OBSERVAŢII ASUPRA PICTURII DE ALTAR DIN BISERICI ARMEANO – CATOLICE TRANSILVANE

Some Remarks Regarding the Altar Painting in Armenian-Catholic Churches in Transylvania. The present study is an in-depth iconographic research of religious subjects preferred by the Armenian clergy and church-going patrons in Transylvania who, in 1689, as a result of the firm initiative of the Bishop of Aldala, Oxendie Verzerescu († 1715) took to the Catholic faith. From then on we can witness the astonishing ability of this group in adopting the new Catholic ways (a new baroque and neoclassical religious architecture, the complex and varied suppelectiles with altars, stalls, confessionals, wardrobes in the sacristies, tabernacles and baptismal fonts all made according to the new stylistic exigencies), including a painting done in accordance to the newly adopted cult, which substituted the superb oriental miniatures in the Armenian religious books of the medieval period (Homiliarium, Martyrologium, Codex, Gospel). Documents from the 18th century mention a number of iconographic themes and the cult of saints, specific to Armenian tradition and historic sensibilities: The Virgin and Child (with its iconographic variants Mariazell, Tyrnavia, Nicula, Máriapócs, Şumuleu), The Holy Trinity, St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Stephen Protomartyr, St. Joseph, The Holy Family with Saints Joachim and Anna, and Infant Mary, St. Anthony the Hermit and Saint Paul the Hermit, Baptism of King Trdat/ Tiridates III, St. Elisabeth’s Charity etc. The old paintings are present even today in the main and side altars of the Armenian Catholic churches in Dumbrăveni, Frumoasa, Gheorghieni, Gherla or in the altars of several churches of the Franciscan and Piarist orders in Făgăraş, Dej, Sibiu, Odorheiu Secuiesc and Sighetu Marmaţiei for which Armenian believers had made important offering. The research proper is focused mainly on the works having as topic The Holy Trinity with Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael; the old oil painting in the main altar of the great Armenian-Catholic church in Gherla, a work existing by the sixth decade of the 18th century, a monumental work (639×286cm) which has some similarities stylistically and terms of composition with the productions of Venetian painting workshops present in some of the churches of the Transylvanian Armenians or with the Austrian masters educated in Italy, retaining the specificity of the late baroque permeated by the rococo (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Sebastiano Ricci, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Antoni Pellegrini, Giovan