REFECTORY. - A room in convents and monasteries intended for communal meals.
It is usually a large rectangular hall accessible from the cloister and generally arranged with its longer side parallel to the latter, except in Cistercian monasteries, where an arrangement on the normal axis is frequent (Clairvaux, Fossanova). Certain great abbeys, such as Montecassino, possessed two refectories, one of which was reserved for the monks and the other, larger, also for strangers. In relation to the vastness of the convents, the dimensions of the refectories are sometimes also quite considerable (that of the convent of St. Francis at Assisi measures 58 x 11 m). The architecture of the refectories followed the forms and structural characteristics of the various periods; none, however, survive from before the Gothic period. In this period they initially present a roof with exposed beams supported by great pointed arches (Fossanova); later the covering with groin vault was adopted (S. Galgano), sometimes dividing the room longitudinally by means of clustered piers supporting the vaults (Monastery of Maulbronn in Germany). Heating was provided by fireplaces, sometimes of enormous size (abbey of Fountains in Great Britain, abbey of S. Martino al Cimino, in the latter of which, however, only traces remain on the walls).
Beginning in the 14th century the walls of the refectories were covered with frescoes (St. Clare of Naples, Novacella near Bressanone, Pomposa), a practice that became general in the Renaissance (convent of St. Mark in Florence, Certosa of Pavia, Monte Oliveto near Siena and S. Maria delle Grazie in Milan, famous above all for the Last Supper painted by Leonardo, a theme preferred in many other refectories, as more suited to the setting). Among the 17th-century refectories, that of the Filippini in Rome is notable, the work - like the rest of the building - of Borromini. In certain refectories, especially those of the Carthusians, there was also a pulpit for reading during the meal (Certosa of Pavia, Galluzzo near Florence). - See plate XXX.
