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#Exhibit of the Month

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We find ourselves in the month of April, as we prepare to celebrate Easter-a moveable religious holiday rich in festive rituals and ceremonial activities that place this event at the very heart of Christian spiritual life. The spirit of the Resurrection is beautifully complemented by ten Easter-themed postcards from the heritage of the National Museum of History of Moldova, printed a century ago. These pieces were added to the museum's postcard collection over a decade ago following a successful acquisition; as the fund for Easter-themed illustrations is modest, we are in a constant search for new additions.

These postcards are "extraordinary" in terms of their postal, typographical, and chromatic effects-the primary reason for revisiting this genre of greetings. Unlike "classic" postcards, these are smaller in size (6.5 cm x 11 cm), made of cardboard (with the exception of one piece made of photographic paper in black and white), and feature "vivid" colors. Printed in Romania and Germany, they bear the marks of having been sent and circulated through the post.

The name of the holiday originates from the verb persach, meaning "to pass," a term adopted by the Jews from the Egyptians. It entered the Romanian language through the Byzantine-Latin form Paschae, signifying the "passage through death to life, the victory of life, and liberation from the bondage of sin." Easter is a holiday of tolerance and forgiveness, representing a bridge between the present and the past. The significance of this celebration is conveyed through its symbols, which are also featured on these postcards: Hand-painted eggs, the Easter Bunny and the Lamb, traditional sweet breads (cozonac and pască), biblical scenes related to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Easter table also features pască-a ritual food reminiscent of ancient, bloodless "reconciliation" sacrifices. Its preparation is the exclusive task of women, the givers of life, as the leavened dough is considered "alive."

The most significant component of the Easter holiday, however, is the Light. The Ceremony of the Holy Light is associated with the miracle of the light appearing on Easter Sunday at Christ's Tomb in Jerusalem. The candle, often depicted in these images, carries a powerful message; it is with the Resurrection candle that we return home after the midnight religious service. Furthermore, the Easter Bunny represents the rebirth of nature, so eagerly awaited after a harsh winter.

Unlike Christmas, when the announcement and ritual integration of the community into sacred time was the duty of caroling groups, at Easter, "one does not go from house to house." Instead, the ritual meal is organized within each family, symbolizing a direct communion with God.


Virtual Tour


Exhibitions

„CUCUTENI 2016”

July 25th - August 1st, 2016

Exhibition „Cucuteni 2016" was organized by Art Studio „Picasso" in partnership with the National Museum of History of Moldova.


The exhibition brings together 73 ceramic artworks and 24 paintings which reproduce Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, one of the oldest civilizations in Europe, made by artists from Europe, Asia and Africa, participants at the Cucuteni International Art Camp 2016.

On display are a diversity of vessels with Cucuteni elements and female ceramic figurines made in different shapes and sizes. The ceramic vessels and female figurines are the main elements of Cucuteni culture.

The artworks were created within the three weeks of the Cucuteni International Art Camp 2016, the second edition of which was held in Ivancea between June 26 and July 16, 2016. The edition from 2016 was attended by 25 artists from 10 countries: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.
The exhibition was opened to the public on the upper lobby of the museum. It ended on August 1 with a charity auction.


*Cucuteni-Trypillian culture is a unique phenomenon in human history. This is one of the oldest civilizations in Europe which formed several centuries before the emergence of human settlements in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. The culture was spread on the present-day territory of Republic of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, our republic being the center of its cultural area.

The Eneolithic culture developed in the forest steppe area between the Carpathian Mountains and Dnieper River in the period of the 5th-4th millennia BC, it adapted to local conditions giving rise to closely related cultural phenomena which formed together a vast archaeological complex spread on an area of over 350.000 km2 and called by specialists, under conventional laws of archaeology, Cucuteni-Trypillia-Ariușd, after the names of villages in Moldova, Ukraine and Romania where discoveries of this type were made for the first time at the end of the nineteenth century.

The ceramics is the exceptional legacy of this culture. Shaped and painted by hand with vivid polychrome spiral and meander motifs, the Cucuteni ceramics is an argument that stands for the high level of development of this civilization of sedentary farmers.

The archaeologists have found in every Trypillian home between 30 and 200 ceramic objects: ceramic vessels (for keeping supplies, cups, bowls, ritual vessels) and anthropomorphic and zoomorphic artworks. The quality of the ceramic is unequalled: fine, smooth, painted with great skill in red, white, black and brown. The decorative rhythm is perfect, loaded with symbols and ornaments and represent real works of art with an age of 6-7 thousand years old.


 




Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
27 March – 30 April 2026
 
September 25, 2025 – September 1, 2026
 
August 11, 2025 – January 31, 2026
 
Over 2500 pieces made of precious metals with historic, artistic and symbolic value
  

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#Exhibit of the Month

We find ourselves in the month of April, as we prepare to celebrate Easter-a moveable religious holiday rich in festive rituals and ceremonial activities that place this event at the very heart of Christian spiritual life...

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC