Description of the Romanesque style in the interior:

The Romanesque style is characterized by massiveness, rigor and lack of frills, as well as the severity of the appearance. Romanesque architecture is famous for heavy castles and temples, more like an impregnable fortress in the spirit of the Middle Ages. The Romanesque style is dominated by powerful walls, massive semicircular doors, thick columns, cruciform or barrel vaults, semicircular or round windows. 

In the interior of the Romanesque style, power is also more likely than grace. All interior elements produce a feeling of simplicity and heaviness, almost no decorative decorations of the rooms. 


Romanesque walls: Stone imitation - castle walls. Also in the Romanesque style, you can use plain plaster of gray, tan, beige colors. The bathroom/toilet is tiled in the form of a stone wall. The feeling of gloom can be diluted with dark wood inserts, frescoes and even stained glass windows made of colored pieces of glass. Also in the wall, you can create a decorative window of a semicircular elongated shape, or in the form of a fresco, adding a sense of fortress. 

Romanesque ceiling: More often as a continuation of the wall in the form of vaults. The color of the Romanesque ceiling matches the color of the wall. To revitalize, you can use wood inserts, but as rough supports, rather than carved decoration. 

Romanesque floor: Large-sized ceramic tiles, again imitating stone. Parquet in the Romanesque style of the interior is rarely used. When using it, try to choose an array of dark woods, to match the inserts on the walls with the effect of antiquity. 

Romanesque furniture: Simple and even primitive. The most common: rough tables, stools with three and four legs, benches. Seating furniture was made of plank, carvings and forged iron parts were added. The backs of the chairs and the chairs themselves are quite high, their size indicated the nobility of origin. Romanesque furniture was often painted in bright colors. Spruce, cedar and oak served as the material for the manufacture of furniture in the Romanesque style. 

Romanesque decor items: Use paintings, tapestries, candle-shaped wall lamps as wall decorations in the Romanesque style. When choosing a chandelier, focus on its massiveness (heavy and forged metal, chains, etc.). 

Carpets and draperies were also used in the Romanesque interior, but mainly, as protection from the cold, they can be hung on the wall or placed on the floor. Relief was the predominant type of sculpture. You can complement the interior with items of knightly heritage: armor, helmet, sword. A separate touch is the presence of a fireplace.

 

 

Pro Tips:

1. Strict compliance with the Romanesque style is used in apartments extremely rarely due to its rudeness and the feeling of a cold fortress. More often we are used to seeing this style in themed restaurants, bars or cafes. However, a country house can serve as an alternative for lovers of the Middle Ages theme.

A home bar, wine cellar and even a Romanesque royal bedroom will look luxurious. When creating them, remember that any little thing that is not related to that era will not only spoil the whole picture, but also attract all the attention.

2. The main mistake when creating a Romanesque interior is the use of upholstered furniture. In those years, it was not there, and the furniture was covered with paint and often covered with canvas, then a layer of gypsum was applied and the whole structure was subsequently painted with paints. The only possible deviation from the rules is the bed.

3. In the Romanesque period, an important role is given to beds, which in design resemble frames on carved legs. As an elegant addition to the bed, canopies can be hung, although at that time they were used more as a protection from the cold.

4. The first place among household items in the Romanesque style belongs to the chest, which was used as a table, chair and even a bed, but mainly as a place to store household items. Later, chests with legs and doors began to appear in temples, which are a kind of progenitor of modern cabinets. However, the use of cabinets in any form is considered unacceptable. To create a special touch in the Romanesque style of the interior, get a wooden chest with wrought iron inserts.

 

Romanesque history:

ROMAN STYLE (from lat. romanus - Roman) in art arose around the year 800, after the fall of the Roman Empire and the completion of the great migration of peoples. The Byzantine style, the art of the peoples of northern Europe and early Christian forms served as a source for the emergence of a new style. Developed in Western European art of the X-XII centuries. 

The Romanesque style that dominated Western Europe (and also affected some countries of Eastern Europe) in the 10th-12th centuries. (in a number of places - in the XIII century), one of the most important stages in the development of medieval European art.

The term romanesque style appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, when the connection between the architecture of the 11th-12th centuries and ancient Roman architecture was established, partly due to the use of semicircular arches and vaults. The term, although conditional, has entered into mass use. The development of the Christian Church on the ruins of the Roman Empire served to popularize the Romanesque style. The monastic brethren moved to all corners of Europe, building churches and monasteries in the Romanesque style. Among the monks were also artists and artisans who spread this style throughout Europe with their work.

Buildings that are considered examples of the architecture of this period look like fortresses: a castle-fortress and a temple-fortress. The Romanesque style is distinguished by thick massive walls, narrow loophole windows and high towers. During civil strife, Romanesque churches could withstand siege and serve as a refuge during the war. Knights' castles were built on elevated places, convenient for protection from the enemy, and then surrounded by high walls and a moat.

The main buildings during this period were the temple-fortress and the castle-fortress. The main element of the composition of the monastery or castle is the tower - donjon. Around it were the rest of the buildings, made up of simple geometric shapes - cubes, prisms, cylinders.

The basis of the Romanesque style and the Romanesque architectural plan is the early Christian basilica, the longitudinal organization of space. Also in Romanesque churches, an enlarged space in front of the main altar (choir), where a singing choir was placed, as well as the very height of the temple, is characteristic.

Romanesque buildings are characterized by powerful walls and columns due to heavy vaults. The main motif of the interior is semicircular arches. In general, the rational simplicity of the structures is noticeable, but the feeling of the gravity of the Romanesque cathedral is depressing.

The most famous buildings in the Romanesque style are: Liebmurg Cathedral in Germany; the Pisa Cathedral and partly the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy; the Kaiser Cathedrals at Speyer, Worms and Mainz in Germany; Romanesque churches in Val-de-Boie; Church of St. Jacob in Regensburg.

Pious, as the church represented him, the social order was not aimed at the development of style. For about 400 years of existence, the Romanesque style has not received any development or a leap in technology in production.

Household items, fabrics and furniture for a society based on subsistence farming were made only for the needs of this economy, giving absolutely nothing to the development of style. However, progress began with the start of the Crusades.

Knights and pilgrims, having visited the Holy Lands, saw all the luxury of the East and wanted to partially reproduce it in their homeland. This was the impetus for the development of the Romanesque style, which later reborn into the Gothic style.