Dozens of documents of historical and museum significance are put up for public auction in just one week. The event organized by Artmark on Wednesday, November 8, entitled “A Brief History of the Romanians”, presents to the public in an accessible format a series of manuscript documents significant to the history of Romania, including: a manuscript copy with original value of the Convention of Paris of 1858, a very rare pair of prince portraits Alexander Ioan Kuza and Lady Elena Kuza, as well as a lot of controversial history, consisting of secret correspondence of some leaders of the legionnaires.

Perhaps the most expensive lot of the “A Brief History of the Romanians” auction, with a starting price of 9,000 euros, is an official handwritten copy of the “Paris Convention of 1858, granted by the Ottoman Empire to the Romanian Principalities” – an important moment in the process of emancipation of the Romanian principalities. The document was signed after difficult and intense negotiations, in which the major European powers of the time and delegations representing the interests of Romanians participated. The Paris Convention of 1858 was of great importance for the Romanian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which played a decisive role in establishing their status and autonomy in the context of Ottoman rule. The convention created a legal and administrative framework that ensured the autonomy and stability of the principalities. Ottoman suzerainty over the principalities is placed under the control of the guarantor states, a measure aimed at reducing the abuses of the High Porte.

The immaculately preserved manuscript reproduces the signatures of the plenipotentiary representatives of the guarantor states and contains an authentic note from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire dated October 21, 1858. One of the important figures involved in this signature is none other than Alexander de Colonna-Valevsky, son of Napoleon Bonaparte. Other signatories of the document are: the Ottoman Empire in the person of Fuad Pasha, the Russian Empire in the person of an important personality for the future principality, namely Count Pavel Kiselev, as well as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of Sardinia (Italy) and the Kingdom of Denmark The copy corresponds to the original of the Convention of August 19, 1858, deposited in the Imperial Archives of the High Porte, it is classified as the Treasury of the National Cultural Heritage category of Romania, and recently it was part of the exhibition “January 24, 1859 Union of the Romanian Principalities” held in Alba Iulia by the joint by the efforts of several museums in January 2023.

The next lot, which surprises with its public appearance, starting at only 300 euros, is a series of 9 “Orders” signed by the heads of legionary nests (organizations) between January 10 and 20, 1941, which preceded the Legionary Uprising at the end of January 1941.

The auction documents are written orders sent to legionary nests, including the nest at the Faculty of Literature of the University of Bucharest. Legionary orders and correspondence shed light on the complex relationship of the legionary movement with Romanian universities and civil society at the time, opening a window into the violent and tragic history of Romania during World War II. The auctioneer clarifies that the project of putting this lot up for public auction is in no way intended to embellish the role and facts of the legionary movement or to sweeten, however small, the decisions that led to the Holocaust, the only permissible dimension. because these manuscripts are documentary-historical, with the rejection of any propagandistic interpretation; Artmark Auction House strongly condemns any anti-Semitic, xenophobic and racist manifestations both from the historical past and from the political present, we believe that neither the documentation of the past nor its free discussion should be prohibited or censored. , nor the circulation of documents, as they are necessary to avoid a repetition of the horrors of that time.

Added to the two example lots in the auction are two large portraits of Prince Alexandru Ioan Kuza and Lady Elena Kuza, extremely rare works edited by George Sion in Vienna in 1909. Only one known set remains, held by the National History Museum of Romania, which is currently on display as part of the “Cuza 150” jubilee exhibition project, alongside the impressive thrones of the ruling family and the investiture sword received from Sultan Abdulmecid. The two large lithographs are based on photographic portraits taken by Carol Popp de Satmari, the royal court photographer, in his own studio in Bucharest. In an 1863 petition addressed to Dimitrie Bolintinean, Minister of Public Education, Carol Satmari offered to lithograph the portraits of the Ruler and Lady that he had photographed a few weeks earlier in his studio. For the lithograph, Satmari chose an image in which Kuza appears in the form of a horseman, in a magnificent outfit clearly favored by the Ruler. It is interesting that the figure is somewhat idealized, the body of the ruler is slightly enlarged in relation to the head to give him monumental proportions, since it is known that Alexander Ioan Cusa was of average height. In contrast to the photograph, the painting depicted Kuza with a princely mantle over his shoulders, and on his chest the artist depicted more decorations than in the original photo (he included a plate of the Order of Osmania, the highest Ottoman award, for the reign of the new Sultan Abdulaziz, on the occasion of the second visit to Constantinople in June 1864). Portraits can be auctioned by history buffs for prices starting at €1,000.

The auction will take place on Wednesday, November 8 at 12:00 p.m. online only on the Artmark Live platform. The auction exhibition is open to the general public from Monday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Those wishing to participate in the auction are encouraged to pre-register online bids for the lots they are interested in, and to bid online through the Artmark Live auction software.

Manuscript “Official copy of the Paris Convention of 1858, given to the Romanian principalities by the Ottoman Empire”, museum exhibit, collection

Article supported by A10 by Artmark