Pictura murală maramureșeană. Meșteri zugravi și interferențe stilistice

Abstract

First published in 1982 by Meridiane Publishing House, Maramureș Mural Painting. Master Painters and Stylistic Interferences was the first substantial work dedicated to this subject in Romanian scholarly literature.

Through this volume, the author, art historian Anca Pop-Bratu, went beyond the limits of previous articles and studies concerning the interior painting of Maramureș wooden churches, synthesizing the defining characteristics of a little-known artistic tradition.

The present edition has been edited and annotated by art historian Dr. Ana Bârcă. The original text has been preserved in its entirety, with all additions placed alongside it.

The visual material has been completely renewed by photographer Dan Dinescu and enriched with landscape photography, images of the churches’ exterior architecture, and photographs from the surrounding areas, in order to convey the atmosphere of the region.

In addition, the new edition includes:

• an outline of the cultural geography of historical Maramureș;

• a presentation of the architecture of Maramureș wooden churches, including updated typological research and revised construction dating based on dendrochronological analysis;

• references to the current state of conservation;

• additions regarding painting techniques in relation to scientific restoration investigations;

• a presentation of the mural painting restoration programs.
  

Several decades have passed since the publication of Mrs. Anca Pop Bratu’s outstanding monograph dedicated to Maramureș Mural Painting. In the meantime, this chapter of old Romanian art—of authentic peasant art—received the highest recognition through the inclusion of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List.

To once again bring into the spotlight the admirable world of Maramureș painting throughout the 18th century and after 1800 is an intellectual and editorial endeavor of the highest order.

Academician Răzvan Theodorescu

Anca Bratu’s work represented a profound valorization of Maramureș art, while more recent publications—albums and monographs alike—have merely confirmed her contribution, adding only marginally to it.

Prof. Univ. Dr. Corina Popa

This book remains unique within Romanian scholarly literature through its presentation of the complete iconographic programs of the mural paintings in the Maramureș churches under analysis (graphic reconstructions and commentary), and through its demonstration of how the painters—emerging from the tradition of quasi-anonymous medieval craftsmanship and beginning to sign their works—either aligned themselves with the post-Byzantine tradition, embraced the Western Baroque style, or attempted a synthesis of the two approaches to sacred painting within these places of worship.

The additions contributed by Dr. Ana Bârcă, art historian and specialist in the art of Maramureș wooden churches, bring the work up to date after more than three decades since the publication of Anca (Pop) Bratu’s original volume. These additions not only supplement the bibliography that has appeared in the meantime, but also update the stylistic and visual analyses made possible through recent restoration campaigns, while adding new information regarding spiritual life, traditional community practices, and wooden architecture.

The republication of this book is an authentic act of culture—both original and essential for present and future research in the field.

Prof. Univ. Dr. Tereza Sinigalia

Anca Pop-Bratu set out—and succeeded—in bringing to light the signifying quality of Maramureș mural paintings, within whose programmatic and stylistic configuration one can easily identify the social and emotional patterns of the peasant communities from which they emerged.

Prof. Univ. Dr. Vasile Drăguț, in the preface to the first edition