#Exhibit of the Month

Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are rare in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Therefore, those few items found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova occupy a worthy place in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM). In particular, in the archaeological exhibition, two bronze cauldrons are displayed, discovered near the village of Nicolscoe in 1988 in burial mounds no. 14 and 15. In addition, in 2020, two bronze cauldrons without any accompanying documents were found in the collection of NMHM; however, they were visually identified as coming from various excavations in the Low Dniester region, such as burial mound no. 45 near Dubăsari and burial mound no. 1 near the Răscăieții Noi village.

The object presented as the exhibit of the month is a little-known find discovered in 1979 in barrow 1 near the village of Răscăieții Noi in the Ștefan Vodă district. In addition to its outstanding size (about 10 m high), this mound is known for discovering a cast bronze finial in the Scythian animal style on its surface in 1953. However, by the beginning of excavations, the locals had damaged part of the mound and a Scythian cast bronze cauldron was found near it. The cauldron was seriously damaged by mechanical impact, as a result of which the rim was deformed, and the walls, with one preserved vertical handle, were bent inwards. Fragments in the upper part of the body and one handle have been lost. The total reconstructed height of the cauldron is 24 cm (excluding the handles), the reconstructed diameter of the hemispherical cauldron is 30 cm, and the weight is 6.5 kg. In 2020, data on the chemical composition of the bronze cauldron alloy were obtained, revealing that it was cast from an alloy of almost 95 per cent copper. Unfortunately, due to the loss of information on the context of the discovery of the cauldron at Răscăieții Noi, it is impossible to link its discovery with one or another Scythian burial of the barrow. Moreover, the grave goods of other Scythian burials of Barrow 1 do not allow them to date below the 4th century BC. However, the cauldron with vertical handles from Răscăieții Noi most likely belongs earlier. This may be indicated by a bronze finial from the first half of the 5th century BC, which was found on this barrow in 1953. In addition, burial 7 from the nearest excavated barrow 2 at Răscăieții Noi, containing a plaque depicting a rolled predator (a copy of which is also on display at the NMHM), belongs to the mid- 5th century BC. Thus, there is a high probability that the cauldron from Barrow 1 at Răscăieții Noi is associated with the late Middle Scythian period or the mid-5th century BC.

Scythian bronze cauldrons in the west area are concentrated in three main regions: Bukovina-Podolia, the Lower Danube, and the Lower Dniester. Some Scythian cauldrons have no reliable archaeological context. Nevertheless, in combination with the same "stray" finds like the Scythian statues, the finds of Scythian cauldrons mark the Scythian presence, most likely not earlier than the late 6th century or even the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC. The cauldrons first appeared in Bukovina, where they have been known since the middle of the 7th century BC. Bronze cauldrons (with their carriers) entered the steppe region 150-200 years later, and the "military" burials that appeared in the western steppe regions were no earlier than the middle of the 5th century BC. Most burials with cauldrons (and, apparently, the stray finds) are dated back to the second half of the 5th century BC. Then, in the early 4th century BC, their quantity was reduced, and after the first quarter of the 4th century BC, they completely disappeared from the cultural practice of the population of the steppes of the North-Western Black Sea region.

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Publications

Journal „Tyragetia"

vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2

Iconographic patterns of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova

ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

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

Abstract

The theme of the Dormition is reﬂected in the ﬁve icons from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, falling on August 15, is celebrated for a long time; according to some sources, it was oﬃcially established in 582. The canonical composition of the icons of the Theotokos was formed after the restoration of the veneration of icons, when the Church overcome heresy and consolidated the basic theological provisions. Initially the scenes were laconic, with a small number of characters; thereafter these iconographic compositions develop into complex patterns with a variety of characters and attributes. Icons of the Dormition from the museum's collection belong to the 18th early 20th centuries, and most of them represent the traditional iconographic patterns arranged both horizontally and vertically.

Retaining in their compositions the characteristic features of the earlier representations the Mother of God on Her deathbed surrounded by the Apostles, the image of the Savior with the soul of His Blessed Mother in His arms, surrounded by angels, painters at the same time introduced elements of more recent origin, or some details less characteristic of this iconographic model. Two such compositions reminiscent of the famous icon from the Dormition Church of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and reproduce the pattern of so-called icons-reliquaries, takes us back to the early icons with special recesses for storage Marian relics, to the churches of Blachernae and Kalkoprateya in Constantinople, where such objects were kept. Other compositions include the scene with Jewish high priest Athonias and an angel with a drawn sword, shoes of the Mother of God, or a burning candle.

The collection has an icon reminiscent of the Gethsemane Shroud of the Mother of God, which was popular in Russia in the 19th century. The composition of another museum's icon does not include the image of the Savior holding a baby the distinctive elements of this iconographic type. Icons of the Dormition from the museum's collection are of medium size, only one is large this is the icon, which decorated a temple dedicated to the feast of Dormition. The museum's icons of Dormition included in the recently published catalog of the Marian icons of the 17th-20th centuries, not only demonstrate the original interpretation of the images and decorations but also provide researchers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a little studied collection of Marian icons that can complement existing sources in the area, as well as data about the temples, from which these icons came, or personalities related to their history.

List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Dormition of the Mother of God. Ivory plaque, late 10th early 11th c. The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (https://www.nsad.ru/pic/3_1346080545.jpg).
Fig. 2. Dormition of the Mother of God. Ivory plaque, late 10th c. The Metropolitan Museum, New York (https:// www.nsad.ru/pic/1_1346080351.jpg).

Fig. 3. Dormition of the Mother of God (carved ivory). Rostov Veliky. Museum of Church Antiquities (https://mariamagdalina.ru/?p=8057).
Fig. 4. Dormition of the Mother of God. Rome, 13th c. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (https://www.pravoslavie.ru/sas/image/100728/72899.b.jpg).
Fig. 5. Dormition of the Mother of God (carved ivory). Constantinople, 10th c. The Worcester Art Museum (Massachusetts) (https://www.ikonostas.in.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/00009.jpg)
Fig. 6. Fresco "Dormition of the Mother of God". Serbia, SopoФani, 13th c. (https://www.pravmir.ru/wp-content/ uploads/2013/08/0108.jpg).
Fig. 7. Dormition of the Mother of God. A cave church of Göreme, Turkey, 11th c. (https://www.taday.ru/ data/2011/08/28/1233394130/01_Gioreme_Kappadokija_11v.jpg).
Fig. 8. Dormition of the Mother of God. The Transﬁguration Cathedral of the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov, mid12th c. (https://interestingeventsclub.uol.ua/text/3730919/).
Fig. 9. Fresco "Dormition of the Mother of God". St. Nicholas Church, Curtea de Argeș, 14th c. (https://madalinfocsa.ﬁles.wordpress.com/2010/05/fresca.jpg).
Fig. 10. Dormition of the Mother of God. The Hospital Church of the Hurezi Monastery, 17th c. (https://ro.wikipedia. org/wiki/Biserica_Bolni%C8%9Bei_M%C4%83n%C4%83stirii_Hurezi#/media/File:RO_VL_Romanii_de_ Jos_Hurezi_monastery_5.jpg).
Fig. 11. Dormition of the Mother of God. Russia, late 18th early 19th c. (NMHM, FB-22918-42).
Fig. 12. Icon "Dormition of the Mother of God" from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, early 19th c. (NMHM, FB-23384-109). Fig. 13. Icon "Dormition of the Mother of God" from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, 1885 г. Lithograph from the original of the 11th c. (https://fakty.ua/138804-kogda-s-vysoty-cerkovnyh-svodov-opuskalas-ikona-uspeniya-prihozha-
nam-kazalos-chto-yavlyaetsya-sama-bogorodica).
Fig. 14. Dormition of the Mother of God. Miniature from the Gospel of the Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas, 11th c. (https://www.pravmir.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/0081.jpg).
Fig. 15. Icon "Dormition of the Mother of God" from the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, 19th c. (NMHM, FB-23384-33).
Fig. 16. Dormition of the Mother of God the Shroud of Gethsemane, Russia, 19th c., St. Athanasius Church, Etulia (Vulcănești) (NMHM, FB-22918-73).
Fig. 17. The Gethsemane Shroud of the Mother of God. Jerusalem, 19th c. (https://alchevskpravoslavniy.ru/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/16.jpg).
Fig. 18. Dormition of the Mother of God. Jerusalem, 1868 г. (https://ippo.ru/img/palom/pl_9.jpg).
Fig. 19. Dormition of the Mother of God. Bessarabia, 19th c., the Dormition Church, Copceac (Comrat) (NMHM, FB-22918-203).
Fig. 20. Dormition of the Mother of God. Ivory medallion, Greece, 15th c. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (https://mariamagdalina.ru/?p=8057).