Romanian art consists of the

visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

and

plastic arts Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a ''plastic medium'', such as clay, wax, paint or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) to create works of art. The term is used more generally to ...

(including

Romanian architecture Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The production of art in Romania is as old as the Paleolithic, an example being a cave painting from the Cuciulat Cave (

Sălaj County Sălaj County (; ) (also known as ''Land of Silvania'', ''silva, -ae'' means "forest") is a Counties of Romania, county (''județ'') of Romania, located in the north-west of the country, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of ...

). During the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

, multiple cultures lived on the modern territory of Romania. Their

material culture Material culture is culture manifested by the Artifact (archaeology), physical objects and architecture of a society. The term is primarily used in archaeology and anthropology, but is also of interest to sociology, geography and history. The fie ...

included pottery and abstract clay statuettes decorated with geometric patterns. These may give hints on the way these civilizations used to dress and maybe tattoo. A good examples of this is the Thinker of Hamangia, a clay figurine produced by the

Hamangia culture The Hamangia culture is a Late Neolithic archaeological culture of Dobruja (Romania and Bulgaria) between the Danube and the Black Sea and Muntenia in the south. It is named after the site of Baia-Hamangia, discovered in 1952 along Golovița La ...

. Important cultures of the Neolithic era include Starčevo–Körös–Criș, Boian, Gumelnița–Karanovo, and other ones, the most famous and at the same time the most evolved among them in art being the

Cucuteni–Trypillia culture The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, also known as the Cucuteni culture or Trypillia culture is a Neolithic–Chalcolithic archaeological culture ( 5050 to 2950 BC) of Southeast Europe. It extended from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and ...

. During

Antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

, the Geto-Dacians produced art and built multiple cities of the ''dava'' type (like Sucidava, Argedava or Buridava).

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

colonies appear in

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

, including Tomis (present-day

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

), and

Mangalia Mangalia (, ), ancient Callatis (; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The municipality of Mangalia als ...

(present-day

). After the Dacian Wars (101–102, 105–106),

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

transformed a big part of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

into a province of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. The province underwent an intense process of

Romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

(aka Latinization). Between the 5th and the 8th centuries, the process of Romanian etnogenesis takes place. This era is labeled by scientist as ''pre-Medieval'' or ''pre-Feudal''. Since Romania was and is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

country, its medieval art was heavily influenced by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. The Renaissance has a quite loose influence in

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

. During the reign of

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was List of Wallachian rulers, Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension Constantin Brâncoveanu was the son of Pope Brâncoveanu (Matthew) and his wife, Stanca Can ...

(1688-1714), the Brâncovenesc style appears, also known as ''Brâncovenesc Baroque'', because it used

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

elements from West Europe and Ottoman ones. The 19th century was one of change. Together with the 20th, it marked the transition from medieval to modern. Across these centuries, multiple Romanian artists and architects study at West European universities, particularly in Paris.

Gheorghe Tattarescu Gheorghe Tattarescu (; October 1818 – October 24, 1894) was a Moldavian, later Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his country's modern painting. Biography Early life and studies Tattarescu was born in Focşani in 1818. ...

is representative for

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

, as well as

Nicolae Grigorescu Nicolae Grigorescu (; 15 May 1838 – 21 July 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting. He is considered by Romanians the greatest Romanian painter, and one of the founders of modern Romanian art. He is most known for paintin ...

is for

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. This shift is also reflected in the architecture of cities, which started to look more European, Neoclassical and

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...

being very popular in late 19th and early 20th centuries. Later, Romania remains connected with the West, trends and styles such as

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

being as fashionable here as in West Europe.

Historic overview

Prehistory

The present-day territory of Romania was inhabited by various cultures during Prehistory. The first objects featuring abstract geometric ornaments are from the Late Paleolithic and early

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

, discovered in 1966 in the

Iron Gates The Iron Gates (; ; ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of ; in the narrow sense it only ...

area, in settlements at Cuina Turcului, Schela Cladovei, Ostrovul Banatului etc. Usually these are household items with simple geometric incisions. A

cave painting In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin. These paintings were often c ...

was discovered in the Cuciulat Cave (

), probably dating from the Late Paleolithic. During the

era, various cultures populated the current territory of Romania. Just like in the rest of Europe, the Neolithic starts in area of Romania in the 4th millennium BC. Scientists think that at the beginning of the Neolithic, migratory populations come here from

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

, which will remain here and fuse with the locals from Mesolithic. Human communities make a transition to sedentary life. They left us pottery and abstract clay statuettes decorated with geometric patterns, that may give us hints on the way these civilizations used to dress and maybe tattoo. Just like art Palaeolithic art, Neolithic artworks are decorated with abstract geometric patterns, lines and spirals. Some of them may had religious or magical meanings. However, there's a big chance of these geometric ornaments having a purely decorative purpose, without any deep meaning. The first Neolithic culture, known as the

Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture The Starčevo–Karanovo I-II–Körös culture or Starčevo–Körös–Criș culture is a grouping of two related Neolithic archaeological cultures in Southeastern Europe: the Starčevo culture and the Körös or Criș culture. Settlements ...

has spread all across the territory of present-day Romania, and produced many ceramic objects, especially vessels, but also

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from and . In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It can also be defined as art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal or art ...

and

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

figures. After it, the Vinča-Turdaș, Boian, Vădastra, Hamangia, Gumelnița–Karanovo,

Cernavodă Cernavodă () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania with a population of 15,088 as of 2021. The town's name is derived from the Bulgarian ''černa voda'' ( in Cyrillic), meaning 'black water'. This name is regarded by some s ...

cultures and other ones lived simultaneous in different areas. Chronologically, the Vinča-Turdaș is the earliest one from the list. It produced highly stylized anthropomorphic statuettes. The Hamangia culture that inhabited

produced ceramic figurines too. A really famous one, known as th
Thinker of Hamangia
depicts, as the name suggests, a man thinking, staying on a small chair, with his elbows on the knees. Because of its expressiveness, the figure is one of the most iconic Romanian artworks. The most famous Neolithic culture is Cucuteni–Trypillia. It produced many

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

vessels in various shapes. All these vessels show the precision of the Neolithic people, since

potter's wheel In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, ...

wasn't invented it, and so all these objects were produced manually. Just like any other culture of its time, it used geometric ornaments to decorate its artifacts, including sinuous lines,

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

s combined with zigzags, and

rhombi In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (: rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The rhom ...

. The colours used for these vessels include white, red and/or chocolate black, used in various shades, since these they can be bicoloured or tricoloured. Neolithic cultures are succeeded by the ones of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, initially characterized by inferior artistic elements if we compare it to Cucuteni art. New architectural elements appear, especially in military structures. Besides bordei, which were specific to Neolithic settlements, fortifications appear. In one of these Bronze Age settlements, the one discovered at Monteoru (

Buzău County Buzău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 432,054 and the population density was 70.7/km ...

), there are stone walls and defence towers. Ceramic, although in absence of ornamentation like in Neolithic times, starts to change too. Gold,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

vessels are produced. In a short interval of tine, in comparison with the

millennia A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting p ...

of Neolithic art, a few cultures of a high technical and artistic level develop on the territory of Romania. Bronze Age cultures include Sighișoara-Wietenberg, Verbicioara, Monteoru, Ottomány and Žuto Brdo - Gârla Mare. Cave painting from the Cuciulat Cave in Romania.jpg, Cave painting, probably from the Late Paleolithic, pigment on stone, Cuciulat Cave,

Bucharest - The Thinker of Cernavoda - white bg.jpg, The Thinker, by the

, BC, terracotta,

National Museum of Romanian History The National History Museum of Romania () is a museum located at 12 Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times. Overview The museum is located inside the former P ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Bucharest - The Sitting Woman of Cernavoda - white bg.jpg, The Sitting Woman, by the Hamangia culture, BC, terracotta, National Museum of Romanian History The Goddess from Vidra.jpg, The Goddess from Vidra, by the Gumelnița–Karanovo culture, BC, ceramic, Bucharest Municipal Museum Serbia, Vinça culture, Neolithic Era - Vinca Idol - 2000.201 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, Female figure, by the

Vinča culture The Vinča culture , also known as Turdaș culture, Turdaș–Vinča culture or Vinča-Turdaș culture, is a Neolithic archaeological culture of Southeast Europe, dated to the period 5400–4500 BC. It is named for its type site, Vinča-Belo B ...

, BC, fired clay with paint,

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, USA 库库特尼陶碗陶罐.JPG,

Polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

vessels (from left to right): a bowl on stand, a vessel on stand and an amphora, by the

, BC, fired clay with paint,

Palace of Culture Palace of Culture (, , ''wénhuà gōng'', ) or House of Culture (Polish: ''dom kultury'') is a common name (generic term) for major Club (organization), club-houses (community centres) in the former Soviet Union and the rest of the Eastern bloc ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

Boian culture 2011 12 (edited angle).jpg, Vessel, by the

Boian culture The Boian culture (dated to 4300–3500 BC), also known as the Giulești–Marița culture or Marița culture, is a Neolithic archaeological culture of Southeast Europe. It is primarily found along the lower course of the Danube in what is now R ...

, BC, ceramic, Bucharest Municipal Museum

Notes

References and further reading

* Vasile Florea: ''Arta Românească de la Origini până în Prezent'' {{Authority control

Historic overview

Prehistory

See also

Notes

References and further reading