| The Church of Sucevita Monastery |
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CASE STUDY 2664
General Data
In the north-east side of Romania, on the Suceava1 plateau, the Church of Suceviţa Monastery has been for more than four centuries a testimony of Christian beliefs, aesthetic sense and love for beauty. Founded by the powerful Movilă2 family, the Suceviţa ensemble had been conceived as a place of prayer and a royal court, gathering in the same location buildings with different functions: the church, the royal house, watching towers, cells and household annexes, the steeple, high and massive walls for protection with crenels and abutments.
The church, placed in the centre of the interior courtyard, has an elongated triconch plan with an altar, a diaconicon and a prothesis on each side of it, a nave with large lateral apses, a narthex and an exonartex. Specific to the Moldavian architecture, between the nave and the narthex, there is a grave room where the church’s founders, the princes Ieremia Movilă and Simeon Movilă are buried. This room has a small door and a small spiral stairway to the vault, where valuable objects were kept. The church has entrances on the north and the south sides, through two small opened porches communicating with the exonartex. All the rooms are separated by thick walls, with access through stone framed portals. As a whole, the church appears lean and imposing. The massive walls, thicker than 1.5 meters, are sustained by seven big abutments. The roof is individualized by architectural elements that can be roughly identified from the exterior. All the rooms are adorned with mural paintings in the Byzantine style continued on the exterior walls as an impressive polychrome garment. Protected by the constructions and the high walls3, with a constant monastic life, the Church of the Suceviţa Monastery retains almost all the original painting. The painting: dating and iconographic information In the absence of precise documents from that time, art historians have dated the painting based on the representation of the Ieremia Movilă’s family in the votive picture in the nave, the west and north walls. According to this, the painting4 was done between the years 1595-15965 or 16016. In a short presentation of the exterior iconographic program, on the south facade, we see the ample representations of The Akathist Hymn and of The Tree of Jesse, continued to the altar’s apse with The Prayer of All Saints and on the north facade with The Ladder of Divine Ascent and scenes inspired by The Genesis. On the west facade and on a small portion of the north one, the walls remained uncovered with paintings. A possible explanation for this could be the political instability of the country during that period. The two porches with a painting anterior to the one on the church7 are decorated differently - at the level of the north porch, on the superior area, there are friezes with alternating zoomorphic elements and imitations of brick laying8; the south porch is painted with apocalyptical scenes9.
In the interior, in the altar, there are scenes dedicated to Virgin Mary or related to the religious rituals such as The Holy Eucharist, representations of Hierarchs, and scenes from The Genesis that continue in the navel on both apses, at the level of the inferior register. In the nave’s spire, starting at the calotte, is represented The Pantocrator; the picture continues on the inferior plane with the seraphic hierarchy represented by the cherubs and seraphs, angels, prophets and The Seraphic Mass positioned at the base of the spire. On the walls of the nave, from south to north, are displayed the cycles of The Miracles done by The Savior and the one of His Passion. On the inferior area of the west wall there are two votive paintings illustrating the founders of the monastery, the prince Ieremia Movilă and his family and the Metropolitan Bishop Gheorghe Movilă. In the grave room we can see scenes from the Old Testament, and in the narthex, beside the life of Saint Nicholas and Saint George on the inferior registrar, the Synaxarium is represented. The east wall of the exonarthex is reserved to The Doomsday, while the other walls display illustrations from the life of the saints. Inside the scenes are small, with miniature representations, rich in theological significations and iconographical symbols.
Currently undergoing a wide restoration process, this painting offers new data to the restorers and scientists, very important to the knowledge of the work techniques, the used materials10, the iconography, and the different degradation types, imposing also the search for optimal solutions, in order to preserve all the information and to hand it over to the next generations.
Technical Data
The execution technique is a fresco11 with intonaco12 based on lime and addition of tow, applied carefully on the massive wall structure13. From the pigments used for the mural painting of this church we recount the earthen green and the malachite green, yellow ochre, red ochre, charcoal black, lime white, red lead and cinnabar red14. The blue used is smalt, apigment used al fresco on the garments and the decorative elements, and secco on the sky background. The application on dry of the smalt blue pigment is visible, because during the application the painters avoided the characters, the text and the stars already existing at that moment. In the mural painting of Suceviţa the gold was used abundantly on the aureoles, garments, decorative elements, the stars on the sky, which gives a precious appearance to the ensemble.
From left to right: Image 1. Panoramic image. The ensemble of the Suceviţa Monastery; Image 2. The Church of Suceviţa Monastery. South-east view; Image 3. Narthex, west wall. Image after the intervention of conservation-restoration; Image 4. Narthex, north apse, splay of the west window. Scene from the Passion of the Christ.
The exterior mural painting
The conservation state and interventions The restoration of the painting had started in 1989, with emergency interventions done on the exterior mural painting. Permanently exposed to an intense degradation process, favoured by the differences in temperatures, contraction due to the freezing melting process, humidity and the air circulation, the painting suffered accentuated degradations. The advanced process of losing the cohesion and the adherence of the colour layer on the support, process that is visible in the grazing light, was stopped through the restoration intervention performed by a team coordinated by Tatiana Pogonat and Oliviu Boldura, restorers experienced in interventions upon exterior mural paintings in this region15. At the same time there were performed interventions for consolidating the support layer needed especially in the area of the inferior registers and on the spire - filling of the gaps in the support layer, treatments to stop and prevent the development of the biological agents, and other operations determined by the local characteristics.
The interior mural painting
The conservation state If we take into consideration the age of the picture, we can say that it was very well preserved. The surfaces, from the ensemble to the detail, suffered small transformations or losses. On a critic analyze, it can be noticed that there are multiple degradations at the level of the colour and support layer. So, starting from deep to the surface, we remark that at the level of the masonry structure there are cracks especially in the church’s axe, cracks that affected the mural painting from the adjacent area16 through dislocation and detachment. Beside these areas, we come across losses of the adherence of the support layer to the wall, on smaller areas though, in other zones of the church, localized especially on the arches and in the inferior parts of the openings and also at the level of the inferior register. Locally, on the spots with persistent capillary humidity, losses of the cohesion of the support layer can be observed. Other noticeable degradations at the level of the mural painting in the area of the inferior registers are produced by the furniture, frequently represented by the lecterns, that through regular friction have produced deep erosions or gaps at the level of the colour and the support. On the same register numerous graffiti mentioning different years and names of the travelers17 can be identified. There are other specific degradations of the colour layer. On the surface of the painting we can see variable quantities of adherent and non adherent deposits, accumulations of saline efflorescence and wax from the candles18, different developing forms of biological agents. All of these are super positioned on a layer of colour marked multiple times on large surfaces of accentuated losses of the cohesion and adherence to the support. We can also see alterations of the pigments, the most evident being the transformation of the smalt blue from an intense blue nuance into different faded nuances to almost brown white with chalk appearance19 and the surface modification of the cinnabar red pigment into brown and black20. Methodological aspects On the interior, the problems caused by the stabilization of the colour layer are more difficult to deal with due to the loading of the surface with accumulations and deposits. For this reason, it is necessary first to perform cleaning through physical - chemical methods, alternating with mechanical ways, dry and wet, operation performed with a lot of prudence. After the rehabilitation of the adhesion of the colour layer at the support, treatments are applied for the stabilization of the cohesion, using barium hydroxide. This intervention is done after a methodology experimented and taken from Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence and applied at the restoration site at the Church of the Probota Monastery, during an UNESCO restoration program. Using this treatment the connections between pigments are rebuilt and the stabilization of the sulphate ion at the level of the support layer is also obtained, avoiding this way the risk of its reappearance on the surface of the colour layer. For this reason, this mineral treatment is recommended for the conservation of the mural pictures at Suceviţa where, according to the lab tests, the lime used for the intonaco layer is rich in sulphates. For the areas where the presence of the nitrates was identified, ammonium oxalate was used. The interventions at the level of the support layer are done in a specific and particularized manner, depending on the existent problems on each surface. The treatment performed against the development of the biological agents is performed by applying in steps solutions based on quaternary ammonium salts, prescribed by the biologist on the basis of the lab tests. Regarding the aesthetic presentation of the gaps, the aesthetic option is that of an intervention which is minim and recognizable, according to the principles enounced by Cesare Brandi. Therefore, the gaps and the erosions of the colour layer are considerably attenuated with a neutral grey reported to the original, which gives continuity to the iconographic discourse. The small integrable gaps and the cracks of the support layer are patched at the level and chromatically integrated in the tratteggio technique. The extensive gaps of the support layer or the ones with a historical significance21, are patched under the level of the colour layer, being given an adequate texture and tonality. This way all the elements inherited from the predecessors are preserved unaltered, the original painting being well emphasized. Organisation of the site Started immediately after the end of the exterior intervention, the works of conservation–restoration are continuing22.
The working period, meaning the warm season23, is restrained because of the low temperatures during the rest of the year24, which make the interventions impossible from more reasons: a good conservation of the mural surface, the efficiency of the interventions and the capacity of the restorers to perform their activities.
The coordinator of the activities is Professor Oliviu Boldura PhD, an expert in restoration, who assures the valuing and the unaltered transmission of the painting to the next generations, together with other restorers, specialists or future specialists25.
From felt to right: Image 5. Narthex, north apse, splay of the east window. Scene from the Passion of the Christ; Image 6. Exterior, altar apse. Image revealing the state of conservation of the painting before the intervention; Image 7. Narthex, semicupola of the south apse. Intervention; the cleaning of the surface; Image 8. Detail. Chromatic integration by neutral grey reported to the original; Image 9. Narthex, semicupola of the south apse. Cleaning of the surface, comparative image; Image 10. During the conservation of the mural painting works.
Notes:
1. The area is also known by the name of Bucovina, received during the domination of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century.
2. The Movilă family was one of the most important families of boyars in Moldova in the 16th century; from its members rising numerous princes or important personalities in the history of Romania and not only. Without getting into details about the genealogical ties of this family with the royal courts of different countries, it may be mentioned that Ieremia Movilă was the prince of Moldova (1595–1606), his brother Simeon Movilă, was the prince of Walachia (1600-1602) and Moldova, Gheorghe Movilă (1588–1591; 1595-1605) was a Metropolitan Bishop of Moldova and Petru Movilă (1633-1646) was a Metropolitan Bishop of Kiev. 3. For the other monument churches of North Moldova (the Church of Voroneţ Monastery, the Church of Moldoviţa Monastery, the Church of the Humor Monastery and the Arbore Church), also with mural exterior painting, the absence of the surrounding walls led to the loss of the mural painting especially on the north facade, in the predominant way of the winds. 4. The principal evidence of the art historians is the representation in the votive picture of the ruler’s children. Due to the painter’s practice at that time, the church was painted starting with the altar towards the exterior, fact which allows the approximation of the moment when the votive painting was made and thus, the period of creation. 5. Victor Brătulescu, Pictura Suceviţei şi datarea ei (The painting of Suceviţa and its dating), in “Movileştii, Istorie şi spiritualitate românească”, Publisher: Muşatinii, 2006, pg. 219-242, republished article. 6. Sorin Ulea, Datarea ansamblului de pictura de la Suceviţa (The dating of the Painting ensemble of Suceviţa), Publisher: Axa Botoşani, 2006, pg. 3-31, republished article. 7. Oliviu Boldura, Evoluţia în timp a ansamblului mural de la Suceviţa. Aspecte tehnologice şi modificări estetice (The Evolution in Time of the Mural Ensemble of Suceviţa. Technological Aspects and Aesthetic Modifications), article to be published in the text review “Movileştii. Istorie şi spiritualitate româneasca” („The Movilă Family. Romanian History and Spirituality”), Muşatinii ed. Suceviţa, 2007, 3rd volume. 8. This kind of decoration of the exteriors is seen very often at the churches in Oltenia, a region in the south of Romania. 9. Representations with stylistic and iconographic influence from the western countries. 10. All the information presented in this material about the nature of the pigments or the composition of the support layer are taken over from the analysis bulletins of CERECS ART company – the executioner of the conservation restoration work, analyses performed by the chemist engineer Ioan Istudor. 11. The execution technique is identified based on the technological elements: incisions, compass traces, polishing on the form with local returns, the presence of the clocking and the giornatas. 12. Depending on the differences of level of the wall structure, locally, before the application of the intonaco layer, it was also identified another intermediate arriccio layer, with an equalization function. 13. For building of the masonry structure stones were used on the vertical walls and bricks on the arches. 14. To remark the painters’ knowledge of the sensibility of the pigments in different environmental conditions, which forced them to replace the cinnabar red used abundantly on the interior, with ochre red on the exterior. This way its transformation into the black metacinnabar due to the exposure to the solar light was avoided. 15. From the churches with exterior painting, upon which were performed conservation-restoration interventions to that date, we recall The Church of the Voroneţ Monastery, the “St. George” Church in Suceava, the Pătrăuţi Church. 16. The evolution of these cracks was stopped during the interventions done in the second half of last century, when at the superior part of the church was cast a ferro-concrete perimeter belt for resistance. As a result of this intervention, there haven’t been noticed variations of the cracks on either of the witness applied transversally on them. 17. Many graffiti can be noticed on the northern porch and the exonarthex. 18. The most quantities of adherent and non adherent deposits, especially smoke from the candles burned and also wax were identified in the altar, where the religious ritual takes place. 19. The alteration is visible in different forms on almost all the mural surfaces in the altar, nave and the chamber of graves and partially (especially on the superior areas) in the narthex and exonarthex. In the altered form, the smalt blue pigment is very decohesive, its preservation rising big problems. 20. Chromatic modification of the cinnabar red pigment can be noticed on the areas close to the windows, where it is exposed to the solar light. 21. The tracks left by the old iconostasis in the mural painting, which are visible in the altar after the addition of a new iconostasis. 22. The work in the nave and the altar are almost finalized. 23. The months in which the work is possible are June-October, with some variations imposed by the climacteric conditions. 24. The church is not provided with any kind of heating. 25. Besides the specialists, on this worksite many generations of conservators were trained among the years. Together with the Romanian students were also practicing students from Poland, Italy of Japan. About the author:
Anca Dină
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