LIVING STONES
Romanesque Europe is Clothed in Beauty

Guided tour duration: 50 minutes

Curated by Tancredi Bella, Marco Rossi, Alessandro Rovetta
With the collaboration of Martino Astolfi, Guido Cariboni, Micol Forti, Lorenzo Margiotta, Stefano Margutti, Martina Saltamacchia and several students from the Faculty of Humanities at the Università Cattolica and the Università degli Studi di Milano

“What happened visibly in the walls must take place spiritually within us.”
— St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Dedication of a Church, 12th century

“What did that house [the Temple of Jerusalem] represent, if not the holy Church, where the Lord dwells in heaven? Its construction is built with polished stones — the souls of the elect…”
— Gregory the Great

The exhibition seeks to convey the constructive passion, novelty, and beauty embodied by the great spread of Romanesque architecture and art starting from the year 1000, when all of Europe “was clothed in a white mantle of churches” (R. Glaber), through the entire 12th century. The ideal of newness and beauty found in the construction of Romanesque churches is a profound image of the building up of the Christian community through “living stones,” as attested by numerous medieval works and texts.

The sections focus on: the construction of the church, the façade, the portal, the capitals, the mosaic floor, wall painting, the altar, the apse, and the cloister, concluding with a reflection on the fascination that Romanesque architecture has held for some contemporary architects.

A direct and immediate encounter with the beauty of the Romanesque, through images, is intended to awaken wonder and provoke questions. Visitors will be guided toward an experience of beauty and openness to its meaning.
At the beginning of the exhibition, an immersive three-wall video projection will showcase three major Romanesque basilicas, each noted for a distinctive architectural element: Mont-Saint-Michel, Sainte-Foy in Conques, and Sant’Angelo in Formis.

The façade reveals the presence and face of the Church, and acts as a threshold introducing man to the ecclesial building—symbol of the Christian community. For this reason, its sculptural decoration is of great importance.
The altar, both liturgical and spatial center, was interpreted in the medieval mindset as Christ himself, for it is there that his redemptive sacrifice is renewed—highlighted eschatologically in the apse, where Christ Pantocrator is often depicted.

Romanesque churches were vibrant with color — not only due to the polychromy of materials used in construction. Extensive pictorial or mosaic cycles adorned the walls of naves and apses. The idea of a bare Romanesque architecture derives in fact from 19th- and 20th-century restorations.

In the final part of the exhibition, linked to the cloister — place of meditation, reflection, and passage — the experience of some modern architects (Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Álvaro Siza) will be presented. Their reflections on the Romanesque were not so much formal as conceptual, as they sought to render some of its foundational principles relevant to the present.

With the support of Società Italiana Gas Liquidi Spa – Vulcan.