A press convention was devoted to the church of Magyarvista (Viștea, Romania) at the László Teleki Basis, to announce the consequence of recent investigations inside the medieval church of the village. The pursuing overview is composed on the foundation of the press release. The Calvinist church of Magyarvista in Cluj County is one of the most famed medieval monuments in Transylvania and the space of Kalotaszeg. The stone-designed, solitary-nave, square-apsed making with a Romanesque western doorway was possibly designed at the end of the 13th century. The first documentary mention of the village dates back again to 1229, and in 1291 it grew to become the house of the Transylvanian bishopric as a royal donation. The church is richly embellished with painted woodwork, the superb characteristics of which are the converted late Gothic priest’s chair, the coffered ceiling above the nave supported by a beam and a picket column, the pews, the doorways of the south and west entrances, the altar, the pulpit, and the pulpit crown. An 18th-century belfry rises subsequent to the constructing, the oldest bell in it relationship from 1487, from the time of Matthias. In the course of the final calendar year the exterior masonry of the church has been strengthened, plastered and the roof framework repaired, as has the belfry.
In 2022, with the guidance of the László Teleki Foundation, the uncovery of the mural paintings in the semicircular triumphal arch continued, and art historic exploration was also carried out. In this context, it was prompt that the intriguing stone frame of the southern entrance and the sq. sanctuary are not Romanesque but late Gothic, as confirmed by some analogies of the frame of the sacristy doorway, and that the ribbed vault with the 1498 inscription on the keystone of the sanctuary is not the consequence of a later intervention, but this total composition was, in truth, developed at that time.
The excavation of the mural exposed a scene of the Annunciation on the eastern wall previously mentioned the triumphal arch: on the remaining, a fragmentary figure of the Archangel Gabriel and the Lord, and on the proper, a small depth of the standing figure of Mary can be discerned. The Annunciation, arranged on the proper and left sides of the triumphal arch, has a lot of international and local analogies: Palermo, Cappella Palatina, Reichenau-Oberzell, St. George’s Church, Padua, Scrovegni Chapel, Karaszkó, Disznajó, and many others. The scene belongs to the plaster layer of the early 14th century.
The study on the inside of the triumphal arch was also a shock: the upper fragment of the determine of the Maiestas Domini, set in a mandorla in the centre, was preserved: its continuation was on the vault of the demolished unique sanctuary, which was a lot lesser than the 1 we have today. Hence, the fragment of the mural also proves that the present sanctuary is secondary as opposed to the nave. The determine of Christ was accompanied by the symbols of the 4 evangelists, two of whom, the eagle (John) and possibly the angel (Matthew), the latter keeping an open up e book, partly survive. The book’s minuscule inscription is partly legible and includes a line from John’s Revelation. The painting ongoing on the facet wall with the gallery of the apostles, of which 2-3 figures have been preserved, amid them St Andrew can be recognized from the X-formed cross.
Stylistically, the mural paintings of the triumphal arch are in a design properly known in Transylvania, ordinarily known as Italo-Byzantine without difference. Analogies surface in numerous other spots: Csíkszentimre, Felvinc, Boroskrakkó, Szék, Ördöngösfüzes, and so on. Even though this impressive style is known as Italo-Byzantine by some scholars, for the reason that of its widespread use it is more proper to speak of a Central European Gothic tendency employing the Italian tradition of the Duecento period of time. The correct courting of the wall paintings of this team is (was) problematic, as no historic details, inscriptions or other information of any kind was available for any of the structures, so the courting of the monuments oscillated in the literature from the 1310s to the 1340s. For this explanation, the restorer’s observation that the plaster of the fresco was in get in touch with with the ceiling and, by means of it, the roof, was of distinct importance. Dendrochronological examination of the picket aspects of the ceiling can preferably be applied to date the mural with annual (or even seasonal) precision, which can provide a article quem (later on than …) date for the mural. With the guidance of the László Teleki Basis, this really critical examine was carried out, which disclosed that just one of the trees of the structure, which can be dated specifically, was slash in the wintertime of 1329-30 so that the construction of the framework could have taken location as early as 1330, and the wall paintings simply cannot be before than that. This day applies to the central beam supporting the wood ceiling as properly as the picket pier in the heart of the nave. Some parts of the primary roof composition also day from this time period. This info puts a protected dating to the Magyarvista wall paintings, and also to the complete circle of monuments
The dendrochronological exploration was carried out in the autumn of 2022 by the Anno Domini Dendrolab team from Csíkszereda, on the initiative of the wall painting restorers and artwork historians who were being investigating in the church. The analyze and subsequent laboratory analysis proved that the longitudinal central beam and the carved column supporting it in the nave date again to the 14th century, from the decades 1329-30. The ring examination of the beams developed into the stone gable walls and of some aspects of the current mid-17th century roof construction also indicated that the nave by itself and its before roof framework were being built at this time. In this circumstance, the dating is year-unique, with oak felled in the winter of 1329/1330 remaining utilized for the previous roof structure.
The dendrochronological study displays that the wooden roof of the nave and the previous roof construction of the church in Magyarvista, as effectively as the column and the master beam supporting them, have been developed in 1330, building it the oldest surviving roof and slab composition in Transylvania, according to our existing awareness. The 14th-century roof construction can most likely be reconstructed on the foundation of aspects reused from the earlier composition when the current roof was constructed, but even further industry study and measurements are necessary.
This discovery of individual significance encourages even more investigate into wall painting, dendrochronology, archaeology, and art history, which we hope will get area in 2023. With any luck ,, we will however get to see one particular working day the fresco decoration of the church of Magyarvista.
Study and restoration of Magyarvista had been completed by Lóránd Kiss, Zsolt Sólyom, Melinda Filep, Janka Melinda Oláh, Károly Sipos (wall portray restoration, Imago Picta, Târgu Mures), Boglárka Tóth, István Botár, Denis Walgraffe (dendrochronology, Anno Domini Dendrolab, Csíkszereda), Attila Weisz (art record). Text by Loránd Kiss, Boglárka Tóth, Attila Weisz. Pics courtesy of Attila Weisz.
