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St. Bernard on Church Aesthetics by Lea Štambuk is a document available to read on EtoBox.

What is St. Bernard on Church Aesthetics about?

St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a letter criticizing excessive decoration and ornamentation in churches. He argues it distracts from spiritual devotion and questions why monasteries spend money on "ridiculous monsters" and "marvellous deformities" when resources could help the poor. Abbot Suger of St.-Denis defended embellishing churches, seeing beauty as glorifying God. This debate reflected tensions between austerity and embellishment in the medieval church.

Author

Lea Štambuk

Language

EN