Editing Romanesque architecture (section)

====Figurative sculpture====
{{main|Romanesque art}}
The name of the architectural style was transferred onto the art of the period. [[Romanesque art]] provided fine examples of painting and sculpture, but, while the Romanesque churches were flush with colours, most large paintings were lost. The period brought a major revival of sculpture.{{sfn|Oxford University Press|2004}}

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the tradition of carving large works in stone and sculpting figures in bronze died out. The best-known surviving large sculptural work of Proto-Romanesque Europe is the life-size wooden Crucifix commissioned by [[Gero (Archbishop of Cologne)|Archbishop Gero of Cologne]] in about 960–65.<ref>See details at [[Cologne Cathedral]].</ref> During the 11th and 12th centuries, figurative sculpture flourished in a distinctly Romanesque style that can be recognised across Europe, although the most spectacular sculptural projects are concentrated in South-Western France, Northern Spain and Italy.

Major figurative decoration occurs particularly around the portals of cathedrals and churches, ornamenting the [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]], lintels, jambs and central posts. The tympanum is typically decorated with the imagery of [[Christ in Majesty]] with the symbols of the [[Four Evangelists]], drawn directly from the gilt covers of medieval [[Gospel Book]]s. This style of doorway occurs in many places and continued into the Gothic period. A rare survival in England is that of the "Prior's Door" at [[Ely Cathedral]]. In France, many have survived, with impressive examples at the [[Abbey of Saint-Pierre, Moissac]], the [[Abbey of Sainte-Marie, Souillac]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Howe |first=Jeffery |title=Romanesque Architecture (slides) |work=A digital archive of architecture |publisher=[[Boston College]] |url= http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/souillac.html |access-date=2007-09-28}}</ref> and [[Abbey of la Madaleine, Vézelay]]&nbsp;– all daughter houses of Cluny, with extensive other sculpture remaining in cloisters and other buildings. Nearby, [[Autun Cathedral]] has a [[Last Judgement]] of great rarity in that it has uniquely been signed by its creator Giselbertus (who was perhaps the patron rather than the sculptor).<ref name=HG/><ref name=RH/> The same artist is thought to have worked at la Madeleine Vezelay which uniquely has two elaborately carved tympanum, the early inner one representing the Last Judgement and that on the outer portal of the narthex representing Jesus [[Great Commission|sending forth the Apostles]] to preach to the nations.

It is a feature of Romanesque art, both in manuscript illumination and sculptural decoration, that figures are contorted to fit the space that they occupy. Among the many examples that exist, one of the finest is the figure of the [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Prophet Jeremiah]] from the pillar of the portal of the [[Abbey of Saint-Pierre, Moissac]], France, from about 1130.<ref name=RH/> A significant motif of Romanesque design is the spiral, a form applied to both plant motifs and drapery in Romanesque sculpture. An outstanding example of its use in drapery is that of the central figure of Christ on the outer portal at [[Vézelay Abbey|La Madaleine, Vezelay]].<ref name=RH/>

Many of the smaller sculptural works, particularly capitals, are Biblical in subject and include scenes of [[Genesis creation myth|Creation]] and the [[Adam and Eve|Fall of Man]], episodes from the life of Christ and those [[Old Testament]] scenes that [[Typology (theology)|prefigure]] his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Death]] and [[Resurrection]], such as [[Jonah|Jonah and the Whale]] and [[Daniel in the lions' den]]. Many [[Nativity of Jesus in art|Nativity]] scenes occur, the theme of the [[Biblical Magi|Three Kings]] being particularly popular. The cloisters of [[Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey]] in Northern Spain, and [[Moissac]] are fine examples surviving complete.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
File:Tympan - Porte Miégeville - Basilique Saint-Sernin.jpg|The tympanum of the side entrance of [[Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse|Saint-Sernin of Toulouse]], ({{Circa|1115}}) shows the Ascension of Christ, surrounded by angels, in a simple composition of standing figures.
File:02 Basilique Ste-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay - Tympan.jpg|The tympanum of the inner portal of la Madeleine Vezelay has the scene of Christ in Majesty, at the Last Judgement. The figure of Christ is highly formalised in both posture and treatment. (1130s)
File:Portail sud de l' Abbatiale Saint-Pierre de Moissac (3).JPG|alt=The tympanum of the Saint-Pierre, Moissac, is a highly sophisticated, tightly packed design, like a manuscript illumination. Christ is surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists|The tympanum of the [[Abbey of Saint-Pierre, Moissac|Saint-Pierre, Moissac]], is a highly sophisticated, tightly packed design, like a manuscript illumination. Christ is surrounded by the symbols of the [[Four Evangelists]].
File:Cathedrale Sainte-Marie Oloron portail avaleur.jpg|Details of the portal of [[Oloron Cathedral]] show a demon, a lion swallowing a man and kings with musical instruments.
File:Saint-Trophime 805.jpg|A relief from St Trophime, Arles, showing King Herod and the [[Biblical Magi|Three Kings]], follows the conventions in that the seated Herod is much larger than the standing figures.
File:ND-en-Vaux Chapiteau 4 adjusted.JPG|Notre-Dame-en-Vaux, [[Châlons-en-Champagne]]. This paired capital representing Christ washing the feet of the disciples is lively and naturalistic.
</gallery>