KLEINSCHMIDT, BEDA. - Franciscan, art historian, b. at Brakel (Westphalia) on 12 Oct. 1867, d. at Paderborn on 17 March 1932. He entered the Order in 1888; was ordained priest in 1892; between 1915 and 1919 he governed as provincial the Saxon province of the Holy Cross of the Friars Minor.
Of vast humanistic culture, which he demonstrated in his extremely varied publications, numbering more than 170, he devoted himself especially to the study of the history of art in relation to iconography and liturgical problems. His major work Die Basilika S. Francesco in Assisi is an extensive monograph on the basilica, appearing in three large volumes, the first two of which, published in Berlin (1915-26), have very rich illustrations; the third (ibid. 1928) is devoted to the sources and documents. His book on Franciscan art, S. Françoisikus von Assisi in Kunst und Legende, went through many editions from 1911 onwards.