86 Corina Popa

The Narthex

The iconographic programme in (lie
narthex follows the structure characteristic
of the last monuments erected during
Stephen’s reign, Popauti-Botosani and
Balinesti, which brings together the Life of
the patron saint with the theme of the Seven
Ecumenical Councils.42 43
\s usual, the vault is dedicated to the
Virgin and child on the central dome and. on
the western arch, in a medallion, there is St.
Anne, suggesting that St. Elisabeth. St.
John's mother, must have been represented
on (he eastern arch of the vault, bearing no
paintings nowadays. Thus, the vault
iconography of ihe narthex in the church in
Balinesti is reiterated here. This last
iconographic detail is related to (he
illustration of the life of St. John the Baptist,
the patron saint of the church. The murder of
prophet Zech ariali, painted on the lunette
above the entrance door, can be seen as a
completion of the Life of the Forerunner and
a possible allusion to the sudden death of the
founder and his sons, as historian Constanta
Costea believes.
The Life of'St. John the Baptist is
extensively illustrated in five registers which
cover the entire upper part of (lie eastern
wall of the narthex. Constanta Costea
reconstructed the iconograph ic version at
Arbore from a text of (he Saint's life, found
in a fifteenth-century Slavonic manuscript,
possibly of Bulgarian origin, which
belonged ini tially to Moldovita monastery,
and can be found now at Dragomirna.13
Despite the large number of scenes,
most of (hose which originate in the Gospels
are omitted, (he fo cus being on the prophet's
lite in the

42 T. Sinigalia, Din nou despre picturile din pro- naosul bisericii din satul Arbore in 2005,
issue no. LXXIV, p. 49. The author underlines that the representation of the patron saint's life in the narthex
is characteristic for painting programmes dating from the fifteenth c.pntnrv whilp civt^cn-
43 Constanta Costea, Herod's Feast at Arbo- ro in Ro\/i m OrMimninn LIi***^I**» I