Autenticitate și adevăr în tabloul votiv de la Sfântul Ilie – Suceava
Authenticity and Truth in the Votive Composition of Saint Elijah Church in Suceava

Summary/Abstract: The scholars who analyzed the mural paintings of St. Elijah Church on the outskirts of Suceava proposed several identifications for the characters included in the votive composition and, consequently, different dating for the frescoes. Besides Stephen the Great (the building’s founder, identified as such also by the dedicatory inscription) and his son Bogdan, the third male character (having his face and name cancelled out and later repainted) was identified as either the founder himself, another of his sons, his grandson Stephen IV (“Ştefăniţă”), or even an “18th-century or a difficultly-identifiable prince.” After the restoration process, it was established that the third character was inserted into the votive composition at the same with the repairing of the church vandalized during the 1538 Ottoman campaign, and that this third character himself was the commissioner of the renovation. His name (still readable) and its later cancelling-out, explainable within the historical context, allowed his identification with Stephen V “Locust,” a grandson of the church’s great and holy founder, who promoted thus his claim of direct descent through his epithet “the Elder” and through his restoring gesture. Subsequently, the votive composition in St. Elijah Church is an important source for recovering the memory of a forgotten ruler in Moldavia’s history.

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