Space Into Light: The Churches of Balthasar Neumann (Architectural History Foundation Book)

Christian F. Otto

ISBN 10: 0262150190 / ISBN 13: 9780262150194

Published by The MIT Press, 1980

About this Item

Second printing. Volume, measuring approximately 8.5" x 10.5", is bound in light brown cloth, with dark brown lettering stamped on spine. Book and dust jacket are new. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover. 294 pages. "Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753) was, according to Kenneth Clark, "the greatest architect of the 18th century." The son of a Bohemian weaver, he trained as a metal founder, a military officer, and an architect. The Schönborn dynasty of political and church leaders -- the most active European patrons of art since the Medici -- supported him as their family architect, and for them he produced some of the "most ingenious pieces of architectural design ever conceived" (Nikolaus Pevsner). Churches like his Vierzehnheiligen and Neresheim are high points in the tradition of space-intense architecture, launched during the early 17th century in Italy and France. "Space into Light" is the first ample history and analysis of Neumann's church architecture to be published in English. Based on exacting research, it abandons scholarly abstraction to recreate the living situation of 18th-century design and construction practice. Neumann was one of Europe's most prolific architects; among his many building types churches provide the most dramatic examples of his transparent, light-saturated space. In them, walls are carved away and the necessary structural parts reduced to elegant frames. Space is transformed by light spilling through huge windows onto areas of brilliant color and exuberant sculpture. In the words of the author, "These interiors seem suspended above the earth, not supported by it. The church building appears to be a miraculous and splendid event.".

Seller Inventory # ABE-1679632570673

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Space Into Light: The Churches of Balthasar Neumann (Architectural History Foundation Book)
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262150190
• ISBN 13: 9780262150194
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753) has been called by Kenneth Clark "the greatest architect of the eighteenth century." Described as being at the same time "sensuous and complex, frivolous and devout, ceremonious and playful," Neumann's work provided a high point in the tradition of intensely spatial architecture begun early in the seventeenth century in Italy and France.Neumann was one of Europe's most prolific architects, and among his many building types, churches provide the most dramatic examples of his use of transparent, light-saturated space. Kenneth Clark has described these churches of Bavaria as "the discovery of a new truth, that the faithful may be persuaded by joy rather than fear.""Space into Light" is the first ample analysis of Neumann's church architecture to be published in English. It abandons scholarly abstraction to recreate the living situation of eighteenth-century design and construction strategies. Of particular value to students of the Baroque and Roccoco and to readers interested in the aesthetic and symbolic import of the built environment are the book's 130 illustrations, which include 8 pages in full color. The illustrations portray models and plans, sections and elevations, interior details, facades, and full and partial views--from Neumann's first parish churches to his masterpieces at Vierzehnheiligen and Neresheim.Christian F. Otto, editor of "The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, " explains the extraordinary times in which Neumann worked and presents important new information on the special relationship of the patron and architect. He points out that in an era when palatial commissions were often capriciously dictated by wealthy patrons, Neumann was able to create freely within the conventions of religious buildings. During this remarkable period he observes that one theologian stated, "I know that God cannot live at all without me; if I am destroyed, it will be necessary for Him to die." Neumann's work embodies just such emotional individualism, resulting in the most resplendent of all religious architecture, as popular today as it was in its own time."Space into Light" is the second volume in The Architectural History Foundation/MIT Press Series.