The Beuron School of Art
In the second half of the 19th Century, Beuron gave its name to its own direction in ecclesiastical art: the Beuron School. The Benedictine monks of Beuron wanted to make a contribution to freeing Christian sacral art from the poor imitations of naturalism and dependence on emotionalism to lead it toward a form worthy of the Christian faith and liturgy.
This opportunity arose in 1868 when the architect and sculptor Peter Lenz stayed in Beuron for an extended period. He had received the commission from Princess Catherine of Hohenzollern to construct and design the interior of the chapel in honor of the holy Abbot Maurus.
Peter Lenz had developed his own theory of art. He believed that he could construct a form of sacred art with the help of "aesthetic geometry," "sacred dimensions," his own "canon" and the numerical proportions of the Egyptians. His thoughts about this are published in the 1898 book entitled "The Aesthetics of Beuron.”
picture credits: Erzabtei St.Martin, Beuron
