Die Capella Speciosa in Klosterneuburg

The Capella Speciosa has to be seen as an exportation of the type of Gothic architecture that characterised the architecture of the royal court in France at the time. As the work of French architects, the chapel occupies a unique position within the medieval architecture of Austria. The close similarities to the choir chapels of the cathedral at Reims and the details found in the cathedral at Auxerre enable a precise dating. If we trace the development of chapels in France, we see that there was a distinct intensification of architectural narratives at that time. The veneration of relics in private devotion went from being a mere testament to scholasticism to being a mystical experience. The Capella Speciosa thus has to be understood in the same way as the French Saintes-Chapelles. Its refined structures, like the walkway in which relics were displayed, the exquisite nature of the building materials and the quality of the architectural sculptures combined to facilitate a more spiritual form of veneration within an all-encompassing work of art. For Duke Leopold VI, the Capella Speciosa was not only a magnificent shrine in which to house his collection of relics but was also a place in which he experienced a mystical beatific vision. In the second part of this book, French works of architecture built near the royal court in Hungary are presented, in which High Gothic forms can be discerned from as early as around 1220. Is there a connection between these central European works of architecture? What historical circumstances led to them being built? What do we know about the people who commissioned the buildings and the master builders? What do the connections between the structural elements and the details reveal? And what does the mysterious figure of Villard de Honnecort and his momentous journey to Hungary have to do with all of this? Tibor Rostás explores the subject in nine chapters, taking a variety of approaches. The appendix to the book contains a summary of the results of research into red marble.