#Exhibit of the Month

The item is the lower part of a leg of a festive table made of white and gray marble. In the upper part, it has a protrusion, similar to a Doric capital, on the horizontal platform of which a square recess is engraved, designed to fix the second part of the leg (upper). The lower part of the leg is made in an anthropomorphic style, and, in our opinion, there are two variants of identifying the depicted character. The first involves the image of the head of the young Heracles (Heracles - Ἡρακλῆς) (beardless), the most favorite hero of antiquity, wearing on his head the skin of the Nemean lion - Λέων της Νεμέας, a vicious monster from Greek mythology who lived in Nemea and was eventually killed by Heracles. The first labor of Heracles, of the twelve set by King Eurystheus (his cousin), was to kill the Nemean lion and bring his skin to the king. It is also known from Greek mythology that the lion of Nemea took the form of a beautiful woman in order to seduce the inhabitants of neighboring villages, who wanted to save the girl from danger. Upon entering the cave, a man saw the woman, who usually pretended to be wounded, and rushed to help her. When he approached her, the woman turned into a lion and killed him. Then the lion devoured the man, giving his bones to Hades - ᾍδης, the god of Hell, who lived in the kingdom of shadows. The second version of the anthropomorphic image interpretation suggests Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia in the second half of the 4th century BC, one of the most famous heroes of the Greek world, who sometimes is depicted as Hercules - wearing a lion's skin. Some researchers consider the custom of wearing the skin of a slain lion a sign of royal power. The word βασιλεύς itself, translated from ancient Greek, means "walking the path of the lion", that is, the king. This title was held by the Greek kings from the Homeric period, and later, starting from the 7th century AD - by the Byzantine emperors.

The item can be dated to the 5th-6th centuries AD, and, possibly, it originates from Asia Minor.

It is kept in the collection of the museum for about 10 years. The gray granite stand does not belong to the original item.

Metric characteristics: height 330 mm; width: 112 mm.

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National Museum of History of Moldova

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Movie night under the stars, 5th edition at the National Museum of History of Moldova

23 August – 15 September 2018

The traditional event - Movie night under the stars, at its 5th edition, took place in the courtyard of the National Museum of History of Moldova between 23 August and 15 September, 2018.

The outdoor movie screening was organized by the Association for Charity and Promotion of Civic Culture, in cooperation with the National Museum of History of Moldova.

The lovers of the seventh art had the opportunity to watch the masterpieces of universal cinema from Thursday to Saturday beginning at 21:00. The program included nine international films from the 1940s to the 1970s of the 20th century - comedies, musical films and dramas, highly acclaimed cinematographic productions, box office success.

Below is the selection of films from the 5th edition:

• 23 August - „Some Like It Hot" (1959), directed by Billy Wilder, 122 min.;
• 24 August - „Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez" (1964), directed by Jean Girault, 95 min.;
• 25 August - „It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), directed by Frank Capra, 135 min.;
• 30 August - „Funny Face" (1957), directed by Stanley Donen, 103 min.;
• 31 august - „Stefan cel Mare - Vaslui 1475" (1975), directed by Mircea Drăgan, 137min.;
• 1 September- „Mary Poppins" (1964), directed by Robert Stevenson, 139 min.;
• 13 September - „The Great Rupert" (1950), directed by Irving Pichel, 88 min.;
• 14 September - „Брилиантовая рука" (1969), directed by Leonid Gaidai, 100 min.;
• 15 September - „Royal Wedding" (1951), directed by Stanley Donen, 93 min.

The films were played in the original language, with subtitles in Romanian.

The "Movie night under the stars" event gathered 784 moviegoers of all ages.