#Exhibit of the Month

The history of this icon traces back to the 10th century at the Protaton Monastery on Mount Athos. In one of the cells named "The Dormition of the Mother of God," an elderly hieromonk lived with his disciple. They preserved a superb depiction of the Virgin Mary. This old icon became renowned through the revelation of the prayer "It Is Truly Meet."
Between the years 980-982, on a Saturday evening before an all-night vigil, the elder monk left for the nearby church, instructing his disciple to continue the religious routine in the cell. Being obedient, the disciple followed the instructions. When he reached the 9th Ode of the Canons, "More Honorable Than the Cherubim...," he suddenly heard someone beginning to chant alongside him: "It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos..." It was a mysterious pilgrim monk who had appeared unexpectedly and joined in the prayers. At that moment, the icon began to radiate light, as if it were broad daylight. Astonished by the events, the disciple asked the mysterious monk to write down the verses. The monk wrote them on a tile with his finger as if it were soft wax and said, "From now on, this is how you Orthodox Christians should chant," and, saying this, he vanished. Left alone, the disciple realized he had witnessed a great miracle. Enlightened, he understood that the pilgrim was none other than the Archangel Gabriel, who had come, as he had before, to deliver the word of the Highest to humanity.

The icon was transferred from the cell to the Holy Altar of the Protaton Church, where a similar icon is preserved to this day. The tile with the divine hymn was taken to Constantinople and included in the Orthodox Church's liturgical books. Soon after, Archangel Gabriel's prayer was incorporated into the Divine Liturgy, immediately following the Consecration of the Gifts of Bread and Wine. The valley with the cells has since been called Adin, meaning "to chant," "chanting."

The icon "It Is Truly Meet" is of inestimable value and has become the protector of Mount Athos. The icon is celebrated on June 11/24, commemorating the miraculous appearance of the Archangel, and on July 13/26, in honor of the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel.

This icon, of the Eleusa type, portrays gentleness and tenderness in its central figures. The Virgin holds the Child with her right hand, while her left hand, placed beneath His feet, grips the hem of His tunic. The small Jesus wears a short tunic reaching His knees and holds a scroll in His right hand inscribed with the words of the Axion hymn. His left-hand slips under the veil of the Virgin towards her left shoulder. Both figures are crowned with golden halos. Two angels flank the Virgin's halo, while the Almighty in an open heaven blesses with both hands.

Crafted using tempera on wood, the icon is adorned with gold leaf and multicolored enamel, giving the image a unique delicacy. The inscription on the lower frame indicates that the icon was created by the painter Ioasaf in 1905.

The painter monk Ioasaf Berghie (1862-?) of the New Neamț Monastery resided there between 1887 and the 1940s, occupying three rooms to set up his studio, where he worked continuously on icons and church artworks. Born into the family of a church teacher in Jabca village, Ștefan Berghie, Ioan Berghie developed a passion for sacred iconography from an early age. In 1890, Andronic, the abbot of the New Neamț Monastery, blessed him to paint icons. Taking monastic vows in 1895 under the name Ioasaf, he traveled by foot to visit major ecclesiastical centers nearby and further afield, learning the art of iconography. Starting with naive-style interpretations, he eventually mastered professional painting techniques and acquired new decorative skills. His works became highly popular throughout Bessarabia and abroad. Painting a significant number of icons, they were often mistakenly sold as coming from major artisan workshops. To prevent such confusion, he received the abbot's blessing to sign his works, earning recognition and fame for his name.

Virtual Tour

Publications

Albums

Aurelia Corneţchi

The epic of a railroad: Bender (Tighina) – Galaţi

Series “Albums” IV, Chisinau, 2021. 144 p. ISBN 978-9975-87-914-9

This catalog was created in order to make public the most important values from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova, in particular, lesser-known cultural goods that are not included in the permanent exhibition. It is our duty to safeguard and manage the treasures of museum collections in a way that makes them more accessible and useful to those interested in cultural values and quality information about them, in order to help people better understand our cultural heritage. Thus, links can be created between heritage, education and culture, between the past and the present.

The importance of this work is that it makes available to a wide audience a set of photographs of special cultural and historical relevance, collected in a splendid old album "Bender - Galati Military Railway", that was created in the last quarter of the 19th century by photographer Joannis Antonopoulo. They say that history is more captivating when we see it in images. And the photos gathered between the covers of this album represent a unique source of documents on the construction of the Bender (Tighina) - Galati railway in nineteenth-century Bessarabia in a record time of only three months. The 112 old documentary photographs step by step show the process of creating a 305 km railway line that connected Tighina with the Danube port of Galati: the execution of earthworks, construction of bridges, railway stations and depots, pumping stations and water towers, etc. The value of the photographs is also associated with the name of Alexander Bernardazzi, a notorious figure of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, who participated in the construction of the Bender (Tighina) - Galaţi railway line as an architect of wooden buildings.

The album from the museum collection is little-known and notable for its rarity; only 32 photographs that can be found on its pages were presented at an anniversary exhibition1. This exhibition attracted the attention of the general public, as well as researchers, museographers and collectors from the country and abroad who took a particular interest in this precious documentary photographic source. It was their professional interest that prompted us to prepare and publish this catalog. The photographic images reflected in the catalog attract not only by the fact that they keep fragments of the chronicle of the 144-year-old railway object, but also by the level of photographic art that appeared just in the second half of the nineteenth century, expressive and reliably conveying reality, having the effect of spatiality and depth. Along with the rich illustrative material, the publication contains detailed information about the old album "Bender - Galati Military Railway" and its creator, photographer Joannis Antonopoulo, as well as a brief history of the construction of the Bender (Tighina) - Galaţi railway line, thus contributing to the history of the railways of the Republic Moldova.

The catalog "The epic of a railroad: Bender (Tighina) - Galaţi" is an illustrated travel guide into the past, to the origins of railway transport in the 19th century Bessarabia.