Beuronese influenced the visual culture of São Paulo city in the first half of the 20th century.

• Grant number: 21/12611-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Migliaccio
• Grantee: Klency Kakazu de Brito Yang
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 1895, Benedictine monks from the Congregation of Beuron in Germany arrived in Olinda and aimed to restore the local religious community. Beuron members were well-known for their sacred art's renovation through the visual art by music and plastic arts. The religious spaces' decoration carried out by the monks-artists from Beuron promoted the interest of modernist groups such as the Nabis in France and the Secession of Vienna in Austria. In 1907, Miguel Kruse became São Benedict Monastery's abbot in São Paulo city. After that, he reconstructed the complex in neo-Romanesque, and inside with Beuron Art School style decoration. This decorative model became a reference inside and outside the churches of São Paulo alongside French and Italian Art Nouveau. This research project aims to contribute to the knowledge of this significant aspect of artistic visual culture in the first decades of the 20th century in São Paulo, which is still little considered by Brazilian art historiography and architecture, despite its relevance inside and outside liturgical spaces.