ADRIAN-SILVAN IONESCU
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DANA JENEI
The Stag House. Early Modern Murals in Sighișoara / Shӓbburg / Segesvár

Abstract
The current essay has as starting point the author’s art historical study elaborated within the multidisciplinary research undertaken for the restoration of the house in 1992, published in an abridged form in 2013 and 2018 with the information updated, which is completed and corrected here. The Stag House is one of the most significant examples of the urban patrician residence in Renaissance Transylvania. Its most important phase of construction is dated by the inscription incised in the main beam of the wooden ceiling of the Hochparter corner room 3 IVN. / HR / 1602. The murals, preserved mainly in the upper vaulted Saal facing the square, have a compositional structure dictated by the architectural elements, while the colour-range, dominated by grey tones, with accents of vermillion, green and ochre, gives a general impression of a grisaille painting. The icono- graphical programme comprises portraits of uomini illustri in round medallions, including members of the House of Habsburg, emblems, themes from the Classical literature and the Old Testament, all inspired by early modern engravings from the last part of the sixteenth century.
After the fire of 1676, which destroyed three quarters of the buildings in Sighișoara, the Stag House was rehabilitated in 1693 by the mayor Michael Deli, its “owner, sustainer and founder”, as the inscription on the façade towards the square shows. In the following centuries, the residence arrived through matrimonial alliances in the possession of the members of two important families in the town: Kelp von Sternburg and Schech von Sternheim.
Keywords: Sighișoara, Transylvania, early modern murals, effigies, uomini illustri, Habsburg, emblems.

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SONIA D. ANDRAŞ
Fashioning a Debate: Fashion, Gender and Literature in Noblesse de Robe by Marthe Bibesco in Context

Abstract
This paper examines the echoes of Marthe Bibesco’s essay collection Noblesse de Robe between 1928 and 1929, included in the Princess’ notebook of clippings currently found at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, United States of America. The aim is to compare the book’s global influence post-publication with its absence from discussions on fashion and Princess Bibesco’s literary works. The Noblesse de Robe project began in Vogue Paris as a part of the Princesss monthly article series throughout 1927. The essays were gathered into a volume published in 1928 by Bernard Grasset in Paris. The study uses the clippings notebook as the basis for exploring how and why a book written by a prominent author and member of the international social elite was successful for a few years before being mostly overlooked in topical and biographical evaluations. The notebook thus represents the basis of an ever-growing body of primary materials connected to Noblesse de Robe, including reviews, mentions, full-text reproductions, and translations. This research analyses interwar primary sources using an inter- disciplinary, comparative approach based on cultural studies (fashion, media, gender), cultural and art history, discourse analysis, and semiotics.
Keywords: elegance, Parisian spirit, Parisienne, nobility, dress, interwar, Romania, France, couture.

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ALIKI TSIRGIALOU
Women Photographers in Greece during Interwar Period: the Case of Nelly’s

Abstract
The interwar period, which in Greece spans from the Asia Minor Catastrophe (1919–1922) to the Greco-Italian War (1940–1941), is characterized by intense political turmoil, economic upheaval and instability, and significant societal change with the arrival of thousands of refugees and the creation of new residential areas. Within this space and time, women, mainly thanks to the development of industry and reforms in the field of education, managed to escape from the private sphere and progress – even if under supervision – towards paid labor. The social position of women strengthened over time, with the result being that more and more women turned to work to ensure their own financial independence.
During this period, Greek photography evolved dynamically. Creative activity intensified, as Greek photographers trans- formed their images from static and faithful depictions of reality to daring, and sometimes radical, artistic innovations. The paper demonstrates the contribution of women photographers who lived and worked in the country’s capital such as Alice Dildilian, Ellie Papadimitriou, Maria Chroussachi and Voula Papaionnou focusing on the work of Elly Sougioultzoglou-Seraidari, known better under the professional name Nelly’s.
Having studied photography in Dresden, Germany, Nelly set up her photographic studio in a small apartment in Athens and with the characteristic tenacity along with her unrelenting work ethic, she attempted not only to establish herself but also to differentiate herself within the male-dominated environment of Greek photographic practice. She was the only Greek photographer of the interwar period who engaged with dance photography and studies of the nude form (female and male bodies), applying ideas and techniques she picked up during her studies with the established Hugo Erfurth and Franz Fiedler. During the course of her professional career in Athens from 1924 to 1939, Nelly’s carried herself with youthful enthusiasm and passion, following and adopting new technical and aesthetic developments in the field of photography while also continuously updating her thematic choices. Her large and diverse body of work combines boldness, a keen eye for detail, technical mastery, photographic astuteness and aesthetic certainty in perfect proportion.
Keywords: Greek photography, Women photographers, Nelly’s, Voula Papaioannou, Ellie Papadimitriou, Franz Fiedler, Alice Dildilian, Maria Chroussachi.

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OLIVIA NIŢIŞ
Art Politics and Memory. Renée Renard – Art and the Practice of Memory

Abstract
Contemporary art is an open resource of discourses that challenge preconceptions including the ones dealing with notions of history and memory. Renée Renard is an artist interested in the exploration of this topic in her on-going project began in 2012 and reflected by A Road as One Hundred Lives or faBrique. This paper addresses the meaningful contribution of a woman artist that is sensitive to the processes of restoring and conserving personal and local collective histories that intersect notions of archival work, archaeology, medical science, historiography.
This journalistic material has been realized through a grant Energie! Burse de Creație funded by the City of Timişoara, through the Center for Projects. The material does not necessarily represent the position of the Center for Projects and is not responsible for its content or the way in which it may be used.
Keywords: contemporary art, interdisciplinary practice, personal and collective archives, history, cultural memory.

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