Albert Lenoir - Architecture monastique - 1852-1856

Monastic Architecture, by Albert Lenoir

Completed in three parts, collected in two volumes.

"Monastic Architecture" is a reference work by Albert Lenoir (1801–1891), a French architect and historian of architecture, son of the renowned Alexandre Lenoir, founder of the Museum of French Monuments. This monumental study is devoted to the architecture of monasteries and convents in France and Europe. Albert Lenoir rigorously analyzes the evolution of monastic buildings from the early centuries of Christianity to the end of the Middle Ages, passing through the great Romanesque and Gothic periods. A learned and well-documented text, accompanied by numerous illustrations — plans, engravings, architectural surveys and drawings — which make this work an exceptional visual document. The author reviews the major religious orders — Benedictines, Cistercians, Carthusians, Dominicans — and the architectural features specific to each.

A true monument in the history of French religious architecture, this work was published during the height of the Neo-Gothic movement and in the wake of Viollet-le-Duc’s works; it stands at a pivotal moment in the rediscovery of French architectural heritage.

1852-1856, 405 + 562 pages, 24 x 30 cm. The front cover of the first volume is missing and there is a loss in the upper right corner of the back cover. A stain on the first ten pages. The binding of the second volume is rubbed and stained, with the lower right corner of the first cover bent, and abrasions. Brown spots. The paper of the second volume has aged.