The architectural patronage of Miklós Bethlen in late seventeenth-century Transylvania

Abstract

Analysing the architectural patronage of the noble Miklós Bethlen in Late Renaissance Transylvania, this article sheds light upon the scope of a noble building patronage in Early Modern Transylvania, reflecting at the same time the exceptional case of a patron playing the role of the architect. Miklós Bethlen is an exceptional fi gure of late seventeenth-century Transylvanian nobility, active both on the political scene and on the cultural one. He is better known due to the memoirs he has written during his last years spent in prison in Vienna, and published for the fi rst time in the middle of the nineteenth century. His architectural patronage became a landmark for the Transylvanian architectural history. The Bethlen castle in Sânmiclăuş (Alba county) represents an iconic building for his architectural patronage, built from the ground up following his plans and supervision. Nevertheless, his patronage extended to other less known buildings as well. Th is paper aims at identifying the building patronage of Miklós Bethlen on the basis of his memories, but also analysing the architectural context of late seventeenth-century noble residences from Transylvania. His architectural conceptions are re-evaluated as well following the novel observations of Professor Konrad Ottenheym who call attention to the direct relation between the residence from Sânmiclăuş and the architectural theory promoted by Nicolaus Goldmann in Leiden. Moreover, following the analysis of original drawings by Goldmann and the spatial disposition of the residence in Ţopa, the article suggests the hypothesis that Miklós Bethlen has contributed as well to the third building phase of the noble residence from Ţopa (ca. 1675).