 |
| Beuronese style sketch |
 |
| Mural by Nicholas Markell for St. John Vianney College Seminary |
In the United States, the church of St. Anselm in the Bronx, New York, stands out as an exceptional example of this style, built in 1918 and famously inspired by the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Turkey.
In addition, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at Conception Abbey in Missouri (see below image), was also decorated in this same style. It was completed in the 1891 with Beuronese murals that were installed between 1893-1897.
The monastery sells Christmas cards that depict a sampling of their Beuronese art: here, here, here, here, and here).
 |
| Interior of Basilica of Immaculate Conception in Beuronese style |
The works of Nicholas Markell have made a genuine contribution to the development and study of Beuronese art and they have been well received with overwhelming acclaim. It is no exaggeration to say they stand as a testimony of the gradual and welcome revival of the stylized footprint of the Beruonese tradition of visual art. Nicholas describes the style thus:
"The form is more naturalistic in appearance than traditional Byzantine iconography, but more formal, symbolic and sublime than much of the overly sentimental art being created for churches at the time. It was developed in order to communicate both the human and divine dimensions of faith. It has been called liminal art, for it is meant to bridge to space between the created world and spiritual realms." (Vianney News, Winter 2023)
Nicholas helped beautify the new chapel and entrance foyer of St. John Vianney College seminary on the campus of his alma mater, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. No doubt, this new chapel with its powerful aesthetic will continue to play a key role to help reinvigorate the Faith of this venerable Catholic institution. The fresh new murals were completed and installed in 2023.
 |
| Beuronese style sketch |
Unfortunately, this style suffered a steady decline that terminated in extinction in the years following World War II when the modernist style came into vogue. It is ironic the epicenter of the Beuronese revival is happening in Minnesota by a local artist, on the banks of the St. Croix (Holy Cross River).
For many years people came to Minnesota to see the Beuronese style that illuminated the interior of the chapel of German-founded St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota (see below two images). This was home of the Liturgical Movement in North America where visitors came and marveled at the sunlit streamed Beuronese inspired murals with their totally unique aesthetic and geometry that revealed the primordial dimensions of heavenly figures on a background of nature amid palm trees, all with determined proportions.
 |
| Beuronese style decoration at chapel of St. John's Abbey |
 |
| Beuronese style decoration at chapel of St. John's Abbey |
The chapel of St. John's had been painted by a proponent of this style, a monk who was a master artist by the name of Brother Clement Frischauf (1869-1944). He arrived in at the Abbey in 1931 and began painting and taught art until his passing some thirteen years later. His mentor had been one of the founders of the movement, Fr. Desiderius Lenz, OSB (1832-1928), who had worked with the other founder, Br. Gabriel Wuger, OSB (1829-1892).
Brother Frischauf had been trained and influenced by the founders of this school who taught him to adapt his design to the geometric principles they perceived in Egyptian art, following the immense popularity of the Egyptian style that came with the conquest of Egypt by Napoleon. The result was the creation of a universal, timeless art that especially complimented Western monastic liturgy.
Beuronese art was seen as being integral Benedictine and liturgically inspired art. For this reason it was used to decorate the tomb of St. Benedict in Montecassino, Italy. It rejected the dominant tendency of the period toward naturalism. It was highly influenced by the German Nazarene school of the time, aiming to revive spirituality in art and avoid the superficial virtuosity of previous generations.
This new style from the German monks reverted to a more primitive paleo-Christian, early Greek style, influenced subtly by the nineteenth century fascination with an interpretation of Egyptian art. Thus was born the magnificent Beuronese style, a distinct monastic art that was intended to be ordered and serene, hieratic in conception and style.
 |
| Mural by Nicholas Markell for St. John Vianney College Seminary |
Let us be inspired by this beautiful art. The murals created by Nicholas help to make the invisible visible, affirming Pope John Paul II's admonition in his 1994 Letter to Artists:
"...the Church needs art. Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God. It must therefore translate into meaningful terms that which is in itself ineffable."
Although Beuronese art is German and Benedictine in its roots, it has universal appeal. Even thought it was a school of art founded in the Benedictine Archabbey of Beuron, it has gone on to influence Benedictine monk artists and other artists as well who followed their canon and have continued to contribute to this school of art across the world.
In 1913, this beautiful style gained the attention of Pope St. Pius X when he commended the work in his Apostolic Letter Archicoenobium Casinense, on the occasion of the dedication of the crypt chapel at the Abbey of Montecassino at the tomb of St. Benedict, painted in the style of the Beuron Art School.
The Pope likened the artistic efforts of the Benedictine monks of Beuron to the revival of Gregorian Chant that was being spearheaded by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes in France when he wrote, "...together with sacred music, it [the Beuronese art] proves itself to be a powerful aid to the liturgy."
 |
| Mural by Nicholas Markell for St. John Vianney College Seminary |
