The Romanesque Revival
Religion, Politics, and Transnational Exchange
400 pages | 8 color/180 b&w illustrations | 9 x 10 | 2003
ISBN 978-0-271-02215-4 | cloth: $97.95 sh
Paperback edition is not available in the U.S.
Buildings, Landscapes, and Societies Series
Not for sale in the U.K., Europe, and South Africa
Winner of the Henry-Russell Hitchcock Book Award for 2005 presented by The Victorian Society in America for the book which the Society considers to have made the most significant contribution to nineteenth century studies in the prior year.
"Oddly enough, this exemplary study is the first comprehensive work on the Romanesque Revival in architecture and mural painting that originated in the early 19th century in Germany, where it was known as the Rundbogenstil or round arch style." —Choice
"Kathleen Curran’s book is a fine achievement. It contains original material on almost every page and Curran reinterprets some of the well-known themes in fresh terms. The text reads like the fruit of a liftime’s scholarly experience, yet is clear and thoroughly engrossing. The Romanesque Revival is well-documented, beautifully illustrated, and contains with a wide range of previously unpublished plans, drawings and photographs." —The Art Book
“Curran’s hypotheses invite a host of further investigations. What is more important, she has raised the bar substantially for the range of cultural, political, and religious factors that must be weighed to explain the complex issues of meaning in the use of historical style in nineteenth-century architecture. Her book should be considered an obligatory sequel to Michael Lewis’s brilliant The Politics of German Gothic Revival, which shares some of the same protagonists?” —Barry Bergdoll, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historicans
"Focused on the important German-generated Rundbogenstil (round-arch style), or Romanesque Revival, in its various forms as practiced in Germany, England, and the United States from about 1825 to 1875, Kathleen Curran's study is admirably thorough in its coverage. It sets the Rundbogenstil in context, addressing the relevant German, English, and American historical, political, and religious factors and movements. Other remarkable aspects include the author's expert consideration of mural painting and painted interior decoration in relation to Rundbogenstil architecture. The first comprehensive study of the Romanesque Revival, this extraordinary book will fill a gaping void that has long hampered American architecture scholarship." —Sarah Bradford Landau, New York University
During the nineteenth century, as the rapid growth of industry transformed life in both America and Europe, many new churches and public buildings were designed in an imposing style based upon medieval and early Christian models. Kathleen Curran's book traces the origins of this phenomenon, known either as the Rundbogenstil or Romanesque Revival, in Rome, Karlsruhe, and the Munich of Ludwig I and charts its spread from Germany to London and the United States, where it shaped the design of such landmarks as Trinity Church in Boston and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Drawing on extensive archival research and wide reading in the theological and political literature of the period, Curran sets Romanesque Revival architecture in the context of debates on the roles church and state should and could play in modern society. Her book also breaks new ground by bringing to the fore the figures—diplomats, theologians, educational reformers, clergymen, and rulers—who supported Romanesque Revival architecture in large part because of the style's many associations with the staunch faith and communal solidarity of the early Christian era.
The Romanesque Revival is both comprehensive in scope and richly detailed. Even as it tracks the transnational movement of people and ideas, it situates key buildings in new patterns of urban development and explores their ideological implications and aesthetic refinements. The numerous illustrations include drawings and nineteenth-century photographs that have never before been reproduced.
Kathleen Curran is Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Trinity College.