UDC: 7.04(498) Silvia Marin Barutcief No Limits: Iconoclasm and Iconophilia in Contemporary Romania The Attitudes towards Saint Christopher’s Modern Iconography Silvia Marin Barutcief University of Bucharest, Romania silviahmarin@yahoo.fr This study is focused on analyzing the perception of Saint Christopher’s religious and modern iconography (18 th -19 th cen- tury) in contemporary Romania. In the 21 st century, the above mentioned iconography generates various attitudes and reactions, from iconoclasm to iconophilia. The examples chosen from the old Romanian culture are related only to the zoo- morphic type from the complex iconographic paradigm of the saint. The iconic attacks are specifcally oriented towards them. On the other hand, in some areas, the zoomorphic image generates an increasing interest. This article investigates the polarized contemporary perception and its motivations. Keywords: Saint Christopher, Romanian religious iconography, Iconoclasm, iconophilia, contemporary art Introduction At the beginning of the Utrecht Conference volume (2005) the editors drew the methodological distinc- tion between two signifcant terms used in the scientifc approach in the colloquia: iconclash (“a clash between and about [the use] of images”) and iconoclasm (“pertaining to a destruction of and/or a suspicion against physi- cal representation of the divine, the sacred, the transcendent”). 1 Starting from the above mentioned distinction, the present study intends to investigate both ‘the mind set’ associated with the former term as well as the tech- nical implications of the latter when applied to the contemporary perceptions of certain modern representa- tions in Romanian culture. We shall try to follow the reactions triggered today by Saint Christopher’s zoomorphic iconography and the actions determined by the position adopted by members of the religious communities in Muntenia and Transilvania during the last three decades. How many beginnings? The genesis of three iconographic types Unlike in the Greek cultural area and in Western Europe, Saint Christopher makes his entrance into the South of Carpathians’ iconography much later, joining the eschatological representations of the Last Judgment, Saint Mi- chael Weighing the Souls, The Parable of the Ten Virgins or the Majestas Domini composition. 2 The subject made its appearance via the West in the 13 th century with the iconographic type of the Christ-bearer Giant in the Catholic edifces of the area (most of them belonging today to Lutheran and Reformed confessions) and would continue to be spread during the following two centuries. It was recorded at the Church of Mărtiniş (no longer in existence), on the interior painting of the monuments in Mălâncrav (14 th century), 3 Sighişoara (15 th century) and on the northern or southern facades of the monuments in Dârlos (before 1544), Floreşti (mid-14 th century, no longer in existence), at Şmig and Tătârlaua (end of the 15 th century). 4 Only one church belonging today to the Orthodox confession