LESSON 4

Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. understand the development of Byzantine architecture;

2. distinguish the architectural character of Byzantine architecture;
3. appreciate Byzantine architecture through its sample structures;
4. be familiar with some Byzantine architectural terminologies;
5. understand the development of Mediaeval & Romanesque architecture;
6. distinguish the architectural character of Mediaeval & Romanesque
architecture;
7. appreciate Mediaeval & Romanesque architecture through its sample
structures; and
8. be familiar with some Mediaeval & Romanesque architectural terminologies.

Pre-test

Instruction: Write the letter that corresponds to the correct answer before each number.
Strictly no erasures. 2 points each.

1. The decree that banned the use of

statues as means of representations of human/animal forms.
a. Iconoclastic Movement b. Theodosian Code c. Papacy d. Feudal System
2. Doctrine that set clergy apart as a
separate class & that they were exempted from taxes.
a. Iconoclastic Movement b. Theodosian Code c. Papacy d. Feudal System
3. Orientation of Byzantine churches.
a. North b. East c. West d. South
4. Ornament that symbolized Jesus
Christ.
a. Endless knot b. Peacock c. Chi-rho d. Billet
5. In feudalism, this is the one who
receives the land grant.
a. fief b. suzerian c. vassal d. homeage
6. Place inside a Byzantine church
decorated with representations of saints & pictures of life of Christ
a. Dome b. Pendentives c. Apse d. Walls
7. Ornament that symbolized eternity.
a. Endless knot b. Peacock c. Chi-rho d. Billet
8. Place where towers of churches are
in different places/location.
a. Italy b. France c. Germany d. England
2. King or Queen’s Residence.
a. Temple b. Church c. Castle d. Bridge
3. Window placed vertically in a sloping roof with a roof of its own.
a. lucarne b. groin c. helm d. billet
GENERAL TOPIC

Byzantine Architecture (4th to 6th century)

I. Influences

A. Geographical Influence

From Byzantium, Constantine renamed it to Constantinople (now known as

Istanbul) & also called “New Rome”. It was the Architecture of the Eastern
Roman Empire, developing from Late Roman & Early Catholic antecedent in the
5th century & influencing church building in Greece, Italy & elsewhere for more
than a thousand years.

B. Geological Influence

No good building stones & local materials such as clay for bricks & rubble for
concrete were used. Marble was also used but imported materials. Variations in
character reflected different local resources & traditions in construction.

C. Climatic Influence

Semi-tropical, thus flat roofs were used & combined with domes, to counteract
the New Empire. They use shallow domes carried on pendentives.

D. Religious Influence

Political division between East & West, followed by the division of churches, due
to “Iconoclastic Movement” (decree to ban the use of statues as means of
representations either of human or animal forms) & this made painting figures in
decoration a substitute. Early Christian Basilica was merged with the domical
system of the Byzantine.

E. Social & Political Influence

Ways of life & corrupt conditions contributed greatly to the fall of Roman Empire.
Prominent figures considered movers of this Architecture:
1. Theodosius II – built several military gates & towers (defense against the
Goths & Huns) but cannot avoid the Moslems or the Islamic people.
2. Justinian – responsible for rebuilding of St. Sophia “Divine Wisdom”
which now turned to a Moslem Mosque.

F. Historical Influence

From 5th to 11th century was one of the fluctuating & gradually declining
fortunes. The spirit of the Byzantine Empire persisted even after the Empire had
fallen, Constantine had continued up to the present day to the seat of a Patriarch
of the Orthodox Church. Architecture in the 6th century is dominated by one
building, Justinian’s church of Hagia Sophia or Divine Wisdom, in
Constantinople. Indeed so great was its impact that all subsequent Byzantine
church architecture was profoundly affected by it & its influence spread also to
the new Russian state in the 10th century.
I. Architectural Character

 Simplicity in external design - which resulted in the use of clay & rubble
 Richness in internal treatment - importing marble

 System of Construction
 Fusion of domical construction & classic columnar style

 Principal Material
 Brick for walls & domes
 Marble/concrete for wall finishes

 Features
 Absence of Campanile & atrium in their churches
 Grouping of small domes or semi-domes around a large central dome thus
giving the dome a vertical impression
 Shallow domes carried on pendentives
 Extensive use of frescoes
 Marble revetments to cover whole interiors

 Comparative Analysis

 Plan – build church over burial place; orientation towards the east; most
churches were of Greek Cross plan
 Walls – made of brick, internally encrusted with rich colored marbles &
shining glass; rich application of mosaics & frescoes (almost of the exclusion
of moldings & sculptured ornaments); external are plain with cement finish or
bricks in different patterns
 Openings –semi-circular headed & in some instances the horse-shoe arch
began to appear in doorways because of Muslim architecture.
 Roof – used domes made of bricks, stones, concrete; developed 3 types of
Dome:
o Simple dome – dome &
pendentives were part of the same sphere
o Compound dome – dome is
not part of the same sphere as the pendentives, but rose independently
above them or raised on a high drum pierced with windows; gives greater
height
o Melon/Onion dome – a
bulbous dome consist of curved flutings which avoid the necessity of
pendentives; common in Russia to ward off heavy snow

 Columns – were taken from ancient buildings; used dosseret blocks; used 3
types:
1. Cushion Capital
2. Bird & Basket
3. Wind Swept
Acanthus

 Ornaments – extensive use of mosaic decoration, fresco paintings with

human representation
 o Popular forms used are the
ff:
1. Endless Knot – symbol of eternity
2. Peacock – symbol of immortal/eternal life
3. Chi Rho – symbol of Jesus Christ, sacred monograms of
Christ
4. Symbolic figures
5. Groups of Saints
6. Sacred Monograms of Christ
o
Special order in using ornaments:
Dome – decorated with head & shoulder of Christ
Pendentives – four evangelists
Apse – picture of virgin & child
Walls – representations of the saints & pictures of incidents in the life of
Christ
o Popular mosaic patterns for
pavements:
- Opus Sectile
- Opus
Tesselatum
- Opus
Vermiculatum
- Opus Alexandrinum

II. Byzantine Structures

 Hagia Sophia / Sta. Sophia or Divine Wisdom, Turkey – the most

important mosque in Constantinople with 107 multi-colored marble columns by
Architect Anthemius of Tralles & Isodorus of Miletus; former Byzantine church,
former Ottoman mosque, now a museum (Ayasofya Museum)
 St. Mark’s, Venice – prototype of a Greek cross church plan; built to
receive the relics of the apostle Mark, brought from Alexandria
 S. Vitale, Ravenna – founded by Justinian & to commemorate the
recovery of Ravenna
 The Little Metropole Cathedral, Athens – smallest building in the world
dignified by the name of a “cathedral”

III. Terminologies:
1. Cushion Capital – a cubiform capital, the angles being
progressively rounded off towards the lowest part.
2. Dosseret Block/Super Abacus – a deep block sometimes placed
above a Byzantine capital to support the wide voussoirs of the arch above.
3. Pendentives - spherical triangle forming the transition from the
circular plan of a dome to the polygonal plan of its supporting structure.
4. Revetments – any facing of stone, metal or wood over a less
attractive or less durable substance or construction.
Mediaeval & Romanesque Architecture (8th Century – 12th Century)

I. Influences

A. Geographical Influence

Romanesque Architecture is the combination of Roman & Byzantine Architecture

but basically Roman in style. The style grew in the countries under the Roman
rule. Romanesque architecture was employed all across Europe in the early
Middle Ages, from the German north to the Spanish and Italian south. Not
surprisingly, the availability of materials, aesthetic tastes, and practical needs led
to significant regional variations within the Romanesque style.

B. Geological Influence

For the sake of fire resistance, masonry vaulting began to replace timber
construction. The most common materials used for construction were stone,
brick marble or terra-cotta, as well as readymade columns & other features from
the old Roman buildings.

C. Climatic Influence

Northern Portion: dull climate contributed to the use of large windows to admit
sufficient light & high pitch roof to throw off rain & snow.
Southern Portion: sunny climate contributed to the use of small windows to
minimize sunlight & use arcades for sun shading & flat roof.

D. Religious Influence

Papacy had been of great power & influence with the collapse of political power.
People believed that pope & clergy derived their authority from God, thus pope
became powerful. . Members of the clergy were the only educated people of the
time. The Theodosian Code was established, it contains doctrines that set clergy
apart as a separate class & were exempted from taxes. Monasteries became
chief centers of learning, where monks worked & teach. Missionaries spread
Christianity headed by St. Augustine (in England), St. Patrick (in Ireland) & St.
Boniface (in Germany). Christianity resulted into erection of churches but
iconoclastic controversy was present because eastern churches forbade the use
of images which were much used in the west.

E. Social & Political Influence

When the Roman Western Empire fell to the hands of barbaric teutons,
Mediaeval era began along with what was called “Dark Ages”. During the dark
ages, teutonic tribes destroyed Graeco-Roman civilization, temples, universities,
libraries & works of art. Forests were cleared, marshes were drained &
agriculture was developed. Feudalism or Feudal System was established.
Landlord build “castle” to separate them & protect them from the peasants.
Feudal lords owned manors (several tracts of land) that contained: lord’s house,
well-protected castle with a chapel, a keep (donjon), workroom, storehouses,
mill, cookhouses, barracks & prison. These castles were made with man-made
canals. Many castles were built during this period, but they are greatly
outnumbered by churches. The most significant are the great abbey churches,
many of which are still standing, more or less complete and frequently in use.
 When Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 C.E., Europe
began to take its first steps out of the “Dark Ages” since the fall of Rome in the
fifth century. The remains of Roman civilization were seen all over the continent,
and legends of the great empire would have been passed down through
generations. So when Charlemagne wanted to unite his empire and validate his
reign, he began building churches in the Roman style–particularly the style of
Christian Rome in the days of Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor.

F. Historical Influence

The style emerging in Western Europe based on Roman & Byzantine elements
last until the Advent of Gothic Architecture in the mid-12th century. The first signs
of this new movement in architecture appeared in different parts of Europe at
around 1000 and the desire to articulate structure manifested itself in different
ways according to the area.

The term "Romanesque" was coined in 1818 by Charles-Alexis-Adrien de

Gerville to describe the form of art and architecture that preceded Gothic. The
term is Roman in French; Romanish in German; Romaanse in Dutch, Románico
in Spanish and Romanico in Italian.

As the name indicates, Romanesque is ultimately inspired by Roman

architecture. Similarities between Roman and Romanesque include round
arches, stone materials, and the basilica-style plan (used for secular purposes
by the Romans).But the influences that led to the Romanesque style are far
more complex than that. Romanesque architecture also shows influences from
Visigothic, Carolingian, Byzantine and Islamic architecture.

The Romanesque period cannot be precisely defined – history is rarely as neat

as historians' terminology – but Romanesque architecture generally dates from
1000 to 1150, when Gothic began to take over. Romanesque was at its height
between about 1075 and 1125.

In some conservative regions, Romanesque-style churches continued to be built

well into the 1200s, and there was considerable overlap between the styles.
Features that lie somewhere between Romanesque and Gothic are called
"Transitional."

1. Architectural Character

 Sober & Dignified (opposite of Roman character)

 Desire to articulate in order to produce unified compositions

 System of Construction
 Arcuated

 Principal Material
 Stone & brick in Germany

 Principal Structure
 Church
 Castles

 Features & Important Innovations

 Developed in Italy, France, Germany & England
 Development of pier forms
 Introduction of triforium gallery
  Regular crossing (normally surmounted by a tower)
 Inclusion of wall passages
 Ambulatories with radiating chapels
 Evolution of new concepts in external massing
 Increasing mastery of architecture sculpture

 Comparative Analysis
 Plan – churches used Latin Cross Plan, orientation towards west, in France,
apse is elongated & was called Chancel; height of building is compensated
by the towers which maybe square, octagonal or circular; in France, towers
come in two (at front sides); in Germany, towers are in different places/
location
 Walls – use of corbelled table (series of arches) found underneath the eaves
of a church; use of massive, articulated wall structures
 Openings –use of round arches; doorjambs in receding planes
with quarter columns; use of Rose window or wheel window
 Roof – use of “Rib & Panel Vaulting”, types:
o Quadripartite –
four-part vaulting
o Sexpartite – six-part vaulting
 Columns – in Italy, adapted the Roman type; in France, adapted those of
Byzantine huge & massive columns with dosseret blocks
 Mouldings – horizontal string course together with corbelled arches
 Ornaments – fresco painting, popular subjects are vegetable & animal forms

2. Romanesque Structures

 Churches – for every church there is a “Monastery” at the side. Parts:

- Monastic church situated in a court open to public
- Cloister Court
- Inner Court
- Common Court
- Support Facilities
o Different shapes of Cross:
1 Latin
2 Calvary
3 patriarchal or cross of Lorraine
4 papal
5 Lorraine
6 Greek
7 Celtic
8 Maltese
9 Saint Andrew‘s
10 tau
11 pommée
12 botonée
13 fleury
14 avellan
15 moline
16 formée
17 fourchée
18 crosslet
19 quadrate
20 potent

 Italian Romanesque (9th century – 12th century)

 a. Central Italy – architecture is expressed in an ornamental
arcade

o Pisa Cathedral – with

Baptistry, Campanile & Campo Santo; one of the finest Romanesque
cathedral; designed by Architect Dioti Salvi
o Campanile, Pisa – circular
tower; world’s famous “Leaning Tower”; 8 storeys of encircling arcades
o Baptistry, Pisa – circular in
plan
o Campo Santo, Pisa – a
cemetery
o Pistoia Cathedral
o S. Miniato, Florence

b. North Italy – Basilican Church Plan

o S. Zeno Maggiore, Verona

o S. Antonino, Piacenza
o S. Ambrogio, Milan
o S. Michele, Pavia

c. South Italy – Byzantine influence by use of mosaic

decoration; Muslim influence by use of geometric patterns of marble
decorations

o Monreale Cathedral –
Benedictine Monastery, combination of Early Christian & Byzantine style
o La Zisa, Palermo
o Cefalu Cathedral

 French Romanesque (9th – 12th century) – Ecclesiastical

Architecture

a. Southern France –
aisle-less naves & pointed arch

o St. Madeleine, Veezelay –

noted to have the 1st cross vault in France
o The Abbey Church, Cluny –
with a barrel vault

b. Northern France –
façade distinguished by 2 flanking towers
o Abbey S. Denis – Architect
Abbe Suger, burial place for French Kings, prototype of Gothic style
o Abbaye-Aux-hommes, Caen
– prototype of the ‘exposed Gothic Flying Buttress’, famous for having 9-
pointed spires

 German Romanesque – has eastern & western apses,

entrance along side aisles, picturesque due to circular & octagonal tunnels,
polygonal domes & arcaded galleries
 o Aix-La-Chapele Cathedral –
built by Emperor Charlemagne as his royal tomb-house; prototype of
similar churches in Germany; place of coronation of the Holy Roman
Emperors
o The Church of the Apostles,
Cologne
o Worms Cathedral – typical
German Romanesque church constructed of bricks
o Treves Cathedral –
residence of Roman Emperors; remained the seat of Bishops,
Archbishops & electors for 1,500 years

 Norman Romanesque – Norman churches in England

are characterized by exceptionally long plans, a massive scale (especially in
great round columns in the nave), use of carved geometric decoration.

o Saint-Étienne, Caen (begun

1067)
o Ely Cathedral (c. 1090)
o Norwich Cathedral (c. 1096)
o Canterbury Cathedral (c.
1070)
o Lincoln Cathedral (c. 1072)
o Rochester Cathedral (c.
1077)
o St. Albans Cathedral (c.
1077)
o Winchester Cathedral (c.
1079)
o Tewkesbury Abbey (c. 1088)
o Gloucester Cathedral (c.
1089)
o Southwell Minster (11th
century)
o Durham Cathedral (c.1104)
o Hereford Cathedral (c. 1107)
o Peterborough Cathedral (c.
1118)

3. Romanesque Terminologies:
1. Billet – a Romanesque moulding consisting of several bands of raised short
cylinders or square pieces, placed at a regular interval. Types:

Segmental billet Roll Billet Square billet

Prismatic Billet
 2. Dormer Window (lucarne) – a window placed vertically in a sloping roof with a
roof on its own

3. Groin – the curved arris formed by intersecting vaulting surfaces

4. Helm roof – a roof in which 4 faces rests diagonally between the gables &
converge at the roof.
5. Feudalism – property system representing the receiving/giving of
property, usually land, in exchange for certain services.
6. Fief – land grant in feudalism
7. Lord/Suzerian – man who gave land
8. Vassal – one who receive the land
9. Homeage – ceremony or act of becoming a vassal held in the castle’s hall
10. Knight – vassal who served one’s lord in battle

English Medieval Architecture (started in between century of Romanesque Arch’re to

Gothic Arch’re)
Castle – King & Queen’s residence, “fortress” in times of war
I. Architectural Character
Development of English Medieval Architecture, Periods:
1. Pre-Roman
2. Roman
3. Anglo-saxon Period – characterized by the use of timber for domestic
buildings
4. Norman or Transition Period – characterized by bold & massive
architecture. Distinct piers & flat buttresses.
5. Early English or Lancet – less massive, simple ornament. Distinct
features: tall & narrow lancet openings; projecting buttresses, pinnacles &
steep-pitched roofs; group of slender shafts at the interior.
6. Decorated or Geometrical & Curvilinear Period – more ornate & elaborate
in decoration. Distinct features: geometrical & flowing tracery sometimes
crowned by ogee arch; an enlarged clerestory at the expense of triforium.
7. Perpendicular Period – “rectilinear”, “Late pointed” or “Lancastrian”
period, use of fan vaults & fan & pendant vaults
8. Tudor Period – used in domestic buildings rather than ecclesiastical
buildings, similar to perpendicular style, characteristics are square-headed
mullion windows, ornamental fire places, gables with pinnacles, chimneys &
finials.

 English Gothic Mouldings:

 Types of Ornamented Mouldings: