Journal Analele Banatului N.S. Archaeology-History

Elena Miklósik

Botezuri, cununii şi înmormantări. Artişti consemnaţi în registrele parohiale din cetatea Timişoarei în a doua jumătate a secolului al XVIII-lea / Christenings, Marriage Ceremonies and Burials. Artists Recorded in the Parochial Registers in the Timisoara Fortress in the Second Half of the XVIIIth century

Jan. 1, 2016

Abstract

Starting with the first decades succeeding the conquering of Timişoara by the Turks, the Fortress underwent, besides the reconstruction of the Fortress, the rehabilitation of the town as the region’s residence. Besides expert constructors, one could also notice artisans specialised in the carving in stone (certified as lapicida or sculptors). Some of them carried out the hard work of stone masons, others proved successful in the execution of art works, the decoration and adornment needed in the new edifices. The painters arrived after the organised colonizations or on their own account. Some of these artists were simple travellers through the Fortress, while some others settled down, as they had founded their own families here, and kept working for their new motherland. The most valuable ones also obtained the citizenship of the town. As most of these, given the tendency to re-Catholicize the Austrian proprietors, had come from Catholic areas, their ephemeral presence or their prolonged stay within the walls of the Fortress were often specified in the Registers of births, marriages and burials of the Roman Catholic Parish on this side. Thus, in the Registers of births, marriages or death we can find concise data regarding the presence, origin, age, family status and, more rarely, the social status of artists in the second half of the century, from the beginning of the „modern” artistic life in Timişoara. In order to support the already supplied biographic references, the Nomenclature of the town’s citizens provides precious additions. These documents can serve as starting points in the research of artistic life during this epoch, which is slightly known. However, there are only few cases when we can relate the name of an artist to several works of art. The revelation and connection of these works to these artists, who have become „acknowledged” on the basis of certificates in the already mentioned documents, are going to be the task of future researches.