“Types of Representation and Use” — Renate Wagner-Rieger and the Architecture of the Mendicant Order

Renate Wagner-Rieger had a keen eye for architectural typology, which in the case of the churches of the mendicant orders made her sensitive to the adoption of Cistercian models and simple building types of older and smaller religious communities. She also recognised the Franciscan three-chapel hall in rudimentary form, although without grasping its innovative significance, and she made an interesting distinction between representational and functional types in the mendicant orders, although it remains open whether this is due more to the 19th century’s understanding of style than to medieval perceptions.