Baroque Splendor:
The Art and Architecture of Re-Catholicization in Bohemia and Franconia

Applications are invited for participation in the Summer School, Baroque Splendor: The Art and Architecture of Re-Catholicization in Bohemia and Franconia, September 2-7, 2019, to take place at nine key art historical monuments across Bohemia and Bavaria.

The revival of Catholicism in Central Europe employed a remarkably rich and complex artistic and architectural language in order to convey the power and majesty of the Catholic church and emphasize its role as the single rout to salvation. Many of the most splendid and important examples of this outpouring of spiritual fervor occur in the massive, richly decorated rural monasteries and pilgrimage churches, as well as the elaborate palaces of the region’s powerful prince-bishops (Fürstbischof). These key sites for the history of art are the subject of a Summer School collaboration between the Institut für Kunstgeschichte at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) in Erlangen-Nürnberg, represented by Dr. Sarah W. Lynch, and the Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences (IAH CAS), represented by Dr. Martin Mádl. The program is conducted with the support of the Bayerisch-Tschechische Hochschulagentur.

Both Bohemia and Franconia had been deeply influenced by the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century religious orders and bishops redoubled their efforts to re-catholicize these regions, using art and architecture as a primary tool to persuade the population to return to the church of Rome. The artists in this region were inspired by examples of architecture, painting, sculpture, and stucco work from Italy, France, and Austria, and they include some of the most prominent figures in the Central European Baroque and early Rococo: the architects Johann Blasius Santini-Aichel, Balthasar Neumann, and Kilian Ignaz, Leonhard, and Johann Dientzenhofer; the painters Johann Jacob Stevens von Steinfels, Johann Christoph Lischka, Jacob Anton Pink, Franz Anton Müller, Melchior Steidl, Johann Rudolf Byss, Johann Michael Rottmayer, Giuseppe Appiani, Cosmas Damian Asam, Franz Julius Lux; and the sculptors Mathias Bernhard Braun, Egid Quirin Asam.

The program offers MA and PhD students a unique opportunity to visit and study some of the most important monuments of the Central European Baroque:

Bohemian sites:

The Cistercian monastery of Plasy (Plass)
The pilgrimage church of Mariánská Týnice (Maria Teinitz)
The Benedictine monastery at Kladruby (Kladrau)
The church of St. Clara, Cheb

Bavarian/Franconian sites:

The Waldsassen monastery in Oberpfalz
The pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen
The monastery at Banz
The Neue Residenz in Bamberg
Schloss Weissenstein in Pommersfelden
A tour of Baroque architecture in Erlangen

Organization:

Dates: 2.9.2019 – 7.9.2019

Costs: Accommodation and transportation are provided free of cost during the program. Some reimbursements for travel to and from the start and endpoints of the program are available. Participants are responsible only for their meals and entrance tickets.

Each student will make one short presentation related to one of the sites we visit. As the summer school is a joint program of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the University of Erlangen, the primary language will be English, but naturally, perfect language skills are not expected. Participants are encouraged to do their best and explanations can also be given in German or Czech where necessary.

Due to the regulations of our funding source, the Summer School is only open to students from Czech and Bavarian universities.

Application:

To apply, please send a statement of interest in the Summer School (in English, German, or Czech) and a CV to Sarah W. Lynch (sarah.lynchfau.de) and Martin Mádl (madludu.cas.cz) no later than July 31.