Iulia CIANGA
(Babes Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Cluj-Naoca, Romania)
Abstract: “Veduta”, distinguished itself as an artistic style in the 17th century, due the influence of the Venetian School of Painting from Italy, and, become also well-known in Transylvania, region of nowadays Romania, representing a beneficial Eastern spatial extension of the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment. The vedute representations contain relevant details regarding local conditions of living, geographic position, city walls, or the structure and colors of the buildings, some of them missing today. These details compared with the present situation, outlined in a vedutist manner by the author, can lead to a retrospective study over the physiognomy of Transylvanian urban landscape. Transylvanian urban paintings and engravings are found well preserved in collections such as: “Gheorghe Sion” at the „Lucian Blaga” Central University Library in Cluj-Napoca, “The Cabinet of Print Works and Drawings” in Sibiu or museums of art from Transylvania. The illustrations of the main fortresses, castles or monuments in Transylvania compose a very complex image of this controversial land beyond the forests (Trans=beyond, Silva=forest), in its attempt to preserve its historical and architectural landmarks.
In my research project I wish to highlight the importance of the urban view, veduta, as a source of information with a great documentary value. It’s important to complete the historical data from a different perspective, compared to the written manuscripts, namely, from the perspective of the image creator.
Its artistic and documentary value, which gives the possibility of learning the history of the cities may lead to the individualization of a cultural tourism, of specialized knowledge, but it may also lead to a tourism meant for the general public, having a virtual characteristic, of an open source type.
Keywords: Veduta, Transylvania, cultural heritage, collections