Cosmas Wolf, OSB, American, born in Germany, 1821–1894, High Altar in Holzhausen, Bavaria, ca. 1857–1862, ink with wash and graphite, 20 7/8 x 11 1/8 in., Saint Vincent Archabbey Collection. Photo: Richard Stoner.

Br. Cosmas Wolf, OSB, is regarded as one of the most significant 19th century church artists working in the United States. Bavarian-born Johann Cosmas came to America to pursue monastic life at Saint Vincent as a laybrother in 1853, taking the name Cosmas. Recognizing his artistic aptitude, Archabbot Boniface Wimmer sent Cosmas to study at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich under the sculptor Johann Nepomuk Petz (1818–1880). Heavily influenced by the Neo-Gothic and Nazarene stylings for which Petz was widely noted, Br. Cosmas’ rigorous apprenticeship prepared him for analogous work upon his return to America.

Cosmas Wolf, OSB, Drawing for a Carved Wood Panel, 1857, Graphite with wash, 20 1/4 x 13 1/2 in., Saint Vincent Archabbey Collection. Photo: Richard Stoner.

By 1862, Br. Cosmas had established The Catholic Altar Building Stock Company–a workshop of craftsmen specializing in ecclesiastical decoration–also known as the Institute for Catholic Art. Located in Covington, Kentucky, the workshop adorned churches largely in service of the growing number of German immigrants throughout the geographic area between Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, commonly referred to as the “German Triangle.” Br. Cosmas assembled an impressive team of artists and designers whose collective creative output included work in ten states and dozens of churches.

Equipped with workspaces for painting, woodworking, and stained-glass, under Br. Cosmas’ direction, the Company created altars, baptismal fonts, statues, candlesticks, reredoses, pulpits, communion rails, Stations of the Cross, frames for easel paintings, stained-glass windows, crucifixes, croziers, and architectural ornaments, among other liturgical appointments. The studio worked primarily in a German Gothic Revival style, resulting in designs that featured pointed archways, highly composed vignettes of figures, steep gables, and delicate ornament. For many, a revival of these late-medieval conventions symbolized abiding tradition, permanence, spiritual lineage, and a reverence for craftsmanship over the advancements of industry. As a result, communities commissioning work from the Catholic Altar Building Stock Company were importing an aesthetic that expressed a collective spiritual identity linked to a foreign home. By 1868, Br. Cosmas had returned to Saint Vincent; continuing to create work for a variety of monasteries, convents, and parishes primarily sponsored by Benedictines until his death.

Cosmas Wolf, OSB, High Altar in St. Peter’s Ind. [Brookville, Indiana], 1864–65, Ink with wash and graphite, 17 3/8 x 10 5/8 in., Saint Vincent Archabbey Collection. Photo: Richard Stoner.

Cosmas Wolf, OSB, Drawing for an Altar Set with Crucifix and Two Candlesticks, ink with graphite on paper, ca. 1862 - 1868, 18 1/8 x 10 1/2 in., Saint Vincent Archabbey Collection. Photo: Richard Stoner.