The frescoes in the niche at the west end of Arbore church have survived the best but no-one is quite sure why the niche is there in the first place. Most theories say that it was where the bells were hung, although today there is a separate bell-tower.
Arbore was founded in 1503 by Luca Arbore, one of Stephen the Great’s generals. After he and his two sons were beheaded on false charges, his sister Ana commissioned a painter called Dragoş and his assistants from Iaşi to decorate the walls both inside and out.
The murals were completed in 1541 and although they have deteriorated quite badly on the other three walls, enough of them is left to show that Dragoş painted in rather a different style to his predecessors in the region. There is a new sinuousness to his figures and many of them are shown in attitudes that are not strictly canonical.
This is why the scheme at Arbore is said to be modern or an example of the International Gothic rather than the Ne0-Byzantine. It’s another reminder that Romania straddles several cultures. Identifying the cross-overs is a fascinating business.
