The Beuron art school was founded by a

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the late 19th century.''The Revival of Medieval Illumination: Nineteenth-Century Belgium Manuscripts and Illuminations from a European Perspective'' by Thomas Coomans and Jan De Maeyer 2007 page 144

Notables

In addition to the first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

of Beuron Archabbey,

Maurus Wolter Maurus Wolter (4 June 1825, in Bonn – 8 July 1890, in Beuron) was the first abbot of the Benedictine Beuron Archabbey, which he founded with his brother Placidus in 1863. William M. Johnston ''Encyclopedia of Monasticism'' (2000, ), pp. 1440- ...

(died 1890), who founded the monastery with his brother Placidus in 1863, the early leaders of the artistic school were Father

Desiderius Lenz Peter Lenz (1832–1928), afterwards Desiderius Lenz, was a German artist who became a Benedictine monk. Together with Gabriel Wüger, he founded the Beuron Art School. Background Peter Lenz was born in 1832 in Haigerloch, Baden-Württemberg. ...

(1832–1928) and

Gabriel Wuger In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

(1829-1892). Several Benedictine artists worked within the school, including Jan Verkade.

Principles

Beuronese art is principally known for its murals with "muted, tranquil and seemingly mysterious colouring". Though several different principles were in competition to form the canon for the school, " e most significant principle or canon of the Beuronese school is the role which geometry played in determining proportions." Lenz elaborated the philosophy and canon of a new artistic direction, which was based on the elements of ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and early Christian art. Some of the other principles that Lenz used to define the Beuronese style include:

* ''The art speaks to the mind of the viewer. The art is itself worshipful and invites the viewer to worship. It does not stand out boldly of itself but is part of an environment of worship.'' * ''Works are anonymous, done by group effort, and not for the glory of the artist, but of God.'' * ''As in icons, the Beuronese style favors imitation over originality, with freehand copying revealing an artist's true genius.'' * ''There is full integration of art and architecture. Painting and sculpture are not "stick-ons" to an
architectural plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...
but an integral part of it. Beuronese art encompasses painting, architecture, altar vessels, and furnishings.''

Collections

One of the most complete collections of Beuronese art is located at

Conception Abbey Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway ...

Conception, Missouri Conception is a census-designated place in eastern Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. It is located about southeast of Maryville on U.S. Route 136. It is very near Conception Junction (which was the rail intersection). Conception is hom ...

, which was founded by Benedictine monks who immigrated to the United States from Engelberg Abbey in Switzerland. According to the abbey's website, "Beuronese art was revolutionary for its time, and also characteristic of its time. It offered a stylized, simplified, and hieratic approach to art which went against the grain of contemporary romantic forms."www.conceptionabbey.org on murals
/ref> A series of murals entitled "Life of the Virgin" was created under the direction of Desiderius Lenz, Gabriel Wuger, and Lukas Steiner between 1880 and 1887 for the Benedictine Abbey of Emmaus in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Subsequently destroyed by fire in 1945 during World War II, two copies of this set are still in existence. A set was created for St Mary's German Church in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, between 1908 and 1910 by the Revs. Bonaventure Ostendorp and Rapheul Pfister of the Order of St. Benedict at St. Anselm College in

Goffstown, New Hampshire Goffstown is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2020 census. The compact center of town, where 3,366 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the Goffst ...

. The church was demolished in 1996. However, the "Life of the Virgin" series was restored and relocated to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in

Carnegie, Pennsylvania Carnegie () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 7,972 in the 2010 census. Geography Carnegie is located at . It is approximately southwest of Pittsbur ...

. A second set of duplicates resides at the Abbey Church of the Immaculate Conception Benedictine Abbey in Conception, Missouri.

Legacy

Beuronese art has been suggested by several scholars to have had a large influence on the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. In 1898, shortly after the beginning of the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austr ...

, Father Desiderius Lenz had his book published - ''Zur Aesthetic der Beuroner Schule'' (On the Aesthetics of the Beuron School). It is assumed that Klimt read Lenz's work with enthusiasm, and images of the Beuron Abbey, for instance, may show sections of the decorated ceiling which appear to have made quite a direct impact on Klimt's decorative, golden paintings.

References

External links