#Exhibit of the Month

The Gospel is a fundamental liturgical book of the Orthodox Church that brings together the four apostolic testimonies about the Son of God - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - "inspired by the same Holy Spirit, the one true and sole author of the Gospel." The Gospel, or the Good News, testifying to the Glory of Christ, refers to the full teaching and deeds of the Savior; the four Gospels are regarded as the four sustaining pillars of the Church.
St. Jerome (c. 340-420), author of the first complete Latin translation of the Holy Scriptures, assigned to the four evangelists the living creatures that appear in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel (1:5). Thus, the Evangelist Matthew, the first to relate the Nativity of the Lord, is accompanied in imagery by the angel who announced the miracle; the Evangelist Mark, likened to St. John the Baptist - "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" - is associated with the lion. The Evangelist Luke, who opens his Gospel with the priest Zechariah, is personified by the winged ox, recalling the ox's sacrificial role; and the Evangelist John, for his elevated theological vision, is associated with the eagle.
This altar Gospel, printed in 1890 at the Lavra Pecerska printing house in Kyiv, contains - in addition to the four canonical Gospels - other liturgical texts: readings for Vespers, the Divine Liturgy, prayers, and services.
It is a large-format Gospel measuring 37 × 48 cm, bound in cardboard and leather. The gilded metal cover is fitted with two metal clasps and gilt edges. Five vertical-oval icon plaques in polychrome enamel are applied to the cover, which is engraved with vegetal and geometric ornamentation. The central plaque depicts the "Resurrection of the Lord"; in the corners of the upper register appear the faces of the Evangelists Matthew and John, and in the lower register those of Luke and Mark. Printed in red and black, the volume comprises 428 leaves; the text is enriched with various typographic ornaments - vignettes, initials, engravings, frontispieces, etc. Pagination is indicated on the leaves, the folio number appearing in the upper right.
The Gospel of Matthew is printed on pages 1-105, the opening page accompanied by the scene of the Nativity of the Lord. The Gospel of Mark continues on pages 104-168, its representative scene being the Baptism of the Lord. The Gospel according to Luke occupies pages 172-273, its opening page bearing the scene of the Annunciation. The Gospel according to John is included between pages 280-358, the evocative scene being the Crucifixion of the Lord.

The Lavra Pecerska printing house, cited in the colophon, has long roots - traditionally founded by Archimandrite Elisei Pletenetsky (1595-1624) in 1615 - although the precise dates of its earliest publications remain a matter of debate. This copy entered the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova under inventory number FB-23062-35; acquired in 1982, it was transferred to the MNIM collections in 1996 from the holdings of the Museum of the History of Religion.

Virtual Tour

October 2020

Fabergé inkwell

Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920), was a famous jeweler of French origin, who became the official supplier of jewelry for the Imperial House in Russia, and when we say Fabergé, we mean not just jewelry, but rather works of art.

The famous Russian jewelry House of Fabergé received worldwide recognition for the elegance and uniqueness of its products. In the late 19th - early 20th century, the House of Fabergé was a world-class phenomenon known for its famous "Easter eggs" made of precious metals and stones. The first egg was crafted in 1885, when Tsar Alexander III decided to give his wife a special gift on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their marriage. Since the jubilee fell on Easter, the tsar asked C. Fabergé to create a unique decoration in the form of an egg, which would be extremely precious, like his wife Maria. This is how Faberge eggs and the annual Easter tradition of donating them appeared at the court of the Russian Tsar. For 32 years, before the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, which led to the fall of the tsarist monarchy, the House of Fabergé created about 70 eggs, of which more than 50 have survived to this day, and each of them is a work of art of rare beauty, a symbol of luxury and aristocracy.

Among the treasures stored in the National Museum of History of Moldova, there are also Fabergé jewelry items. Here we present to the attention of visitors a silver inkwell of the 19th century, covered with stylized ornaments in the Russian Modern Style influenced by medieval Russian-Byzantine art. The body of the item represents a ball with small spherical legs on a marble stand in the form of a truncated pyramid. The inkwell is completely covered with stylized patterns of rare beauty and decorated with pearls and malachite. This work of art is 15 cm high and 9 cm in diameter. The lid is made in the form of a traditional dome of Russian churches.

#Exhibit of the Month

Altar Gospel (1890)

October 2020

Fabergé inkwell

#Exhibit of the Month