday, January 30: The Roman in Romanesque
Hearn, M.F. “The Demise of the Antique Tradition of Monumenta; Sculpture,” from Romanesque Sculpture. Cornell University Press, 1981: 17-23. Book

Kinney, Dale. “Mirabilia urbis Romae,” in The Classics in the Middle Ages. ed. Aldo S. Bernardo and Saul Levin. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies. Binghamton, NY: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1990: 207-226. Packet

Nercessian, Nora. “Renaissance, Residues, and Other Remains; Some Comments on the Arts in the Twelfth Century,” Res 5 (1983): 23-39. Packet

Friday, February 1: The Bridge: Carolingian Art
Hearn, M.F. “The Afterlife of the Antique Tradition: the Carolingian Renovatio,” from Romanesque Sculpture. Cornell University Press, 1981: 23-40. Book

Seidel, Linda. “Trophies; the Architectural Frame,” from Songs of Glory: the Romanesque Façades of Aquitaine. University of Chicago Press, 1981: 17-34. Packet

Week 2: Muslim Spain and the Christian West
Monday, February 4: Aesthetic Attitude
Camille, Michael. “Art History in the Past and Future of Medieval Studies,” in The Past and Future of Medieval Studies. ed. John van Engen. Notre Dame, 1994: 362- 382. Packet

Petzold, Andreas. “The Definition of Romanesque Art,” from Romanesque Art. Prentice Hall, Harry N. Abrams, 1995: 7-23. Book

Schapiro, Meyer. “On the Aesthetic Attitude in Romanesque Art,” in Romanesque Art. New York: George Braziller, 1977: 1-27. Packet

Wednesday, February 6: Mozarabic Art
Jacoby, Zehava. “The Beard Pullers in Romanesque Art: an Islamic Motif and Its Evolution in the West,” Arte Medievale 2:1-2 (1987): 65-83. Reserve

Petzold, Andreas. “Romanesque Art and Alien Cultures,” from Romanesque Art. Prentice Hall, Harry N. Abrams, 1995: 141-159. Book

Schapiro, Meyer. “From Mozarabic to Romanesque in Silos,” Art Bulletin 21 (1939): 312-374. Packet

Vernet, Juan. “The Legacy of Islam in Spain,” Al-Andalus; the Art of Islamic Spain. Metropolitan: 173-187. Packet

Friday, February 8: Silos
Valdez de Alamo, Elizabeth. “Triumphal Visions and Monastic Devotion: the Annunciation Relief of Santo Domingo de Silos,” Gesta 29:2 (1990): 167-188.Packet

Werckmeister, O.K. “The Emmaus and Thomas Pillar of the Cloister of Silos,” in En Romanico en Silos. Abadia de Silos, 1990: 149-171. Reserve

Week 3: The Romanesque Crusades
Monday, February 11: The 1st Crusade
Constable, Giles. “The Place of the Crusader in Medieval Society,” Viator 29 (1998): 377-403. Packet

Fulcher of Chartres. “The Chronicle of the First Crusade,” excerpts. The First Crusade. ed. Edward Peters. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971: 68-83. Packet

Hillenbrand, Carole. “The First Crusade and the Muslims’ Initial Reactions to the Comingof the Franks,” from The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999: 31-44, 54-74. Packet

Morris, Colin. “Policy and Visions: the case of the Holy Lance at Antioch,” in War and Government in the Middle Ages; essays in honor of J.O. Prestwich. Boydell Press, 1984:33-45. Reserve

Urban II, Pope. “The Council of Clermont,” in The First Crusade. ed. Edward Peters. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971 1-16. Packet

Wednesday, February 13: 2nd Crusade
http://www.templarhistory.com/contents.html

Bulst-Thiele, Marie Luise. “The Influence of St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Formation of the Order of the Knights Templar,” in The Second Crusade and the Cistercians. ed. Michael Gervers. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992:57-65. Packet

Hallam, Elizabeth. “The Second Crusade, 1147-1149,” from Chronicles of the Crusades. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989: 115-149. Packet

Friday, February 15: 3rd Crusade
Hadingham, Evan. “Ready, Aim, Fire!” Smithsonian 30:10 (January 2000): 78-87. Reserve

Maalouf, Amin. “The Tears of Saladin,” from The Crusades through Arab Eyes trans. Jon Rothschild. New York: Schocken Books, 1984: 176-200. Packet

Melville, C.P. and M.C. Lyons. “Saladin’s Hattin Letter,” in The Horns of Hattin ed. B.Z. Kedar. London: Variorum, 1992: 208-212. Reserve

Week 4: Crusader Jerusalem (1099-1187)
Monday, February 18: Jerusalem – the City hand in image choice
Hamilton, Bernard. “Rebuilding Zion: the Holy Places of Jerusalem in the Twelfth Century,” Studies in Church History 14 (1977): 105-116. Packet

Lindner, Molly. “Topography and Iconography in Twelfth-Century Jerusalem,” in The Horns of Hattin ed. B.Z. Kedar. London: Variorum, 1992: 81-98. Reserve

Wednesday, 20: Jerusalem – the Holy Sepulcher
Biddle, Martin. “The Byzantines and the Holy Sepulchre in the Eleventh Century,” and “The Crusaders and the Holy Sepulcher in the Twelfth Century,” from The Tomb of Christ. Sutton Publishing, 1999: 74-88 and 89-98. Reserve

Ousterhout, Robert. “The Temple, the Sepulchre, and the Martyrion of the Savior,” Gesta 29:1 (1990): 44-53. Packet

Friday, February 22: Jerusalem – Haram al-Sharif
Folda, Jaroslav. “Painting and Sculpture in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099, 1291,” in A History of the Crusades. Vol. 4: The Art and Architecture of the Crusade States. ed. Kenneth M. Setton. University of Wisconsin Press, 1977:251-280. Packet

Weiss, Daniel H. “Biblical History and Medieval Historiography: Rationalizing Strategies in Crusader Art,” Modern Language Notes 108:4 (September 1993): 710-7373. JSTOR
Click on http://www.jstor.org/browse/00267910 - follow citation - I would then choose the Download option and follow the instrutions - choose Economy quality!

Week 5: Inheritances
Monday, February 25: Science
O’Neill, Ynez Violé. “The Fünfbildserie – a Bridge to the Unknown,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 51 (1977): 538-549. Packet

Wednesday, February 27: Love
Capellanus, Andreas. “Introduction,” and excerpts, from The Art of Courtly Love. trans. John Jay Parry. Columbia University Press, 1990: 3-13, 28-36, 184-186. Packet

Ibn Hazm, excerpts from The Ring of the Dove. trans. Anthony Arberry.Luzac Oriental, 1994: 33-59. Reserve

Friday, March 1: Music
Morris, Colin. “Love: The Troubadours.” from The Discovery of the Individual, 1050- 1200. University of Toronto Press, 1987: 107-120. Packet

Week 6: Reactions
Monday, March 4: Song of Roland – Introduction and Reading
Goldin, Frederick. “Introduction,” from The Song of Roland W.W. Norton and Company, 1978: 1-28. Reserve

Song of Roland. Verses 79-177. from The Song of Roland trans Glyn Burgess. Penguin Books, 1990: 61-105. Packet

Wednesday, March 6: Song of Roland - Interpretations
Seidel, Linda. “The Struggle for Moral Perfection,” from Songs of Glory; the Romanesque Façades of Aquitaine. University of Chicago Press, 1981: 55-69. Packet

Vance, Eugene. “Style and Value: from Soldier to Pilgrim in the Song of Roland,” Yale French Studies: Contexts, Style and Values in Medieval Art and Literature 1991: 75-66. JSTOR
Click here for Yale French Studies page
Click on"Contexts" issue (between Numbers 79 and 80)
Scroll down to "Style and Value" article by Eugene Vance
Click on Download
Choose "PDF:Economy"
Click OK to using Acrobat Reader
The article will pop up - print it!

Friday, March 8: The Guide to Compostela [NO CLASS-go to IMA on Saturday?]
Gitlitz, David M. “The Iconography of St. James in the Indianapolis Museums’s Fifteenth-Century Altarpiece,” in The Pilgrimage to Compostela in the Middle Ages ed. Maryjane Dunn and Linda Kay Davidons. Garland Publishing, 1996:
113-130. Packet

Melczer, William. “Myth and Historical Reality in the Tradition of St. James,” and “Pilgrimage without Ideology,” from The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela. New York: Italica Press, 1993: 14-23, 35-70, 121-129. Reserve

Week 7: Journeying back to the West
Monday, March 11: TEST 1
One hour test.

Wednesday, March 13: Treasures from the East
Beech, Goerge T. “The Eleanor of Aquitaine Vase, William IX of Aquitaine, and Muslim Spain,” Gesta 32:1 (1993): 3-10. Packet

Verdier, Philippe. “The Chalice of Abbot Suger,” Studies in the History of Art 24 (1990): 9-29. Packet

Friday, March 15: The Road to Compostela
Hearn, M.F. “The Sculptural Façades of Santiago Cathedral,” from Romanesque Sculpture Cornell University Press, 1981: 142-152. Book

Matthews, Karen Rose. “Reading Romanesque Sculpture: the Iconography and Reception of the South Portal Sculpture at Santiago de Compostela,” Gesta 39:1 (2000): 3-12. Packet

Werckmeister, O.K. “Cluny III and the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela,” Gesta 27: 1/2 (1988): 103-112. Packet

Incredible "Way of Saint James" website!

Week 8: The East in the West
Monday, March 18: Jerusalem in the West
Dynes, Wayne. “The Medieval Cloister as the Portico of Solomon,” Gesta 12 (1973): 61-69. Packet

Wednesday, March 20: Moissac
Capelle, Ruth Maria. “The Representation of Conflict on the Imposts of Moissac,” Viator 12 (1981): 79-101. Packet

Hearn, M.F. “The Cloister at the Abbey of Moissac,” from Romanesque Sculpture Cornell University Press, 1981: 119-129. Book

Seidel, Linda. “Images of the Crusades in Western Art: Models as Metaphors,” in The Meeting of Two Worlds; cultural exchange between east and west during the period of the Crusades. ed. Ed. Vladimir Goss. Medieval Instistute Publications, MI, 1986: 377-391. Packet

Friday, March 22: Modena hand in research plan
Fox-Friedman, Jeanne. “Messianic Visions; Modena Cathedral and the Crusades,” Res 25 (Spring 1994): 77-95. Reserve

Hearn, M.F. “The Incunabula of Sculpture on the Façade of Modena Cathedral,” from Romanesque Sculpture Cornell University Press, 1981: 85-97. Book

SPRING BREAK – ENJOY!!!

Week 9: The West in Formation
Monday, April 1: Bayeux Tapestry – the Battle
http://www.regia.org/hastings.html

Bernstein, David J. “A Play in Two Acts,” from The Mystery of the Bayeux Tapestry. University of Chicago, 1987: 14-26. Packet

Petzold, Andreas. “Romanesque Art and Society,” from Romanesque Art. Prentice Hall, Harry N. Abrams, 1995: 72-99. Book

The entire Bayeux Tapestry on one page!

Wednesday, April 3: Bayeux Tapestry – the Art
Werckmeister, O.K. “The Political Ideology of the Bayeux Tapestry,” Studi Medievali 17:2 (1976): 535-595. Reserve

Friday, April 5: St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury
Ward, Benedicta. “The Miracles of St. Thomas of Canterbury,” from Miracles and the Medieval Mind. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987: 89-109. Packet

The Murder of Thomas Becket
Pilgrimage Tour of Canterbury Cathedral

Week 10: Monasticism
Monday, April 8: Cluny – Life of the Monks
Carty, Carolyn M. “The Role of Gunzo’s Dream in the Building of Cluny III,” Gesta 27:1/2 (1988): 113-124. Packet

Meyvaert, Paul. “The Medieval Monastic Claustrum,” Gesta 12 (1973): 53-59. Packet

Petzold, Andreas. “Romanesque Art and the Church,” from Romanesque Art. Prentice Hall, Harry N. Abrams, 1995: 101-121. Book

Pressouyre, Léon. “St. Bernard to St. Francis: Monastic Ideals and Iconographic Programs in the Cloister,” Gesta 22 (1973): 71-92. Packet

Rosenwein, Barbara. “Feudal War and Monastic Peace: Cluniac Liturgy as Ritual Aggression,” Viator 2 (1971): 129-156. Packet

Foundation Charter of Cluny (910)

Wednesday, April 10: Cluny – the Art and Life of Monks
Hearn, “The Hemicycle Capitals of Cluny,” and “The West Portal of Cluny Abbey Church,” from Romanesque Sculpture Cornell University Press, 1981: 102-116, and 132-139. Book

Rudolph, Conrad. “Bernard of Clairvaux’s Apologia as a Description of Cluny, and the Controversy over Monastic Art,” Gesta 27:1/2 (1988): 125-132. Packet

Scillia, Charles E. “Meaning and the Cluny Capitals: Music as Metaphor,” Gesta 27: 1/2 (1988): 133-148. Packet

Friday, April 12: Cistercian Architecture and Literature - NO CLASS - WORK ON SMALL PROJECT DESCRIBED IN THE BOX BELOW
Leroux-Dhuys, Jean-François. “Monastic Architecture according to St. Bernard of Clairvaux,” from Cistercian Abbeys; History and Architecture. Könemann, 1998: 37-56. Packet
Fabulous Fontenay Abbey site

Week 11: Violence and Everyday (and not-so-everday) Life
Monday, April 15: Vezelay – the Tympanum
Katzenellenbogen, Adolf. “The Central Tympanum at Vezelay: Its Encyclopedic Meaning and Its Relation to the First Crusade,” Art Bulletin 26 (1944): 139-151. Packet

Taylor, Michael D. “The Pentecost at Vezely,” Gesta 19:1 (1980): 9-15. Packet

Browse around Vezelay

Wednesday, April 17: Vezelay – the Town
Abou-El-Haj, Barbara. “The Audiences for the Medieval Cult of Saints,” Gesta 30 (1991): 3-15. Packet

Berlow, Rosalind Kent. “The Rebels of Vezelay, (1152-1155),” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 9 (1987): 137-163. Packet

Hearn, M.F. “The Nave Capitals and Small Portals of Vezelay,” from Romanesque Sculpture. Cornell University Press, 1981: 164-163. Book

Friday, April 19: Souillac
Camille, Michael. “Mouths and Meanings: Towards an Anti-Iconography of Medieval Art,” in Iconography at the Crossroads ed. Brendan Cassidy. Princeton University Press, 1993: 43-58. Packet

Schapiro, Meyer. “The Sculptures of Souillac,” in Medieval Studies in Memory of A. Kingsley Porter. Ed. Wilhelm R.W. Koehler/. Freeport. NY: Books for Librairies Press, 1969. Packet

Browse around Souillac

Week 12: The Otherworldly
Monday, April 22: Toulouse
Hearn, M.F. “The Table-Altar and Ambulatory Reliefs of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse,” from Romanesque Sculpture Cornell University Press, 1981: 68-80, 140-142, 152-154. Book

Browse around St-Sernin of Toulouse

Wednesday, April 24: Conques – Ste. Foi
Bernard of Angers. Excerpts from The Book of Saint Foy trans. Pamela Sheingorn. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995:77-81, 84-85, 92-97, 102-103, 135-137. Packet

Dahl, Ellert. “The Statue of Sainte Foy of Conques and the Signification of the Medieval ‘Cult Image’ in the West,” in Acta ad Archaeologiam et Artium Historiam Pertinetia 8 (1978): 175-191. will be e-mailed to you

Geary, Patrick. “Monastic Thefts,” from Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Middle Ages. Princeton University Press, 1990: 56-63. Packet

Thumbnails of Conques

Friday, April 26: Conques – the Tympanum hand in rough draft
Hearn, M.F. “The First Generation: Theophany in the Portal,” from Romanesque Sculpture Cornell University Press, 1981: 169-191. Book

Kendall, Calvin B. “The Voice in the Stone: the Verse Inscriptions of Ste.-Foy of Conques and the Date of the Tympanum,” in Hermeneutics and Medieval Culture ed. Patrick J. Gallacher and Helen Damico. SUNY Press, 1989: 163-182. Packet

All about the tympanum at Conques

Week 13: Romanesque Forever!
Monday, April 29: Autun - Eve
Marina, Areli. “Gislebertus’s Eve: An Alternatire Interpretation of the Eve Lintel Relief from the Church of Saint-Lazare, Autun,” Athanor 13 (1995): 7-14. Reserve

Petzold, Andreas. “Women and Romanesque Art,” from Romanesque Art. Prentice Hall, Harry N. Abrams, 1995: 123-139. Book

Werckmeister, O.K. “The Lintel Fragment Representing Eve from Saint-Lazare, Autun,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 35 (1972): 1-30. Packet

Click-able image of Eve of Autun

Wednesday, May 1: Autun - Gislebertus
Denny, Don. “The Last Judgment Tympanum at Autun: Its Sources and Meaning,” Speculum 57:3 (1982): 532-547. JSTOR

Folley, E.M. “The Sculptor of Autun,” Artforum 1 (February 1968): 24-26. Packet

Gurevich, Aaron. “The West Portal of the Church of St-Lazare in Autun: the Paradoxes of the Medieval Mind,” in Historical Anthropology of the Middle Ages ed. Jana Howlett. University of Chicago Press, 1992: 90-99. Packet

Petzold, Andreas. “The Romanesque Artist and Patronage of the Arts,” from . Romanesque Art. Prentice Hall, Harry N. Abrams, 1995: 25-43. Book

Seidel, Linda. “Texts and Contexts,” from Legends in Limestone; Lazarus, Gislebertus, and the Cathedral of Autun. University of Chicago Press, 1999: 1032. Packet

Browse around Autun

Your Turn!
Friday, May 3: First Set of Presentations (5 people)
Paper due Monday, May 6

Monday, May 6: Second Set of Presentations (5 people)
paper due Wednesday, May 8

Wednesday, May 8: Third Set of Presentations (6 people)
paper due Friday, May 10

Monday, May 13 - 9:30-11:30 a.m. - EXAM

back to top