The term Romanesque lacks neatness and precision: it has been applied to almost everything that happened in art between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Gothic cathedral. Scholars disagree about the exact origins of the style: its roots go variously to ancient Rome, to the art of the barbarians, to Byzantium, and to the palaces of the Moors. But for all its diversity, it had one central inspiration. Over 900 years ago, commenting on the surge of building that had swept over Europe, a monk named Glabro said: "It...
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