Hufgard, M. Kilian

About the author: M. Kilian Hufgard, an Ursuline sister, Professor Emerita of art history, aesthetics, and studio art, received her Masters and Doctorate degrees from Case Western Reserve University. She has taught at the Catholic University of America and the Ursuline College. She is the author of the well-reviewed Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: A Theory of Art Formed from His Writings (Mellen, 1990).

Bernard of Clairvaux’s Broad Impact on Medieval Culture

2001 0-7734-7691-1
Medieval art historians show varying degrees of interest in the aesthetics of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Some pronounce him ‘Philistine’ for his apparent lack of appreciation of art and beauty. Others see his monastic asceticism as a negative influence on 12th century culture. Some of these evaluations are made using the academic aesthetic notion that beauty is the objective of art. Others are made using certain controvertible modern theories, methods and criteria which are foreign to the medieval mind. This study examines Bernard’s wisdom regarding beauty and goodness: his idea that the goodness shining forth from a true being or creation that is perceived as beauty, as a thing of joy, as a true aesthetic response. This ‘true thing’ differs widely from a false thing, the intent of which is focused primarily on the glamorous, the spectacular, and/or self-interest, and which is poorly conceived and poorly made. The essays attempt to show the many occasions on which Bernard recognizes the presence of beauty shining forth for a variety of true beings. With illustrations.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux a Theory of Art Formed From His Writings

1990 0-88946-266-6
One of the first studies to address positively the controversial subject of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and the influence he exercised on the arts of his time. Until now Bernard's aestheticism in conjunction with his monastic commitment has been neither precisely defined nor successfully understood. The principal sources for this study - a formulation of a Bernardine theory of art - are the works of Saint Bernard: his letters, treatises and sermons.

Singing Sparrow

2003 0-7734-3463-1
Inspirational poetry written by an artist who listens and communicates her love of Christ through her poetry.