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Great Monasteries of Europe
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About Great Monasteries Of Europe
Product Description This remarkable book is a comprehensive examination of the art and architecture of European monasteries, from early Carolingian examples in the eighth century to a modern structure by Le Corbusier in 1960, featuring an authoritative text and more than five hundred stunning, full-color photographs. This unsurpassed survey offers a fresh chronicle of a largely overlooked subject and hundreds of marvelous images, many of them newly photographed, of more than 150 of the most interesting and best preserved monasteries in Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Italy―all of which are accessible to visitors. Here are unique views of the art and architecture of such treasured places as Mont St. Michel, a wondrous Benedictine sanctuary off the coast of Brittany, and the fabled pilgrimage site in Assisi founded by St. Francis. In an insightful text the author describes the cultural heritage of each of the monasteries portrayed and provides an introduction to monasticism and to the various orders dating from the early Christian era to the present. In addition, the volume offers plans of the sites, a glossary, and a bibliography. Historians and collectors of great books of art history will be intrigued by this unsurpassed collection of photographs and fascinating account of the artistic glory of European monasteries. Review “…[I]t’s not the physical heft of the volume that packs the real punch here; it’s the erudition and comprehensiveness of Schutz’s text, combined with masterful documentary images from seven photographers…Great Monasteries of Europe is a scholarly work and it reads accordingly. But unlike monks, whose senses were to experience no pleasure but that which glorified God, the less tenacious readers among us can be shamelessly stimulated by the rich color plates that capture the magnificent and often moody spaces of another world.” — Shelter Interiors About the Author Bernhard Schütz, a renowned scholar of medieval and Baroque architecture, is a professor of architectural history at the University of Munich and the author of Great Cathedrals of Europe. Henri Gaud, Joseph Martin, Florian Monheim, Antonio Quattrone, Ghigo Roli, and Marco Schneiders are all leading photographers of works of art. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Excerpt from Great Monasteries of Europe Preface Monasteries are places for monastic life, havens for the renunciation of the world, for prayer and the eternal praise of God, for silence, asceticism, and obedience. A monastery is the architectural expression of a life ordered by strict rules. Because of the extensive real estate of the complex, a monastery could also be a self-sufficient, profitable economic enterprise that produced goods for its own use and for sale. This provided some monastic communities with enormous wealth over the years. Monasteries were essential to Europe's history. In the Middle Ages, and even into the modern era in certain regions, they were among the most important pioneering cultural institutions of the era following antiquity and the migration of nations, when the Occident began to form. Monasteries and their monks ensured that Christianity was introduced and established solid roots, forming the foundation for the entire culture. Education, science, and art were all the responsibility of the Church and were disseminated in the cathedral schools and, perhaps even more so, in the monasteries. Monasteries increasingly became institutions that supported the state: the body politic and the monarchy relied on them and even used them for administrative tasks and other royal services. Over the centuries monasteries yielded tremendous architectural achievements. It is scarcely possible today to sense how important these were, since what survives is only fragmentary, yet those structures and remains are still greatly admired. The monks almost always sought out char
