David M Robinson PhD FSA FRHistS

I Cisterciensi hanno avuto un ruolo chiave nella riforma del monachesimo europeo e nella storia della cultura occidentale. L’evoluzione artistica dal Romanico al Gotico in Europa non sarebbe stata possibile senza comprendere la "rivoluzione cisterciense" del XII secolo, il cui protagonista fu san Bernardo di Chiaravalle: dalla sobrietà estetica promossa da san Bernardo, critica rispetto ai suoi stessi eccessi di decorazione e ricchezza, è nata un’architettura elegante e dallo stile incomparabile. Sotto la direzione di Terryl N. Kinder e Roberto Cassanelli, il mondo cisterciense è scandagliato sia sul piano dell’apporto teologico, intellettuale e spirituale (una ripresa del monachesimo secondo le sue più profonde radici), sia su quello della cultura materiale: l’oreficeria, la miniatura, la musica, ma anche gli aspetti legati alla vita monastica quotidiana, che hanno visto nei monaci degli straordinari innovatori, quali l’agricoltura,la siderurgia, il governo delle acque, le Grange (stupende costruzioni per il lavoro contadino).L’Ordine si è propagato non solo in Europa, ma anche in Cina, nelle Americhe, in Australia e in Africa, e recentemente in Norvegia si è insediato in un sito del XII secolo. Ha dovuto adattarsi alle condizioni dettate dal tempo, creando soluzioni inimmaginabili alle origini, pur rimanendo fedele alla sua Regola. La presente opera, che vanta quaranta contributi di autori internazionali, contestualizza il fenomeno artistico dentro la storia del fenomeno cisterciense, dal XII secolo a oggi. Presentando un’ampia rassegna delle attività monastiche, attraverso una varietà di aspetti e punti di vista,il volume costituisce un punto di riferimento imprescindibile per gli studi del mondo cisterciense.

TERRYL N. KINDER è storica dell’architettura, specializzata nello studio della costruzione delle abbaziecisterciensi medievali, in particolare l’abbazia di Pontigny. È direttore editoriale della rivista Cîteaux- Comm. cist. e visiting professor di Storia dell’Arte presso il St. Michael’s College (Vermont, USA).
ROBERTO CASSANELLI è Conservatore dei Musei Civici e direttore del Museo e Tesoro del Duomo di Monza; insegna all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera e presso la Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Storico Artistici dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano.

Year of publication: Settembre 2015
Pages: 432
Series: Illustrati
Availability: Disponibile
ISBN (13 numbers): 978-88-16-60441-4

An abridged and updated version of this report is to appear as 'The Architecture of the Medieval Cistercian Church and Cloister' in the forthcoming book (2017):

Buckfast Abbey
History, Art and Architecture
Edited by Peter Beacham

As Buckfast Abbey prepares to celebrate its millennium in 2018, this new book chronicles the remarkable history of this famous English abbey, today both home to a self-sufficient community of Benedictine monks and a site that welcomes some half a million visitors to south Devon each year. The first monastery was founded in 1018 and absorbed into the Cistercian order in 1147, but was dissolved during the Reformation. The site fell into disrepair, and in the early 19th century a Gothic-style mansion was built on the abbey ruins. A group of exiled French Benedictine monks settled at Buckfast in 1882 and eventually decided to rebuild the medieval abbey church themselves: the first stone was laid in 1907 and consecration took place in 1932. In this elegant, authoritative book, essays by a dozen distinguished historians explore, among other subjects, the history of the abbey from its Saxon origins to the Dissolution; the architecture of the medieval church; the abbey site without the monks; the Benedictine revival; the rebuilding of the abbey under the architect Frederick Walters; the abbey’s silver and metalwork; the art and architecture of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, built in 1968; and the recent redevelopment of the precinct. Generously illustrated throughout with not only plans, drawings and photographs gathered from the vast Buckfast archive but also new images of the abbey church, the plethora of other buildings on site and the meticulously tended grounds, Buckfast Abbey is a fitting tribute to a unique monastery and community.

A beautiful book celebrating the history, art and architecture of Buckfast, the only English medieval monastery to have been restored and used again for its original purpose.
Includes contributions from 12 leading medieval, architectural and art historians, presenting a wealth of new research on the abbey.
Features specially commissioned photography, as well as a wide range of archival imagery.

http://www.merrellpublishers.com/?9781858946504

This book is a comprehensive study of the churches and monastic buildings constructed by the Cistercian order in Wales. It covers fourteen abbeys situated across the principality and its borders, recognised by the Cistercians of the later Middle Ages as their 'province of Wales'. Welsh Cistercians have been comparatively well served by their historians, their buildings, however, have attracted far less scholarly attention. David Robinson's work will correct this imbalance, and represents the first attempt in modern times to assess and understand the above and below ground remains of this highly significant group of abbeys. The first part of the book is a survey of the available evidence, both of upstanding remains and excavated foundations, for all the known Cistercian buildings in Wales. This forms the basis for an analysis of their architectural characteristics and the identification of several distinct phases of growth and change. The book concludes with a gazetteer of the fourteen Cistercian abbeys which are the subject of the study, consisting of a comprehensive account of the archaeology and architecture of each site. The whole work is accompanied by newly commissioned plans, drawings and photographs.

"The amount of information assembled, the quality of the discussion and the breadth of vision applied to the subject is truly impressive. Both the authors and the publishers are to be congratulated on a major contribution to our appreciation of the Cistercians in Wales'"
Peter Webster
Archaeologia Cambrensis (2007)

"Most impressive,...are the elegant reconstructions which engage the reader immediately and imaginatively with the authors narrative...; they form an impressive contribution to research in their own right.'"
Deirdre O'Sullivan
Medieval Archaeology (2007)

"A notable advance in a truly important aspect of the medieval inheritance. The volume will be greatly respected by its readers and cherished by those who possess it.'"
J. Beverley Smith
Studia Celtica (2008)

"David Robinson has provided us with an account of the architecture and archaeology of the Cistercian houses of medieval Wales which is magisterial in content, comprehensive in coverage and handsome in appearance."
Roger Lovatt
Journal of Ecclesiastical History (2007)