#Exhibit of the Month

Several icons from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova reproduce in their compositions the miracle that would have been performed around the beginning of the 10th century in the church of Mother of God of Vlacherne in Constantinople. According to the legend, the townspeople retreated to the place for fear of an invasion that threatened the capital of the empire. The gathered crowd prayed incessantly, asking the Blessed Virgin to save the city. In the church of Vlacherne, her ancient vestments, which are said to make miracles, have been preserved for centuries. Among the Christians praying in the church was Saint Andrew the Fool-For-Christ, who came with his disciple Epiphanius, who would later become the Patriarch of Constantinople Polyevkt. After hours of fervent prayers, Saint Andrew was worthy to see the Mother of God passing through the royal doors with a procession of saints, who rose above the crowd, praying together with those present. In the end, the Blessed Virgin spread her garment over the crowd, as a sign of defense and protection, leaving the place. Also, from the legend we know that the city was really saved then.

Later, in memory of this miracle, the Church will order the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, celebrated on October 1/14.

The composition of the exposed icon highlights the interior of the Vlacherne church. In the upper register, in a radiate oval mandorla, the Mother of God soars on the clouds, holding the omophorus in her hands. She wears loose robes, trimmed with gold thread, beneath which red, gilded shoes can be seen. In the lower register, in the center of the gathered crowd, Romanos the Melodist is depicted sitting on the pulpit with the timetable in his hands, his head being framed by a radiant nimbus. He is dressed in festive robes, of the same shades as the vestments of the Mother of God. Romanus the Melodist is surrounded by several ecclesiastical faces and simple people, including Saint Andrew, who urges his disciple Epiphanie to look up at the miracle that was taking place in the church. The appearance of the hymnographer Romanos the Melodist (490-556) in this composition is not accidental. The young deacon began his activity in the Vlacherne church, where, five centuries later, Saint Andrew experienced his miraculous revelation. The legend tells that it was the Mother of God who endowed the young man with the grace of a wonderful voice, he later glorified her in his songs, writing, in all probability, the Akathist Hymn of the Mother of God. The Church commemorates Romanos the Melodist on October 1/14, the same day when the Protection of the Mother of God is commemorated.

The icon comes from the 19th century, from one of the workshops in southern Russia, being painted in tempera on a wooden support with dimensions 59x90x3 cm.

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Events Archive

International scientific conference “Memory as cultural patrimony in Lithuania and Moldova. Exchange of experience in studying and preservation of memory of the victims of totalitarian regimes and soviet occupation”

Chișinău, 2-3 December 2016

The scientific event was organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova (on the initiative of Museum of Victims of Deportations and Political Repressions), in cooperation with the Museum of Genocide Victims and Research Center on Genocide and Resistance of Lithuania. Cooperation between researchers and experts from Lithuania and Moldova will help create a bilateral scientific platform for the exchange of experience, research and historical valorisation of the period of Sovietization in Lithuania and Moldova, in particular, investigate the repressive mechanisms that ensured the establishment of the totalitarian communist regime.

The international scientific conference "Memory as a cultural patrimony in Lithuania and Moldova. Exchange of experience in studying and preservation of memory of the victims of totalitarian regimes and soviet occupation" was held on December 2nd and 3rd, 2016 at the State University of Moldova (Faculty of History and Philosophy) and the National Museum of History of Moldova. [The program of the conference]

At the conference was signed the bilateral cooperation agreement between the National Museum of History of Moldova and the Center for Research on Genocide and Resistance of Lithuania. Also, there were presented the volumes of "Memory Archives" Series, published within the State Project "Recovery and historical valorisation of memory of the victims of totalitarian communist regime in Soviet Moldova during the years 1940-1941 and 1944-1953."