The Gallery of Romanian Old Art, or the Romanian Medieval Art Gallery, is part of the National Museum of Art in Bucharest. After the morning at The Village Museum, I arrive to discover a car show outside the gallery. They’re lovely old cars but I worry that the gallery is closed.
Seeing someone exit the door, I duck behind the cars and am ecstatic to find a gallery primarily dedicated to the medieval era. I plunge in. With only a couple of hours, I know I need to rush a little, but I also know it’ll be worth it.
Frescos
The exhibition containing the series of 35 preserved and stunning frescoes is entitled Beyond the Legend, Neagoe Basarab1.
The exhibition, conceived by the National Museum of Art, Romania, is an homage to the 500th anniversary of Neagoe Bararab’s death in 1521.
Basarab, a Wallacian voivode (Transylvanian governor and warlord), ruled from 1512 – 1521 and his works offer newfound insights into the artistic and cultural works of the era. It also offers the opportunity to acknowledge him as the author of The Teachings to his son Theodosius. In addition to this he was the creator of the Arges Monastery and a promoter of an unparalleled campaign of artistic patronage. Traces of this artistic patronage are still found throughout the world.
Early in the sixteenth century, Wallachia was a site of cultural transfers. Described as a “buffer between the Ottoman and Christian worlds”, it facilitated the mobility of people and goods as well as ideas. Neagoe Basarab began his reign in 1512 at this crossroad of these influences. Guided in political affairs by the ideology of the Byzantine emperors, he led a ‘Renaissance lifestyle’. Operating between Rome and Constantinople, via Venice and Budapest, his influence was wide reaching. When pressing political issues were being discussed, documented testimonies of his contemporaries provide a glimpse into the multicultural environment of the time.
Legacy
He created kaftans of sumptuous Venetian and Florentine velvets, liturgical silverware combining Gothic and Byzantine elements, and a foundation that defies any stylistic categorization: the Monastery of Curtea de Argeș2.
Curtea des Arges Monastery
The Monastery is the focus of the collection of icons and frescoes whereby the exhibition highlights the uniqueness of Wallacian art from this particular school at the beginning of the 16th century. This group of icons, either recently restored or being restored, has enabled recovery of the stylistic patterns of Basarab’s school. The spectacular setting of the exhibition revolves around the only surviving monumental icon of the monastic complex. These frescoes, which were installed by Neagoe Basarab between the columns of the Monastery’s church narthex, was a new way of representing the liturgical space. Later, Basarab’s own tombstone was laid at the Monastery (September 15, 1521).
Through his outstanding patronageactivity, Neagoe Basarab was the architect of an avant la lettre promotion campaign of Romanian cultural values. We owe to him the iconic image of the Curtes de Arges Monastery. For his patronage of the school of painting and the inspiration for the legendary master builder Manole, imparting an eternal value to the work and personality of the Wallachian prince.
Altarpiece
In 1542, Transylvania became an autonomous principality under Hungarian rule. This explains, at least partly, the diversity of religious denominations in the region with protestant Saxons, calvinist Hungarians and Eastern Orthodox Romanians.
The Smig Church Altarpiece (circa 1510) is typical of Saxon art in Romania. Commissioned by the Cantacuzino family, it is a notable infusion of Western decorative elements and Italian Baroque. The carved relief is by master woodcarver Istratie, who created this work for the nearby Cotroceni Monastery and an almost identical one for the Hurezi Monastery.
The altar’s iconostas are attributed to the same team of Cotroceni craftsmen. The icons are believed to have been made by the Greek painter Constantinos and his team.
The double headed eagle is the heraldic effigy of the voivode Serban Cantacuzino. This prince of the Wallacia (1678 – 1688) belonged to the family of the last of the Byzantine emperors.
Saint George
This beautiful representation of Saint George shows two of his miraculous interventions: the rescue of the princess threatened by the dragon and of the enslaved young man. The legend of the young Christian taken captive by the infidels was widespread in the Greek area, accurately illustrating the social realities of the time. Saint George and the dragon is a medieval variant on the theme of the Ruler defeating his Enemy.
In iconography, the chosen monarch takes an heroic stance. The figure lying underneath represents the enemy, most often in an awkward position and sometimes shackled or held down3.
The well known Romanian art collector, Anastase Simu bought this icon from Mount Athos (early 20th century).
Crucifixes
This Procession Cross by master Dosoftei, a monk at the Putna Monastery, dates to 1561. This 50cm high cross has three arms, symbolic of the Crucifixion cross, and is carved in low relief on both sides. It has a silver-mount, decorated filigree spiral vegetal motifs and a sphere in the silver handle symbolizing the globe.
Each side contains 16 miniature scenes which recount Jesus’ life and the Passions. Several more scenes representing local legends, anchor the cross in 16th century Moldavian religious practice.4
The collection contains many crucifixes, displayed with vivid and intricate detail (see above). This is a Table Cross, given by Serban Cantacuzino to the Cotroceni Monastery circa 1684. The following scenes, depicted on the main section of the crucifix are:
- 1. The having of the holiday
- 2. Baptism of the Lord
- 3. The birth of the Lord
- 4. The reception of the Lord
- 5. The healing of the skinny one from Vitezda
- 6. Change to the Face
- 7. The Resurrection of Lazarus
- 8. Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well
Iconostasis
The Cotroceni monastery, built by Prince Şerban Cantacuzino (1678 – 1688) during the early years of his reign was provided with ample, impressive, richly adorned iconostasis in the church that separated the altar from the nave. Preparation of the Eucharist takes place, hidden from view behind the iconostasis. Thus the 16th century tradition to synthetically and symbolically represent the history of divine revelation by pictorial rendition, perpetuates Christian mystery. The congregation contemplates the performance behind the screen.
The supporting wall, carved by a local workshop, shows the Tree of Jesse. From the reclining figure of Jesse at the centre of the lower decorative tier surmounting the Royal Doors, grows a vine whose foliage spreads and swirls covering the entire wall. It tells of Jesus’ lineage from the House of David. Constantinos, a master painter formed in the post-Byzantine tradition, created the icons. His painting relies on strong, vibrating contrasts of red, blue and green that emphasize the glittering light of gilded backgrounds.
In the lower part of the iconostasis, four large icons symmetrically frame the Royal Doors. The last to the right shows the ‘Dormition of the Mother of God’, the patron feast specifically celebrated at the Cotroceni church5.
Good To Know
The Gallery of Old Romanian Art within the National Museum of Art in Bucharest contains a wealth of local and regional artifacts of this era. The National Museum of Art features collections across three buildings (A, B and C). Choose a theme or prepare to spend all day here!
Open Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 10am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-7pm, closed Wednesday and Thursday. Refer to the website for more information.
Would I Return?
Yes.
- See https://mnar.ro/en/discover/temporary-exhibitions/366-beyond-the-legend-neagoe-basarab ↩︎
- See https://research.kent.ac.uk/emcentraleu/conference-sumptuous-costumes/ ↩︎
- See https://hubert-herald.nl/SaintGeorge.htm ↩︎
- https://mnar.ro/en/discover/permanent-galleries/115-the-romanian-medieval-art-gallery/discover-the-works-in-the-gallery-of-romanian-medieval-art ↩︎
- https://mnar.ro/en/discover/permanent-galleries/115-the-romanian-medieval-art-gallery/discover-the-works-in-the-gallery-of-romanian-medieval-art ↩︎