#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. 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

#Exhibit of the Month

December 2020

Binoculars-shaped vessel from Ciulucani

The artifact was discovered in 1990 near the village of Ciulucani in the Teleneşti District, during the arrangement of a pond. In the same year, the archaeologist Tatiana Todorova carried out excavations in the settlement, which were meant to save part of its area from imminent destruction. The settlement of Ciulucani I is located on the slope of the valley of a stream, a left tributary of the Ciulucul Mic River, 12 km north of the village of Ciulucani.

The vessel belongs to the Cucuteni culture, one of the oldest civilizations in Europe (5200 to 3200 BC), which was named after the eponymous village near Iaşi, where in 1884 the first its remains were discovered. The Cucuteni culture preceded all human settlements in Sumer and Ancient Egypt by several hundred years. The Cucuteni culture (Ukrainian: Trypillian culture) spread over an area of 350,000 square kilometers, on the current territory of Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

The Cucuteni settlements had a protourban organization, with houses built of clay on wooden structures. The communities practiced hunting, agriculture and domestic crafts, such as weaving, pottery, and making tools. The predominant colors on Cucuteni ceramics are red, white and black.

The binocular object represents two ceramic tubes joined by means of three bars (bridges) arranged horizontally, being as such composed of two monocles with funnel-shaped ends. The yellow-pink vessel is modeled from a fine clay body and decorated with painted ornament, for which natural black-brown dyes were used. Such a shape had as prototype a similar wooden construction. In some cases the extremities had holes, i.e. forming a whole with the support tube, in other cases, rarer, such as the Ciulucani object, they represent small phials. The evolution of this type of vessels takes place in the classical period of the Cucuteni culture, until the beginning of the gradual degradation of the quality of the vessels of this culture. So far there are no reliable opinions on the functionality of this type of vessel, which are specific only to the Cucuteni culture, but several researchers opt for the assumption that they were used in ritual practice and are among the best chronological and spatial indicators. Each binoculars-shaped vessel discovered so far do not have the same patterns, all of which are unique.

The object has a height of 188 mm, the diameters of the extremities vary from 111 to 112.5 mm, the width of the vessel is 290 mm.

Dating: 4th millennium BC.