Begun in 1716 by Philipp Blank, the abbey (and parish) church of Wel\u00adtenburg was rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly revised from 1720 on by Cos\u00admas Dami\u00adan Asam. Its white, cut-stone fa\u00e7ade, off\u00adset against the old-rose plas\u00adtered walls of the monas\u00adtic build\u00adings, is rem\u00adi\u00adnis\u00adcent in its Pal\u00adla\u00addi\u00adan pro\u00adpor\u00adtions and Roman mon\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty of a tri\u00adumphal arch\u00adway \u2013 an impres\u00adsion con\u00adveyed pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly by the triple round-arched win\u00addows \u2013 or, with its clas\u00adsi\u00adcal ped\u00adi\u00adment, of an ancient tem\u00adple. The rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly flat fa\u00e7ade was exe\u00adcut\u00aded by local stone\u00adma\u00adsons. Its cen\u00adtral axis dis\u00adplays a dynam\u00adic move\u00adment which seems to soar towards heav\u00aden. This impres\u00adsion is cre\u00adat\u00aded by the sequence of a del\u00adi\u00adcate\u00adly arched door\u00adway, the large, round-arched cen\u00adtral win\u00addow pierc\u00ading the cor\u00adnice (with its hint of a bene\u00addic\u00adtion bal\u00adcony), the clock, and the tri\u00adan\u00adgu\u00adlar ped\u00adi\u00adment capped by a lead-encased stone cloud bear\u00ading a stat\u00adue of St. Bene\u00addict by Franz Anton Neu (d. 1758). The impact of this sym\u00adbol\u00adic design can only be grasped from the Danube Gate, a van\u00adtage point from which the fa\u00e7ade of the church is bal\u00adanced by the con\u00adcave retain\u00ading wall of the abbey court\u00adyard, with the Guardian Angel group adorn\u00ading its balustrade, and by the great drum of the Baroque dome soar\u00ading seem\u00ading\u00adly weight\u00adless above it. Only then does it become evi\u00addent that the church front is an image of the Por\u00adta coeli through which St. Bene\u00addict ascend\u00aded from tem\u00adpo\u00adral exis\u00adtence (rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded by the clock) into the eter\u00adni\u00adty of Heav\u00aden\u00adly Jerusalem rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded by the drum of the dome with its 12 sun-spoked win\u00addows). Ges\u00adtur\u00ading vig\u00ador\u00adous\u00adly towards this celes\u00adtial image, the order\u2019s founder and patron is trans\u00adformed into a medi\u00ada\u00adtor and teacher admon\u00adish\u00ading his wards, whose earth\u00adly sojourn is placed under the pro\u00adtec\u00adtion of the stat\u00adue of the guardian angel. These two stat\u00adues also indi\u00adcate the monas\u00adtic lin\u00adeage of the Wel\u00adtenburg com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty (St. Bene\u00addict), and con\u00adfirm the community\u2019s affil\u00adi\u00ada\u00adtion (since 1686) to the Bavar\u00adi\u00adan Bene\u00addic\u00adtine Con\u00adgre\u00adga\u00adtion (the guardian angel).<\/p>\n
While the drum of the dome may already sug\u00adgest a cen\u00adtred archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal struc\u00adture, the exte\u00adri\u00ador of the church hard\u00adly pre\u00adpares the vis\u00adi\u00adtor for the aston\u00adish\u00ading wealth of forms and the opu\u00adlence of the Baroque embell\u00adish\u00adments of the inte\u00adri\u00ador. This over\u00adwhelm\u00ading impres\u00adsion is the basis for the fame both of Wel\u00adtenburg and the Asam broth\u00aders who cre\u00adat\u00aded it. The elder Asam mould\u00aded the space formed by the rec\u00adtan\u00adgle of Philipp Blank\u2019s walls into a large domed ellipse \u2013 the first of its kind in Bavar\u00adi\u00adan church archi\u00adtec\u00adture. At the ends of its long axis, he added two small\u00ader, sim\u00adi\u00adlar\u00adly round\u00aded spaces: to the west lies the vestibule, with the monas\u00adtic choir above it, and to the east we find the sanc\u00adtu\u00adary with its attached round\u00aded apse. The cen\u00adtral ellipse of the church gains its full archi\u00adtec\u00adton\u00adic dom\u00adi\u00adnance from the broad inward sweep of the entab\u00adla\u00adture, which ris\u00ades above a mas\u00adsive bro\u00adken cor\u00adnice to cul\u00admi\u00adnate in the small\u00ader dome cut into its cen\u00adtre. The whole is set on a cru\u00adci\u00adform axis marked by four equal\u00adly lofty semi\u00adel\u00adlip\u00adti\u00adcal arch\u00ades, accen\u00adtu\u00adat\u00aded by sym\u00admet\u00adri\u00adcal\u00adly paired mar\u00adble columns, which open onto the sanc\u00adtu\u00adary and vestibule at either end, and onto a wide cen\u00adtral bay on each side of the main ellipse. With\u00adin that ellipse, the four diag\u00ado\u00adnal\u00adly placed nich\u00ades con\u00adtain\u00ading the side altars remain spa\u00adtial\u00adly sub\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnate, rhyth\u00admi\u00adcal\u00adly punc\u00adtu\u00adat\u00ading the larg\u00ader open\u00adings and keep\u00ading well below the sur\u00adround\u00ading cor\u00adnice rather than break\u00ading through it. Although pre\u00adfig\u00adured else\u00adwhere in the work of sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant ear\u00adli\u00ader archi\u00adtects, the com\u00adpound dome at Wel\u00adtenburg remains, in its inti\u00admate union of archi\u00adtec\u00adture, paint\u00ading and (stuc\u00adco) sculp\u00adture, a unique artis\u00adtic syn\u00adthe\u00adsis. At its apex, the out\u00ader dome seems to open out to the sky (as it does in real\u00adi\u00adty in the Pan\u00adtheon in Rome), and heav\u00aden itself seems tan\u00adgi\u00adble, not only in the paint\u00ading adorn\u00ading the flat wood\u00aden clo\u00adsure of the out\u00ader dome, but also in the light effect from the win\u00addows of the drum, which are con\u00adcealed by the exu\u00adber\u00adant fres\u00adcoes of the inner dome. A sim\u00adi\u00adlar the\u00adatri\u00adcal effect recurs at the east\u00adern end of the church, where a light-filled apse hid\u00adden behind the tri\u00adumphal arch of the high altar rere\u00addos pro\u00advides dra\u00admat\u00adic backlighting.<\/p>\n
In order to height\u00aden this effect, the light in the main body of the church is inten\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly sub\u00addued; its only direct source are being the win\u00addows above the cor\u00adnice in the side bays, both of which are dimmed by the prox\u00adim\u00adi\u00adty (to the south) of the steep face of the Frauen\u00adberg and (to the north) of the monas\u00adtic build\u00ading around the quad\u00adran\u00adgle. In its mon\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty, for\u00admal idiom, and dom\u00adi\u00adnant colour-scheme of gold, brown, and grey \u2013 appar\u00adent not only in the stuc\u00adco reliefs, but also in the columns and pilasters of Wel\u00adtenburg mar\u00adble \u2013 this rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly small (19.5 m x 14.5 m) Baroque nave can claim to be the most Roman of the Asams\u2019 sacred structures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Begun in 1716 by Philipp Blank, the abbey (and parish) church of Wel\u00adtenburg was rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly revised from 1720 on by Cos\u00admas Dami\u00adan Asam. Its white, cut-stone fa\u00e7ade, off\u00adset against the old-rose plas\u00adtered walls of the monas\u00adtic build\u00adings, is rem\u00adi\u00adnis\u00adcent in its Pal\u00adla\u00addi\u00adan pro\u00adpor\u00adtions and Roman mon\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty of a tri\u00adumphal arch\u00adway \u2013 an impres\u00adsion con\u00adveyed primarily \u2026 <\/p>\n