Marcu-Istrate, Daniela - Rusu, Adrian Andrei - Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Arhitectura religioasă medievală din Transilvania 3. (Satu Mare, 2004)
Dana Jenei: Biertan. Pictuile capelei din "Turnul Catolicilor"
Biertan (g. Birthălm, h. Berethalom): The Mural Paintings from the Chapel of the „ Tower of Catholics ” (Abstract) The medieval mural-paintings of the so-called „ Tower of Catholics ” at the fortified parish church of Biertan (County of Sibiu), are in an extremely bad state of preservation. A detailed analysis revealed the rich iconographic program related to the symbolic connotations of the Christian eschatology. Outside, above the entrance, the Holy Virgin is represented, placed between St Catherine(?) and Holy King Ladislas, protector of the Hungarian Kingdom, with the Child. Inside, the „Maiestas Domini”, is depicted on the vault, while the Last Judgment is on the western wall, and St. George, killing the dragon, together with St. Michael, weighing the souls, is on the eastern wall. The Announcement and the Adoration of the Magi - two scenes dedicated to Virgin Mary, expressing special Eucharistic and funeral connotations - are on the southern wall. The meaning of the scenes on the northern wall recalls the „ Pestbilds ”, spread all over Europe around the year 1500. This type of scene - with a significant devotional role — the arrows of the divine anger (the famine, the pest and the war), sent to punish a humanity full of sins, are stopped by St Barbara with the chalice, by the „Anna Christi”, and by „Mater Misericordiae. ” The paintings have stylistic links with a certain part of the murals in the parish church („ on the Hill ”) of Sighişoara. Written documents mention the beginning of the reconstruction-work of the church after 1493, started by the priest of Biertan, Martinus Schezer. The travel of Mathias Pictor from Sighişoara to Biertan, in 1497, is mentioned in the documents, too. The message of the paintings reflects the mentality of the late Middle Ages, marked by anxiety and incertitude, and could be linked to the historical events in the last decade of the fifteenth century: the Ottoman invasions, followed by famine and plague. Biertan. Picturile capelei din "Turnul Catolicilor” 281
