<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Despite the development of the iconographic programs, the frescoes painted by the Grecu brothers remind us not only of the large ensembles beyond the Carpathians in Walachia and Moldova but also other Transylvanian decorations. These frescoes express not only the spirit of the time or the mentality of the community to which they belonged, but they also represented an opportunity to show the painters’ originality and personality, their need for personal affirmation and artistic individuality, connected to a new sensitivity of a given historical context. The representation of the inhabiting nations in Transylvania in the Passion’s Cycle highlights the disadvantaged status of the Romanian people who were oppressed by the privileged nations: by the Habsburg military force, the inequitable judgement of Saxons and the torments inflicted by Hungarians through their policies. All of these recreate mutatis mutandis the dramatic setting in which Christ was crucified.</p></abstract>

Despite the development of the iconographic programs, the frescoes painted by the Grecu brothers remind us not only of the large ensembles beyond the Carpathians in Walachia and Moldova but also other Transylvanian decorations. These frescoes express not only the spirit of the time or the mentality of the community to which they belonged, but they also represented an opportunity to show the painters’ originality and personality, their need for personal affirmation and artistic individuality, connected to a new sensitivity of a given historical context. The representation of the inhabiting nations in Transylvania in the Passion’s Cycle highlights the disadvantaged status of the Romanian people who were oppressed by the privileged nations: by the Habsburg military force, the inequitable judgement of Saxons and the torments inflicted by Hungarians through their policies. All of these recreate mutatis mutandis the dramatic setting in which Christ was crucified.

The Ethnic Pluralism of the Nineteenth Century in Transylvania according to the Ecclesiastical Painting of the Grecu Brothers

Dragoş Boicu, PhD, Associated Member of the Research Centre for Theology, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, Romania. Adress. Str. Mitropoliei 20 550179 Sibiu, Romania

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Despite the development of the iconographic programs, the frescoes painted by the Grecu brothers remind us not only of the large ensembles beyond the...

The Ethnic Pluralism of the Nineteenth Century in Transylvania according to the Ecclesiastical Painting of the Grecu Brothers

Published Online: May 28, 2016

Page range: 56 - 75

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ress-2016-0004

Keywords
Transylvania, Church painting, Ecclesiastical art, folk art, Grecu brothers

© 2016 Dragoş Boicu, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Ethnic Pluralism of the Nineteenth Century in Transylvania according to the Ecclesiastical Painting of the Grecu Brothers

Published Online: May 28, 2016

Page range: 56 - 75

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ress-2016-0004

KeywordsTransylvania, Church painting, Ecclesiastical art, folk art, Grecu brothers

© 2016 Dragoş Boicu, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Transylvania, Church painting, Ecclesiastical art, folk art, Grecu brothers