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The Chișinău Diocesan Girls' School opened its doors on May 3, 1864, addressing a pressing need: in Bessarabia there were no institutions dedicated to the education of clergy's daughters. According to the 1864 circular, teaching was conducted in the Romanian language, a provision applied throughout the diocese. The school's first headmistress was Anastasia Rizo, of noble origin, invited by Archbishop Antonie.

The curriculum, approved by the Ministry of Public Education and the Chișinău Diocese, combined theoretical subjects with practical training. Students studied religion, reading and writing in Romanian, Slavonic, and Russian, arithmetic and exercises in calculation, world history and geography. The program was complemented by church singing and practical skills such as sewing, embroidery, knitting, as well as household management - baking bread and prosphora, preparing meals and preserves, caring for livestock, and cultivating gardens.

The composite, taken in 1911 at the studio of Z. N. Sumovski in Chișinău, depicts 29 graduates and 13 teachers. At the center are portraits of Bishop Serafim (Ciciagov), headmistress N. R. Mihelson, teacher V. E. Bejerian, and priests F. Ghiliarov and P. Jurikas. Among the teaching staff was Paraskovia Vasilievna Cuciurenko, a calligraphy teacher for 37 years, who in 1911 became senior educator and assistant headmistress. For her dedication, she was awarded the gold medal "For Long Service."

On the reverse of the vignette is a label from the store and workshop of frames, paintings, mirrors, and window glass owned by A. D. Kon'gova, Chișinău, Gogol Street no. 37, near the State Bank.

This graduation composite was donated at the end of 2025 to the National Museum of History of Moldova by the Dadiștian family from Drochia.



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Publications Journal „Tyragetia"   vol. X [XXV], nr. 2


Eucharistic icons of Jesus Christ in the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Eucharistic icons of Jesus Christ in the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie

Keywords: Eucharist, liturgy, altar, communion, vine, cross, chalice.

Abstract: Many icons from the collection of the Museum are devoted to the theme of the Eucharist - the iconographic types of "The Last Supper" and "Jesus Christ "The Vine". This article presents an iconographic type less well-known in our area - "Jesus Christ "The Vine", which is reflected on the three icons from the museum. Eucharist is one of the great sacraments in which Jesus Christ, presaging the sacrifice of the Cross, gives his disciples bread and wine in the chalice referring to the bread as "my body" and the wine as "my blood". Icons from the Museum's collection represent the general scheme of this type of icons: the Savior is depicted sitting on the altar table, behind Him - the Cross, vines with grapes grows from His rib and He presses the grapes with both hands into the chalice, supported by an angel. On the left side another angel holds a large rolled scroll. On the two icons, in the upper part of the composition, two angels hold scrolls with inscriptions, on one of the icons in the Romanian language, on the other in the Old Slavonic: "one who eats My Body", "one who drinks My Blood". The theme of the Eucharist was treated in images from ancient times; it was conveyed through symbolic images of the basket of bread, fish, vine, its fruit, birds pecking grapes or the Christian meal scenes. Later, there were images in which the Savior was depicted in the vine, among the twelve apostles. Since the 16th century there are known the icons, on which at the base of the cross there is depicted the Tomb of Christ, and near the Tomb the resurrected Jesus Christ covered with a white cloth stands on the plate shifted to one side. In the hands of the Savior there is a vine growing out of the grave, and he presses the wine in the chalice, which holds the kneeling angel. These images develop into complex compositions, very common in the 17th-18th centuries in Poland, the southern regions of Russia, in Romania, Georgia, and Serbia. Such the images designed for the location in the altar are found on the icons on glass and on wooden icons. Icons from the museum's collection, which are dated from the end of the 19th century to 1920s-1930s, perhaps were created by the order of parish or the laity. They were maintained, in all probability, in the altars of churches or in the naos as icons for prayer. This assumption is confirmed by their impressive size.

List of Figures:
Fig. 1. Jesus Christ "The Vine", the first half of the 15th century, Angelos Akotantos, Greece.
Fig. 2. Jesus Christ "The Vine", the first half of the 15th century, Angelos Akotantos, Greece.
Fig. 3. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 16th century, Ioan and Sofronie Zugravul, Sucevița Monastery.
Fig. 4. The Eucharist, 17th-19th centuries, Romania, private collection, Holland.
Fig. 5 Jesus Christ "The Vine", around 1700, Hurezi Monastery.
Fig. 6. Jesus Christ "The Vine", the beginning of the 18th century, Lviv.
Fig. 7. Jesus Christ "The Vine", about 1740, Volyn.
Fig. 8. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 17th century. The Sanok Museum, Poland.
Fig. 9. Miniature from the Collection of Akathist Hymns of 1674, printing of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Fig. 10. Jesus Christ "The Vine", the beginning of the 18th century. The Church of the Ascension in the village of Olgomel, Brest.
Fig. 11. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 19th century, Georgia.
Fig. 12. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 18th century, A. Ponehalsky, the church in Călinești-Căeni, Maramureș. Fig. 13. Miniature, Missal of the Metropolitan Stephen of Wallachia (1648-1688).
Fig. 14. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 1927, Ioasaf Berghie, Bessarabia (from the NMHM collection).
Fig. 15. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 1928, Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Petrovka, Sărata, Odessa.
Fig. 16. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 1920s-1930s, Irinei Protchenko, Bessarabia from the NMHM collection).
Fig. 17. Jesus Christ "The Vine", 1920s-1930s, Bessarabia (from the NMHM collection).

Adelaida Chiroșca
Two monetary treasures from the 16th and the 17th centuries from the collections of the NMAHM
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
The iconographic message of the Last Supper compositions from the collection of the National Museum of the History of Moldova)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
Medieval coins discovered at Soroca fortress
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Adelaida Chiroșca
Iconographic patterns of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Adelaida Chiroșca
The image of Our Lady of Hârbovăț from the collection of icons of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie



 

 

Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
  

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#Exhibit of the Month

The Chișinău Diocesan Girls' School opened its doors on May 3, 1864, addressing a pressing need: in Bessarabia there were no institutions dedicated to the education of clergy's daughters...

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

menu
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC