#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

Events Archive

Series of events in the framework of project “Historical Site Camp of King Charles VII of Sweden at Varnița - valorization and promotion”

May 22-23, 2017

On 22 and 23 May, 2017, the National Museum of History of Moldova, in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Moldova, NGO „Women. Hope. Future" (Varnița), ArmesMuseum from Sweden (Stockholm), and the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Sweden organized a series of events within the project „Historical site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden at Varnița - valorization and promotion". The project is funded by the European Union in the framework of the CHOICE / Cultural Heritage: Opportunity for Improving Civic Engagement program. In the Republic of Moldova the program is carried out by the National Association ICOM Moldova in partnership with the Association of Local Democracy Agencies ALDA (France).

The official opening of the events took place on Monday, May 22, in the Blue Room of the museum, in the presence of representatives of diplomatic missions, scholars and scientists, central and local government representatives. The event was attended by scientists, museographers, and university professors from Sweden, Ukraine, Turkey and Moldova.

Klas Kronberg from the ArmesMuseum in Stockholm presented two volumes of studies and articles: "Karl XII" published in 2015 and "When Sweden was Ruled from the Ottoman Empire" published in 2016. Both volumes were edited by the Stockholm ArmesMuseum. The books sum up the results of the scientific research conducted within the project "When Sweden was governed from the Ottoman Empire", a project that involved Sweden, Moldova, Turkey, and Greece. Dr. Per Sandin was the project manager. All articles deserve attention, they are well developed, structured, signed by specialists from Ukraine, Turkey, Sweden and the Republic of Moldova. Publishers of the volumes are Asa Karlsson, Klas Kronberg and Per Sandin.

The volume "Historical Site Camp of King Charles VII at Varnița. Recovery of memory" was presented by dr.hab. Elena Ploșnita. The book was published in 2017 in the Tyragetia Library series, a series promoted by the National Museum of History of Moldova. The volume was peer-reviewed by dr. Valentina Ursu and dr. hab. professor Valentin Tomuleț. E. Ploșnita noted that during the 18^th,19^th and 20^th centuries, the national historiography and international historiography, especially the European one, produced valuable approaches to the phenomenon of Charles XII, the King of Sweden, but there are gaps in covering fully the historical site from Varnița both in chronological and spatial terms. This volume comes to fill this gap. The publication stemmed from the necessity of knowing and promoting a segment of common Moldovan-Turkish-Swedish history with implications in the history of Poland and Ukraine and as a tribute to all those who through their enthusiasm contributed to the preservation of the memory of King Charles XII of Sweden in Varnița, Moldova. Many scholars, museographers, university professors from Moldova and from abroad contributed to the publication - Victor Ţvircun, coordinating academician, ASM, dr.hab. Ion Eremia, professor, USM, dr. Dinu Poștarenco, researcher at the Institute of History of the ASM, Dr. Alexandru Levinschi, ASM, dr. Ion Tentiuc and dr. hab. Eugen Sava from the NMHM, numismatist dr. Ana Boldureanu, architect Ion Budeci, researchers from Sweden - Anders Wesslen and Oscar Sjostrom, the Ukrainians Igor Sapojnikov and Vladimir Levciuk and others. The authoritative name of the authors is a guarantee for the quality of the book. It is an intellectual achievement worth remembering through documentary value, graphic design and, of course, the significance of the scientific approach.

During the events was opened the exhibition "Camp of King Charles VII of Sweden from Varnița. Photo-documentary testimonies". The exhibition reflects chronologically, through photography and document, the process of scientific and public valorization of the historical site "Camp of King Charles VII of Sweden in Varnița".

In the Blue Room of the Museum took place the international conference "Historic Site Camp of the King Charles XII of Sweden in Varnița. Recovering memory". At the conference were presented 11 papers, the authors of which focused on subjects related to the life and activity of Charles XII during 1709-1713, the camp of the king in Varnița, the relations of Swedes with the Ottoman Empire and Russia at the beginning of the 18^th century.

On May 23, 2017, the participants of the conference visited the historic site Camp of King Charles VII of Sweden in Varnita. Dr.hab. Eugen Sava presented the results of the project at Varnița, mentioning that within the project was conducted archaeological research, historical and documentary research, were conserved the remains of the foundations of the Chancellery of the Swedish king from Varnița and was rebuilt the monument from the site dedicated to King Charles XII of Sweden. A meeting with the local public authorities was held at the town hall in Varnița in which were discussed issues of collaboration between various institutions in Sweden and the Republic of Moldova in order to continue the valorization on the historical site located in the village.

Elena Ploșnița