Medieval Liturgical Vestments Depicted in the Iconographic Programs of Southern Transylvanian Churches (14th to 16th centuries)

This work sets out to list and describe the liturgical vestments present in panel and mural paintings of churches located in southern Transylvania. The surviving body of such vestments on display in the ”Brukenthal” National Museum of Sibiu and that of the Black Church of Brașov not only confirms their use in religious services, but also the fact that they served as models for Transylvanian ecclesiastical painting. Of Western derivation, this type of vestment reflects a way of thinking and stands testament to social status or to the different hierarchies within the church. It is, at the same time, an indication of the development of this kind of craft, produced by specialized workshops.