Home » Monasteries

Tonitza`s paintings from the Monastery Durău

30 April 2015 No Comment

IMG_8774_resize                          Nicholae Tonitza, whom about Tudor Arghezi wrote “Tonitza is a word complex concentrated active; big in all components … . His suave brush say, think and sing … ” was born in Barlad on 13th of April, 1886. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Iasi, followed in Berlin the Bavarian Royal Academy of Fine Arts, then in Paris. Few know that Tonitza, best selling Romanian painter for 10 years (almost one million), was a painter of churches. In our county we have proof his talent and artistry that we find at Durău Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1779 as a convent. The present church was built in 1835 and consecrated with dedication day to the Annunciation, when it had community of monks. It was painted in 1935 in wax by some graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts in Iasi, along with several students who have answered the call of the master, among them being Corneliu Baba (1906-1997).

 

The painting that we admire today humanizes the characters, giving them some specific features of the Romanian peasant. Through the way is illustrated the Birth of the Savior, we see an eloquent detail: the eyes of the child Jesus, whom we see in all Tonitza paintings, large eyes, round and expressive that innocent look with endless sadness; then, at the foot of Ceahlău Mountain, the Athos of romanians, under the sky full of stars, are  shepherds dressed in bunda  and wearing sandals, like the shepherds, with gentle features, painted in a mioritic atmosphere of the story, along with their sheep, in wich we see how they worship the Virgin who embrace Jesus. Although years have passed over these paintings, it is noted the freshness of the colors that is kept magically. Therefore, those who come here and admire the beauty of the paintings and icons are convinced that the narthex, nave and altar have divine power!

IMG_8767_resize IMG_8746_resize IMG_8752_resize IMG_8755_resize IMG_8761_resize

IMG_8745_resize IMG_8770_resize IMG_8771_resize IMG_8772_resize IMG_8729_resize IMG_8775_resize IMG_8744_resize IMG_8743_resize IMG_8742_resize IMG_8733_resize IMG_8732_resize IMG_8731_resize IMG_8730_resize

See the accommodation possibilities from Neamt County

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.