#Exhibit of the Month

The Chișinău Diocesan Girls' School opened its doors on May 3, 1864, addressing a pressing need: in Bessarabia there were no institutions dedicated to the education of clergy's daughters. According to the 1864 circular, teaching was conducted in the Romanian language, a provision applied throughout the diocese. The school's first headmistress was Anastasia Rizo, of noble origin, invited by Archbishop Antonie.

The curriculum, approved by the Ministry of Public Education and the Chișinău Diocese, combined theoretical subjects with practical training. Students studied religion, reading and writing in Romanian, Slavonic, and Russian, arithmetic and exercises in calculation, world history and geography. The program was complemented by church singing and practical skills such as sewing, embroidery, knitting, as well as household management - baking bread and prosphora, preparing meals and preserves, caring for livestock, and cultivating gardens.

The composite, taken in 1911 at the studio of Z. N. Sumovski in Chișinău, depicts 29 graduates and 13 teachers. At the center are portraits of Bishop Serafim (Ciciagov), headmistress N. R. Mihelson, teacher V. E. Bejerian, and priests F. Ghiliarov and P. Jurikas. Among the teaching staff was Paraskovia Vasilievna Cuciurenko, a calligraphy teacher for 37 years, who in 1911 became senior educator and assistant headmistress. For her dedication, she was awarded the gold medal "For Long Service."

On the reverse of the vignette is a label from the store and workshop of frames, paintings, mirrors, and window glass owned by A. D. Kon'gova, Chișinău, Gogol Street no. 37, near the State Bank.

This graduation composite was donated at the end of 2025 to the National Museum of History of Moldova by the Dadiștian family from Drochia.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“Prado Museum goes out in the street”

July 1 - July 31, 2021

The Spanish Embassy in Bucharest in collaboration with Prado National Museum in Madrid and with the support of the National Museum of History of Moldova and the Honorary Consulate of Spain in Chisinau organizes the outdoor exhibition "Prado Museum goes out in the street". The photographs can be admired between July 1-31, 2021 at the National Museum of History of Moldova in Chisinau (31 August 1989 Street, 121 A).

The inhabitants and visitors of Chisinau will have the opportunity to admire 22 of the most representative exibits of the Prado Museum, one of the main cultural institutions of Spain and one of the most important museums in the world.
The exhibition aims to bring art to the streets and bring it closer to the public with magnificent reproductions, presented on a 1: 1 scale, of masterpieces signed by Goya, Velázquez, Rubens, Botticelli, Rembrandt or Hieronymus Bosch, offering viewers a experience similar to a real visit right to the Prado Museum.

The exhibition aims to bring art to the streets and bring it closer to the public with magnificent reproductions, presented on a 1: 1 scale, of masterpieces signed by Goya, Velázquez, Rubens, Botticelli, Rembrandt or Hieronymus Bosch, offering viewers a experience similar to a real visit right to the Prado Museum.

The exhibition has previously been shown in many cities in Central and South America, the Philippines, the USA, Spain and Romania and invites us on a journey through the vast collections of paintings hosted by the Prado Museum, offering a comprehensive picture of European painting from the early 12th century to the first years of the 20th century.

#Exhibit of the Month

Vignette of Graduates and Teachers of the Chișinău Diocesan Girls’ School, 1911

“Prado Museum goes out in the street”

July 1 - July 31, 2021

#Exhibit of the Month