Romanesque Art. Victoria Charles
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by another fire in 1137 that the cathedral had to be re-roofed. Based on newly expanded technical knowledge, the original flat wooden roofs were replaced with stone vaults. These, however, only remained until 1159, when intense fighting broke out between the archbishop and the citizens, whereby the latter stormed the cathedral and turned it into a fortress. After the cathedral had remained without a roof for over twenty years, its reconstruction was started, but carried out so slowly that it was only finally concluded in 1239.
Due to this extended construction period, Mainz Cathedral does not present a uniform image of Romanesque style. Additions during the Gothic period interfere with the uniformity of the overall exterior and interior appearance. Careful reconstruction attempted to replace whatever was destroyed by shooting or bombardment during various wars. The cathedral succeeded in maintaining an appearance, at least, of its great age. Surrounded by rows of houses, Mainz Cathedral does not convey a monumental impression when viewed up close. This, however, was probably not the creators’ intent, since the building customs of medieval towns did not grant them great freedom. Where there were no fortifications to protect the citizens’ residences, the main church took their place, with houses arranged in tight circles around it, trusting in the protective power of the house of the Lord. During wartime, they often proved their worth as safe places of refuge, particularly after the invention of long-distance fire weapons had become a great danger for towns under siege.
Only in the course of the nineteenth century did the structure of medieval towns, which was based on defense purposes, see a drastic change. Due to the disproportionately large growth in population, the traffic conditions changed at the expense of the old, romantic townscape. Thus church builders would calculate their designs based on the most impressive long-distance effect, if they wanted to set off their creations against the confinement of the towns. For the town residents themselves, the sculptural décor on the portals was sufficient. On the outside, however, the magnificent effect could only be achieved by size and the extent and variety of the ornamentation of the tower buildings. The effectiveness of the old masters’ calculations with regard to long-distance can be seen most clearly in Mainz Cathedral. Seen from up close, it almost disappears in the surrounding mass of houses despite its huge proportions, while viewed from the other side of the Rhine, it majestically dominates the entire fluvial landscape.
Fortified Castle of Brunswick (Burg Dankwarderode), Brunswick, after 1173.
Gurk Cathedral, Gurk, 12th century.
Speyer Cathedral suffered an even worse fate than Mainz Cathedral. It surpassed the latter in the splendour of the original architectural conception and in the introduction of the large vault after its reconstruction in 1100 and the uniformity of its execution. It is considered the climax of the Early Romanesque period. It consisted of a nave vault, the oldest basilica covered completely with a groin vault, and the crypt, Europe’s largest Romanesque column hall. As opposed to Mainz Cathedral, the monument of central ecclesiastical power in Germany, Speyer Cathedral was to bear witness to the glory of the German Emperor. It was the intention of its founder, Conrad II, for the cathedral to serve as crypt for him and his successors. When he died nine years after the laying of the foundation stone, the tall, three-part crypt, which was supported by a forest of columns and extended beneath the upper church’s choir and transept, had been completed and was ready to receive the sarcophagus. The church’s founder was thus able to make it his final resting place. The proud structure was, however, only fully completed under his grandson, Henry IV, who had to undertake his famous pilgrimage to Canossa in the Italian province of Emilia-Romagna in January 1077 in order to settle his dispute with Pope Gregory and avert permanent excommunication. With the cathedral’s completion, Henry IV erected the most splendid home and place of worship on German soil for the very same church that excommunicated and persecuted him with bitter hatred even after his death. The place, however, was never blessed. Three times it was destroyed by fire (the worst of which was in 1159, but then again in 1289 and 1540), yet always reconstructed.
View of the south wall of the Imperial Palace of Gelnhausen, second half of the 12th century.
Portico of the atrium and façade, Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, 379–386 (continual restorations until 1099).
More damage was done to the cathedral, however, by the French troops who attacked the Palatinate in 1689 and burned the cathedral down to its encirclement walls, having robbed the imperial burial sites. The cathedral’s reconstruction was only begun in 1772. Barely was it completed, however, than it was ravaged again by the French and used as a storeroom for their horses’ hay. The cathedral remained in this state of complete abandonment until 1814, when the Palatine was still part of Bavaria. King Maximilian I had this venerable monument of German imperial glory restored and dedicated for worship in 1822. It was treated with even greater care by his successor, King Ludwig I of Bavaria. He not only funded his expensive mistress, the dancer Lola Montez, but also had the west end towers and the vestibule with its domed tower reconstructed. He commissioned the etcher and historical painter Johann von Schraudolph to decorate the interior with a comprehensive series of frescos. Since Heinrich Hübsch, the architect entrusted with the reconstruction of the destroyed parts and the restoration of the entire building, stayed close to the old remnants, the cathedral’s exterior in its current form also gives the impression of a harmonious, complete composition. The only old part apart from the crypt and the naves’ encircling walls, however, is the upper structure at the east end. The picturesque overall effect of its external appearance is still augmented by a narrow gallery, called the dwarf gallery, unique to the Rhineland churches. A dwarf gallery is an open colonnade which in view of the scarcity of exterior ornamentation in Rhineland architecture did certainly not only have a decorative, but primarily a constructive function. This great cathedral became part of UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage in 1981.
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