The Eclectic Visual Culture of Medieval Moldavia

Alice Isabella Sullivan, Ph.D. (University of Michigan, 2017) is Assistant Professor of Medieval Art and Architecture and Director of Graduate Studies at Tufts University, specializing in the artistic production of Eastern Europe and the Byzantine-Slavic cultural spheres. She is the co-founder of North of Byzantium, Mapping Eastern Europe, and the Sinai Digital Archive project.

Acknowledgments


List of Figures


Notes on Sources, Dates, Translations, and Transliterations


Table of Key Monuments


Introduction


1 Changing Landscapes

 1 Moldavia and the Ottoman Empire


 2 Defensive Landscape


 3 Sacred Landscape


 4 Fortified Monasteries


 5 Projects beyond Moldavia




2 Ideologies and Temporalities

 1 Shifting Identities


 2 Votive Images, Intercessors, and Rituals


 3 Alter Constantinus


 4 New Struggles and Ambitions




3 Patterns of Patronage

 1 Patronage of Mount Athos


 2 Reasons for Patronage


 3 Counter-gifts and Holy Relics


 4 Workshops and Scriptoria




4 Sacred Spaces

 1 Transitions and Transformations


 2 Peter’s Ecclesiastical Projects


 3 Byzantine-Slavic Forms


 4 Gothic Elements


 5 Stylistic Pluralism




5 Images and Rituals

 1 Mural Cycles in the Naos and Altar


 2 The Visual and Spatial Orchestration of the Divine Liturgy


 3 Preparatory Spaces and the Path to Salvation


 4 Exterior Images and Ambulatory Processions




6 Burials and Memory

 1 The Moldavian Gropniță


 2 Burials apud ecclesiam


 3 The Graves and Their Props


 4 Social and Symbolic Explanations


 5 Spiritual and Eschatological Dimensions




7 Traditions and Transformations

 1 The Patronage of the Movilă Brothers


 2 Transformations in the Local Visual Culture




Conclusion




Bibliography


Index