How to distinguish Romanesque from Gothic: their 4 main differences

Romanesque and Gothic are two words that are well known to us. Those who have been minimally introduced to medieval art will know, broadly speaking, the main differences between one style and another.

But we are not always clear about their characteristics, and many times we confuse one with another. Therefore, in this article we will see a summary of the differences between Gothic and Romanesque, with some examples.

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Fundamental differences between Romanesque and Gothic: distinguishing between both styles

Architecture was the main art in the first centuries of the Middle Ages. All other arts were subordinated in one way or another to that, and especially in the Romanesque. Later, During the first manifestations of the Gothic, we began to perceive an incipient emancipation between the different artistic techniques.

In any case, one thing must be made clear from the beginning: no style is absolutely pure. That is, we will not find in any century a Romanesque that displays absolutely all its canonical characteristics. Sometimes we will find oriental influences, others an original and unique expression, as in the case of Northern Europe. And the same with the Gothic. Of course it is not the same to speak of the French or German Gothic as that of the one that developed in the Mediterranean area.

However, it is possible to find a series of guidelines that can help us, and a lot, to distinguish one style from another. Let's see them.

1. Dark fortresses versus multi-colored cathedrals

During the Romanesque period, we find massive and strong buildings, which remind us of medieval castles. The walls are thick and have no openings, so the interiors are rather dark.

This is one of the main differences between the two styles: during the Gothic period, a change of mentality is perceived, and open-plan interiors and plays of light are promoted, achieved by means of huge stained glass windows and high and thin walls.

This change was, in part, the consequence of improvements made by Gothic architects, who successfully contained the pressure of the ceiling using original techniques. This facilitated the lengthening of the walls and the appearance of large windows.

Therefore, if we are inside a church or cathedral and it is full of stained glass, we can immediately relate it to the Gothic. During the Romanesque, the technique of retaining the walls had not developed so much as to allow such openings in the walls. Had he done so, the church would have fallen apart.

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2. The new techniques of the Gothic

How did the Gothic architects do it? Through the invention of a unique and original element: the flying buttress. Visually, we can recognize it immediately: it is the one that gives the Gothic construction the appearance of a huge crawling spider.

Flying buttresses are exterior arches that start from the walls of the building and discharge the pressure of these outwards. To counteract this pressure, the buttresses are arranged against these flying buttresses, also on the outside, so that all the pressure is perfectly balanced.

So seeing these huge “spider legs” in a church or cathedral implies being in front of a Gothic monument.

3. They have different types of vaults

This is a much more technical feature, but also unmistakable to distinguish Romanesque and Gothic. We will see them exemplified with images from Wikimedia Commons.

In the early Romanesque, the most used type of roof was the barrel vault, the simplest of all the alternatives. It is simply a semicircular arch (that is, semicircular) expanded in space. This type of vault is very typical of the French area.

In the full Romanesque, the Normans invented another type of vault, the so-called groin vault, which is nothing other than the crossing of two barrel vaults. This type of vault allows a greater containment force of the weight of the roof.

Finally, we find the ribbed vault at the end of the Romanesque. It is the characteristic vault of the later Gothic period, the one we see in all Gothic cathedrals. This type of vault supports all the pressure of the ceiling on the ribs, which then transfer it to the ground. Therefore, the rest of the ceiling is only "filling", since it no longer has the support function that the Romanesque used to give it.

4. From rigidity to naturalness

Romanesque sculpture and painting did not seek to copy nature exactly. This is one of the ideas that we have to be clearer if we want to quickly distinguish one style from the other.

In the first centuries of the Middle Ages, art was just a vehicle for expressing ideas. Of course beauty was taken into account (just look at the wonderful miniatures in the codices), but in the first place, Romanesque is a much more expressive than decorative style. His images, whether in wood carvings or frescoes, convey a message; each element is placed following an established order, a scheme, a conceptual logic.

With the arrival of the Gothic, everything is transformed. Or rather, we could say that it is the Gothic style that best expressed this change: little by little the artists become interested in copying reality, the world that surrounds them. It is the triumph of humanism and naturalism. Let's look at some details that will help us understand this process.

The porches

Both in Romanesque and Gothic, the facades of churches and cathedrals speak to us. It must be borne in mind that, during the Middle Ages, the vast majority of the population did not know how to read or write, so, to make the Bible known, art was used as a vehicle of expression.

In the Romanesque porticoes we always find the same structure: the access door (sometimes divided in two by a profusely decorated pillar) and, above it, the semicircle in which the eardrum. In the tympanum we always see, as the central figure from which all the others are distributed, the Pantocrator or Christ in Majesty, surrounded by a mandorla (almond in Italian) that symbolizes his divine essence, and that also serves to highlight his figure in the composition.

Around the Pantocrator it is common to find the Tetramorphs, that is, the representation of the four evangelists: the Eagle of Saint John, the Bull or Ox of Saint Luke, the Lion of Saint Mark and the Angel or Man of Saint Matthew. Although the iconography around Christ may vary (there may also be representations of other saints, or even simple geometric figures), the Sculptural style in a Romanesque church will always be the same: hieratic, majestic, repetitive and devoid of any attempt at representation naturalist. If we are in front of such a portico, we will be in front of a Romanesque building.

On the other hand, in the Gothic everything begins to transform. The mentality is no longer the same, it is the time of the cities, of active commerce. Of the bourgeoisie, of the first bankers. We are no longer facing a rural society, but an eminently urban one. Individualism begins to take its first steps, and with it the revaluation of the human being and his emotions.

Thus, sculptural representations also begin to humanize. Although the motifs still remain (Christ in Majesty, the representations of the saints, etc.) their appearance has changed remarkably. In the sculptures of Gothic cathedrals (such as that of Chartres, in France), the saints become beings of flesh and blood. Her faces soften. His gestures are more natural. The folds of his clothes fall with more ease and realism. The repetition of schemes becomes less and less forceful, and the artist gradually acquires a certain freedom of representation.

The images of the Virgin

If you have had the opportunity to see a Romanesque carving of the Virgin and Child, you will have realized that the artist wanted to represent everything except the idea of ​​motherhood. Mary is not a woman with her newborn child, but she is nothing more than a throne for the little redeemer. The Virgin is limited to holding the Child, but she does not interact with him. Jesus seems unaware of the presence of his mother; she looks at us and blesses us. She is not a baby, she is not a child: she is God Himself.

However, with the advance of the Gothic and its incipient naturalness, these representations are also transformed. Little by little, Maria becomes a mother. And in an authentic mother: she goes from being a mere seat of the Child, to being a mother who plays with her baby, caresses it, kisses it, gives it toys or food. And Jesus, in turn, goes from being God incarnate to being, simply, a child. She turns, looks at her mother, lifts her little hand and plays with her cloak, squirms in her arms like a real baby. It is the triumph of the humanity of the Gothic.

Again, without a doubt: if you see such a representation, you are in front of a Gothic sculpture. Because although we find somewhat "naturalized" examples in the Romanesque, and also hieratic examples in the Gothic, the most common is that from the twelfth century, the virgins begin to smile and the Children to play and behave like kids.

The birth of the altarpieces

The Gothic is the era of the great altarpieces. And what is an altarpiece? We could define it as a huge medieval comic, which tells us in a succession of juxtaposed scenes a story, either from the life of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint.

In the Romanesque, painting was limited to fresco (on wall), on panel (wood) and on paper (miniatures of books). Already at that time stories were conceived as a "comic", but it is in the Gothic when this form of expression finds its great splendor.

The churches and cathedrals are filled with colorful altarpieces, which display bright and cheerful colorsespecially blue, red and gold. The figures that are represented in them are becoming more and more human, as in the case of the Virgins mentioned above. The artists begin to give importance to the landscape, to the spatial elements, something that in the Romanesque had not been given the slightest importance.

In this sense, the Italian Giotto (13th century) establishes what will be a new art in painting, by endowing his scenes with a more or less precise location and try a feint of perspective and proportion.

Far away are the Romanesque tables, where different characters and realities were juxtaposed without any kind of spatial relationship between them. Gothic is still a medieval language and we cannot think of it as a Renaissance art; it still preserves the fantastic language and maintains the union of worlds, of heaven and earth, of past and present. It is not yet a naturalistic art.

But little by little the artists are giving more and more importance to the representation of reality, of the world that their eyes see; and already in the 15th century, in the late Gothic period, the Flemish primitives, including Van Eyck, were definitely immersed in the representation of sensible reality with all profusion of details.

So when you go to a church and see a wonderful altarpiece, all shiny with gold and colors, with juxtaposed scenes like a comic and a certain hint of realism, you will be facing a work gothic. Similarly, if you see a painting where the artist has tried to represent (with some difficulty) a perspective and a proportion, even when it is represented with full medieval language, you will also be facing a Gothic work.

If instead what you see is a fresco in the apse of a church, with colossal and majestic figures, absolutely flat and without any sense of space and proportion between them; If above all, in the center of the image stands a magnificent Christ in Majesty, you will probably be in front of a Romanesque work.

Bibliographic references

• Conti, F. (1980). How to recognize Romanesque art, Barcelona: Ed. Médica y Técnica
• Gombrich, E.H. (1997). The History of Art. Madrid: Debate.
• Gozzoli, M.C. (1980). How to recognize Gothic art. Barcelona: Medical and Technical Ed.
• Various authors, (2007). Historical Atlas of Medieval Culture, Milan: Jaca Book.