Between the 11th and 12th centuries, Western Europe’s monastic, church and civic architecture, were dominated by very solid looking - and comparatively austere - rounded arched Romanesque structures. Pisa, with the wealth of its Maritime Republic, which dominated the Mediterranean, by contrast forged ahead on its own path, producing a lighter, more elegant and lyrical style of building. We will survey the full emergence of the Pisan Romanesque style, beginning in Pisa’s Cathedral Square, in the architectural structures of the Cathedral, Baptistery and bell tower (Leaning Tower).
- William Haywood, A History of Pisa: Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Cambridge University Press: 2011).
- Piero Pierotti, A Brief History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, trans. Gary Feuerstein (Five Meter Lean Publishing: 2007).
- Stefano Bruni, Silvia Busch and Karen Mathews, A Companion to Medieval Pisa (Brill: 2022).
- What is Romanesque architecture?
- What were the earliest derivations for the Pisan Romanesque style?
- The Piazza Miracola – Cathedral / Baptistery /Bell Tower (Leaning Tower of Pisa)
- Pisan Romanesque architecture - maritime trade and conquest (Sardinia, Corsica, Liguria, Apulia, Marche and Croatia)
- The influence of Pisan Romanesque architecture in Northern Italy (Lucca and Pistoia)
- Pisan Romanesque architecture and the end of a Maritime Republic at the battle of Meloria.
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Recognise Pisan Romanesque architecture and situate it historically, and in relation to broader Romanesque and earlier, Byzantine and later Gothic and Renaissance architectural styles.
- Gain an overarching understanding and context for the Pisan Romanesque style, in relation to its maritime Republic.
