Genesis @Arbore Monastery

In 1503 great hetman Luca Arbore founded a chapel in the village bearing his name, to be part of his estate. Arbore was one of the most important boyars in the courts of Stephen the Great, Bogdan III and Prince Stefăniţă. Political differences separated Arbore from Prince Stefăniţă, he lost his position as hetman and guard of Suceava, and was beheaded in 1523.

The church is dedicated to the Beheading of St. John the Baptist. The dating of the paintings is unsure. An inscription found inside the church states that Dragoş, son of priest Coman of Iaşi, painted the church in 1541 at the request of Ana, niece of Luca Arbore. Usually, this is considered the date of both the interior and exterior paintings. There are some researchers who think that the date 1541 only refers to later modifications.

Architecturally, the church is part of the group of churches that mark the end of Stephen the Great's reign. It belongs to the so-called mixed type. Outside, the plan of the church is rectangular with a semicircular apse at the east end. Inside, the plan is triconch, with the two lateral apses of the naos carved out of the thickness of the walls. The west façade of the church is very distinctive. Only here in Arbore and in Reuseni, a giant niche replaces the exonarthex, Originally, the church bells were placed here, on a wooden beam, and now the space is used to give offerings to the dead. Exceptionally, all the façades are smooth, without any niches or recesses. The church follows the smallest possible plan: there are only three rooms, the pronaos, the naos and the chancel.

The church has a high split-level roof, rounded at both ends. The main body of the roof covers the pronaos and the naos, while a lower roof covers the chancel. There is no tower, as is common in a church founded by a nobleman. Inside, both main rooms of the church have a dome.

It has remarkable fresco paintings against a predominant green background. 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 Dragoş Coman from Iaşi. 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' Live. 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.

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.

Sursa:wikipedia,marvaoguide,crestin ortodox