Beuron Art School

The Beuron art school was founded by a confederation of Benedictine monks in Germany in the late nineteenth century.

In addition to the first abbot of Beuron Archabbey, Maurus Wolter (died 1890), who founded the monastery with his brother Placidus in 1863, the early leaders of the artistic school were Father Desiderius Lenz (1832–1928) and Gabriel Wuger (1829-1892). Several Benedictine artists worked within the school, including Jan Verkade.

Beuronese art is principally known for its murals with "muted, tranquil and seemingly mysterious colouring" [1]. Though several different principles were in competition to form the canon for the school, "[t]he 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:

One of the most complete collections of Beuronese art is located at Conception Abbey in Conception, Missouri, which was founded by Beuronese monks who immigrated to the United States. 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."

A series of murals entitled "Life of the Virgin" was created under the direction of Desiderius Lenz, Gabriel Wuger, and Lukas Steiner between 1880 - 1887 for the Benedictine Abbey of Emmaus in Prague. 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. 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. A second set of duplicates resides at the Abbey Church of the Immaculate Conception Benedictine Abbey in Conception, Missouri.

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