History of ROMANESQUE painting in Spain – summary + photos!

He Romanesque had a notable development in Spain thanks to the Santiago's road, a pilgrimage route that reached great importance throughout the Middle Ages. The Camino de Santiago facilitated the entry of French cultural and artistic influence, thus spreading the ideals and basic concepts of Romanesque art. An influence to which was added that of Islamic art.

In this lesson of unPROFESOR.com we offer you a summary of Romanesque painting in Spain, its characteristics, schools and most outstanding works. Discover with us why the Spanish Romanesque is one of the richest in medieval Europe.

One of the main points to keep in mind is that many Examples of Spanish Romanesque painting They have not survived to this day because a significant number of buildings that were built and had pictorial decoration lost it or are poorly preserved.

Among the main Characteristics of Spanish Romanesque painting stand out:

• The theme is religious, repeating the themes that are reflected in the porticoes of the churches: the Old and the New Testament, the Passion of Jesus Christ, the Pantocrator, the Tetramorphs, the Virgin on the throne, lives of martyrs, etc.
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• There were two main areas: the Catalan and Castilian area.
• It is used the fresco technique preparing the wall with a compound of greasy lime and coarse sand with water, after plastering the wall, the color was applied directly. Thus, the painter worked on the still wet or fresh surface.
• These paintings used to be retouched with tempera, especially all the details and those parts that required more detail, such as the faces.
• The images were drawn following the stencil technique. This consisted of passing a bag of black powder over a piece of paper with the contours of the image to be painted, placing it directly on the plaster, then going over it with a brush.
• The drawing was done with a thick black line and with a thick stroke. The delimitation of the figures accentuated the sensation of flat or two-dimensional drawing.
• He color is varied and intense, without tonal gradations that generate a sensation of depth. Catalan painting resorted to the use of blues and greens, difficult to achieve and easily damaged, while the Castilian opted for the range of earth colors and warm colors.
• As far as light is concerned, it hardly exists. In the scenes that are recreated there are no light references, creating timeless spaces.
• They are created like this abstract, unreal spaces, without being located in a specific place. The backgrounds are neutral and contain very schematic plant elements.
• There is a ranking of figures and the most preponderant ones stand out from the others giving them a larger size. In addition, isocephaly, symmetry and balance are also used to highlight that hierarchy.

It is possible to speak of the existence of two schools.

Catalan Romanesque painting

Catalan Romanesque painting stands out for its apocalyptic theme and the impressiveness of works such as the paintings of San Quirze de Pedret or those of San Clemente de Tahull.

Romanesque painting in Castilla y León

Castilian artists distinguished themselves by resorting to warm colors, opting for a more varied theme and trying to capture movement, even including elements of the landscape.

The works of San Baudelio de Berlanga, in Soria, or the Pantheon of San Isidoro de León stand out.

Main works on panel

One of the most outstanding samples of this variety of painting is the table of the Seo de Urgell or the Frontal de Aviá.