Copilăria lui Kaspar Hauser by Bogdan-Alexandru Stănescu

Romanian intellectuals, with different backgrounds, such as literature, history, architecture or music, tried to create a national style, based upon similar ideas.Īlthough previously less studied, the allegorical painting “The Triumph of the Church over Paganism” by Giacomo del Pò is one of the most important 18th century works of the Italian School of painting from the Brukenthal National Museum’s collection. His works complete a wider cultural landscape, specific for the turn of the century. In his paintings he wanted to preserve the Romanian spirit and to send a powerful message to his contemporaries about the importance of traditional values, and also about the necessity of educating the village community in preserving their rich inheritance.

The image of Romanian peasant women generated works such as Portița or Lina with beads, capturing the essence of the public discourse of the intellectual elites of his times. He used the decorations on traditional costumes as an inspiring foundation for his church wall paintings the Strana series captures the Romanian community during the Sunday mass, a context that he used as an opportunity to create different peasant profiles.

In the spirit of his generation (the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century), the painter was fascinated with traditional art, folk decorative motives, and life in the countryside in general. The present article, a small part of my doctoral research that focuses on the artistic creation of Octavian Smigelschi (1866−1912), deals with one of the many sources of inspiration in Smigelschi’s art: the peasant woman.

Copilăria lui Kaspar Hauser by Bogdan-Alexandru Stănescu