Romanesque art (original) (raw)

The Romanesque architecture of France does not form an indisputable unity, but it has a large number of regional schools which are sometimes very clearly distinguished from each other. However, it shows a vitality whose influence will be felt differently in most European countries.

Pilgrimages spread the French style in while the Crusades gave birth to Franco-Romanesque churches in Syria and Palestine. The Normans impose their constructions in England. The architecture peculiar to the monastic orders of Cluny and Cîteaux is imitated almost everywhere in Western, Southern and Central Europe. It should also not be forgotten that the sculpture of Bourgondy et d'Aquitania at the same time inspired artists from Italy, Spain, England and even other countries.

Conversely, certain foreign styles entered French territory. Characteristics of Ottonian art prevail in the Northeast; Alsace and Lorraine do not belong to the French architectural domain but to the Rhine domain. The Mozarabic influences extend in the South-West and in Auvergnia; those of the Catalan region betray themselves as a border country. In Provence and in the Rhône valley, there are Lombard bell towers and Emilian portals with column-bearing lions. We could cite a large number of other examples, but French Romanesque art remains no less original and dominates, both in quality and quantity, all artistic production in Europe during this period.