Rudolph, Conrad, 1951-

Artistic change at St-Denis : Abbot Suger's program and the early twelfth-century controversy over art / Conrad Rudolph.

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©1990.

x, 119 pages 14 pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Princeton essays on the arts

Regarded as the first work of Gothic art, St-Denis experienced an outburst of artistic creativity under the direction of Abbot Suger (1122- 1151). Although scholars have traditionally seen the monastery as an embodiment of Pseudo-Dionysian light mysticism and the anagogical function of art, they have never resolved the contradiction between Suger's recognized lack of innovation and systematic arrangement in his writings and the highly original, organized character of his art program. Here Conrad Rudolph reanalyzes the evidence of Pseudo-Dionysian influence and Suger's direct role in the program by focusing on the increasing social pressures of artistic asceticism--which claimed that art was a distraction to the monk and was only to be used for instruction of the spiritually illiterate. Rudolph shows that Suger's attempt at a middle ground reform in which art was justified as a spiritual aid to the litteratus or choir monk explains the obscurity, theological complexity, and use of allegory found throughout the program, especially in the famous windows of the east end. With the help of Hugh of St-Victor, an outside adviser, Suger based his defense of monastic art on Augustinian exegetical thought and ultimately fell back upon art's traditional meditative, not anagogical, function. Examining Suger's writings, Rudolph argues that it was not Pseudo-Dionysian but rather Augustinian influence that led to the creation of Gothic architecture.

0691040680 (alk. paper)
9780691040684 (alk. paper)

Suger, Abbot of Saint Denis, 1081-1151.
Sugerus Sancti Dionysii 1081-1151
Suger, (1081?-1151)
Suger (von Saint-Denis)
Église abbatiale de Saint-Denis (Saint-Denis, France)
Eglise abbatiale de Saint-Denis (Saint-Denis, France).
Abbaye de Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis)
Art, Gothic France Saint-Denis.
Art, French France Saint-Denis.
Church decoration and ornament France Saint-Denis History To 1500.
Art gothique France Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis)
Art français France Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis)
Art, French.
Art, Gothic.
Buildings.
Church decoration and ornament.
Architektur
Architekturtheorie
Entstehung
Gotik
Kirchenbau
Kunst
Theologie
Bouwkunst.
Art, French Saint-Denis.
Church decoration and ornament France Saint-Denis.
Églises Décoration France Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis)
Architecture religieuse France Saint-Denis (Seine Saint-Denis)
Église Décoration France Saint-Denis.
Saint-Denis (France) Buildings, structures, etc.
France Saint-Denis.
Klosterkirche Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis (France) Churches.
Saint-Denis (Seine Saint-Denis) basilique.
Saint-Denis Klosterkirche.
Churches Gothic style
France
Stained Glass.
Glass Painters.

History.

Princeton essays on the arts.

Location: Library main 52834
Call No.: ID:90-B1647
Status: Available