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Cistercian architecture is a style of architecture associated with the churches, monasteries and abbeys of the Roman Catholic Cistercian Order. It was headed by Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), who believed that churches should avoid superfluous ornamentation so as not to distract from the religious life. Cistercian architecture was simple and utilitarian, and though images of religious subjects were allowed in very limited instances (such as the crucifix), many of the more elaborate figures that commonly adorned medieval churches were not; their capacity for distracting monks was criticised in a famous letter by Bernard.〔(Bernard's letter )〕 Early Cistercian architecture shows a transition between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Later abbeys were also constructed in Renaissance and Baroque styles, though by then simplicity is rather less evident. In terms of construction, buildings were made where possible of smooth, pale, stone. Columns, pillars and windows fell at the same base level, and if plastering was done at all, it was kept extremely simple. The sanctuary kept a simple style of proportion of 1:2 at both elevation and floor levels. To maintain the appearance of ecclesiastical buildings, Cistercian sites were constructed in a pure, rational style; and may be counted among the most beautiful relics of the Middle Ages. Most Cistercian abbeys and churches were built in remote valleys far from cities and populated areas, and this isolation and need for self-sustainability bred an innovativeness among the Cistercians. Many Cistercian establishments display early examples of hydraulic engineering and waterwheels. After stone, the two most important building materials were wood and metal. The Cistercians were careful in the management and conservation of their forests; they were also skilled metallurgists, and their skill with metal has been associated directly with the development of Cistercian architecture, and the spread of Gothic architecture as a whole. ==Theological principles== In the mid-12th century, one of the leading churchmen of his day, the Benedictine Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis, united elements of Norman architecture with elements of Burgundian architecture (rib vaults and pointed arches respectively), creating the new style of Gothic architecture.〔Toman, p 8-9〕 This new "architecture of light" was intended to raise the observer "from the material to the immaterial"〔Toman, p 9〕 — it was, according to the 20th century French historian Georges Duby, a "monument of applied theology".〔Toman, p 14〕 St Bernard saw much of church decoration as a distraction from piety,〔Toman, p 10〕 and in one of his letters he condemned the more vigorous forms of early 12th century decoration:〔Harpham, p 39"〕 These sentiments were repeated frequently throughout the Middle Ages,〔 and the builders of the Cistercian monasteries had to adopt a style that observed the numerous rules inspired by Bernard's austere aesthetics.〔 However, the order itself was receptive to the technical improvements of Gothic principles of construction and played an important role in its spread across Europe.〔 This new Cistercian architecture embodied the ideals of the order, and was in theory at least utilitarian and without superfluous ornament.〔Lalor, p 1〕 The same "rational, integrated scheme" was used across Europe to meet the largely homogeneous needs of the order.〔 Various buildings, including the chapter-house to the east and the dormitories above, were grouped around a cloister, and were sometimes linked to the transept of the church itself by a night stair.〔 Usually Cistercian churches were cruciform, with a short presbytery to meet the liturgical needs of the brethren, small chapels in the transepts for private prayer, and an aisled nave that was divided roughly in the middle by a screen to separate the monks from the lay brothers.〔Lalor, p 1, 38〕 The mother house of the order, Cîteaux Abbey, had in fact developed the most advanced style of painting, at least in illuminated manuscripts, during the first decades of the 12th century, playing an important part in the development of the image of the Tree of Jesse. However, as Bernard of Clairvaux, strongly hostile to imagery, increased in influence in the order, painting ceased, and was finally banned altogether in the order, probably from the revised rules approved in 1154. Crucifixes were allowed, and later some painting and decoration crept back in.〔Dodwell, 211-214〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cistercian architecture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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