DISCOVER ROMANESQUE: Glossary

A monastic community which is independent of episcopal authority. A complex consisting of an abbey church and the buildings required for monastic life.

The semicircular structure generally positioned at the eastern end of a church.

A half cap covering the apsidal half cylinder.

A curved structure having a supporting and decorative function and resting on columns, pillars or jambs. A round arch is semicircular in shape; the curve of a pointed arch is broken centrally at the top to form a cusp; a horseshoe arch is shaped so that the centre of the circumference is on a higher level than the diameter.

An architectural element resting or fitted horizontally on top of two supporting elements, enclosing a quadrangular space and supporting any weight.

A decorative band skirting the front of an arch.

A building stone squared and smoothed on the exposed surface.

A roof covering consisting of a half cylinder resting on two perimeter walls.

A masonry structure generally built on the facade and pierced by openings in which the church bell are hung.

An arch projecting from a wall and resting on pilasters or half columns. As a rule, it is one of a series and fulfils a decorative function.

A small corbel designed to support hanging archlets or masonry arches, sometimes enclosing various subjects sculpted in relief.

A truncated-cone-shaped stone element topping a column and supporting an arch or architrave.

The main church in a diocese where the bishop performs his functions. A cathedra, or bishop's throne, stood behind or next to the high altar.

A glazed painted earthenware bowl in the form of a hemisphere, frequently used as a wall decoration in mosques and Romanesque churches.

A person or organization (secular or ecclesiastical) that promotes and finances a work of art.

A vertical supporting architectural element with a circular cross-section, generally consisting of a base, a shaft and a capital. If the shaft is non-circular in cross-section, the element is generally termed a pillar.

A document formerly used in Sardinia to bequeath a legacy or donation to a church. The term is also used in a wider sense to denote a book recording the deeds relating to a medieval monastery in Sardinia.

A roof covering formed by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults.

A vaulted space, partly or totally underground, lying below the floor of a church and frequently housing the bodies and relics of saints.

Building work consisting of stones of different colours (generally light-coloured limestone and dark-coloured volcanic stone) alternating in a more or less regular fashion.

An ecclesiastical district placed under the authority of a bishop.

A cap-shaped vault with perfect central symmetry. It can have a polygonal, circular or elliptical base and a semicircular, parabolic or ovoid profile.

A series of mural archlets giving the impression of a walkable arcade.

A painting technique involving the application of watered-down colours on fresh plaster.

A triangular space above the trabeation which is bound by two slopes.

One of the four Sardinian kingdoms (Cagliari, Arborea, Gallura, Torres) ruled by a judge or king following the naming used in Sardinia between the 11th and 15th centuries.

A decorative element resting on consoles or corbels and running along the top of church walls.

The surface supporting an arch on top of a column or pillar.

An ornamental technique that fits together small pieces of different materials to form a predetermined pattern. In Upper Tyrrhenian Romanesque, the inlaying of shaped pieces in a concave marble base, used for floors and decorative panels.

Workers employed in a building yard with different skills – architects, stonecutters, masons, sculptors, painters.

The semicircular surface between the architrave of a doorway and the arch above.

The space in a church that is accessible to the faithful, as distinct from the presbytery, the area reserved for the clergy.

A longitudinal section in a church (or part thereof) bounded by columns or pillars, 'nave' being the term applied to the central section and 'aisles' the word used for the side spaces.

Part of the interior of a church that is separated from the remainder by a row of columns or pillars.

A rural church with a baptistery, located at the centre of a civil and religious district. Originally used to denote a rural district in a diocese, the term came to indicate the head church of the district, which was entitled to administer baptism and bury the dead on behalf of the bishop.

A vertical element of a wall, consisting of a half pillar or a half column.

A schematic (reduced-scale) representation of the spaces that form a building.

A painting on wood or canvas consisting of several parts joined by a fixed frame or hinges.

The entrance to a civil or religious building, characterized by a more or less elaborate structure and architectural decoration.

A painted band divided into several panel, usually forming the lower portion of altar-pieces painted on wood.

The part of a church that surrounds the high altar and is reserved for the clergy. It is generally separated from the main body of the church by one or more steps or by a fence.

A decorative element in the form of a head or bust of a human being, an animal, a monster or of an animal with a human head. It is used to adorn consoles, cornices and pediments.

A building technique using well-squared slabs which are laid alternately flat and upright. Unlike the isodomic technique, it does not correspond to the full thickness of the wall.

A liturgical structure in the church consisting of a wooden or stone box, generally supported by columns and accessed via steps. It was formerly used by priests when reading the holy scriptures.

An institution by virtue of which the clergy of a parish gathered to organize their pastoral activity, or the place where communal life was conducted. From the mid-12th century onwards the term has also been used to denote the dwelling of the rector of a non-canonical church.

A painting placed on the altar, consisting of several wooden panels (polyptych) connected by frames. The panels are distempered, frequenlty with gold backgrounds. It was introduced to Sardinia after the Catalan-Aragonese conquest.

Generally a round window with a radiating motif, piercing the facade of a church. The term may also denote a generic motif with the same shape.

Rough-hewn building stone in the form of an irregular parallelepiped.

A window with a single light.

Bevel cut of the stones that form a window towards both the inside and the outside of a church. This makes it possible to maximize the quantity of light gathered from the outside, concentrate it to the centre and diffuse it towards the interior as a light beam.

A motif in the walls of Romanesque churches consisting of a diamond embedded in the masonry, frequently embellished with tarsia decorations.

An architectural element consisting of a series of projecting mouldings, frequently decorated with bas-reliefs and designed to mark the separation between different levels of a building.

A representation of the Gospels and the Evangelists through their respective symbols – a man for Matthew, a lion for Mark, a bull for Luke and an eagle for John.

A window with three lights separated by mullions.

A horizontal section forming part of the decoration of a wall surface.

An architectural space of varying size crossing the nave and aisles at right angles.

A triangular frame of beams used as a support structure for a two-pitch roof. It is generally made of wood.

A window with two lights separated by a mullion.

Movable items (silver plate, books, paraments, etc.) and fixtures (pulpit, altar, presbyterial fence, etc.) used in religious ceremonies and celebrations in a church.

A vertical portion of a wall surface, generally bounded by pilasters.

A round, usually inlaid element decorating masonry.

An internal arcade facing the nave, originally meant for women.