St. Gall And Cistercian Abbey

Question 1 The Benedictine abbey of St. Gall and the Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay both bear designs that reflect the monastic lifestyle which was defined by the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict. The monastic design of the abbeys is characterized by main features such as a church, dormitories meant for sleep, a caldarium, a cloister and a chapterhouse. The Rule of Saint Benedict called for monks to maintain a life of obedience, chastity and poverty. Furthermore, it also stated that monks should equally divide their day between manual labor, study and prayer. As such, the abbeys built conformed to the practices and lifestyle of the monks. The monastic design had the main characteristic of self sufficiency. The conformation of the monastic design …show more content…
It also included scientific investigations and the growth of vernaculars. The spirit of renaissance was embodied by humanism. It involved the devoted and sympathetic study of mankind, thereby contrasting the theological devotion which was an aspect of the Dark Ages. In architecture, renaissance began to take effect in Florence, Italy during the 15th century. The shared attitudes at that particular time was that renaissance embodied a deep respect for local tradition and continuities; the notion that architecture was everyone’s concern, a source of pride and a public event; and the agreement that architectural design was a conceptual design at first as opposed to being totally based on the techniques of production. As renaissance architects broke away from medieval ideas, they worked on redefining certain aspects of the old culture so as to make them fit the humanist view. For instance, instead of using the complex geometric transformations employed by medieval masons, they resorted to simpler forms like the circle and …show more content…
Even though the knowledge had been lost, they had examples in structure from the Roman Empire which still existed and so they learned from those. The movement which actually means Roman-like, led to fine architectural structures such as the church of S. Miniato al Monte in Florence (1062-90). Its structure shows a strong relationship with the classical features of early Roman architecture. It features a single pair of isles which flank the transeptless nave which leads up to a simple semi-circular apse. It has diaphragm arches grouping the alternating bays, with wooden trusses acting as support for the roof. It also has a façade which is particularly interesting. It includes arches, Corinthian half-columns and pilasters as well as a gable which defines the roof of the nave. The façade is also decorated by marble