
Romanesque: c. 1000-1300

In 1866, the Victoria & Albert Museum commissioned an Italian plaster maker to journey to Spain to make a copy of a monument of Romanesque art. See how the museum takes care of it more than 150 years later.

What a camel in New York reveals about medieval Spain.
Camel from San Baudelio de Berlanga

The Winchester Bible is among the most magnificent illuminated manuscripts made in England in the twelfth century.
The Morgan Leaf from The Winchester Bible

An Anglo-Saxon princess founded a nunnery in the eel-filled marshy waters of East Anglia; see how it developed during the Middle Ages.
Four styles of English medieval architecture at ...

What colorful stone and stark geometry! San Miniato hovers above the Arno river; Pisa Cathedral lies in its marshes.
The Romanesque churches of Tuscany: San Miniato ...

Spiral columns, carved zig-zags, round arches—at Durham, the rhythmic Anglo-Norman Romanesque pulses with life.
Durham Cathedral

Rome’s pagan and Christian pasts merge at San Clemente, where a mosaic advertises the power of the Western Church.
The Basilica of San Clemente, Rome

1066—William the Conqueror crossed the sea, invaded England, and became king. Language and art changed forever.
The Art of Conquest in England and ...

For 200 years, Cluny housed a society of monks and boasted the largest church in Europe. Little from the 12th century remains.
Cluny Abbey

A serene Mary offers her draped lap as a throne for Christ. Her outsized hands direct the viewer to the divine.
Virgin and Child in Majesty

These statues of the Virgin and Child often held relics. Designed to be mobile, they starred in parades and plays.
“Throne of Wisdom” sculptures

If cloth could talk…in a vivid animation of William’s conquest, armies clash and comets fly while a harp plays on.
The Animated Bayeux Tapestry

A video camera captures all 70 meters of “tapestry.” Follow the embroidered narrative as it unfolds.
The Bayeux Tapestry, from BBC

Above the door to this important church, Christ commands attention—his large scale was new in the medieval period.
Pentecost and Mission to the Apostles Tympanum, ...

In this sermon in stone, Christ presides over the kingdom of heaven. A crowd waits to be judged: blessed or damned?
Last Judgment, Tympanum, Cathedral of St. Lazare, ...

Delicate and brightly colored, this statue from Spain combines elegance with solidity, the human with the divine.
Virgin from Ger

These frescoes covered the thick walls of a Romanesque church. Once isolated in the Pyrenees, they adorn a museum.
Circle of the Master of Pedret, The ...

Romanesque sculptors adorned the tops of columns with bible stories. These scenes are bold, emotional, and direct.