Maurus Chapel
The Maurus Chapel is assigned to the so-called Beuron Art School . It is based on the historian Hubert Krins, her first work. This school took on Christian , Byzantine and ancient Egyptian style elements. This chapel houses stylized frescoes in strict order and varied ornamentation. In the Maurus chapel and, above all, with its painting, the Beuron art school presented its program for the renewal of Christian art for the first time.
The name of the chapel refers to Saint Maurus .
location
The Maurus Chapel is located downstream on the left side of the Danube . It is located on the northern edge of a forest above a bend in the Upper Danube in Baden-Württemberg . This chapel can be reached on a bike and hiking trail, about three kilometers from Beuron in the Sigmaringen district.
Client and construction planning
The order to build the chapel was awarded to Princess Katharina von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1817-1893) after she had made a pledge for the convalescence of Abbot Prosper-Louis-Pascal Guéranger (1805-1875) from the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes . She awarded the contract to Desiderius (Peter) Lenz (1832–1928), although another building planner had already been commissioned to do so. Lenz was neither an architect nor did he have practical experience in building buildings. Nevertheless, he was able to win the princess over for his project. In addition to building the chapel, she also commissioned him to build a country house below the Maurus chapel. His first draft was not implemented for cost reasons. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid on May 5, 1868, the shell was completed in spring 1869 and it was inaugurated on September 5, 1871 by Auxiliary Bishop Lothar von Kübel .
Building description
The structure dedicated to Saint Maurus is elongated. It consists of a staircase, vestibule and cella . The building is partly built into a mountain slope. The Maurus Chapel opens towards the Danube valley to the south. Therefore the altar is not in the east, but unusually in the north. A simple roof turret rises above the rear wall of the chapel . Behind the back wall of the cella there is a small sacristy . A bronze angel adorns the roof ridge above the vestibule .
The raised podium of the staircase and the design of the vestibule and the adjoining cella give the building the appearance of a temple. The orientation of the structure in the direction of the river is reminiscent of Egypt. The entire complex did not follow the usual form of chapel construction at the time.
In 1993/1994 the structure was restored with funds from the German Foundation for Monument Protection and the Association of Friends of the Archabbey of St. Martin zu Beuron .
walls
The outer walls of the cella , with the exception of the plastered entrance side, the two pillars and two pilaster strips , are clad with porous tufa . It is the Bärenthaler Kalktuff . The surfaces of the building, as far as they are plastered, were designed inside and outside with writing, ornaments, figures and three large wall paintings.
The western and southern outer walls of the chapel are designed below the eaves with a frieze depicting the life of St. Maurus . The frieze to the west shows how Maurus - sent by Benedict - saved the young Placidus from drowning and ran miraculously across the water.
Staircase and fountain
In front of the open vestibule, two opposite staircases with granite block steps each with eleven steps lead to an intermediate landing . The view side with a fountain, located on the street side, is faced with blocks made of Bärenthaler limestone tuff. This intermediate landing is followed by a centrally located flight of stairs with eleven steps, which leads into the vestibule.
A granite fountain with a limestone lion head that serves as a water dispenser is located on the south side of the staircase. This well system was added in 1906 by Archabbot Placidus Wolter .
lobby
The vestibule is spatially delimited by two pillars in the south and two plastered pilaster strips behind them to the north. The pillars and pilaster strips are decorated with angels and writings. The entablature rests on the pillars and pilaster strips . The roof structure over the vestibule is open, the horizontal wooden beams are labeled. Two benches between the pillars and pilaster strips delimit the vestibule. The backrests made of green sandstone are ornamented deepened on their back. These are the only ornaments that are deeply carved into this building. The square floor of the vestibule is covered with red and light sandstone slabs and a surrounding frieze.
The large mural above the front door shows Mary with the child, flanked by the religious saints Scholastica and Benedict. The arrangement of five saints each indicates the Egyptian style.
Cella
The inside of the cella is plastered and is only slightly illuminated by two small windows each on the vestibule, west and east side.
altar
The tabernacle from marble , rests on the altar plate and is partly taken in color. The angel figures and the ornaments are not deeply carved into the round tabernacle. The tabernacle door , covered with gold leaf , is decorated and labeled. In the round top of the tabernacle door there is a depiction of a pelican who slits open his chest and uses his blood to bring his already dead young back to life. It is an allegorical representation relating to Jesus.
Under the altar plate there is a reclining figure of Saint Maurus made of marble. This grave figure was created by the sculptor Johannes Schwendfür († 1871), which Lenz completed after his death.
The marble altar columns that support the altar plate are designed as Egyptian palmette capitals .
Marble tabernacle . Depiction of Egyptian symbols and angels.
Marble grave figure of Saint Maurus
Partly colored palmette capital of the altar made of marble
Mural
Only two of the large paintings in the chapel use perspective representations in their representation. The mural of the dying Maurus differs from this (see below). In all other other representations, the natural is pushed back, the flat and the symbolic emphasized.
Since the artists had no experience in wall painting, the wet plaster was painted with watercolors . In the usual technique, lime paints are used for this . The two large murals on the inner entrance wall show the death of Saint Maurus and on the altar wall the crucifixion of Jesus.
Crucifixion group
The five meter wide and four meter high mural with the crucifixion group shows from left to right: Katharina (with wheel), Joseph (with blooming staff), Maria , Jesus on the cross, Johannes , Johannes the Baptist (with cross staff and ax leaning against a tree ) and Cäcilia (with organ pipes ). The four sacred rivers where a deer drinks flow from the base of the cross. The four evangelists hover above the group .
Dying of Maurus
The mural, about the same size as the crucifixion group, shows Saint Maurus dying in the middle of the painting on a gallery in front of a marble altar. He holds a cross in his right hand and raises his left arm. A canopy rises above the altar and is supported by four Egyptian columns. Five monks pray on either side of the dying Maurus. Six steps each lead to this gallery. On the left of the steps a monk is hunched over in deep pain. On the right side, next to the flight of stairs, a young monk bows his head and an older monk puts his hand comfortingly on the arm of the younger one.
This painting uses a perspective view as the only representation in the entire structure. This can be seen in the arrangement of the grouping of the monks and in the representation of the gallery and stairs.
ornamentation
The ornamental design of the interior indicates numerous Egyptian style elements, such as plant ornaments, papyrus stems . Lotus flowers and palm crowns . All ornaments in the cella are two-dimensional, none of them protrudes from the wall surface.
On the west and east walls in the cella there is a frieze with angels below the coffered ceiling . The coffered ceiling is framed with bright stars in green.
Artist
While the building itself can be traced back exclusively to Desiderius Lenz, he and the painter Gabriel (Jakob) Wüger (1829-1892) played a key role in the pictures , when they both executed the frescoes between 1869 and 1870.
The painter Lukas (Fridolin) Steiner (1841–1906) was also involved in the design of the frescoes. The frieze design on the country house below the chapel is attributed to him. This country house with two other buildings that make up the hamlet of Maurus was later taken over by the monastery and is still operated by him today. The entire ensemble of houses with chapel is listed.
The three artists formed a working group and were closely associated with the Beuron monastery. Wüger joined the Benedictine order of Beuron in 1870 , Steiner in 1875 and Lenz in 1878. They are also known as the three artist monks .
Art theoretical conception
Desiderius Lenz had read the book Choral und Liturgie by the Beuron priest Benedikt Sauter , which dealt with Gregorian chant . Lenz concluded from this that the principles of this music also apply to the art of ancient Egypt . He set out his ideas in the book On Aesthetics of the Beuron School , which he wrote in 1898. His idea of a sacred art includes an aesthetic geometry , sacred dimensions , its own canon and the proportions of numbers used by the Egyptians.
rating
The rating of the Maurus Chapel varied from the start. It looks more like a monument than a church. The furnishings have a greater effect than the building itself. The Maurus Chapel remained the first major work of this school and at the same time its highlight.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Hubert Krins: The Maurus Chapel . P. 42. In: Gnadenkapelle and Mauruskapelle in Beuron. Edited by Beuroner Kunstverlag, Kunstverlag Josef Fink, 3rd edition 2013. ISBN 978-3-89870-088-7
- ↑ a b A.S .: Sankt Maurus-Kapelle (leaflet), ed. v. Beuroner Kunstverlag, Beuron 1998
- ^ Hubert Krins: The Maurus Chapel . P. 45. In: Gnadenkapelle and Mauruskapelle in Beuron. Edited by Beuroner Kunstverlag, Kunstverlag Josef Fink, 3rd edition 2013. ISBN 978-3-89870-088-7
- ↑ a b Hubert Krins: The Maurus Chapel . P. 41. In: Gnadenkapelle and Mauruskapelle in Beuron. Edited by Beuroner Kunstverlag, Kunstverlag Josef Fink, 3rd edition 2013. ISBN 978-3-89870-088-7
- ^ Hubert Krins: The Maurus Chapel . P. 33. In: Gnadenkapelle and Mauruskapelle in Beuron. Edited by Beuroner Kunstverlag, Kunstverlag Josef Fink, 3rd edition 2013. ISBN 978-3-89870-088-7
- ↑ The Maurus Chapel, on erzabtei-beuron.de, accessed on November 15, 2016
Coordinates: 48 ° 3 ′ 15.6 ″ N , 8 ° 59 ′ 29.2 ″ E