Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories
                    - Games 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Research>Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts>Research Projects>Members' Research Report Archive>Alice Isabella Sullivan, 2015-2016

About Fellowships

Senior Fellowships

Visiting Senior Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Center/YCBA Postdoctoral Fellowships

Predoctoral Dissertation Fellowships

Center Members

Members’ Presentations

Former Members

Members’ Research Reports, 2011–2018

About Center Meetings

Recent & Upcoming Meetings

A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts

Wyeth Foundation for American Art Programs

Sydney J. Freedberg Lectures on Italian Art

Research at the Center

The Index of American Design

History of Early American Landscape Design

The History of the Accademia di San Luca, c. 1590–1635

About the Center Publications

Recent & Upcoming Publications

Reflections on the Collection: The Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professors at the National Gallery of Art

Studies in the History of Art

Seminar Papers

*Center Report*

From the *Bulletin*

Research Publications

Special Publications

National Gallery of Art Shop

# Members' Research Report Archive

***The Painted Fortified Monastic Churches of Moldavia: Bastions of Orthodoxy in a Post-Byzantine World***

**Alice Isabella Sullivan **[University of Michigan]Twelve-Month Chester Dale Fellow, 2015–2016

Moldoviţa monastery, Moldavia, founded 1532, painted 1537, view from the southeast, 2012. Author photograph

Following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the principality of Moldavia—today within the borders of northeastern Romania and the Republic of Moldova—emerged as a Christian frontier at the crossroads of western European, Slavic-Byzantine, and Ottoman cultures. From the second half of the fifteenth century onward, this marginal region of the Byzantine Empire took on a central role in the continuation and refashioning of Byzantine artistic traditions. Continual contacts with diverse cultures also resulted in the local assimilation of select elements from distinct visual traditions, often with surprising results. This eclecticism is most evident in the fortified Orthodox monastic churches (or *katholika*) of Moldavia, built initially under the patronage of Stephen the Great (r. 1457–1504) and subsequently under the guidance of his illegitimate son, Peter Rareş (r. 1527–1538; 1541–1546). My research focuses on the Moldavian corpus of ecclesiastical monuments as it considers the ways in which critical historical moments found visual articulation in the late medieval and early modern periods as well as the dynamics of cross-cultural exchange and translation in frontier regions leading up to, and following, historical moments of crisis.

Current scholarship lacks a critical framework for the evaluation of the Moldavian monastic churches. The monuments have largely been studied by local historians who have formally examined the buildings from archaeological and iconographical standpoints but have not used the resulting material to broach larger issues of cultural contact and assimilation. Western European and North American scholars have paid little attention to the visual culture of this region. To a large degree, this neglect is the consequence of twentieth-century politics. The Iron Curtain created both actual and ideological barriers, rendering certain kinds of cultural and interpretive studies and scholarly exchanges difficult. The evidence, I argue, suggests that the artistic production of Moldavia, and of Central and Eastern Europe more generally, should be analyzed through cultural connections, historically grounded methodologies, and more nuanced interpretive strategies.

The visual and architectural rhetoric of the Moldavian churches reveals fascinating discontinuities among the forms and image programs of these buildings, presenting an unprecedented mixture of Western (Gothic), Byzantine, Slavic, and even Islamic architectural and iconographic features alongside local developments. Whereas the churches conform to an Orthodox plan and have dimly lit interiors with image cycles that emulate Byzantine stylistic and iconographic patterns, their exteriors present architectural features adopted from Western models, such as pointed arches with Gothic curvilinear tracery and large buttresses against the walls. Moreover, hundreds of brightly colored scenes in multiple registers wrap completely around the exteriors. These represent Christological, Mariological, and hagiographical stories alongside full-length depictions of saints, prophets, martyrs, and angels. Interspersed with the religious imagery are depictions of historical moments such as the celebrated victory of Emperor Constantine the Great against Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 and the siege of Constantinople in 626 by the Avars and the Persians. These powerful historical narratives—stories that recount divine aid—had particular resonances in Moldavia, given the Ottoman threat to the region’s independence, political stability, and religious identity in the first half of the sixteenth century, and thus received a place of distinction among the mural cycles of the monastic churches.

Two key chapters of my dissertation address the eclectic visual and architectural vocabularies of the Moldavian *katholika*, as these buildings illuminate aspects of the operation of cross-cultural exchange and translation in frontier regions. My research, therefore, examines the ecclesiastical architecture of Moldavia in light of cultural interactions, rather than isolating it, placing this rich corpus in dialogue with comparative sources from other regions, including the Holy Roman Empire and its adjacent territories, parts of the Balkan Peninsula, Mount Athos, and even Armenia. By this method, I aim to draw out the complexities of cultural contacts and chart their operation in this region while contributing to current conversations about border crossings and cultural exchange.

The remaining four chapters engage with the architecture, image programs, and functions of the Moldavian churches in the context of religious politics and patronage, addressing dynastic and spiritual concerns of patrons in the monastic milieu, spatiotemporal experience, cultural memory, and notions of history. My research also considers the extent to which the Moldavian monasteries contributed to the formulation of a new sacred landscape in this eastern Carpathian region at a crucial moment in Christian history, while presenting visually concrete and critical responses to the events of 1453; to 1492, predicted as the end of the world by the Eastern Orthodox Christians; and even to the Reformation unfolding in the West in the early decades of the sixteenth century.

*Center 36*

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
          - About the National Gallery
          - Stories
          - Press
          - FAQs
          - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
          - Getting Here
          - Accessibility
          - Today's Tours
          - Food & Drink
          - Calendar
          - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
          - Donate
          - Membership
          - Volunteer
          - Opportunities
          - Shop Online

Resources
          - Search the Collection
          - Conservation
          - Library
          - Archives
          - The Center
          - Film Programs
          - Music Programs
          - Audio/Video
          - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

          -  Twitter 
          -  Facebook 
          -  Instagram 
          -  Pinterest 
          -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy