Baroque Churches

St Gallen Cathedral and Abbey Church, Switzerland

2026-01-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

East end exterior by JM Beer built 1760-4

It is the stupendous Baroque library of St Gallen which draws people here today, but the Benedictine Abbey was established in 747 and its heyday was from the 9th to the 11th centuries. The Romanesque conventual buildings are long gone and instead we have the Baroque splendour of Peter Thumb and others, completed in 1767.The library was Thumb's last major work and filled the last years of his life up to his retirement in 1758.

The planning history of the Baroque church is complex.Plans were submitted from 1720 by various architects including Peter Thumb (1681-1766), Caspar Moosbrugger (1656-1723) , Johann Michael Beer I (1696-1780) J.C. Bagnato (1696-1757) and Johann Michael Beer II (1700-1767).The Chapter at St Gallen decided to keep the existing eastern church as the choir and demolish the western part and creating a new nave.With the demolition of the western church the commission to build the present nave and domed area began in 1755. With stucco and fresco work by Christian Wenzinger. consecration was in 1760. By then Peter Thumb had retired and when the Chapter changed its mind and decided to rebuild the east end of the Church, they turned to J.M. Beer I. In December 1760 he provided a plan with two towers and shallow apse. By 1764 this new choir with towers was built including stucco work by J.G.and M. Gigl. Reading the building history in Henry-Russell Hitchcock's 'Rococo architecture in Southern Germany'(1968), bought in 1979 I begin to understand the significance of this building. It was the end of a long sequence of attempts at a church with central oval domed area and nave and choir extending almost equally either side. Hitchcock draws comparison with Wren's St Paul's Cathedral in London where the domed area is so dominant even though the choir and nave are both particularly lengthy.

The interior of the central dome today

The little video below, of the church outside and inside, is a must ! Make it full screen. It's as though you were there!

After the secularisation of the Abbey the church became the Cathedral for the new diocese of St Gallen.There was severe damage to the abbey and church during the the Napoleonic Wars 1798-1803. Baroque altars were repositioned, and the high altar redesigned by 1810. By 1815 the Baroque western chancel had been replaced by a neo-classical gallery and organ.The interior of the dome had to be repaired causing the loss of the original paintings on the vault, only partially restored in the 1960s. A neo Baroque liturgical centre was erected in the 1960s taking up a substantial part of the rotunda. Finally a competition was held in 2008 to redesign the liturgical centre. Caruso St John of London won. I cannot comment without seeing it in person!

This excellent World Heritage video introduces the history of the Abbey.

The Abbey was famous as a centre of learning with a scriptorium from the mid 8th century. The plan of St Gall from about 820 is the earliest architectural drawing of a monastic complex (see above video). The interior of the Library is a superb example of late Rococo, the work of Peter Thumb, done in his absence 1758-68. Ceiling paintings by Joseph Wannanmacher (1722-80), stucco by the Giglis and cabinet work and marquetry floor by Gabriel Loser (1701-1785). After the secularisation we are fortunate that it survived to become a scientific lending library and study centre. It is not simply a museum even today. With about 170,000 volumes and 2100 manuscripts, from 8th to 15th centuries. There are beautiful written and illustrated Irish, Carolingian, Ottonian manuscripts and also examples from the Renaissance. I do not remember the church on my group visit in the 1970s but the library was astounding even though I did not understand its importance as a collection or its Rococo magnificence.

San Jose de Laguna Mission, New Mexico

2025-11-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

Interior of san Jose ; notice windows on the left, and painting in the nave. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

I have been interested in the New Mexican mission in Acoma a long time and shall return later to it and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. However I want to start with the nearby Church in Laguna. The Pueblo revolt by Native Americans of 1680 was very distructive to the whole area but after the Spanish Reconquest an offshoot of Acoma was established - a new pueblo village some 30 miles away at Laguna in the late 1690s. Settlers from Acoma and Zuni and Queres helped to found it. Like Acoma, it is situated on an outcrop of rock, rising like an island in the land. The houses today still show a fascinating blend of Indian and Spanish architecture. The highest point was used to found the Church of San Jose. much of it built by the local people while they welcomed their first Priest, Fray Antonio de Miranda. Unusually the building is of stone covered by adobe and now regularly whitewashed.

The interior is 105 by 22 feet There were no arches or dome; as these were quite unknown to Native Americans and they did the building... Kubler 'Art and Architecture in Spain and Portugal and their American dominions 1500-18800' waxes lyrical about the building : in particular about a transverse window spanning the nave at the chancel between the roof levels of the nave and the sanctuary thereby producing what can be called a Baroque light effect. There may have been a clerestory originally that was dispensed with when the roof was reordered at a later date. I note there are now two windows high up on the left wall of the nave and a prominent window over the entrance on the west wall and these do create some light. Nevertheless the interior was felt by Fray Dominguez to be "very gloomy" in 1776!!

Chncel in 1923 by Laura Gilpin : alas the
side walls have since been whitewashed.

Early in the first decade of the next century an unnamed artist, who we call "the Laguna santero" created the colourful altar screen and sanctuary we know today. It simulates the foliage and scrolls of Spanish artists. A contemporary Fray Jose Pedro Rubi de Celis Wrote "First, the church of this mission built of stone with baptistery and sacristy. At its main altar is placed a wooden altar screen painted in tempera with delicate colors. Four turned columns and three scallop shells in half relief adorn it. In the principal place it has painted an image of the Most Holy Patriarch St. Joseph, on his right side that of Lord St. John Nepomucene, on the other side that of St. Barbara, and at the summit the Most Holy Trinity. In addition to this, there is at this altar a painting on a frame fit to the shape of the sanctuary serving as a ceiling over the altar. The side walls are adorned with curtains in perspective, painted in colors, which embellish the entire sanctuary. The table that serves for celebrating [Mass] has its elk-hide frontal on very solid frames and well painted."

A painting of St Joseph still dominates the reredos. An earlier one presented to the Church in Acoma by King Charles II was for a time kept here. This caused a dispute that went on for several years which ended up in the Supreme Court in 1857.

There were adjacent buildings for a small community of friars in the 18th century. These decayed over the 19th century and were later used as community rooms until they were returned to the Church to become accomodation for the priest.

In the 1870s the church was nearly pulled down, due to lack of use and the hostility of local Protestants. The then sacristan, Hami, faced down the Protestants and through several generations the Church has survived and is still a parish church in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, and visited by tourists. Alas I doubt that I will get there....it is a special place.

For a very interesting article by Suizanne Hammons written 9 April 2014 read here.

"Misión San José de Laguna," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/mision-san-jose-de-laguna [accessed November 10, 2025

Rosario Chapel, Santo Domingo, Puebla

2025-11-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

Very short introductory video

I have longed to post about this remarkable chapel - the first to be dedicated to the Virgin of the Rosary in New Spain, Built between 1650 and 1690 it has been called the House of Gold and an 8th wonder of the world. In 1979 Pope John Paul II called the Reliquary of America.Suprisingly both Pal Kelemen 'Baroque and Rococo in Latin America (1951) and Sacheverell Sitwell 'Southern Baroque revisited ' (1967) seem to have missed it in their pathfinding visits. The use of gold leaf and stucco relief is overwhelming, particularly in the dome with 60 angelic figures.Each figure is different, some head only, some whole body. The complex interweaving of three dimensional white and gold stucco strapwork incorporates leaves, birds, scrolls, grapes, angels and ribbons, covering walls, dome and vestibule to an unequalled amount. The stucco work uses plaster made of flour, egg white and water then overlaid with gold leaf. The resulting strap framework spreads over sculptural and painting elements and sometimes spills over into the framed pictues of the Virgin, virtues (faith hope and charity), saints, and Archangels bearing Mary' s titles.

High altar and view into the drum and dome.

The prototype was likely the chapel of San Isidro in San Andres Church, Madrid, which was begun in 1657 and developed several times later in the century. The stucco strap-work motifs in the vaults may come from drawings and engravings of examples in the Netherlands. Debates have been had about the provenance of the decoration. How far can we see American Indian influence? I do not feel qualified to say. It seems safe to say there are Castilian, Andalusian, Italian and Netherlands antecedents but these were in turn used and developed by indigenous workers.

The Dominicans arrived in Puebla in 1526 but the chapel was only begun in 1650. It was the brainchild of Friar Juan de Cuenca to teach the people how to pray the Holy Rosary. It fell to Friar Agustin Hernandez and Friar Diego de Gorozpe to complete the long arduous work. The consecration on 16 April 1690 was a great day in Puebla coinciding with foundation date of the city. Celebrations went on for 9 days with sermons, Masses and jubilant public events each day. Friar Gorozpe spoke in a sermon of the chapel being like a musical ensemble, with all architectural units and motifs taking part - emphasised by a lunette above the choir with many instruments, conducted from above, by God the Father.

The floor plan of the chapel is based on a Latin cross with short transepts and shallow apse. The nave is in three sections with barrel vault and lunette windows.The narrow dome over the crossing with drum has windows above and in the dome iteself to provide illumination for the great cypress tree style 17th century altar by Lucas Pinto below. The altar is in two stages with 12 plain columns below and 12 spiral decorated ones above made of Mexican alabaster. The nave walls have large paintings in chiaroscuro style by Jose Rodriguez Carnero (1649-1725) of the Joys of the Virgin. The paintings in the transept , and apse are also by Carnero. In the left transept is the Assumption, with polychrome statues of St John and St Matthew and above these surrounded by flowers and leaves St Elizabeth and St Joseph. In the right transept the Coronation of the Virgin with statues of St Mark and St Luke.and above St Joachim and St Anne in the foliage. The apse contains the painting of the Glorification of the Rosary: Mary with crown of roses.

This chapel is important because the ornate stucco work begun here was continued in the churches of Oaxaca. It has undergone major restoration 1967-71 sponsored by the Mary Street Jenkins Foundation.

Saints Peter and Paul, Cracow

2025-10-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Jesuits came to Cracow in 1582 and at first used existing Gothic churches. Finding these inadequate they managed to get The King to support the foundation of a College and Church in 1595. Several Jesuit architects were involved in the initial building leading to demolition and rebuilding. Eventually the Royal architect Giovanni Trevano (from Lombardy} took over and redesigned the facade, and finalised the dimensions of the church and the dome.Consecation occurred in 1608, completionof ther dome in 1609 but the final completion was not until 1619.

The facade follows the Vignola rather then the della Porta Rome Jesu design with two storeys.The lower is subdivided by shallow pilasters but the pillars framing the door dominate.

It is a traditional Jesuit church based on the Jesu and S.Andrea della Valle in Rome : a wide nave, with rows of dark chapels with strong walls and connected only by small openings; then small transepts with dome centrally above and a rounded apse. Lunette windows in the vault above the nave chapels light the nave and large windows in the drum and lantern at the top of the dome flood the crossing with light. The interior gives most prominence to the officiating priest in his robes at the high altar and the walls of the nave and the projecting pillars of the dome can be viewed as theatre wings leading us to the stage with its altar.

The apse and side chapels have the best stucco work in Cracow . It is by Giovanni Batttista Falconi who came from Milan was to spend much of his life working here (1619-33) There is a late Baroque high altar (1735)by Kacper Bazanka.

This church encouraged many other Baroque churches to be built in Cracow but some believe none were of comparable richness of design.

Carmine, Turin

2025-10-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

View toward high altar

I'm still in Turin, exploring some of the works by Juvarra. He built his church for the Carmelite Order 1732-5. This time he goes for a highlongitudinal desiogn without transepts and dome.The wide nave has three chapels each side with high open galleries above the chapels. This means two arches one above the other, with no clerestory. The windows of the gallery provide light for the nave. The nave wall has become liked a skeleton of high pillars. Wittkower believes this is unprecedented in Italy.There had of course been open galleries in the Middle Ages. The first appearance in Renaissance artchitecture and with a barrel roof was at St Michael, Minich (1583-97) and was popular thereafter in Germany. Juvarra is likely to have known this and decided to use it here. Often chapels, particularly in Jesuit churches, had been dim,. Here the chapels derive their light from oval openings from the gallery windows above. The idea of getting hidden light and conducting it through an opening began in Italy with Bernini (St Teresa altar) and was used later in Austria and Germany for whole chapels, It seems Juvarra now may have used this in Turin for his chapels at the Carmine.

See the little video below to experience the interior and the side chapels in particular.

Facade built 1872 and restored in 1950s.

Basilica of the Superga, Turin

2025-10-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

The great old city of Turin is very high in my list of intended visits. The sight of this monumental church perched above the city would be a must.

In 1706 the city was besieged by over 40,000 French troops during the War of the Spanish Succession. On 28 August that year the Duke, Vittorio Amadeo II and his cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy climbed to the top of the Superga hill for reconnaisance. While visiting the little church church there, the Duke promised in front of a statue to the Virgin that were he to be victorious he would build a great church to her honour there.

Therefore the Superga was built 1717-31 as a votive offering. However it was also built as a huge ego trip for the House of Savoy because they had annexed the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713 after their victory over the French and then were also to annex Sardinia in 1720. it would be bold solid monument reflecting the power and aspiration of the Roral patron. The result "is by far the grandest of the great number of Baroque sanctuaries on mountains (Wittkower).

As King of Sicily in 1714 Victorio Amadeo II met Juvarra in Messina and by the end of the year had made him First Architect to the King. This was to give him unparalelled prestige in Italy and an international career. In 1719-20 he was involved in plans for the palace of Mafra for King John V of Portugal. He visited Paris and London in 1720 and designed a Royal Palace of Madrid for Philip V in 1735. The Superga was the first major work of the young Juvarra, after his 10 years in Rome.His time in Turin was to be filled not only with comissions throughout Italy but also included 5 churches, 4 Royal residences and 4 large town palaces. His knowledge of historical and contemporary styles was exemplorary. For the Superga we could detect the influence of the Pantheon and St Maria dei Miracoli in Piazza del Popolo. and for the desired prominent dome and the twin bell towers, perhaps St Agnese in the Piazza Navona. His church is attached to a large rectangular monastery block but only a quarter is concealed inside the block with the remaining three quarters thrusting their circular magficence toward the viewer. The portico in front of the church is square in plan and the same height as the body of the church, the drum and the dome.

The interior rotunda suggests the characteristics of a Greek cross and the octagonal dome grows from a ring of columns supporting the entablature, with no pendentive zone. The windows in the drum and rubs and coffers of the dome are remiscent of Borromini and Bernini respectively.

Interior - notice how the drum rests on the entablature supported by the pillars.
Paris Orlando, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The sanctuary has its own vaults and lighting source, but does not detract from the rotunda as the dominant space. There is no nave and this feels quite an intimate place, great for worship.

Juvarra planned and oversaw the whole construction. It was to be his masterpiece. The height of the hill was even reduced by 40 metres to achieve the desired effect. He hoped to be buried there. In the event he died in Madrid, but later in 1770s a special crypt was built below the presytery to house the remains of the Royal family of Savoy.

With its wonderful position and monumentality, we can see parallels with Melk, Weingarten and Einsiedeln, all built about the same time. How much did Juvarra know about them?

St Anne chapel, Brezany Panenske

2025-10-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

One of Santini's first buildings of his own design, the little chapel of St Anne, is reckoned to be one of his best.This is proven by being featured on local postage stamps It's only about 10 miles north of Prague on the main road to Veltrusy. It is a domed triangu;ar chapel built to celebrate the trinity of St Anne, the Virgin and Christ. It was commissioned by the Abbess of St George's convent at Prague castle and begun in 1705. It was originally part of the Upper Castle at Brezany Panenske she had built as an administrative centre.

He uses a hexagonal core (six sides) with three arms projecting outwards to form chapels, and above the central core a full dome rises on a plain drum and pendentives.

Source: panenske-brezany.muzeumbrandys.cz/cz/pamatnik-narodniho-utlaku
-a-odboje/historie-horniho-zamku

In 2014 the restoration was agreed. In the 1960s it was in a trerrible state with broken windows, birds nesting above the altar and aircraft engines nearby roaring....

I hope the above photos, which I am grateful to display, encourage someone to visit this attractive church.

St John Nepomuk, Zdar

2025-10-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Giovanni Santini keeps appearing in any survey of Czech Baroque churches.Strange Gothic inspired Baroque hybrids or something unique? Was he Italian ? He came from an Italian immigrant family of masons, but was born in Prague in1667 and died there in 1723. Sometimes he is known as Jan Blazel Santini Aichel. His training included time in Italy, England, and the Netherlands. His work shows the influence of Fischer von Erlach and Borromini. His career really took off from 1700 with a dozen projects still ongoing at his death. He seems to have been one of the more imaginative architects of his time with some 40 patrons. His best patrons were monasteries.

In 1719-22 he created a pilgrimage chapel attached to the Cistercian abbey of Zdar in honour of St J ohn Nepomuk, whose tongue had recently been mysteriously rediscovered undecayed. Remember he had been martyred in the 14th century because of his refusal to releal the secrets of the confessional. The Abbot of Zdar was one of Santini's best clients. Other projects included renovation of the Abbey buildings moification of its church and several bizarre shaped buildings determined by particular symbolism - for example a chapel to the Virgin at Obyctov with a plan like a tortoise , which symbolised constancy!

The new chapel was to be situated on a grassy mound {Green Hill or Zelena Gora) with some trees It was to be a focal point. At first sight it seems like a Gothic tent with five star shaped wings and five low oval dormered chapels - puzzling. It's hard to describe.Take a look at the little video above.

The interior is very white and maybe shows the influence of Borromini's St Ivo in Rome. The emphasis on five comes from the traditional five stars of St John Nepomuk's halo (his five virtues) as he was thrown into the river Moldau. The interior is strongly vertical rising to ribbed vaults with stucco decoration, and up into the central mystical heights of the cupola culminated by a tongue. . This central space opens out into five chapels, one with the high altar. Some original furnishings have survived from Santini's time : the high altar depicts the celebration of St John Nepomuk into heaven and the four side altars the four evangelists. I have yet to experience this church in person but, from all I have read and illustrations I have seen, this is a true Baroque space: restless, full of distractions and with plenty of light both from the dormer windows above the side chapels and the lancet windows in the sides of the five wings.

High altar

There was a major fire in 1784 which damaged the roof and facade. These were repaired 1792-1802.

There are star shaped cloisters containing five chapels forming a circle around the chapel which have been considerably altered since the 18th century.

St John Nepomuk Zdar is now a World Heritage site and I hope this post encourages you to visit it.

Photos are taken from Wikipedia article about the church.

Santini's original plan

Santa Maria della Pace, Rome

2025-09-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

"It's like a stage set, is it real?" that's my first memory of this church coming upon it floodlit from a nearby pizzeria. It must have been a favourite for film directors. Years later I have revisited and want to tell its fascinating story.

Baccio Pontelli (c1449-1494) was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV to design a church in 1482 dedicated to the Virgin Mary commemoratimng a miraculous image.It was always a cramped site in a popular area. There was no room for carriages to turn round and approach streets to each side were akwardly narrow. Something should be done. Pope Alexander VII wanted a new facade and better traffic circulation. Some buildings would have to go, so a small piazza could be created. Pietro de Cortona got the commission in 1656 and it was dedicated to Santa Maria della Pace to save Rome from plague and French invasion.

The result is like a theatre with the church facade as a stage set, the piazza the auditorium and the flanking houses the boxes and the side approaches like stage doors. The church itself has a short nave leading into an octagon with coffered dome. The facade of the church has a convex upper tier over a bold semicircular portico, just as Bernini was to use later at San Andrea al Quirinale. The big concave wings each side embrace the viewer like arms. This contrast of convex and concave is to be come a common feature of baroque architecture : something I have been aware of but never expressed. These protruding wings do not represent the width of the church. Instead they join the church to other buildings by linking their cornices and concealing other structures. The left one conceals a sacristy and oblique courtyard and the right crosses over a narrow street.

Internally Cortona gave the dome octagonal coffering and a series of ribs radiating from the lantern.

Perhaps most significantly, the family chapel of Pope Alexander III was decorated with frescos by Raphael.The Sybils of Cuma, Persia, Phyrigia and Tibur all receiving revelations from angels. Most visitors seemed unaware of these gems. But then Roman churches are so rich in great art : its all too much!

The Cesi Chapel contains fine High Renaissance sculpural decoration by Antonio da Sangallo the Youmger(1484-1546).

The high altar of 1614 was built by Carlo Maderna to contain the old icon of the Virgin Mary and child.

There is a fine cloister from c. 1500 by Bramante which I missed.

San Pedro de Andahuaylillas, Peru

2025-01-08T03:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome in 2025 to one of my most exciting posts ever - about the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas"

I know I am never going to get there in person, but through an amazing Website, using the most advanced 360 degree technology, I really feel I know the place. It is very special. Here is the link - scroll down to the 360 degree pictures.

Andahuaylillas is about 30 miles from Cuzco. A small chapel was begun in 1570 on the site of the present apse and sanctuary on the ruins of an Inca shrine. A nave and facade were added and completed in 1606. The walls are adobe with a pitched roof of cane and timber. There is a separate stone bell tower. The portal is brick with the four Church Fathers in painted niches.

You can take a tour of the situation, exterior and interior with the little six minute video below.

The barn-like nave has a sloping roof plastered and painted over and with long supporting wooden beams. The walls have large paintings on canvas in fancy gilded frames. The effect is overpowering. The lower part of the wallsand the choir loft are painted with elaborate designs in tempera (pigments mixed with a water soluble type of binder such as egg yolk).

Ceiling over the sanctuary

The sanctuary is on a slightly raised floor with a grand arch decaorated in 1631 and magnificent Mudejar style polychrome ceiling. It uses kur-kur a pre-Hispanic method of construction combining cane, straw and mud instead of wood.

The interior murals were mainly by Luis de Riano, a student of Angelino Medoro. They were painted in the 1620s. The programme for the painted murals was by Father Juan Perez de Bocanegra, well known as the great linguist who published a Quechua dictionary. It is interesting to discover that he made some changes to traditional Christian themes for the sake of accomodating Andean cosmological ideas for local audiences. Specifically, the Annunciation in the choir shows the Virgin being impregnated by the rising sun rather than a hovering dove. Other Andean cosmological signs such as the Pleiades (star cluster) and other symbols are also included.

Over the years there has been considerable damage from earthquakes, insect infestation and general derioration of the fabric. In 2008 it was included in the World Monuments Watch which has led to significant injections of funding to restore the main facade, choir, chapels, ceilings, altar, paintings on canvas and statuary.A 4 year plan with significant assistance by local youth, was completed in 2012,and has transformed the building.

Of great interest to me are the organs at the front end of a protruding arms of the U shaped choir loft. They date from the first half of the 17th century and have painted canvas doors like a Gothic organ with folding wings like a triptych. The painted doors have angels playing amazing stringed instruments and drums including guitar, bass viol and harp.

The choir loft even opens out to a gallery outside.

There are murals on all the interior walls and ceiling. Contemporary anthems have been discovered concerning the Incarnation. Juan Perez was also a good poet and wrote verses to Our Lady. Imagine doing a choir tour and singing here! Too late I hear myself saying!

Hear the rafters raised as a local Children's choir and band process in with the famous Hanaq Pacha Kusikuynin arranged by Juan Perez Bocanegra in the early 17th century in the video below. Terrific!

For an excellent discussion about the chapel watch the little video below by the World Monuments Fund .

Francis Chapelet improvises on the organ in the video below.video

Interior view looking back to the entrance and choir loft.

Vierzehnheiligen

2024-11-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

SA 4.0 MichaelKR

I approach this post with caution : nothing I write can prepare you for the joyous sight of this masterpiece. By tradition in 1445 the baby Jesus appeared to the shepherd of Langheim monastery. With Him were 14 children, seven in red, seven in white calling themselves the Fourteen Helpers. They insisted that a chapel be built there and then disappeared. Apparently a few days later a sick girl was healed at the site. It became a pilgrimage site. The Cistercian Abbey of Langheim succombed to the pressure and built a chapel to the Fourteen Helpers in Need. The chapel was destroyed in the Peasants' War in 1525. It was replaced but again destroyed in the thirty Years War (1618-48).

The Prince Bishops of Bamberg financed the rebuilding and the Abbots of Langheim Stephan Mosinger (1734-51) and Malachias Limmer (1751-1774) commissioned it. In 1735 the Abbot received permission from Prince Bishop Friedfrich Karl von Schonborn to make a start. His choice fell on Gottfried Heinrich Kroner from Weimar. The prince Bishop vetoed it. Instead in 1742 Balthasar Neumann was appointed to make a building plan and the foundation stone was laid in 1743.During the building Krohner was in charge and the plans formerly agreed were not followed. The result was that the pilgrimage altar, if it was to be the exact apparition site, would be in the nave, rather than the crossing under a dome.

View of the vaults in the nave looking over the shrine altar to the entrance CC BY-SA 3.0 Erwin Meier

Prolonged discussion and disagreement followed until Neumann came up with a plan based on the existing structure with a worthy pilgrimage altar site still sited in the nave. This is the solution we see today. Basically he redesigned the vaulting so the shrine became the central focus and the crossing of little importance .The plan on the ground therefore differs significantly from the vaulting plan. It is a complex and brilliant solution. At ground level there are three longitudinal ovals making up the nave and choir with two smaller circles making up the transepts. There are two transverse ovals superimposed on top of these to form the crossing and the entrance bay and central part of the nave. As for the vaults,: they seem to be quite independent of the ground plan. The side walls of the nave are straight, yet on entry all is curvy and the walls seem to melt away as the light floods in. Jacob Michael Kuchel was Neumann's assistant and he was responsible for putting into practice the ideas of his master during his lifetime and after his death in 1753.

View from the east CC BY-SA4.0 Ermel

n the Secularisation in 1803 the Cistercians were thrown out of Langheim and our church was robbed of some of its treasures - altarpieces, part of the organ, bells. Pilgrimages were forbidden. In 1835 lighning caused a fire damaging the roof, the organ and the two towers. In 1839 King Ludwig I put the Franciscans in charge and repair work followed. In 1897 it became a minor Basilica by order of Pope Leo X111. At first the restoration work did not follow Neumann's original intentions and only later in the 20th century have we our Rococo masterpiece back again. Restoration has continued into the 21st century as can be seen from the photo of the shrine altar in 2009 compared to how it is today.

View of the shrine altar in 2009

View down to the shrine altar and toward the high altar CC BY-SA 4.0 Ermel

The shrine, (Nothelteraltar), the high altar and the pulpit were all designed by Kuchel. The most important, the shrine, is like a combination of state coach and baldacchino crowned with a sunburst includings four figures of the Christ child and four saints on the corners.t is a unique creation. The superb statues and plasterwork are by Johann Michael and Franz Xavier Feuchtmayer and Johann Georg Ubelherr. Frankly it is impossible to describe this remarkable object - lets just say it is a marvel of German rococo and kneel before it, as I did in 1990.

The stucco work by Franz Xavier Feuchtmayer, Johann Michael Feuchtmayer the Younger, and Johann eorg Ublhoiir and paintings by Giuseppe Appiani embellish this interior.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Ermel Rieger organ

There have been organs here since the 18th century. Originally one was in the gallery above the sacristy and the other in the west gallery. In 1999 Rieger created a new organ with 68 stops and there is a mobile 2 manual organ by Eisenbarth in the south transept.

Finally you can hear the organ speak : Lobe den Herren!

Salzburg Cathedral

2024-10-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

General view of the Cathedral CC BY-SA 2.0 Mattana

The Prince Archbishopric of Salzburg will equal Colloredo and his treatment of Mozart to most people. Colloredo was the last in a long line of Prince-Archbishops from 798-1803. The first Cathedral had been built in 774. Archbishops Wolf Dietrich, Markus Sittikus and Paris Lodron created the Baroque city we know today.

Aerial view over this Baroque city with Cathedral in foreground CC BY-SA 4.0 Bede735

In 1598 the old Cathedral burnt down. Wolf Dietrich tries to patch up what is left of the cathedral quarter but after further structural collapses realises a new building will have to be built. In 1606 an order to demolish what is left of the medieval cathedral and conversiin of the Franciscan church as a temporary cathedral leads to the new south-facing building started in 1611. Wolf Dietrich has to flee the city because of a Bavarian invasion. He is taken prisoner and resigns in 1612. His successor Markus Sittikus continues the construction but to a new plan, destroying Wolf Dietrtich's foundations and goes for an east facing three aisled basilica with four nave bays. It is designed by Santino Solari. Transept wings and choir are gathered around a domed crossing like a clover leaf. Progress is swift from 1614-1619 and when Markus died in 1619 the choir and transepts were roofed. Only the dome and nave roof were to be done. His successor Paris Lodron keeps Salzburg out of the Thirty Years War, and continues the building work with Solari in charge. All roofs are covered by 1622 and vaults finished 1623.

High altar
CC-BY-SA 4.0 Diego Delso

Solari brings in Italian plasterers and they work until 1628, Fra Arsenio Mascagni,a Servite priest from Florence, is employed to do ceiling frescos and altar pieces. He creates 86 partly monochrome frescos in the vaults of the central nave, choir, transepts and dome. Marble main altars are designed by Solari and given altarpieces by his son Ignazio and Fra Arsenio.

The great facade CC-BY 2.0 Mattana

Central dome CC-BY-SA 4.0 Diego Delso

The new Cathedral is inaugurated 25 September 1628 in massive celebrations lasting 8 days. The towers are unfinished and the side aisle altars lacking. Plasterers were still working on the interior until 1635. Final works likely done in 1652.

On my first visit in August 1967 I wrote "I went into the Cathedral and greatly admired its cleanliness and beautiful dome. Also of note were the vaults which were again absolutely spotless". I think I was surprised by the bareness and almost new feel of the building.(the dome had been bombed in 1944 and restoration onoy by 1959). I had not seen anything like it before. My next visit was on my birthday 15 July 1970.

So what do I think it is like after several more visits?

1. Try this amazing video below I have found with music by Vladimir Sterzer I am carried away,,,,,,,

2. This is how it is when you walk in CC-BY-SA 4.0 Diego Delso

3. This 369 degree film is fun. Try it!

Fantastic improvising on the great organ Love it!

In conclusion : this was the first Italianate Baroque church built north of the Alps : it's proportions both inside and out are majestic. I once drove several hundred miles to hear the great organ for Sunday Mass and entering was like a homecoming. I now understand this building. It seemed new because of the major restoration after the War. It has so much to offer. I hope I shall return again.

San Carlo (San Carlino) alle Quatro Fontane, Rome

2024-09-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

I hesitate before writing about this great building : it is in all the architecture books, revered and much visited - Borromini's masterpiece. The first time I was in Rome in the 1970s, completely ignorant about it, we were staying nearby and on the first night walked by, noticing crowds of tourists emerging from it. We popped in, but like many of them I suspect, had no idea about its importance. Such a building was not in my radar at that time. This Easter 2024 it was very much on our flightpath and we spent good time inside marvelling at the c0omplexity of the design. It is indeed small, and built on a cramped and difficult site.

It was Borromini's first independent commission - a church and monastery. His design included a small and ingenious cloister and a revolutionary oval church which is difficult both ro describe and photograph easily. The church was finished by 1641 except for the facade (1667}. In the church Borromini used an undulating wavy lower zone, with a zone above based on a Greek cross, and an oval dome above. In the past the dome would have rested on a plan of the sme shape. Here this was not so. Herein lies the complexity of the interior. The effect is to make the viewer's eyes wander around endlessly. I find this interior almost impossible to describe. I think it is probably the prime example of what I can feel in a great Baroque building - restless excitement. I can only recommend everyone to experience this great place for themselves.

Church interior

Looking up to the dome in the church

There is a crypt under the church

Interior passage

The cloister

San Agnese, Rome

2024-09-05T04:25:00.000-07:00

After his election in 1641 Pope Innocent X had ambitions to make Piazza Navona the grandest of all in Rome. His family's (Pamphili) palace was situated there.....It was to be dominated by a new Church dedicated to St Agnese and Innocent wanted to be buried there .The Piazza was the site of the Circus of Domitian and traditionally where St. Agnes had been martyred. There had been a church there dedicated to her since the 8th century. It had been aligned in the opposite direction and since 1581 possessed by the Congregazione dei Chierici Regolari Minore. It was now considered inadequate for their needs. Carlo Rainaldi, and his father Girolamo, were employed and the foundation stone laid in 1652. The site was constricted and due to its shallowness a Greek cross design was adopted. Work progressed quickly but the Rainaldis soon came under fire and they were dismissed. For example the planned big flight of steps into the Piazza was going to take up too much space there.

Chosen by the Pope Borromini took over in August 1653. He was stuck with the basic shape because part of the facade and the pillars for the crossing were well advanced. First he pulled down the central part of Rainaldi's facade and abandoned the planned vestibule and huge flight of steps. This allowed the central section to be joined up with the end bays with concave units. The end bays with their cupolas were retained with some revisions.

Night shot toward St Agnes. Creative Commons Michael Foley

In the interior he transformed the building and his alterations emphasised the octagonal nature of the central area and the feeling of height. The site is shallow so the transverse axis is 10% longer than the longitudinal axis. The feeling of height is because the the height is 25% greater than the longitudinal. The coloured marble columns leading to the tall arches, highly coloured pendatives and cupoila all give an upward thrust. The red and white marble illuminated by light from the dome dominate the central space. John Varriano in Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture (Oxford, 1986) sees this as part of the Counter Reformation trend of salvation coming from above : therefore priest and people are looking upward.

Interior looking toward high altar Creative Commons NikonZ711

Near the end of 1653 the Pamphili bought the adjoining Palazzo Ornano and after it had been demolished Borromini was able to use the space for a sacristy and courtyard. It also enabled him to extend the facade. By 1655 when Innocent died the building was nowhere near finished. The Pamphili family continued with the work but relations with Borromini declined and he withdrew. Carlo Rainaldi returned in 1657 and with some help from others, completed in 1657. Of course he made some changes from Borromini's intentions including a high attic storey to the facade and changed the nature of the pediment.

Work progressed internally into the next century, particularly with the large marble relief altar pieces. Domenico Guidi only completed the Holy Family relief for the high altar in 1724. We now have a museum of Roman sculpture and perhaps the finest Baroque church decoration in Rome.

View into frescoed cupola and pendentives; apse on left, entrance with organ and tomb of Pope Innocent X on right

Many different artists had worked on the planning, building and decoration of this church. There is a similarity in its complex development with that of St Peter's. It is almost a kind of replay and we have been shown a new way of solving the relationship of facade and dome- a better way. Here the great high dome set on its elegant drum crowns the exterior reminding us of Borromini's greatness and graces Rome's finest square.

Rohr Abbey

2024-06-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Assumption of Our Lady Egid Quirin Asam, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

A monastery at Rohr populated by Augustinian canons was founded in 1133 and by 1450 five pariashe5s were incorporated into it. After a trying time in the first half of the 16th century, the foundation picked up and the church got a Baroque makeover in 1618. Alas the Thirty Years War led to complete destruction by the Swedes in 1632 - including a magnificent library. In 1648 the Imperial troops burned it again. The 24 inmates were now down to 6. The monastic income fell due to population loss and only in 1661 could there be rebuilding.

Rohr in 1687

Patritiuis von Heydon was Provost 1682-1730 and he began building work with a higher church tower in 1696, a new mill in 1701 and new collegiate church in 1717. In his heyday there were 23 canons and 48 employees. The church was initially to be designed by Joseph Bader a master mason and plasterer from Wessobrunn. As construction got under way it is clear that Egid Quirin Asam is involved in the design but it is impossible to tell how far. He was the interior designer too. He completed the high altar after the inauguration of the church in 1722 and the sculptured figures 1723. The church was largely finished in 1725 and there were no 19th century updates.

The high altar 1722-3 is Egid Assam's masterpiece. This Theatrum sacrum demonstrates the knowledge he gained from the work of Bernini and Andrea Pozzo in Rome. Rather than try to describe this trully amazing sculptural masterpiece Take a look at the photo. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.The stucco work is very rich in the transepts, crossing and choir.

Building work continued under a number of Provosts throughout the rest of the 18th century. Secularisation and closure came in 1803. The church became the parish church of the town of Rohr. Most convent buildings are sold and demolished. Only the east wing housing the rectory and school survive.

The model for the church can be traced back to San Andrea della Valle in Rome, without the dome. Instead the crossing has what is called a Bohemian cap.

After the Second World War 29 monks from Broumov Monastery in what is now eastern Czech Republic came to Rohr after their own monastery had been expropriated. They opened a High School and founded a new community : Braunau Abbey in Rohr. The land taken up by demolished monastic buildings is repurchased. Apparently the number of monks there is declining. I can remember being served by one in the bookshop back in 1989.

St Nicholas, Prague

2024-05-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

After the Thirty Years War the Jesuits were given space in the Mala Strana and they started their convent building there in 1665 and in 1673 the foundations of a church. Work stopped for unknown reasons and by 1703 was proceeding again to a plan, almost certainly by Krystof Dientdenhofer. By 1711 the nave had vaults and then work stopped again.

The nave CC By-SA 3.0 Jorge Royan

The nave is 85 feet long and 45 broad divided into three bays flanked by deep recessed chapels.The basic Vorarlberg wall pillar design is there. But there is a crucial difference :the pillars are given a sloping edge at 45 degrees and the pilasters aligned at this angle on the faces so formed. Also the pilasters are doubled and superimposed. The pillars therefore become sculptural and above the gallery swings from pier to pier, These effects are continued across the organ gallery to form a continuous curvy movement around the interior of the nave. There is controversy over the influence of Guarini and in particular engravings of his Church of Divine providence in Lisbon are cited. We cannot check out the latter because it was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. The nave vault at St Nicholas has ribs in three dimensions and instead these may be derived from the late Gothic of churches like St Barbara at Kutna Hora.

There is a dynamism in the facade : the three bays go concave convex concave but on the ground level the larger central section is cut away to frame pairs of columns and on the upper storeys is pushed back. Maybe it is derived from Borromini's San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane in Rome.

Plan by Planetware

Christoph died in 1722 before his designs for the choir and tower could be done. His son Kilian had to do it 1737-53. He decided to use all the available space at the choir end and his solution is much grander than the originals by his father. The sacristy behind the high altar was abandoned and an oval one put on the left side of the hih altar and the right hand side is used the base of the huge tower. The central area under the dome has three apse like arms coming from it. The piers supporting the dome have coupled columns protruding into the space crowned with sculptures. With the great structure of the high altar these columns, pilasters, sculptures they almost make the wall surface disappear. It is an overwhelming effect and leads the eye upward to seek rest in the dome. Above the entablature below the drum windows are separated by slender columns and figures.

Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 Ludek

The final great change involved the frescos by Johann Lukas Kracker. His great fresco in the nave is one of the finest Baroque ceilings north of the Alps. Christoph's ribbed vaults were plastered over to create a smooth undulating surface. Across a blue sky St Nicholas is carried up to Heaven by the angels.

Apotheosis of St Nicholas CC

This was the most ambitious Jesuit Church in Central Europe. Kilian had taken his father's achievement even further. "But his true monument is the setting...of the dome and the tower, completed last of all. From every angle they seem inevitable, indispensable; yet this is the last great accent the left bank town received, By itself the fat pilastered mass of the dome would float unanchored in that buffeting sea of tiles; by itself the tower with its fanciful Chinese-looking cap would seem merely to strive for notice with the rest. Together they make the pivot upon which silently the city turns." Brian Knox "The architecture of Prague and Bohemia. (Faber, 1962.)

St Florian

2024-05-19T02:20:00.000-07:00

Aerial view CC SA-BY 4.0 C.Stadler/Bwag

St Florian will always remind me of Bruckner. In August 1967 I wrote "we drove out of Linz to the monastery of St Florian, about 10 miles southeast.. Here lies the tomb of Anton Bruckner , beneath the organ he played so brilliantly. The monastery is a huge and imposing structure and the adjoining church is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. I shall never forget it and for me one of the highlights of the holiday was to gaze in silent admiration at the sight of Bruckner's tomb. After that we returned to the caravan and had an evening meal of of tinned "Country supper" followed by a tin of cherries".

St Florian was an official in the Roman province in present day Lower Austria during the reign of Domitian. It was a time of persecution in 304 and Florian's defence of local Christians led to his own torture and death, by being attached to a very large stone and thrown into the river. A local believer, Valeria, managed to save his body and it was buried in a beech grove near present day St Florian.In 488 the body and of other local saints were moved to Rome for safety. Florian is also popular in Poland. Only in the 18th century with pilgrimage at its height at St Florian did Provost Johann Georg get a portion of Florian relics back. St Florian has become known as a protector from fire - popular with Fire Brigades. There may have been a church at St Florian in the 8th century but the usual date for foundation of a convent for Augustinian canons is 1071. The collegiate church was consecrated in 1091.The remains of some 6000 local Christians were buried in the convent.(More of this later). Provost Leopold Zehetner 's time(1612-46) was one of recovery, including the growth of the library to 4000 books, despite the depredations of the Thirty Years War He was in favour of replacing the Gothic church, but it was under Provost David Fuhrmann (1667-89) that a new Collegiate Church was commissioned from the Italian Carlo Antonio Carlone, and the foundation stone laid in 1686.with flourishes of trumpets and trombones (the bill for them exists!).

Over the next 70 years the monastery was transformed. The complex got bigger and bigger under Fuhremann's five successors.The Augustinian canons were well known for engagement in scientific work When Emperor Joseph II reformed monasteries, St Florian was threatened with closure. Fortunately this was avoided but their estates were in the Wachau were forfeit along with the church treasure. Although avoiding secularisation, St Florian had to deal with financial problems. Nevertheless it kept its status as a spiritual scientific centre in the first half of the 19th century and acted as a cradle of modern historiography. In the 20th century it has been used for a number of other purposes, including a broadcasting station, wine cellar, and an HQ for US Army in 1945. In 1948 the canons returned.

The Collegiate Church (http://www.stift-st-florian.at/en/home.html)

Carlone built his new twin-towered basilica to directly replace the medieval church. It has a calotte over the crossing (like skull cap - dome without drum) and sail vaults in the nave. In the nave the stucco work is by his brother, Bartolomeo Carlone. (reminiscent of Passau Cathedral). The panels in the ceiling were meant to be stucco but the new Provost wanted frescos. Therefore Carlone used illusionist architectural painting by Johann Anton Gumpp and Melchior Steidl. The high altar by Giovanni Battist Colomba of red Salzburg marble is embellished with statues of saints by Giuseppe Boni. The superb canons' choir stalls by Linz sculptor Adam Franz date from 1690. Choral music was very important in the lives of the canons.

Marmorsaal (http://www.stift-st-florian.at/en/home.html)

The magnificent Library (http://www.stift-st-florian.at/en/home.html)

Prandtauer took over on Carlone's death in 1708. Carlone's plans for the design of the convent were much changed. Under him the Imperial rooms for important visitors were created. The Marmorsaal glorifies Prince Eugen's victories over the Turks with huge frescos by Bartolomeo Altomonte. Gotthard Hayberger's Library (1744-51) with undulating bookcases by J.C.Jegg has ceiling frescos of the Blessings coming from the marriage of Virtue and Wisdom.

The main organ by Franz Xaver Krismann from Laibach was built 1770-4 and is now known as the Bruckner organ. It was rebuilt in the 19th century and completely overhauled after the Second World War. Anton Bruckner has always been one of my favourite composers. I have loved his music since the 1960s when it was nowhere near so popular. Since then I have been fortunate enough to hear the great symphonies conducted by great conductors like Herbert von Karajan, Bernard Haitink, Gunther Wand and greatest of all, Eugen Jochum.

Imperial rooms

https://trudymason.com/tag/anton-bruckner-sarcophagus/

Pope Pius VI slept in this bed on his visit to Vienna
to meet Emperor Joseph II
https://trudymason.com/tag/anton-bruckner-sarcophagus/

On the tour of the monastery I was shown the great staircase by Prandtauer, the Marmorsaal, and the series of state room. These are particularly interesting because in most other monasteries such rooms have been altered,and their contents lost. Here we get a real idea of the how they looked in the 18th century.The 16 rooms - large and small- evoke the era of Charles VI and Maria Teresa. In one of them is the bed in which Bruckner died with a haunting photo of him in the bed. My father aged 92 had only recently died...... The tour continued into the "Tomb" area or charnel house, to which the thousands of skeletons of early Christians had been moved. Bruckner had a fascination with death and dead people. It was a spooky place and above I could hear a choir singing. We emerged into the Church and it was empty - no sign of singers or choir. ......

This is the Bruckner room, bed and photo just before he died.

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Later on I had a typical Austrian lunch in the nice restaurant in the cloister. A couple of choir boys passed by and I felt a little reassured of my sanity. However, for me, these Baroque monasteries have an air of mystery, always.

The Bruckner Organ CC BY-SA 4.0 C.Stadler/Bwag

Unusually in this post I have not just Creative Commons photos. I hope that Stift St Florian will appreciate my motives and see this post as an incentive to visit. Trudy Mason's photos are amazing and she has done a far better job than I of recording her visit.

Melk

2024-05-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

Classic view up to the Church flanked by Library and Marmorsaal CC BY-SA 4.0 Thomas Ledl

CC BY-SA 4.Uoaei1

Twice I bypassed this great Abbey and when I finally had the time and opportunity in 1989, I arrived in the dark- and pitched my little ridge tent in the campsite near the river.

We returned in 2008 arriving by boat on a river trip from Durnstein.

Now I see Melk every day - I have a model on the shelf next to where I am writing today.

The Benedictines were given a castle by the Babenburg Margrave Leopold II in 1089 and it was on this land that a monastery grew up. The rise of Protestantism in the 16th century led to significant decline and 1550 there were only 8 monks living there. Turkish raids and taxation were ruining the Abbey. The defeat of the Turks outside Vienna in 1683 lifted a huge cloud from the area and confidence returned. In 1700 Bertold Dietmayr was elected Abbot at the age of 30. Ambitious and energetic he was to be abbot 39 years . By his work at the University in Vienna, as a member of the Imperial Diet, and manager of the conventual estates, he had the means and ability to push for rebuilding. Display of splendour could serve God. He was able to prove that the rebuilding plans came from current revenues when challenged by critics. The chosen architect was Jakob Prandtauer (1660-1726) from the Tyrol, a master mason and sculptor. He belonged to a religious brotherhood and his son was a canon. His designs retained a monastic character e.g. he southern facade. He was told to keep to the old site which extended along a rocky ledge.

Aeria

Aerial view showing the fantastic situation CC BY-SA 4.0 Carsten Steger

Prelate's court CC BY-SA 3.0 Aconcagua

The scale of the monastic buildings is staggering. There is the Prelatial court where the Abbot had his quarters and there is the Imperial suite intended for visits by the Emperor and important guests - featuring a monumental staircase and reception rooms leading to the Marmorsaal. and the Library. Paul Troger (1698-1762) provided the frescos in the Marmorsaal (Hercules Heroicus the triumph of moderation) and in the Library (Hercules Christianus . the triumph of divine wisdom). Maybe the choice of Hercules is an allusion to the Emperor - a new Hercules triumphing over vice and promoting wisdom.

Marmorsaal ceiling CC BY SA 2.5 Alberto Fernandez Fernandez

Marmorsaal CC BY - SA 2.0

The abbey complex we see today is majestic from any angle. The ridge on which it is built so narrow that the church is an inseparable part of the whole .The church facade is usually seen through the flanking curves of the monastic buildings housing Library one side and Marmorsaal the other. Formerly this western orientation had been a plain arcaded court. Prandtauer opened it up with a low gallery in front . Genius! The tower superstructures were rebuilt by Munggenast after a fire in 1738 light and beautiful with some similarity with Durnstein. The dome is unlike the usual type at Viennese churches and has horizontal bands rather than the usual vertical ribs as at St Peter's in Rome.

Dome and high altar CC BY-SA 3.0

The interior strikes first for its intense colour scheme : pillasters of reddish brown ,marble against a background of paler red with white only in the ceiling frescos. There is a great sense of height and just about all wall space is faced or decorated. There are subtle lighting effects and light is concentrated around the dome and high altar areas. The crossing with shallow transepts does not have heavy transverse arches and the dome appears to hover. The dome is 210 feet and painted angels hover making music. There are very fine frescos of the Church Triumphant and of the Holy Trinity by Michael Rottmayr dating from 1716. The high altar (1732) is by Antonio Beduzzi and the statues are by Peter Widerin. Saints Peter and Paul are taking leave of each other. There is a huge crown above them symbolic of victory and the words 'non coronabitur nisi legitime certaverit' or he shall not be crowned except he have fought the good fight. Far above God the Father sits on a globe. There is a notable altar by Widerin nestled away on a pier at the side. The organ case is splendid (1733).

The ceiling frescos CC BY-SA 4.Uoaei1

Durnstein

2023-11-06T06:37:00.001-08:00

Durnstein Castle has a certain pull for English visitors because it was likely here that bad Archduke Leopold of Austria held our King Richard the Lionheart to ransom after the Third Crusade. We only clambered up there once on the first day. After that the attractions of Durnstein Pfarrkirche were much more attractive. Situated on the Danube it is such a charming place and a fantastic base to explore the Wachau, by bike in those days....

The priory was founded in 1410 standing on a rock overlooking the river Danube. It was Prior Ubelbacher who had the existing roof and ridge turret pulled down and commissioned J.Prandtauer, Josef Munggenast and Matthias Steinl, and stuccoist Santino Bussi. The south portal is by Steinl with statuary of the Divine virtues with vigilance and strength done in 1718.The Priory courtyard was probably designed by Prandtauer.

The entrance to the church by Matthias Steinl has the Four fathers of the Church and Christ Our Saviour above.

The tower is the most memorable part of the exterior. It dates from 1733, richly ornamented with putti, obelisks and balustrades and is by Steinl and Mungennast. The blue and white decor is so memorable from the river/It is probably the finest Baroque tower in Austria. It seems to grow out of the terrace, almost like a tree trun

The interior of the church is intimate and there are over 100 angels present ; the walls are curving and above them stucco reliefs of the Annunciation, Nativity, the Magi and the Resurrection.The stucco ornament on the ceiling is by Bussi. The high altar tabernacle is unusually a globe. There are fine choir stalls with gilded scenes from the Te Deum.

On the south side of the church on the site of an old cloister there is a Christmas altar and a baroque setting for the Good Friday Holy Sepulchre, by Antonio Galli-Bibiena.

Loreto, Prague

2023-11-04T06:47:00.002-07:00

The Loreto shrine in Prague was built in Baroque style from 1626 and kept being extended and embellished until 1750. It was originally funded by Benigna Katerina Lobkiwicz. The Santa Casa Holy House is a replica of the one at Loreto in Italy. The Loreto Santa Casa comes from the belief that the Virgin Mary's House in Nazareth was transported miraculously to Loreto in Italy in 1278. The original architect in Prague of the chapel and cloister was Giovanni Battista Orsi. A second storey was added to the cloister by Kilian Dientzenhofer and the facade by him and his father Krystof. This includes the belfry with its 30 bells. This is played from a keyboard - 27 bells can sound. See the little video below.

The Church of the Nativity of Our Lord is again by Krystof and Kilian Dientzehhofer, with ceiling frescos by Vaclav Reiner(1698-1743)and Johann Schopf.(1702-1772). It was consecrated in 1737 and finished 1738.

Exterior in the snow CC BY-SA 3.0

CC BY-SA 4.0 Rfinkels

Santa Maria della Salute, Venice

2023-11-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

Classic view of the Grand Canal by Canaletto

This great church is a symbol of Venice, in countless photos of the Grand Canal, pivotal. But who designed it and why? The Republic decided on 22 October 1630. to build a votive church to celebrate the end of the Plague which had killed a third of the population . It would be dedicated to Our Lady. It was a key site and would symbolise the rebirth of the city. Eleven projects were presented. Among the criteria the building "had to harmonise with the site and had to make a grand impression." The winner was Baldassare Longhena, (1598-1682) whose design with its opulence formed a direct conrast to the nearby Redentore built 50 years earlier. Work began in 1631 but did not end until 1681, just a year before Longhena died.

BY-SA 2.0 Murray Foubister

The octagonal design is set on a platform of steps and resembles a crown, the crown of Mary, Queen of Heaven.

Longhena wrote

I have created a church in the form of a rotunda, a work of new invention, not built in Venice, a work very worthy and desired by Pmany. This church, having the mystery of its dedication, being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, made me think, with what little talent God has bestowed upon me of building the church in the ... shape of a crown.

John Varriano "Italian Baroque and Rococo architecture (1986) says the design " is among the most ingenious of the 17th century" and "can justifiably be called th first major Baroque church in Italy". The octagonal plan harks back to Early Christian Churches like San Vitale in Ravenna.However, the most important influence on Longhena was Palladio. E,g.The transverce sanctuary recalls the Redentore Church.

There are two domes and two bell towers. Six chapels protrude from the octagon and the entrance facade has Palladian elements. A first impression is of many statues in niches and a flock of angels and saints standing around the roofs up to the great central cupola.

Looking toward te high altar

The interior is spacious with the six chapels leading off and opposite the entrance a large presbtery with side apses covered by a smaller cupola. The main altar was designed by Longhena and now includes the 12 03 13th century Byzantine icon Madonna and Child known as Panagia Mesopantitissa. It was brought to Venice in from Candia (Heraklion, Crete) after it fell to the Turks in 1669.

The Senate of the Republic decreed that every year on 21 November there would be a special service to commemorate the deliverance from the \Plague where a procession would proceed from St Mark's square to the church across a specially constructed pontoon bridge. This still takes place today. Tat's three weeks time - alas we can't go this year.

San Xavier del Bac, Arizona

2023-11-03T02:46:00.000-07:00

CC BY-SA 4.0 Keyany

Back in 2005 we visited Arizona. Tucson Old Studios were a major pull for me because I have been mad about the Wild West since childhood. Highlight in the studios museum for me was to see Hoss Cartright's hat as used in Bonanza! I digress - the same day I think we went down to see this old church. I must admit I was disappointed. Restoration was going on and the church interior was not in a good state. I believe it is much improved now. Alas no mobile or camera so the pictures below are not mine.

The original San Xavier del Bac Mission was founded in 1692 by Father Eusabio Kino, an Italian Jesuit. It was populated by the Papagos, who were agricultural - growing corn, beans, squash. The Spanish added wheat and different beans. Cattle and horses, originally from Spain were introduced. The first church was begun in 1700. Kino was unable to stay at Bac and died in 1711. He was a great explorer and missionary. The first resident priest was Father Francisco Gonzalvo but only for a year. Apaches raided the Mission and there was a Pima uprising in 1751 during which the first church was probably destroyed. Father Alonso Espinosa built a new church in 1756 just west of the present one. He ordered "a head and hands of Saint Xavier with a body frame resembling the statue in Vera Cruz" from Mexico City in 1763. It may be the statue we see today above the main altar./ Soon after in 1767 King Charles expelled the Jesuits from the Spanish Empire, so the Franciscans took over the Missions.

Cc BY-SA 3.0 Recline

The first Franciscan sent to Bac was Father Francisco Tomas Garces in 1768. It was a trying time with more Apache raids.The present church was begun under Father Juan Bautista Velderrain in 1783. He did not live to see it completed in 1797. The designer is unknown.. Only one of the towers was ever completed and it is crowned with a dome and lantern. The other or right hand tower was not finished perhaps to avoid paying a tax to the Crown for a completed church. There is a narrow enclosed plaza in front of the church with small mortuary chapel to the left. The facade is covered with lime plaster and painted white. The central section is richly decorated with swirling volutes, shells, canopied figures in a soft red. The plan is cruciform with a large dome on a drum over the central crossing. The interior decoration was likely carried out by local Indians superintended by Spanish artists and friars.

Interior of the Church (National Park Service)

After the Mexican War of 1846-8 it remained in Mexico and it was only after the so-called Gadsden purchase of 1853 did it come into the USA and the diocese of Santa Fe. An earthquake severely damaged the church in 1887 followed by major repairs in 1905, and lightning strikes in 1939 of the west tower. Restoration has continued ever since and today the San Xavier del Bac Church "White Dove of the Desert" attracts thousands of visitors.

Take a tour with the little video below

Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 Aznaturalist

Gottweig Abbey

2023-11-02T09:21:00.005-07:00

My memories of Gottweig are of arriving by bicycle totally out of breath, for it is a hilly area and it was a beautiful hot day. We were staying in Durnstein (more of this in a later post) and hired bikes to ride along the Danube. It was one of our best holidays ever. We could see this celestial city or whatever it was from afar and upon arrival it seemed even more majestic. I had been here a few years previously by car but the bike approach was infinitely superior, if painful.

Gottweig Abbey had been founded in the 11th century as a monastery for Canons Regular by Altmann, Bishop of Passau. Things didn't go well and laxity caused Bishop Ulrich of Passau to get Pope Urban II to agree to make a foundatiobn for Benedictine monks under the Rule of St Benedict. Prior Hartmann of St Blaise's Abbey was made Abbot and things improved. Gottweig became a famed place of learning. Abbot Hartmann (1094-1114) founded a monastic school, a library and a nunnery which started at the foot of the hill, and was later moved to the top and still going until 1557. Decline set in by the 15th and 16th centuries and by 1564 there no monks at all. Then there was a major fire in 1580.Michael Herrlich was brought over from Melk to become the new Abbot. He brought it back to life financially and spiritually and began a rebuild. Gottweig survived the 17th century satisfactorily until a major fire in 1718. Abbot Gottfried Bessel (1714-49) was responsible for the grand rebuild we see today to the designs of Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt.

Hildebradt's vision was for possibly the grandest Imperial Baroque complex ever built. The fact that it was never completed does not lessen its significance as the epitomy of Counter Reformation Imperial pretension. Abbot Bessel had connections with the Schonborn family and hence Hildebrandt became the chosen architect. The Schonborns saw it as their very own project. Hildebrandt was a big expert on fortifications and he used this in his design. The plan involved parts of the old monastery, with huge bastioned fortifications a large domed church in the centre and state rooms led off two grand staircases The accommodation was clearly vastly in excess of what was required by the Abbey. Apparently the design was to suggest a crown on the landscape In practice Hildebrandt's plans were just too expensive and we are left with a huge torso. The best remnant is the tremendous staircase with a ceiling by Paul Troger of the apotheosis of Emperor Charles VI. The Escorial of Philip II of Spain was an inspiration : Gottweig is like a palace with the church in the centre. Its like the fortrress of God. This was the high water mark of he Austrian Empire, The Turks had been repulsed. There would be a Kaiserstiege amd a Kaisersaal in such a building.The emphasis of the links between and Crown and church to provide a common enterprise of Godly rule.

Church facade CC BY-SA 2.5 Tschaensky

The Church facade has a classical feel. The interior has a 4 bay basilica with narrower higher chancel. The organ screen at the back of the nave is unusual but over large. The colour scheme of blue gold brown dates from the 19th century and is not to everyone's taste.

Today there are some 150,000 books and manuscripts in the Library and a significant collection of religious engravings and various antiquities. It still houses a Benedictine congregation of around 30 members.

Finally, go on a little tour with the video below. Easier than ascending by bike....

San Andrea al Quirinale, Rome

2023-11-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

I am ashamed to say that I missed out on this Church on 5 visits to Rome and only got in there last time in 2006. I cannot wait to return. I realise now its key importance in so much of what I have been posting about for years. I can now see where the Asam brothers came from.. ..

Yes we did return at Easter 2024 and it was a joy to take so many photos, which I share with you later in this post.

The entrance CC BY-SA 4.0 Architas

San Andrea al Quirinale was commissioned by Cardinal Camillo Pamphilj for novices of the Jesuit Order. It was built 1658-70. Space was limited and Bernini used an oval design with the longer axis parallel to the street. As you enter from the street the entrance is framed by two large Corinthian pilasters supporting a triangular pediment, and in front of these a semicircular portico raised on two Ionic columns surmounted by the Pamphilj coat-of-arms.

Upon entry attention is drawn straight upon the highaltar : St Andrew is being drawn up to Heaven. The architecture, the painting, the sculptures, the light, everything serves Bernini's aim - the effect is theatrical yet devotional also. The picture of the martyrdom of St Andrew behind the high altar by Giuglielmo Cortese receives strong light from an invisible dome. A life size stucco statue of the saint by Antonio Raggi hovers over the broken pediment in front of the high altar. He is looking up toward the gilt stucco heavenly host who are awaiting him at the top of the dome round the edge of the lantern. Further above the dove of the Holy Spirit sheds gilt rays.

St Andrew rises to Heaven CC BY-SA 4.0 Rickcarmickle

The attention has been drawn to the altar because in this oval design there are pilasters at the ends of the transverse axis : had there been chapels the onlooker would have not felt compelled to focus on the high altar. Colour is used with great subtlety and skill. Below we have the multi-coloured dark marble ; white .and gold in the heavenly sphere in the dome.

Floor plan (Creative Commons Afernand74)

(1) Main entrance, (2) Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier, (3) Chapel of the Passion, (4) Chapel Saint Stanislas Kostka, (5) Chapel of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, (6) Main altar , (7) Entrance to novitiate and access to the rooms of Saint Stanislas Kostka.s

Finally I strongly recommend the page cited below and the little video, which gives an excellent introduc.Cite this page as: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, "Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, Rome," in Smarthistory, July 19, 2015, accessed October 30, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/bernini-santandrea-al-quirinale/.

My photos from Easter 2024

Santa Efigenia, Ouro Preto

2023-10-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

This church was built 1734- 1785 for the Confraternity of the Rosary. This served local black persons, free or slave. Originally they had met at the Igreja Matrtiz de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Antonio Dias. AS the town grew they decided to build their own church and this became Santa Efigenia. A freed slave Chico Rei and his comrades built it with gold extracted from the Encardideira mine. Legend says that some slaves hid the gold in their hair and washed it out in the church and used it for church purposes.

The plan of the church is a rectangle with no aisles along the nave. The facade differs from many in the town and has a semicircular cornice above the central window and there is a niche above the door containing the soapstone statue of Our Lady of the Rosary, by Aleijandindo. Manuel Francisco Lisbao, Aleijadinho's father supplied the wood for the construction and supervised carvings in the church by Francisco Xavier de Brito. The carving shows signs of black African practice especiall on the main altar with imagets of shells, snails, and horns. The ceiling is painted and images include the Four Doctors of the Church and a black Pope. The

The church was closed in 2008 for 6 years for major restoration.