Ukrainian Influences in the Evolution of the Iconostasis in the Romanian Churches of Transylvania (17th–19th Century)

Transylvania was at the confluence of various forms of artistic expression of the Orthodox confession. In the eighteenth century, artistic trends came both by the old routes – from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and across Habsburg Galicia, occasionally with a Moldavian detour – and from the Serbian milieu, which had adopted the Kyivan Baroque as a form of national artistic expression. Among the different trends, the Ruthenian-Ukrainian was the most constant. Romanian apprentices learned their craft from Ukrainian and Russian itinerant artists. As a result, the earlier walled iconostasis and its two symmetrical openings were replaced by new varieties, such as a third opening, royal doors, an added templon, and a three-dimensional structure. In some cases, the iconostasis wall was replaced altogether. Commissioners were rather poor. Thus, the Baroque features are mostly evident in paintings definitely altered by Ukrainian influences, both at the level of composition or iconography, and at the technical and stylistic levels

Baroque · Commonwealth · Craft · Romanian · Serbian · Ukrainian · Art History and Market Analysis · Central European and Russian historical studies · European Cultural and National Identity