Romanian Folk Painting on Glass

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the painted glass icon in Romanian peasant life. For those living in 18th century Transylvania, the world was impossibly small and grim: likely born into indentured servitude and harassed by the ruling Catholic Hapsburgs, their unshakable Orthodox faith was the only source of comfort. Transylvanian peasants saw saints as their personal, divine champions; the glass icons were not just decorative portraits – they were glimpses of heaven itself. Disregarded for centuries as the crude folk-art, Juliana Dancu and Dumitru Dancu present the first in-depth study of Romanian reverse-glass painting, examining the ethnographic and artistic value of the icons. Never considered ornamental, the small glass icons were imbued with meaning, thereby offering insight into the spiritual and cultural views of the Transylvanian peasant. This book features 74 leaves of plate depicting paintings from various regions and time periods, each accompanied by thoughtful analysis, along with historical and geographical context.