The Mobility of Iconographers and their Quest for Social Status Art and Signatures of Transylvanian Pre-Modern Greek-Orthodox Iconographers

The change in the status of Orthodox iconographers from Transylvania brought forward a change in their art during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. During this period the condition of Orthodox painters changes from that of mere craftsmen to artists. Based on the work of several Transylvanian painters active during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, an analysis of the signatures of the artists, visitation records and contracts between the artists and the patrons of the church, this article wishes to explore the changes in the status of these individuals who evolved from craftsmen to artists during their lives.