O ipoteză privind datarea primei fresce din Biserica Domnească a Târgoviştei în vremea lui Mihnea Turcitul

Radu CÂRCIUMARU

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2021-0002

Abstract: The Princely Church of Târgovişte is one of the most important achievements of Wallachian architecture from the 16th century. However, it continues to raise controversial issues, one of them making the subject of the present study. It is about dating the first layer of fresco, a layer that was framed either in the reign of Mihai Viteazul, or even later, in the period of Matei Basarab. With the help of the votive painting placed in the narthex, at the disposal of the ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu, but also after the analysis of the diptych attributed to Şerban Cantacuzino, we tried to build the hypothesis that the first painting dates from the second reign of Mihnea Turcitul. Its lateral distribution, both in the votive picture and in the diptych, indicates the ruler’s gesture to convert to Islam, which has not been forgotten but, on the contrary, condemned, over the centuries.

Keywords: The Princely Church of Târgovişte; restoration; fresco; votive painting; Mihnea Turcitul.