Abstract. The two distinct ensembles of mural paintings of the church, from the nave and sanctuary have permanently been in the attention of the researchers, but their study cannot be considered completed, because thorough parament studies and archaeological investigations, indispensable to clarify the phases of the monument, have not yet been achieved. However, the research works in the years 2001-2002 and 2013 brought to light new data that substantially enrich the information and contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of the monument.
In 2001, the investigations showed, among others, that except the frescoes on the north, there are no other painted zones inside the nave, while in 2013 the restorers have revealed the existence of the register VI of paintings on the pillars, which mostly are under the lime. The art historian’s research contributes with the identification of several scenes and details unknown so far, such as the figures of Saints James, Sebastian, Anthony and Peter, or the jesters next to Herod and Pilate in the Christological Cycle. There was also detected the contribution of three distinct teams who have worked, “soon after 1350”. The paintings in the nave illustrate, along with the ensemble in the sanctuary, the various artistic trends subsumed to the Gothic painting from the fourteenth century and due to the munificence of successive generations of the noble family Apa, lords at Mălâncrav since 1258. The graffiti on the painted surface of the apse, transcribed by Victor Roth in several versions, contains the year 1404/1405, considered as a terminus ante quem for the achievement of the painting, and the name Nicolaus, the most important representative of the family and the presumptive donor of the paintings. Gernot Nussbächer “shows” that the inscription is not of “Hic fuit” type and the script is a few decades later, presumably recording an event that took place that year.
The obvious difference of the architectonic and spatial expression between the basilica and the Gothic choir decorated in the elaborated forms of “international style” was highlighted by the researchers and Vasile Drăguț’s theory concerning the rebuilding of the sanctuary in the late fourteenth century remains relevant, being sustained by our observation on the different heights of the dados, lower in the choir than in the church, as well as the compaction of masonry on the north, hidden by the first buttress.
The scientific investigations from 2001–2002 also showed that a “Baroque restoration” or other repaintings in the choir ensemble didn’t exist, while the most important information after removing the lime in 2013 is related to the identification of certain figures, such as “Johel Propheta” and, in the newly stripped area, St. Elizabeth of Thuringia. Near the right margin of the Crucifixion appeared the damaged fragments of the Laying into the Tomb and, hypothetically, the figure of the donor.

VLAD BEDROS

«Approchez avec crainte de Dieu, foi et amour» : le programme iconographique de la travée occidentale de l’abside en Moldavie (XV^e – XVI^e siècles)

Abstract. This paper, informed by an inventory of the apse iconography in Moldavian monuments from the late 15th to the first half of the 16th century, draws attention to an overlooked element of the otherwise familiar iconographic system employed – with occasional nuances – within the Post-Byzantine tradition in the aftermath of the Alosis: the selection of themes to be displayed in the bay which links the apse to the naos. The arrangements encountered in monuments dating from (approx.) 1490 to 1535 put forward a variety of formulas which – although described in a sequence that deliberately emphasizes the similarities which came across – are nonetheless indicative of a broad and not necessarily fluent use of the late Byzantine tradition. It seems that the basic message conveyed by these iconographic boundaries aims at stressing the holiness of the sanctuary (involving a separation from the iconography of the naos, in the cases of Probota and Saint-Georges in Suceava) but also, in a manner which could be informed by the late Byzantine perception of the liturgy – as deduced from the writings of Nicolas Cabasilas and St. Simeon of Thessaloniki –, at joining together naos and apse, via ‘iconographic belts’ (most frequently the Passion cycle, which sets out from and ends up in the sanctuary). The abundance of theophanic themes invites one to consider this iconographic thresholds in relation with the receiving of Communion, administered on the solea which lies underneath.
Keywords: Moldavia, 15th and 16th century, iconography, liturgy.

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ADRIAN-SILVAN IONESCU

Le portrait d’enfants - entre statut social et art photographique 

Abstract. Special attention was offered to the infantile portrait in the 19th century studio photography. This was also the most difficult to make because of the agility or timidity of the models. The photographer must have shown good parenting skills and a lot of diplomacy – and, why not, cleverness – to convince the little model to stand still for a few seconds while the photograph was taken.
Without too much alienation from the standards of the studio portrait, the photographer used to give vent to the fantasy when the client was a child. In many cases many pieces of photographic art were made this way and after many years still represent the impersonation of the childhood that is long gone.
Keywords: photography, wet collodion, children, fashion.

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DOINA LEMNY

Modigliani : l’expérience de la sculpture auprès de Brancusi

Résumé. En 1906, Modigliani va à Paris avec, dans ses bagages, une vaste culture littéraire et philosophique. Il y fait la connaissance, parmi d’autres, du docteur Paul Alexandre, son futur mécène, qui l’introduit à Brancusi, installé ici depuis 1904. Modigliani qui complétait ses revenus avec ses dessins et ses peintures, décide de se mettre à la sculpture, ce qui le rapproche davantage à Brancusi. De cette période datent plusieurs dessins représentant le portrait de Brancusi, dont celui où le sculpteur joue de la contrebasse. A l’époque où Brancusi travaillait à la simplification des formes, Modigliani s’approprie en sculpture le portrait unique, synthèse des figures égyptiennes, africaines, khmères. A l’aide de Brancusi, il expose au Salon des indépendants (1911) et, en 1913, il décide de partir à Carrare pour tenter une dernière communion avec la matière sculpturale. Il ne fait pas carrière en sculpture, car on lui reproche souvent l’influence brancusienne et, heureusement, il revient à la peinture. Mais l’amitié entre les deux reste pour toujours.
Keywords : Brancusi ; Paul Alexandre ; art africain ; cariatides ; salon des indépendants.

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ELENA DUMITRESCU

The Ecorché by Brancusi and Gerota. Artistic Creation and Anatomic Science 

Abstract. The paper aims to shortly retrace the history of the Écorché made by Constantin Brancuşi as a school project in 1901, while he was still a student at the art school in Bucharest. Brancuşi completed it in two years with the support and guidance of his anatomy professor, Dimitrie Gerota, with whom the artist actually shared the authorship of the artwork. It was the first such project ever made in Romania, so it was important for both, student and teacher, that it would be well received by the Academia and the art scene. Created at the beginning of the last century, the Écorché was a very modern and advanced idea, its making requiring high-level skills, unusual and unprecedented, not only for an art school graduate, but even for the entire scene of Romanian sculpture. The work was regarded as a masterpiece, and appreciated as an essential stage in the ensamble of Brancuşi’s oeuvre. The paper presents a summary of the analysis of the Écorché and the copies made by Brancuşi at the time.
Keywords: Brâncuși, Gerota, sculpture, anatomy, model, original, copy.

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NOTES ET DOCUMENTS 

ECATERINA CINCHEZA BUCULEI

Sucevița - l’iconographie du premier synode œcuménique 

Abstract. The very special manner in which the First Ecumenical Council was reproduced at Suceviţa – the presence of Empress Elena next to Constantine and their association with the cross between them, The Vision of St. Peter from Alexandria, the moment when Arius was spanked by St. Nicholas who holds his beard and the unique episode of Arius’death in a public latrine as a result of his unbelief – reflects on one hand, the connection of the Council with the Liturgy and with the Trinity dogma and, on the other hand, they emphasize the victory of the true faith defended at Nicaea. It was the confession of this faith that brought the sacrifice of the Saints from the Menology, an amply painted theme on all walls of the narthex.
Keywords: Suceviţa, Ecumenical Council, Arius, narthex. 

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MARINA SABADOS

Un panagiaire peint de Moldavie (1613) 

Abstract. The topic of the paper is an unusual panagiarion, having belonged to a private collection from Piatra Neamţ (Neamţ County) two decades ago. Its aspect differs from the well known panagiaria, formed of two little plates carved in wood, bone, ivory or even nacre, and covered in gilded silver, as well as engraved in silver or gilded silver. The panagiarion in question is a single plate, considerable bigger than usual (22.5 cm in diameter), which is painted, fact rather infrequent in the field. At first sight, the iconography of this panagiarion – i.e. the Virgin Blachernitissa, a traditional theme for the Byzantine panagiaria – could have been a common theme for the medieval Romanian items, but the existence of the tetramorph representation refers to a Russian tradition of the 15th century. The liturgical inscription around the panagiarion from Piatra Neamţ reproduces the second part of the Axion Hymn, ‘It is very meet to bless Thee’, which is attached to all the Virgin Blachernitissa representations on panagiaria, in relation with its ecclesiastical function. 
The donation inscription in Old Slavonic, being placed on two sides of the second rhomb in the background, in which the Virgin is inscribed, provides the name of the donor – a none whose name, unfortunately partially preserved, remains unknown –, and the date of the donation: 9th of June 7121 (1613).
Keywords: panagiarion, Virgin Blachernitissa, Great Panagia, Axion Hymn, Romanian icon painting, 16th century. 

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CHRONIQUE ET VIE SCIENTIFIQUE

Session annuelle du département d’art médiéval de l’Institut d’Histoire de l’Art «G.Oprescu» de Bucarest : Nouvelles données dans la recherche de l’art médiéval de Roumanie, XI^e édition, 11-12 décembre 2014  (Département.d’art médiéval), p. 147 

Voyage d’études à Sofia, 19-25 juillet 2015 (Adrian-Silvan Ionescu, Virginia Barbu, Marian Ţuţui), p. 155

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COMPTES RENDUS

PAUL DIN ALEP, Jurnal de călătorie în Moldova şi Valahia (compte rendu par Tereza Sinigalia), p. 161 

150 de ani de învăţământ artistic naţional (compte rendu par Mihnea Alexandru Mihail), p. 162

IRINA GENOVA, Modern Art in Bulgaria : First Histories and Present Narratives Beyond the Paradigm of Modernity (compte rendu par Virginia Barbu), p. 164

ADRIAN-SILVAN IONESCU, Războiul cel Mare. Fotografia pe frontul românesc 1916-1919  (compte rendu par Alin Ciupală), p. 165

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IN MEMORIAM 

ALEKSANDĂR IANAKIEV 
(Auteur: Adrian-Silvan Ionescu)

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