Cistercian Europe : architecture of contemplation /

Following an expanding practice in architectural history, in Cistercian Europe Kinder examines the lived experience of medieval architecture: it is a refreshing, scholarly study of the relationship between material form and the spiritual journey. By exploiting a wide array of primary sources, she is principally interested in discussing how monks used these buildings and how they shaped spiritual practices and beliefs. Depending on the remarkable regularity of plan and form among Cistercian monasteries, Kinder has organized her narrative according to the various components of the plan, allowing her to draw on the best of the always-incomplete remnants and to include a wide array of examples. But she complicates her discussion by weaving in the reality of change over time and across space. Her discussion is thorough and scholarly, yet accessible and readable. Complementing the text is a rich collection of photographs and plans, although they are collected in batches of plates and not integrated with the text, limiting the extent to which she is able to utilize the images as evidence in her argument. Nonetheless, an essential resource on Cistercian architecture and life. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through faculty. L. P. Nelson University of Virginia