The monastery, with
it's rectangular shape,was built of brick and stone extracted
from the quarries in the region.
It is
smaller than other painted churches and, probably , less
spectacular. There is no steeple, as it was built by a landowner,
and not
by a ruling prince. A semicircular arcade which doubles the
outside west wall of the pronaos was designed to house the
bells. These now have a separate bell tower above the entrance
to the church-yard.
It has remarkable fresco paintings against
a predominant green background, unlike
Voronet, where blue
is the predominant color.
The green is in five shadows and 47 hues combined with red,
blue, yellow, pink and ochre. Unfortunately the secret of
combining colors held by the painters of Arbore is now lost.
However, scientists were able to identify thirty substances,
including animal size, vinegar, egg, gall and honey. Restorers
can now only stabilize what has been left of the frescoes.
The interior paintings were seriously damaged in the 17th-18th
centuries when the church remained without its roof.
The paintings
were made by a team led by Dragos Coman from Iasi. The artist
proves to be a genius: a widely-traveled man,
he innovates, has a new vision different from the one of
his predecessors, he succeeds in making a bold synthesis
of oriental
and western elements, well integrated in tradition though.
Most of the paintings represent scenes taken from the Genesis
and the Saints' lives. They are delicate and vivid, whereas
houses are drawn in perspective. The best preserved frescoes
are found on the relatively sheltered south and west walls.
Among the most valuable scenes one may see are The Hymn of
the Prayers to the Virgin, The Siege of Constantinople, The
Last Judgment, The Prodigal Son and many others. The Siege
of Constantinople is a syncretic representation of the attacks
of Persians, Avars and Slaves upon Constantinople in 617.
The Journey of the Magi, the Holy Virgin and other scenes
show
the painter's disposition to rocky landscape against a predominantly
green background, like in the Last Judgment where he finds
his own solutions to render the characters' movement fluid.
In the Prayer of All Saints on the apse, Christopher, the
defender against death, with Baby Jesus on his shoulder is
also among
the martyr saints, it is a unique and unusual image for Moldavia,
influenced by the mural painting in Catholic countries.
On the
west wall, in the niche beside which services for the dead
are usually celebrated, Dragos painted a series of vivid “miniatures" like
a large version of an illuminated manuscript. The top register
shows The Holly Family on the flight into Egypt and the Massacre
of the Innocents. Below these, there are scenes from the
Life of the Virgin, followed lower down by episodes from
Moses’s
story. The lowest bands contain the Siege of Constantinopole,
updated to reflect the contemporary fears about the Turks,
rather than the Persians who were the original aggressors.
No
other monastery has such an ensemble of miniatures, seemingly
the best painting of Stephen the Great-Petru Rares period.
Adam ploughs and Eve spins in the Genesis, some of the table
companions at the Feast of Saint George are with their back
at spectators (arrangement uncharacteristic of Byzantine
style, introduced by the Italian Renaissance), the way the
landscapes
are painted, the rocks in this case, resembles Giotto's technique,
but the characters move more naturally, they live the
event, all against the same dark green background. When
passing
from one wall to another, the painter boldly paints the dragon's
head in one scene and its tail in another (Bringing the Dragon).
The
south wall contains eight registers devoted to scenes from
Genesis and the Lives of the Saints. The Last Judgment
is badly damaged, but it must have been a strong and imaginative
composition: what remains is of excellent quality and, in
the raking light, you can see some of the incised underdrawings
that were made before the paint was applied. Worth noticing
are the parcels containing souls which are being weighed
in the
balance, and the lush vegetation in the Paradise Garden
The
two heavy slabs of stone preserved near the church since
the time it was painted, have fifteen small holes which used
to serve as containers for the mixing of colors. Traces of
pigment corresponding to the frescoes have been found in
the
hollows on their surface.
In the narthex, which also functions as a burial chamber,
one may find the tombs of the church founders, Luca Arbore
and his Polish wife, Iuliana, decorated with unusual Gothic
stonework that bears a strong Polish influence.
The icon screen
dates from about the same time as the church itself. It is
heavily encrusted with smoke, but paintings underneath
are intact, preserved by the very grime which obscures them.
Inside
the monastery, an ethnographic museum with a rich display
of the region's most valuable assets is worth visiting.
The monastery was restored between 1909-1914 and 1936-1937,
and appears on the UNESCO list of monuments.
