So there

My ever skeptical father decided to give me a 'pop quiz' on my research thus far. Apparently visits to a rural Romanian village do not count as a productive use of my time here. But let's be honest, those peasant stories and photos are entertaining, and no one is going to read to the end of this post. May I brag and say that I answered the list of questions he has posed here (all of the question marks are his, unless I specify otherwise) from memory. I actually HAVE been doing a thing or two around here.

Over how big a geographic area are the painted monestaries distributed? Are they only in Romania? The painted monasteries are only in Romania. They are located in an area of Moldavia known as Bucovina.
Why were the monasteries built? The painted monasteries were built by Prince Stefan cel Mare, and commissioned to be painted by his successor, Petru Rares. They were built by Stefan cel Mare to celebrate his victories over the Ottomans who had already taken over Wallachia and were breathing down Moldavia's neck, and te Western world refused to help, which is why the Turks stormed the gates of Vienna in later centuries. Who paid to have them built? Stefan cel Mare, and his successors and their boyars (noblemen) What was their objective? To celebrate and commemorate the victories of the Moldavians against the Turks, and to serve as burial places for noblemen and their families.

Were churches built at the same time in the region? Yes, they were all built within a century or less (Voronet, 1488; Sucevita, arguably considered the most fantastic of the churches, in 1580s, commissioned by the Mohila brothers) If so, is the architecture similar? The architecture is uncannily similar. This is why I am pursuing a look into the architecture rather than the paintings, because I am wondering about the state of Christianity in Moldavia at the time that brought about such a unique form of architecture. I am also curious why the architecture endured with so little change for such a long time. I suspect the tradition that Stefan cel Mare started would have been honored by generations to come, since admiration for that prince reaches religious fervor (literally, he is a saint in the Romanian Orthodox church).

How big are they? They are not huge by Western church/cathedeal standards. What is striking about them is their proportions, the long, tall, but narrow proportions they take. How many rooms do they have? The most basic have a narthex, a nave, and the altar. As the architecture develops, a tomb room is placed between narthex and nave. Also, the first outdoor exonarthex was developed in this form of church architecture. The length and narrowness of the churches is, again, the most defining factor of the church architecture, aside from the trefoil apses.

Who lived in the monasteries? Monks live in monasteries. What was their mission? They followed the rule of their order. I do need to look up, what rule did these monks follow? What role did they play in village life? The monasteries are all located rurally, but near villages, and would have been open to villagers. They also are fortified, and served as forts during attacks. How were they supported? Noblemen or princes. Though I need to see if that is it.

Were services held for the public or were these breweries and frathouses for the clergy? Need to look up more precisely. I have read at each monastery that the public was invited to services, but I don't think they would have all fit into the church, so they stood outside.

Were they all built by the same craftsmen or were they spontaneously built by different groups of tradesmen? Same craftsmen. Under Stefan cel Mare, the various military preparations resulted in numerous forts being built or re-built, so the craftsmanship at the time was well developed. German and Polish masons were invited to build the churches. Stefan cel Mare guided the initial building of churches, so he directed the initiative. He built dozens of churches in his reign, and his noblemen and successors contributed as well, mainly to build a church for them to be buried in. How are they similar or different? Uncannily similar. A few (very few) do not include a trefoil plan or a tower.

Were there blueprints or some kind of theme they were to follow? Don't know about blueprints, but the plan was to build replicas all over the Bukovina area.
Why were they painted and not decorated with stonework like other church buildings in western Europe? Theories about their exterior painting are generally along the lines of: paintings are used to educate the illiterate peasant. There must be more to this. I wonder if they were painted on the outside because their small size didn't allow for most peasants to get into the churches during a service, so the paintings were something to look at while the service was being carried out. Also, I have just thought of this right now, perhaps they were painted as an inspiration to those who were stuck inside the monastery walls during an attack. A lot of the images depict Biblical victories, and any time there is a Judgement Day depicted, the Ottomans are on the side of the damned. Were there no stone quarries nearby? Huge stone quarries in Transylvania, possibly Moldavia, too. Off the top of my head, the Carpathians would have provided building material, though I wonder exactly where they got the rocks from? There is some exterior stonework done on some of the earlier churches, for example, Sf. Treime, a late 14th century church that I am currently researching, that does include patterns and brickwork in its walls rather than painting.
How did the paint last so long or were they retouched over the years? The paintings have lasted this long due to the technique of paint-making. This is actually a fascinating field for current chemical analysts looking at the paints, because even modern technology has not been able to reproduce the pigmentation. Some of the paintings are being touched up in modern restoration efforts, but for hundreds of years, these paintings survived.
Are there examples of artwork from the time period that seem similar to the works on the Monastery walls? The same Byzantine types are seen on funeral tapestries that were commissioned for the nobility. Other artwork..? I don't know, but I would suspect that the churches represent the pinnacle of artistic achievement at this time.

Were the artist local? Were they commissioned to paint specific themes or did they do what they felt like doing? The icon painters were probably the monks themselves. They may have been led by a traveling icon painting master, as nobility and religious figures were fleeing Constantinople and settling in various Byzantine lands. Nicolae Iorga discusses this Greek diaspora at length in "Byzantium after Byzantium"
Are there any art museums in the city? Can you find artworks that parallel the paintings on the monastery walls? Will look.

I'll be giving pop quizzes over the next few weeks so you better get busy.

Love,

Mean Dad