Papers by Dragos Gh. Nastasoiu
Caietele restaurării, Dec 2024
Pages from the Chronicle of a Failed Restoration: II. The Repainting of the (Post-)Byzantine Fres... more Pages from the Chronicle of a Failed Restoration: II. The Repainting of the (Post-)Byzantine Frescoes in the Sanctuary of the Medieval Church in Suseni-Colţ, Hunedoara County
On the basis of the material kept in the archives of the Archbishopric of Arad and of the All Saints’ Sunday Monastery in Suseni-Colţ, this article presents a detailed critique of the restoration process of the church in Suseni-Colţ, a historical monument of Hunedoara County, emphasizing how a monument’s authenticity can be lost through the lack of professionalism in the restoration of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine murals in the sanctuary of the church and the faulty management of these works by the monument’s owner, the Bishopric of Arad. Although the Byzantine tradition frescoes in the church’s sanctuary, datable between the late-14th and early-16th century, were of major importance for medieval religious art in Transylvania, the unauthorized and unqualified interventions from 1995–1996 and 2000–2001, respectively, resulted in the falsification of this historical monument. The study highlights the professional shortcomings of those involved in this process, especially the church painter Viorel Gh. Țigu, whose restoration methods not only did not follow the scientific and technical norms in the field, but also contributed
to the damaging of the original painting. It is also emphasized that, despite the alarm signals raised by the state institutions charged with cultural heritage protection, the works continued unhindered, accentuating the destruction of this historical monument. This tragic example in the recent history of Romania’s cultural heritage protection illustrates the negative impact that an unprofessional restoration can have on a historical monument, with far more serious consequences than the abandonment itself. By ignoring the recommendations of specialists in the field by the Bishopric of Arad and by using unqualified personnel, both the architecture of the medieval church in Suseni-Colţ and its mural decoration were seriously compromised, and the historical and artistic value of this important historical monument was irremediably diminished.
Convivium, Nov 1, 2015
This article focuses on the journey the Hungarian Dowager Queen Elizabeth Piast undertook in 1343... more This article focuses on the journey the Hungarian Dowager Queen Elizabeth Piast undertook in 1343-1344 to the Italian Peninsula in order to bolster the claims of her son, Prince Andrew, to the Neapolitan throne. Contrary to the agreement concluded a decade earlier between King Charles i of Hungary and King Robert of Naples, Andrew's wife, Queen Joanna i, was still the sole ruler. In addition to its obvious diplomatic purpose, the trip also represented an occasion for Queen Elizabeth to express her devotion at the shrines of the Holy Apostles in Rome and St Nicholas in Bari, making generous donations in money and precious objects to these cult centers. By examining a series of written records including chroniclers' accounts and inventories of the treasuries of St Peter's and St Nicholas' Basilicas, and confronting them with the surviving visual evidence, the author notices that the Árpádian/Angevin dynastic saints (St Stephen, St Emeric, St Ladislas, St Elizabeth, and Blessed Margaret) played a significant role during these devotional trips; Queen Elizabeth donated or commissioned works of art with their image. Consequently, the dynastic saints of home were present abroad during their supporters' pilgrimage to the cult centers of other saints, and this association increased the prestige of both the dynastic saints and those promoting the cult.
Zograf
Made by Byzantine painters for Catholic patrons, the fresco cycle of St. Catherine of Alexandria ... more Made by Byzantine painters for Catholic patrons, the fresco cycle of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Darlos stands apart from other late-medieval cycles. In terms of patronage, style, and iconography, this pictorial cycle raises questions of cultural exchange between Byzantium and the West, illustrating how female holiness was differently articulated in these areas. While Catherine?s Western cycles emphasize her wisdom and eloquence, the imagery in Darlos honors instead her constancy in suffering and ability to recover after multiple tortures. Retaining the most essential elements of background and figures, the Darlos cycle relies on the concise yet dynamic iconography of painted menologia.
Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2021
On Christmas Eve 1402, Hungarian noblemen gathered in the Cathedral of Nagyvárad, where St. Ladis... more On Christmas Eve 1402, Hungarian noblemen gathered in the Cathedral of Nagyvárad, where St. Ladislas’ tomb was located, and swore an oath on the holy king’s relics. They proclaimed thus their allegiance to King Ladislas of Naples and conspired against the ruling King Sigis mund of Luxemburg. By swearing an oath on St. Ladislas’ relics, the conspirators united their minds and forces around the ideal figure of the holy king and knight who became the symbol of a political cause and the embodiment of the kingdom which King Sigismund was no longer suited to represent. The symbolic gesture of oath-swearing on St. Ladislas’ relics took place in the midst of a three-year political crisis (1401–1403) that seized the Kingdom of Hungary as a consequence of the barons’ dissatisfaction with King Sigismund’s measures, which jeopardized their wealth and political influence. By relying on both written accounts and visual sources, the present paper examines the utilizing by Hungarian noblemen during...
Umeni-art, 2016
This article focuses on the pilgrimage to Marburg, Cologne, and Aachen that the Hungarian Dowager... more This article focuses on the pilgrimage to Marburg, Cologne, and Aachen that the Hungarian Dowager Queen Elizabeth Piast undertook in 1357 along with Charles IV of Luxemburg and his wife, Anna of Schweidnitz. During this joint Angevin-Luxemburg pilgrimage, Elizabeth Piast expressed her piety in Marburg at the sepulcher of her holy predecessor St Elizabeth of Hungary/Thuringia, venerated the relics of the Three Magi in Cologne, and worshipped the Passion and Marian memorials in Aachen, where Charlemagne’s tomb was located as well. The dynastic and political consequences of this pilgrimage were that Charles IV established (in 1362) an altar of St Wenceslas, and the Hungarian queen’s son, King Louis the Great, founded (prior to 1366) a chapel dedicated to his holy predecessors and his country’s patron saints: namely Sts Stephen, Emeric, and Ladislas. By examining a number of written records including chroniclers’ accounts, charters, and treasury inventories, and confronting them with the surviving visual evidence, the author reconstructs the early history of the Hungarian chapel in Aachen and establishes its manifold implications. First, the founding of a ‘national’ chapel in Aachen was an attempt at conferring to the cult of these regional (Hungarian) saints a new, global dimension. Second, the newly-acquired sacred prestige of the sancti reges Hungariae was further transferred upon King Louis the Great as the chapel’s founder and promoter of his holy predecessors’ cult. The heraldic symbols on the donated objects visually linked the donations to their donor, attesting not only to the magnificence of the Hungarian royal house in the second half of the fourteenth century, but also to the pious practices and the self-representation tools of a dynasty wherein the veneration of its holy predecessors played an important part. Finally, besides increasing the Angevins’ sacral and political prestige, the Hungarian chapel also functioned as a spiritual embassy for the Hungarian pilgrims who arrived in great numbers for the Aachen Heiligtumsfahrt.
Transylvanian Review, 2017
In the murals painted before 1404/5 in the sanctuary of the church in Mălâncrav, there is a group... more In the murals painted before 1404/5 in the sanctuary of the church in Mălâncrav, there is a group scene composed of five saints: the three holy kings of Hungary (i.e., Stephen, Emeric, and Ladislas), St. Sigismund of Burgundy, and a holy bishop without defining attributes. Rejecting previous identifications (St. Gerard of Cenad or St. Nicholas) for the holy bishop in Mălâncrav, the article establishes a new identity by focusing on hagiographic, liturgical, and historical texts, and by analyzing a series of images of saints. After placing the representation in Mălâncrav against the background of the cults of saints popular in medieval Hungary, the author identifies the holy bishop in Mălâncrav as St. Adalbert, the patron saint of the Archbishopric of Esztergom and one of Hungary’s holy protectors.
Eclecticism in Late Medieval Visual Culture at the Crossroads of the Latin, Greek, and Slavic Traditions, 2021
During the high and late medieval periods, the southern and southwestern areas of the Voivodate o... more During the high and late medieval periods, the southern and southwestern areas of the Voivodate of Transylvania and the Kingdom of Hungary, respectively, represented the meeting point of two cultural traditions. 1 Subsequently, the Catholic and Latin cultural tradition of Western and Central Europe met here the culture of the East, which was Orthodox andin this case-Byzantine-Slavic. 2 Medieval Transylvania thus served as a meeting place of several ethnic and confessional groups, each of them bringing into play their own cultural and religious traditions. 3 Under
Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2021
During the 1401–1403 political crisis in the Kingdom of Hungary, the magnates who were hostile to... more During the 1401–1403 political crisis in the Kingdom of Hungary, the magnates who were hostile to the ruling King Sigismund of Luxemburg and supported instead the Angevin King Ladislas of Naples deployed a wide range of propaganda tools for proving the legitimacy of their political cause. In a previous study published in this journal (Vestnik of SPbSU. History, 2021, vol. 66, issue 1, рp. 179–192), I have focused on the Hungarian noblemen’s anti-royal propaganda through the utilizing of political and spiritual symbols (i. e., the Holy Crown of Hungary and the cult, relics, and visual representations of St. Ladislas), symbolic actions (coronations and oath-swearing on holy relics), and heraldic self-representation (the Árpádian double cross). The present study approaches the same topic of anti-royal propaganda in the troubled political context of the early 15th century, but from the perspective of the elites’ self-representation strategies via the cult of Hungarian royal saints, arti...
My research project examines the pilgrimage experiences of Eastern and Western Christian women in... more My research project examines the pilgrimage experiences of Eastern and Western Christian women in the Crusader Holy Land (1099-1291), and analyzes the new behavioral patterns related to their gender roles that emerged as a consequence of the transformative character of these pious voyages. Regarding the performative aspects of gender and ritual, it explores the relationships between female pilgrimage practices and their male-authored descriptions. By analyzing the phenomenon cross-culturally and diachronically, the project analyzes the differences in pilgrimage experiences between Western and Eastern Christian female travelers, and provides an explanation for the popularity of Holy-Land female journeys in the Western world in the subsequent centuries and the disappearance of this practice in the Eastern Christian tradition. As a working hypothesis, it assumes that the shared communal experiences that distinguished the Western ladies’ journeys led to the pilgrimages’ acquisition of a touristic character, whereas the focus on monastic experiences of Eastern women caused a shift from the external travelling experience to the inner spiritual journey, and led to the disappearance of the actual pious voyages in the late-medieval period.
Over the last decades, scholars of Medieval South Italy (Linda Safran, Annick Peters-Custot, Vera... more Over the last decades, scholars of Medieval South Italy (Linda Safran, Annick Peters-Custot, Vera von Falkenhausen) insisted on the ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity of Sicilian, Calabrian, Basilicata, and Apulian regions, where Greeks, Latins and, to some extent, Arabs co-existed and influenced each other in the spheres of secular and ecclesiastic administration, material culture, art, and literature. However, the majority of these studies limits the public influence of Greek language and culture to the rule of Norman kings (1091-1194) and considers the Hohenstaufen (1194-1266) and Anjou periods (1282-1442) as a slow decline of Hellenistic customs and a gradual Latinization in the linguistic and ecclesiastic spheres. Moreover, Greek monasteries of this region (the so-called “Basilian” monasticism) are regarded as primary safekeepers of the originally-Byzantine tradition.
The present paper looks at artistic and ecclesiastic contacts between the Latin and Greek populations of South Italy in the form of ecclesiastic patronage and commissions. More precisely, it explores those cases when Latin noblemen and Roman ecclesiastic authorities holding the economic and administrative power addressed the Greek population of the region by using the Byzantine visual tradition and appropriate inscriptions in churches or by providing the economic means (land grants, tax exemptions) for the development of local ecclesiastic institutions. This way, the iconography and epigraphy of such churches as San Nicolo in Celsorizzo (1282/83), San Michele Arcangelo near Copertino (1314/15), and San Stefano in Soleto (1380s-1440s), commissioned by Latin lords, become adjusted to the devotional needs of their Greek subjects. Simultaneously, these churches, as well as the occasional Greek inscriptions in proper Latin churches (e.g., Santa Caterina in Galatina) enable the commissioners to promote the cults of Roman Catholic saints (St. Francis, St. Vincent) and ideas of ecclesiastic unity.
On the other hand, ecclesiastic authorities entrusting the decoration of their sacral spaces to (local?) Greek artists, as it is the case of Santa Maria Regina abbey in Anglona (early-13th century), promote the idea of Apostolic legitimacy of Roman papacy among their numerous Greek visitors. Finally, the flourishing “Basilian” Greek monasteries of the 13th century in Cerrata and Sannicola (Gallipoli) attest for the continuous collaboration between the local Latin lords and Greek monastic institutions in the sphere of economy and land management.
![Research paper thumbnail of Restituiri iconografice şi epigrafice la biserica medievală din Suseni-Colţ (jud. Hunedoara) [Iconographic and Epigraphic Reconstructions for the Medieval Church in Suseni-Colţ (Hunedoara County)]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/101356026/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Ctitorie a familiei cneziale româneşti a Cândeştilor din Râu de Mori, biserica-sală cu turn masiv... more Ctitorie a familiei cneziale româneşti a Cândeştilor din Râu de Mori, biserica-sală cu turn masiv peste altarul rectangular decroşat din Suseni-Colţ (jud. Hunedoara) a fost ridicată după mijlocul sec. al XIV-lea şi decorată cu fresce bizantine de filiaţie paleologă fie la sfârşitul sec. al XIV-lea, fie la începutul veacului următor. Deservind de la bun început o comunitate monastică, lăcaşul de cult medieval a fost abandonat către sfârşitul secolului al XVI-lea, după trecerea la calvinism şi maghiarizarea familiei nobiliare (devenită astfel Kendeffy) care l-a patronat. Nemaifiind utilizată, biserica era deja ruinată la mijlocul sec. al XIX-lea, această stare de decădere continuând pe tot parcursul veacului al XX-lea, în pofida caracterului arhitectural insolit al monumentului şi a valorii remarcabile a decoraţiei sale murale.
Reluarea în 1995 a vieţii monahale în jurul bisericii din Suseni-Colţ a contribuit în mod paradoxal la distrugerea monumentului medieval care – la iniţiativa Episcopiei Aradului – a fost reconstruit ilegal în anii 1995-1996 de către nou-stabiliţii călugări, asistaţi de arh. Şerban Gubovici şi sing. Liviu Hanţiu. În anul 2001, aceeaşi păstorire a hotărât ‘restaurarea’ frescelor bizantine, care au fost în consecinţă repictate grosier de către pictorul Viorel Ţigu.
Întrucât valorosul monument istoric a fost regretabil compromis de restaurări neprofesioniste, prezenta comunicare îşi propune să reconstituie pe cât posibil programul iconografic originar al bisericii medievale din Suseni-Colţ, pornind de la o serie de mărturii scrise şi vizuale din a doua jumătate a sec. al XIX-lea şi începutul sec. al XX-lea. Alături de descrierile de epocă ale bisericii şi decoraţiei sale murale (Ştefan Moldovan, 1853; Gábor Téglás, 1882-1883; Gábor Szinte, 1893 etc.), valorificate doar parţial de cercetarea anterioară (Vasile Drăguţ, 1968-1970; Ecaterina Cincheza-Buculei, 1976; Anca Bratu, 1985; Adrian Andrei Rusu, 1989-1997), sunt folosite pentru prima dată copiile în acuarelă reproducând decoraţia murală a bisericii, realizate de către István Gróh în perioada 1907-1909. Toate aceste surse secundare permit nu doar reîntregirea într-o mai mare măsură a programului iconografic originar al bisericii din Suseni-Colţ, ci şi recuperarea unora dintre ineditele sale inscripţii slavone.
This project assesses the changes in the performance of female gender roles by Orthodox noblewome... more This project assesses the changes in the performance of female gender roles by Orthodox noblewomen in late-medieval Transylvania, a contact zone where different confessions and ethnicities mutually influenced each other. By conceptualizing the experience of living under “foreign” rule, it assumes that the religious and ethnical “Othering” could become a catalyst of social change, determine the emergence of new social identities, and have an emancipating impact on gender performance.
Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of Articles, 2022
This essay analyzes the cases of coexistence within the same church of mural decoration displayin... more This essay analyzes the cases of coexistence within the same church of mural decoration displaying both (Post-)Byzantine and Gothic styles, which occurred during the 14th and 15th centuries on the territory of the Voivodate of Transylvania and the south-eastern border counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. This phenomenon of stylistic diversity under the same roof occurred at different stages during the larger and cumulative projects of church decoration, and the reasons for such occurrences varied. Orthodox patrons proved to be more conservative and very attached to their own cultural, religious, and visual traditions, and subsequently commissioned Western painters with the decoration of their churches only when the artists belonging to their own cultural and religious traditions were unavailable (e.g., Hălmagiu and Strei). In contrast with the Orthodox, Catholic patrons had a flexible artistic taste and were more prone to embrace the alternative aesthetic solutions proposed to them by traveling artists with Byzantine training (e.g., Buneşti, Dârlos, Sântămăria-Orlea, Şmig, Valea Lungă, and probably Deva and Târgu Mureş). A special situation of stylistic diversity under a single roof is represented by those cases, which occurred when Romanian Orthodox patrons—despite their belonging to a different confession—exercised their legal right of patronage over those Catholic churches found on their estates (e. g., Sântămăria-Orlea and Remetea). The Orthodox patrons’ strong attachment to their own religious and visual traditions led to the coexistence within the same Catholic church not only of murals displaying Gothic and (Post-)Byzantine formal features, but also of inscriptions in the liturgical languages of the two Churches (i.e., Latin and Church Slavonic). Since this essay approached the phenomenon of aesthetic diversity strictly from a stylistic or formal point of view, its devotional implications will be analyzed on a different occasion, when it will be contextualized together with other transcultural phenomena, such as those of linguistic diversity under the same roof, cross-credal artistic patronage, and shared devotion of Catholic saints by the Eastern-rite Christians.
В статье анализируются случаи сосуществования в одной церкви фресок, в которых сочетаются византийский или поствизантийский и готический стили, что было характерно для памятников XIV–XV вв. на территории княжества Трансильвании и на юго-восточной границе Венгерского королевства. Этот феномен стилистического разнообразия под одной крышей наблюдается на различных фазах в течение длительного и многоэтапного процесса создания храмовой декорации. За этим стояли различные причины. Православные заказчики обычно были более консервативными и весьма привязанными к своим собственным культурным, религиозным и визуальным традициям. Поэтому они заказывали украшение свих церквей западным художникам только тогда, когда невозможно найти мастеров, принадлежавших к их собственной культурной и религозной традиции (например, Халмаджу и Стреи). В отличие от православных, католические заказчики были более гибкими в своих художественных вкусах и чаще были готовы принять альтернативные эстетические решения, предлагавшиеся им бродячими художниками, работавшими в византийской традиции (например, Бунешти, Дырлос, Сынтамария-Орлеа, Шмиг, Валя Лунга и, возможно, Дева и Тыргу Муреш). Особую ситуацию стилистического разнообразия под одной крышей представляют те случаи, когда румынские православные заказчики — несмотря на принадлежность к другой конфессии — использовали свое законное право патронажа над теми католическими храмами, которые находились в их владениях (например, Сынтамария-Орлеа и Реметя). Сильная привязанность православных заказчиков к собственным религиозным и визуальным традициям вела к сосуществованию в одной католической церкви не только фресок с готическими и византийскими или поствизантийскими чертами, но и к появлению надписей на литургических языках обеих конфессий (церковнославянский и латынь). Поскольку в этой статье эстетическое разнообразие анализируется строго с точки зрения стиля живописи, конфессиональные аспекты этого сосуществования будут рассмотрены в другом месте, вкупе с другими транскультурными феноменами, такими как языковое разнообразие, иноконфессиональный патронаж и почитание католических святых христианами восточного обряда.
![Research paper thumbnail of File din cronica unei restaurări eşuate: I. Reconstrucţia bisericii medievale din Suseni-Colţ, jud. Hunedoara [Pages from the Chronicle of a Failed Restoration: I. The Reconstruction of the Medieval Church in Suseni-Colţ, Hunedoara County]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/95480958/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Caietele restaurării, Dec 8, 2022
Ctitorie a familiei cneziale româneşti a Cândeştilor din Râu de Mori, biserica din Suseni-Colţ (j... more Ctitorie a familiei cneziale româneşti a Cândeştilor din Râu de Mori, biserica din Suseni-Colţ (jud. Hunedoara) a fost ridicată după mijlocul sec. al XIV-lea şi decorată către sfârşitul aceluiaşi veac cu fresce bizantine de filiaţie paleologă. Deservind de la bun început o comunitate monastică, lăcaşul de cult medieval a fost abandonat către sfârşitul secolului al XVI-lea, după trecerea la calvinism şi maghiarizarea familiei nobiliare (devenită astfel Kendeffy) care l-a patronat. Nemaifiind utilizată, biserica era deja ruinată la mijlocul sec. al XIX-lea, această stare de decădere continuând pe tot parcursul veacului al XX-lea, în pofida caracterului arhitectural insolit al monumentului şi a valorii remarcabile a decoraţiei sale murale. Reluarea în 1995 a vieţii monahale în jurul bisericii din Suseni-Colţ a constituit în mod paradoxal o lovitură de graţie dată monumentului medieval care – la iniţiativa Episcopiei Aradului – a fost reconstruit între anii 1995 şi 1996 de către noii călugări ajutaţi de arh. Şerban Gubovici şi sing. Liviu Hanţiu. Agravarea acestei situaţii s-a produs în anul 2001, când decoraţia murală a bisericii a fost restaurată în mod neprofesionist de către pictorul Viorel Ţigu. Examinând documentele păstrate în arhivele Institutului Naţional al Patrimoniului din Bucureşti şi ale Arhiepiscopiei Aradului, studiul de faţă discută proiectele nerealizate de restaurare a bisericii medievale din 1982 şi 1990, iar apoi prezintă reconstrucţia sa ilegală din 1995-1996, care a fost realizată de noii călugări, din iniţiativa autorităţilor bisericeşti locale şi fără aprobarea instituţiilor de stat pentru protecţia patrimoniului.
The medieval church in Suseni-Colţ (Hunedoara County) is a religious foundation of the Romanian noble family of Cândea of Râu de Mori. It was built after the middle of the 14th century and was decorated with Byzantine frescoes either in the late-14th or early-15th century. Functioning from the beginning as a monastic church, the religious edifice was abandoned by the late-16th century, after its patrons had embraced Calvinism and were assimilated to the Hungarian elites. Not having been in use all this time, the church was already a ruin in the mid-19th century and continued to decay throughout the 20th century, despite its unusual architecture and its remarkable mural decoration. Paradoxically, the monastery’s reestablishing in 1995, represented a serious blow for the historical monument which, at the initiative of the Arad Bishopric, was reconstructed between 1995 and 1996 by the new monks and with the help of architect Şerban Gubovici and engineer Liviu Hanţiu. Later on, in 2001, the church’s mural decoration was unprofessionally restored by painter Viorel Ţigu. By examining the documents kept in the archives of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Bucharest and the Arad Archbishopric in Arad, the present paper discusses the medieval church’s unaccomplished restoration projects of 1982 and 1990, and then examines its illegal reconstruction in 1995–1996, which was made by the newly-established monks, at the initiative of the local church authorities, and without the approval of the state institutions of cultural heritage protection.
International Colloquium “Multilingualism in Medieval and Early Modern Europe”, Nov 30, 2022
| Networks of Devotion: The selection of saints as marker of religious identity in Post-Byzantine... more | Networks of Devotion: The selection of saints as marker of religious identity in Post-Byzantine Moldavian representations (wall-paintings and texts)
Zograf. A Journal of Medieval Art, 2021
Made by Byzantine painters for Catholic patrons, the fresco cycle of St. Catherine of Alexandria ... more Made by Byzantine painters for Catholic patrons, the fresco cycle of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Dârlos stands apart from other late-medieval cycles. In terms of patronage, style, and iconography, this pictorial cycle raises questions of cultural exchange between Byzantium and the West, illustrating how female holiness was differently articulated in these areas. While Catherine’s Western cycles emphasize her wisdom and eloquence, the imagery in Dârlos honors instead her constancy in suffering and ability to recover after multiple tortures. Retaining the most essential elements of background and figures, the Dârlos cycle relies on the concise yet dynamic iconography of painted menologia.
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Papers by Dragos Gh. Nastasoiu
On the basis of the material kept in the archives of the Archbishopric of Arad and of the All Saints’ Sunday Monastery in Suseni-Colţ, this article presents a detailed critique of the restoration process of the church in Suseni-Colţ, a historical monument of Hunedoara County, emphasizing how a monument’s authenticity can be lost through the lack of professionalism in the restoration of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine murals in the sanctuary of the church and the faulty management of these works by the monument’s owner, the Bishopric of Arad. Although the Byzantine tradition frescoes in the church’s sanctuary, datable between the late-14th and early-16th century, were of major importance for medieval religious art in Transylvania, the unauthorized and unqualified interventions from 1995–1996 and 2000–2001, respectively, resulted in the falsification of this historical monument. The study highlights the professional shortcomings of those involved in this process, especially the church painter Viorel Gh. Țigu, whose restoration methods not only did not follow the scientific and technical norms in the field, but also contributed
to the damaging of the original painting. It is also emphasized that, despite the alarm signals raised by the state institutions charged with cultural heritage protection, the works continued unhindered, accentuating the destruction of this historical monument. This tragic example in the recent history of Romania’s cultural heritage protection illustrates the negative impact that an unprofessional restoration can have on a historical monument, with far more serious consequences than the abandonment itself. By ignoring the recommendations of specialists in the field by the Bishopric of Arad and by using unqualified personnel, both the architecture of the medieval church in Suseni-Colţ and its mural decoration were seriously compromised, and the historical and artistic value of this important historical monument was irremediably diminished.
The present paper looks at artistic and ecclesiastic contacts between the Latin and Greek populations of South Italy in the form of ecclesiastic patronage and commissions. More precisely, it explores those cases when Latin noblemen and Roman ecclesiastic authorities holding the economic and administrative power addressed the Greek population of the region by using the Byzantine visual tradition and appropriate inscriptions in churches or by providing the economic means (land grants, tax exemptions) for the development of local ecclesiastic institutions. This way, the iconography and epigraphy of such churches as San Nicolo in Celsorizzo (1282/83), San Michele Arcangelo near Copertino (1314/15), and San Stefano in Soleto (1380s-1440s), commissioned by Latin lords, become adjusted to the devotional needs of their Greek subjects. Simultaneously, these churches, as well as the occasional Greek inscriptions in proper Latin churches (e.g., Santa Caterina in Galatina) enable the commissioners to promote the cults of Roman Catholic saints (St. Francis, St. Vincent) and ideas of ecclesiastic unity.
On the other hand, ecclesiastic authorities entrusting the decoration of their sacral spaces to (local?) Greek artists, as it is the case of Santa Maria Regina abbey in Anglona (early-13th century), promote the idea of Apostolic legitimacy of Roman papacy among their numerous Greek visitors. Finally, the flourishing “Basilian” Greek monasteries of the 13th century in Cerrata and Sannicola (Gallipoli) attest for the continuous collaboration between the local Latin lords and Greek monastic institutions in the sphere of economy and land management.
Reluarea în 1995 a vieţii monahale în jurul bisericii din Suseni-Colţ a contribuit în mod paradoxal la distrugerea monumentului medieval care – la iniţiativa Episcopiei Aradului – a fost reconstruit ilegal în anii 1995-1996 de către nou-stabiliţii călugări, asistaţi de arh. Şerban Gubovici şi sing. Liviu Hanţiu. În anul 2001, aceeaşi păstorire a hotărât ‘restaurarea’ frescelor bizantine, care au fost în consecinţă repictate grosier de către pictorul Viorel Ţigu.
Întrucât valorosul monument istoric a fost regretabil compromis de restaurări neprofesioniste, prezenta comunicare îşi propune să reconstituie pe cât posibil programul iconografic originar al bisericii medievale din Suseni-Colţ, pornind de la o serie de mărturii scrise şi vizuale din a doua jumătate a sec. al XIX-lea şi începutul sec. al XX-lea. Alături de descrierile de epocă ale bisericii şi decoraţiei sale murale (Ştefan Moldovan, 1853; Gábor Téglás, 1882-1883; Gábor Szinte, 1893 etc.), valorificate doar parţial de cercetarea anterioară (Vasile Drăguţ, 1968-1970; Ecaterina Cincheza-Buculei, 1976; Anca Bratu, 1985; Adrian Andrei Rusu, 1989-1997), sunt folosite pentru prima dată copiile în acuarelă reproducând decoraţia murală a bisericii, realizate de către István Gróh în perioada 1907-1909. Toate aceste surse secundare permit nu doar reîntregirea într-o mai mare măsură a programului iconografic originar al bisericii din Suseni-Colţ, ci şi recuperarea unora dintre ineditele sale inscripţii slavone.
В статье анализируются случаи сосуществования в одной церкви фресок, в которых сочетаются византийский или поствизантийский и готический стили, что было характерно для памятников XIV–XV вв. на территории княжества Трансильвании и на юго-восточной границе Венгерского королевства. Этот феномен стилистического разнообразия под одной крышей наблюдается на различных фазах в течение длительного и многоэтапного процесса создания храмовой декорации. За этим стояли различные причины. Православные заказчики обычно были более консервативными и весьма привязанными к своим собственным культурным, религиозным и визуальным традициям. Поэтому они заказывали украшение свих церквей западным художникам только тогда, когда невозможно найти мастеров, принадлежавших к их собственной культурной и религозной традиции (например, Халмаджу и Стреи). В отличие от православных, католические заказчики были более гибкими в своих художественных вкусах и чаще были готовы принять альтернативные эстетические решения, предлагавшиеся им бродячими художниками, работавшими в византийской традиции (например, Бунешти, Дырлос, Сынтамария-Орлеа, Шмиг, Валя Лунга и, возможно, Дева и Тыргу Муреш). Особую ситуацию стилистического разнообразия под одной крышей представляют те случаи, когда румынские православные заказчики — несмотря на принадлежность к другой конфессии — использовали свое законное право патронажа над теми католическими храмами, которые находились в их владениях (например, Сынтамария-Орлеа и Реметя). Сильная привязанность православных заказчиков к собственным религиозным и визуальным традициям вела к сосуществованию в одной католической церкви не только фресок с готическими и византийскими или поствизантийскими чертами, но и к появлению надписей на литургических языках обеих конфессий (церковнославянский и латынь). Поскольку в этой статье эстетическое разнообразие анализируется строго с точки зрения стиля живописи, конфессиональные аспекты этого сосуществования будут рассмотрены в другом месте, вкупе с другими транскультурными феноменами, такими как языковое разнообразие, иноконфессиональный патронаж и почитание католических святых христианами восточного обряда.
The medieval church in Suseni-Colţ (Hunedoara County) is a religious foundation of the Romanian noble family of Cândea of Râu de Mori. It was built after the middle of the 14th century and was decorated with Byzantine frescoes either in the late-14th or early-15th century. Functioning from the beginning as a monastic church, the religious edifice was abandoned by the late-16th century, after its patrons had embraced Calvinism and were assimilated to the Hungarian elites. Not having been in use all this time, the church was already a ruin in the mid-19th century and continued to decay throughout the 20th century, despite its unusual architecture and its remarkable mural decoration. Paradoxically, the monastery’s reestablishing in 1995, represented a serious blow for the historical monument which, at the initiative of the Arad Bishopric, was reconstructed between 1995 and 1996 by the new monks and with the help of architect Şerban Gubovici and engineer Liviu Hanţiu. Later on, in 2001, the church’s mural decoration was unprofessionally restored by painter Viorel Ţigu. By examining the documents kept in the archives of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Bucharest and the Arad Archbishopric in Arad, the present paper discusses the medieval church’s unaccomplished restoration projects of 1982 and 1990, and then examines its illegal reconstruction in 1995–1996, which was made by the newly-established monks, at the initiative of the local church authorities, and without the approval of the state institutions of cultural heritage protection.
On the basis of the material kept in the archives of the Archbishopric of Arad and of the All Saints’ Sunday Monastery in Suseni-Colţ, this article presents a detailed critique of the restoration process of the church in Suseni-Colţ, a historical monument of Hunedoara County, emphasizing how a monument’s authenticity can be lost through the lack of professionalism in the restoration of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine murals in the sanctuary of the church and the faulty management of these works by the monument’s owner, the Bishopric of Arad. Although the Byzantine tradition frescoes in the church’s sanctuary, datable between the late-14th and early-16th century, were of major importance for medieval religious art in Transylvania, the unauthorized and unqualified interventions from 1995–1996 and 2000–2001, respectively, resulted in the falsification of this historical monument. The study highlights the professional shortcomings of those involved in this process, especially the church painter Viorel Gh. Țigu, whose restoration methods not only did not follow the scientific and technical norms in the field, but also contributed
to the damaging of the original painting. It is also emphasized that, despite the alarm signals raised by the state institutions charged with cultural heritage protection, the works continued unhindered, accentuating the destruction of this historical monument. This tragic example in the recent history of Romania’s cultural heritage protection illustrates the negative impact that an unprofessional restoration can have on a historical monument, with far more serious consequences than the abandonment itself. By ignoring the recommendations of specialists in the field by the Bishopric of Arad and by using unqualified personnel, both the architecture of the medieval church in Suseni-Colţ and its mural decoration were seriously compromised, and the historical and artistic value of this important historical monument was irremediably diminished.
The present paper looks at artistic and ecclesiastic contacts between the Latin and Greek populations of South Italy in the form of ecclesiastic patronage and commissions. More precisely, it explores those cases when Latin noblemen and Roman ecclesiastic authorities holding the economic and administrative power addressed the Greek population of the region by using the Byzantine visual tradition and appropriate inscriptions in churches or by providing the economic means (land grants, tax exemptions) for the development of local ecclesiastic institutions. This way, the iconography and epigraphy of such churches as San Nicolo in Celsorizzo (1282/83), San Michele Arcangelo near Copertino (1314/15), and San Stefano in Soleto (1380s-1440s), commissioned by Latin lords, become adjusted to the devotional needs of their Greek subjects. Simultaneously, these churches, as well as the occasional Greek inscriptions in proper Latin churches (e.g., Santa Caterina in Galatina) enable the commissioners to promote the cults of Roman Catholic saints (St. Francis, St. Vincent) and ideas of ecclesiastic unity.
On the other hand, ecclesiastic authorities entrusting the decoration of their sacral spaces to (local?) Greek artists, as it is the case of Santa Maria Regina abbey in Anglona (early-13th century), promote the idea of Apostolic legitimacy of Roman papacy among their numerous Greek visitors. Finally, the flourishing “Basilian” Greek monasteries of the 13th century in Cerrata and Sannicola (Gallipoli) attest for the continuous collaboration between the local Latin lords and Greek monastic institutions in the sphere of economy and land management.
Reluarea în 1995 a vieţii monahale în jurul bisericii din Suseni-Colţ a contribuit în mod paradoxal la distrugerea monumentului medieval care – la iniţiativa Episcopiei Aradului – a fost reconstruit ilegal în anii 1995-1996 de către nou-stabiliţii călugări, asistaţi de arh. Şerban Gubovici şi sing. Liviu Hanţiu. În anul 2001, aceeaşi păstorire a hotărât ‘restaurarea’ frescelor bizantine, care au fost în consecinţă repictate grosier de către pictorul Viorel Ţigu.
Întrucât valorosul monument istoric a fost regretabil compromis de restaurări neprofesioniste, prezenta comunicare îşi propune să reconstituie pe cât posibil programul iconografic originar al bisericii medievale din Suseni-Colţ, pornind de la o serie de mărturii scrise şi vizuale din a doua jumătate a sec. al XIX-lea şi începutul sec. al XX-lea. Alături de descrierile de epocă ale bisericii şi decoraţiei sale murale (Ştefan Moldovan, 1853; Gábor Téglás, 1882-1883; Gábor Szinte, 1893 etc.), valorificate doar parţial de cercetarea anterioară (Vasile Drăguţ, 1968-1970; Ecaterina Cincheza-Buculei, 1976; Anca Bratu, 1985; Adrian Andrei Rusu, 1989-1997), sunt folosite pentru prima dată copiile în acuarelă reproducând decoraţia murală a bisericii, realizate de către István Gróh în perioada 1907-1909. Toate aceste surse secundare permit nu doar reîntregirea într-o mai mare măsură a programului iconografic originar al bisericii din Suseni-Colţ, ci şi recuperarea unora dintre ineditele sale inscripţii slavone.
В статье анализируются случаи сосуществования в одной церкви фресок, в которых сочетаются византийский или поствизантийский и готический стили, что было характерно для памятников XIV–XV вв. на территории княжества Трансильвании и на юго-восточной границе Венгерского королевства. Этот феномен стилистического разнообразия под одной крышей наблюдается на различных фазах в течение длительного и многоэтапного процесса создания храмовой декорации. За этим стояли различные причины. Православные заказчики обычно были более консервативными и весьма привязанными к своим собственным культурным, религиозным и визуальным традициям. Поэтому они заказывали украшение свих церквей западным художникам только тогда, когда невозможно найти мастеров, принадлежавших к их собственной культурной и религозной традиции (например, Халмаджу и Стреи). В отличие от православных, католические заказчики были более гибкими в своих художественных вкусах и чаще были готовы принять альтернативные эстетические решения, предлагавшиеся им бродячими художниками, работавшими в византийской традиции (например, Бунешти, Дырлос, Сынтамария-Орлеа, Шмиг, Валя Лунга и, возможно, Дева и Тыргу Муреш). Особую ситуацию стилистического разнообразия под одной крышей представляют те случаи, когда румынские православные заказчики — несмотря на принадлежность к другой конфессии — использовали свое законное право патронажа над теми католическими храмами, которые находились в их владениях (например, Сынтамария-Орлеа и Реметя). Сильная привязанность православных заказчиков к собственным религиозным и визуальным традициям вела к сосуществованию в одной католической церкви не только фресок с готическими и византийскими или поствизантийскими чертами, но и к появлению надписей на литургических языках обеих конфессий (церковнославянский и латынь). Поскольку в этой статье эстетическое разнообразие анализируется строго с точки зрения стиля живописи, конфессиональные аспекты этого сосуществования будут рассмотрены в другом месте, вкупе с другими транскультурными феноменами, такими как языковое разнообразие, иноконфессиональный патронаж и почитание католических святых христианами восточного обряда.
The medieval church in Suseni-Colţ (Hunedoara County) is a religious foundation of the Romanian noble family of Cândea of Râu de Mori. It was built after the middle of the 14th century and was decorated with Byzantine frescoes either in the late-14th or early-15th century. Functioning from the beginning as a monastic church, the religious edifice was abandoned by the late-16th century, after its patrons had embraced Calvinism and were assimilated to the Hungarian elites. Not having been in use all this time, the church was already a ruin in the mid-19th century and continued to decay throughout the 20th century, despite its unusual architecture and its remarkable mural decoration. Paradoxically, the monastery’s reestablishing in 1995, represented a serious blow for the historical monument which, at the initiative of the Arad Bishopric, was reconstructed between 1995 and 1996 by the new monks and with the help of architect Şerban Gubovici and engineer Liviu Hanţiu. Later on, in 2001, the church’s mural decoration was unprofessionally restored by painter Viorel Ţigu. By examining the documents kept in the archives of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Bucharest and the Arad Archbishopric in Arad, the present paper discusses the medieval church’s unaccomplished restoration projects of 1982 and 1990, and then examines its illegal reconstruction in 1995–1996, which was made by the newly-established monks, at the initiative of the local church authorities, and without the approval of the state institutions of cultural heritage protection.
Monumente Medievale de pe Valea Târnavelor – continuăm călătoria începută în Bucovina și Oltenia!
● un text bine documentat de autori specialiști în istoria artei medievale și restaurare;
● peste 700 imagini inedite – aeriene, ansambluri din interior și din exterior, detalii ale picturii murale realizate de la nivelul schelei, în timpul restaurării;
● harta monumentelor și propuneri de trasee
● planuri de monumente și ansambluri
15 dintre cele mai reprezentative repere culturale medievale ale zonei sunt prezentate: biserica reformată (calvină) din satul Alma, bisericile evanghelice (lutherane) din satele Aţel, Băgaciu, Biertan, Brateiu, Curciu, Dârlos, Ighişu Nou, Mălâncrav, Moşna, Nemşa, Richiş şi Şmig, precum şi principalele exemple de arhitectură religioasă şi civilă din oraşele Mediaş şi Sighişoara.
Alături de arhitectură şi sculptură sunt prezentate şi picturile murale medievale care – de multe ori – înfrumuseţează aceste clădiri, precum şi obiectele cu valoare artistică şi istorică (altare poliptice, piese de mobilier, inventar liturgic etc.) adăpostite înăuntru.
Asociația Art Conservation Support folosește fondurile obținute prin comercializarea acestui ghid pentru proiecte editoriale și culturale de conservare și punere în valoare a patrimoniului cultural românesc.
By relying on both written accounts and visual sources, this paper examines the utilizing by the anti-Sigismund party of important symbols that were associated with the Kingdom of Hungary. Political and spiritual alike, these included: the cults, relics, and visual representations of St. Ladislas and the other Holy Kings of Hungary (i.e., Sts Stephen and Emeric); the Hungarian Holy Crown; or the kingdom’s coat of arms (i.e., the Árpádian double cross). The two leaders of the anti-royal movement, that is, Archbishop of Esztergom John Kanizsai and Palatine of Hungary Detre (Detricus) Bebek, commissioned repeatedly works of art (e.g., seals, stained-glass windows, and wall paintings), which featured prominently the images of the three Holy Kings of Hungary or displayed the realm’s heraldry. Their reliance on the cults and images of the patron saints of the country blended harmoniously the commissioners’ personal piety with their political ambition. The propagandistic usage of these spiritual and political symbols was reinforced by their insertion into elaborated rituals and symbolic actions, such as coronations or oath-swearing on holy relics. These activated the link between secular and religious spheres, their performers hoping to attract the divine approval in this way.
Subsequently, the present paper seeks to illustrate, on the one hand, how the ideal figure of St. Ladislas became the catalyzing force behind a political cause and a powerful symbol of the country, and, on the other hand, how the appropriation by Hungarian noblemen of the kingdom’s heraldry became a means of self-identification with the realm and its envisaged fate.
Participants include Thierry Buquet (Institut Français du Proche Orient, Beirut), Alice Choyke (Central European University, Budapest), Dragoş Gh. Năstăsoiu (Central European University, Budapest), and Mónica Ann Walker Vadillo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid).