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Romanian peasant icons have their important place in the history of the European art. Having major magical-religious significance in the past, today they kept mostly their decorative value.
In the churches the icons are placed according to the classical way of organizing the religious edifice.
Icons are also placed in the chapels, outside the villages, in the trees or near the wells.
The most important icons for the Romanian peasant’s life are those kept inside his house. They are usually placed on the Eastern wall or on the corner formed by the Eastern and Southern walls. Sometimes they are also placed on the stove, close to the hearth.
Icons Painted on Glass Support
Painting on glass support has spread in Transylvania and Northern Moldavia as a folk handcraft beginning with the second half of the 17th century.
The orthodox icons painted on glass support, of Byzantine tradition, had a large circulation in Transylvania, where they quickly replaced the ones painted on wood support, came from Walachia, Moldavia and the Athos Mountain. The reasons for this quick propagation can be found in the easy to understand symbols, but also in their smaller price.
The icons painted on glass support can be seldom found in Walachia and even then, they are taken from Transylvania.
The Transylvanian icons are appreciated for their decorative composition, for their shining colors, for their themes and for their folk elements.
The drawing, generally naïve, is made on the back of the glass support, by means of the paper models. The underlying lines are traced with a very thin, soft-haired brush or with goose feathers (steel pens are also used). After having been traced the contour, the empty surfaces are colored.
The anatomy and perspective rules are rarely respected. The main elements are the colors which, remaining under the glass, obtain a brightness which animates the entire scene.
The painters obtain colors by different means, thus conferring a special transparence to the icon. Gold leaves are also used for representing the halo. The colors are intense: red, orange, black, dark blue, silver, gold. The mauve and the brown can rarely be found.
After the color dries, the icon is graced with turpentine, for resisting the humidity.
The Virgin Mary’s face and scenes from Her life can be found among the themes of the first icons on glass support .
As the icons spread, their themes were more and more diverse. The protective saints are mostly represented: St. Ilie (who protects peasants from storms and thunders) in the agricultural areas, St. Haralamb (the one who killed the plague), who protects peasants from illness and wars, St. George, who protects peasants’ assets, St. John, protector of vines and harvests, St. Nicholas, who brings good luck, St. Stelian, the little children’s protector etc. Nevertheless, the most icons represent Virgin Mary, mourning Her son Jesus, who is represented in a corner of the icon, crucified.
Another common theme, of Western origin, shows Jesus with a grape vine rising from His body or the birth scene.
The judgment day seldom appears and is intended to make the people have a moral life, according to the principles of the Christian religion.
The inspiration sources (the wall paintings and the icons from the village churches) have conferred an unique character to the Romanian glass painting.
In Transylvania there were several centers where icons on glass support were produced (Nicula, in the Apuseni Mountains, the center from Scheii Brasovului, the one from Sibiu etc.). The painters had different manners of working and they took their icons in Moldavia and Walachia for selling.
The icons painted on glass support are a very important element of decoration in the Transylvanian houses. There can be found 10-30 in every house and are placed either on two of the walls of the room, either between windows or on the pegs.
Icons Painted on Wood Support
The oldest and most common icons were painted on wood support. Made by peasant painters or by the painters in the monasteries, these are mostly found in Moldavia and Walachia.
Unlike the icons painted on glass support, these icons, being painted on wood, seem to be more discrete. They haven’t the brightness that glass confers, but this doesn’t mean they’re less valuable. Moreover, in their case, the painter doesn’t use paper models. Even if he uses the descriptions from “erminii” (books that contain instructions for religious painting), he paints freely.
The scenes are painted on a wood known for resisting time. The icons painted on wood support borrow themes from the usual art, but simplier represented. The charm of these icons consists precisely in their naïve character. The main saints who are painted are the protective saints. We can also find Jesus, Virgin Mary and the birth scene.
The icons were placed on the Eastern wall of the bedroom and of the “clean” room. A bunch of basil was placed near them and a “stergar” was put above.
In Northern Moldavia, where Transylvanian influences existed, the number of icons from the house is greater – 4-5 in a room. These are placed one near the other, on the two walls near the “lavite”. The background of the Moldavian wood painted icons has stars, reminding the embroideries and paintings of the Romanian Middle Age. | |
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