Romanesque Monuments (Research Paper Sample)

Name:
Tutor:
College:
Course:
Date:
Romanesque monuments
Romanesque art evident in architectural objects in 11th century Spain was a product of cultural exchanges among different groups that include the Muslims, Mozarabs, and the Latin Spanish found in Northern Spain. Central to these cultural interactions was the effort of one group to negate the culture of the group it appropriated. However, these efforts did not produce distinct artistic forms, but instead had to incorporate fundamentals of the other culture to achieve an adequacy at demonstrating the distinctiveness and conquest of one culture over the other culture. For example, prior to the Islamic conquest of Southern Spain, the horseshoe-arched architecture was extant, having Visigoth roots and influences. Interestingly, the Muslim conquest of Spain brought along new architectural types that subtly incorporated the horseshoe-arches, partly out appreciation, but significantly as a way of gradually phasing the style out. The Mozarabs – those Spanish under Muslim rule – on the other hand, relived this horseshoe-arched architecture in their new lands in the North of Spain, the best of which was the San Miguel de Escalada Church (Dodds). Their motivation was to demonstrate the resilience of their material culture against the sophistication of the Muslim architectures. However, the Latin Spanish residents of Northern Spain, who considered themselves as purely Christians viewed the Mozarabic architecture as symbolic of Islamic culture, and so devised new artistic styles that would extinguish these Mozarabic architectures. Nevertheless, these new styles had traces of Islamic/Arabic material art to demonstrate the Christians’ retake of Spanish lands from Muslims. The Arca Santa of Oviedo of Cámara Santa, Oviedo Cathedral provides a perfect exemplar (Dodds).
In England, various artisans and illuminators demonstrated influences of the Utrecht Psalter. However, unlike the Spanish case, this was an intellectual conquest. Just like the Spanish monuments, English artists depicted a degree of deriving ideas from the Utrecht Psalter, albeit with some modifications in their characteristics. Winchester and Canterbury Cathedrals contain gothic works that adequately mirror concepts of the Utrecht Psalter (Heslop). This concept of the Utrecht Psalter is especially true in regards to the artist...