Romanesque Painting: Styles, Techniques, and Influences
The theme is very similar to sculpture. Usually, the Pantocrator appears in the apse surrounded by tetramorphs, angels, or saints, or Mary as God’s throne. On the side walls, apostles and saints typically appear arranged in friezes or ornaments framed by geometric patterns (reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics).
Two schools in Spain include the Catalan school, clearly influenced by Byzantine and Frankish styles, and the Castilian school with Mozarabic miniature bases:
Catalan School
In Catalonia, colors are tempered and tweaked for a greater range. Notable is the fresh Mozarabic style of the Church of San Quirce de Pedret. Earlier but more advanced in style are the works at Santa Maria de Taüll. The most important is San Vicente de Taüll for its drawing, color quality, and capacity to geometrize figures.
Castilian School
The expressiveness and nuanced naturalism of Mozarabic miniatures are inherited by 12th-century Romanesque painters. In Castile, unlike Catalonia, the repetition of types and formulas is avoided, giving the artist more freedom. The Catalan feast disappears. The painting is more “realistic,” not as symbolic as the Catalan, even incorporating landscape sketches on occasion. The most outstanding collections of paintings are San Baudelio de Berlanga (Soria) and the frescos of Vera Cruz de Maderuelo (Segovia). The most important Castilian set is the Pantheon of San Isidoro de León. There are six domes painted with narrative scenes. The spontaneity, independence of the characters from the architectural space, the amount of movement, the slight introduction of landscape, and the richness of color are emphasized.
Painting on Wood: The Altar Frontal
Altar frontals are rectangular panels with painted scenes placed before the altar. They contain paintings relating to saints, Christ, or the Virgin, narrating their lives so that the faithful may know them through pictures. The frontal is divided into sections reflecting different scenes. Here too, raw symmetry, frontality, and hierarchy are seen, as in the frontal of the Cathedral of Urgell and Avià. In the central compartment is Christ in Majesty with a double almond. On the sides, groups of apostles turn their heads and look at the Pantocrator.
Romanesque Mural Painting
Artists mainly used two techniques on wall surfaces: fresco, the most widely used, and tempera. In both cases, surface preparation was necessary before applying color. The wall was typically covered with a mixture of sand and lime. In the first case, it was essential that the plaster be “fresh.” To achieve this, the surface was covered every day with a new layer of fine sand and much less vivid lime. The artist had to work quickly to prevent the plaster from drying. In the tempera technique, a background color, usually light, was applied, and outlines were set using black or red ochre. Then the colors, produced by the master himself from natural lands, were applied. Frescoes are found in the vaults and apses of temples. Only those of more humble churches remain, as the most important were later revoked and reformed, causing the painted groups to disappear.
From major sources:
- Byzantine mosaics: Hieratic poses and thick contour lines of the silhouettes are retaken.
- Mozarabic codices miniatures: The stylization of the drawing, parallel folds, bulging forms, and expressive features are adopted.
Its most important features are:
- Unnatural, schematic, conventional, and symbolic because, as in sculpture, it is intended to represent religious experiences, not formal beauty and real forms. Figures are flat, anatomy is briefly reflected, and costumes are schematic. The face is simplified, highlighting outlined eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows.
- Maintenance of the hierarchy of space and shapes. The main scene is at the center, and the most important figures are represented in a larger size. The law of adaptation to the framework is followed, and figures are distributed based on available space.
- Predominant mural painting, but painting also appears on panels. Generally, painting is subject to architecture, covering walls, domes, apses, and vaults.
- Use of a black contour line to shape and separate figures from chromatic surfaces, giving it a flat and expressive quality.
- Lack of depth, light, and landscape. Figures are arranged in parallel positions to fill the plane, and monochrome backgrounds emphasize geometric forms. They are frontal, and there is no communication between them.