This year we commemorate 350 years since the birth and 300 years since the death of Dimitrie Cantemir (October 26, 1673 - August 21, 1723), the most famous Romanian humanist thinker and also the author of the first original Romanian philosophical works.
Dimitrie Cantemir represents one of the highest peaks of thought of his time, in all areas that his genius touched - in historiography, geography, philosophy, he opened up new perspectives for development. The great scholar was well acquainted with the Muslim environment, speaking, in addition to Western, also Eastern languages (Turkish, Persian and Arabic), and also had extensive knowledge in the fields of logic, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy and music. This well-educated Christian beyzade, being a born diplomat, won the trust of Sultan Ahmed III, who favorably allowed him to familiarize himself with the documents of imperial history that Cantemir used in working on his famous work "The Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire", which still remains a reference publication in a specialized bibliography.
The National Museum of History of Moldova possesses a German edition of this work, published in Hamburg in 1745. This edition is an impressive volume of 863 pages, accompanied by a preface in German by the editor, containing words of praise and appreciation: "... we consider that such a work of great significance must be known to the Germans in their mother tongue..."
Dimitrie Cantemir was the first scholar to show that the history of the Ottoman Empire divides into two parts. The first part that of growth, includes biographies of 19 sultans and ends around 1672, when the empire entered a new phase, that of political and military decline. Through this work, Cantemir tried to draw attention to the need for an alliance of European countries against Turkish expansion. At the same time, he praised certain aspects of the culture of the Turkish people.
Like "Description of Moldavia", "The Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire" enjoyed wide popularity in European countries. The work was first translated into Russian by Dmitry Grozin, but was not printed. After the death of Dimitrie Cantemir, thanks to his son Antiochus, who became the Russian ambassador in London and then in Paris, this fundamental writing of our scholar was translated and published in English (two volumes, 1734-1735, followed by a new edition in 1756) and in French (1743, in four small volumes). In 1745, the work was also published in German. It was read, highly valued and used in their writings by Voltaire, Byron, Victor Hugo and others. This is the first treatise that addresses the issue of Ottoman power and the multicultural nature of the empire. Work on it began during the author's stay in the Ottoman Empire, resumed after 1711, and finished in 1717. This writing brought him European fame and placed him among the great scholars of the time.
The registers of prophets and apostles from the spire tholobate of the St. George Church of Suceava. Liturgical and historical implications
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Abstract
The frescoes of the St. George Metropolitan Church of Suceava, painted inside and outside in 1534, until now have been studied only partly. In the hereby study we aim an iconographic consideration of the paintings within the vaulting system of the nave. Special attention is paid to the registers of prophets and apostles inside the tholobate, which display several important peculiarities. In the superior register are represented 12 Minor Prophets and 3 Major Prophets, to which prophets Elijah and David are added. Surprisingly, the fourth Major Prophet, Jeremiah, is missing, instead of him, even more surprisingly, being represented Naboth the Israelite - the single image of this character within the register of prophets during the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine epoch. In the case of this unexpected insertion, we have attempted to draw several interpretation tracks, connected with the historical re-alities of the epoch. The inferior register also contains an uncommon mixture, including eight figures of apostles and prophets each, as well as a little habitual practice of endowing the apostles with texts written on rotuli. The study draws a repertory of the inscriptions from the rotuli of prophets and apostles, which are analyzed from the perspective of the practices in this field from the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art, as well as in the context of their liturgical implications. At the same time, the author presented the inscriptions on the rotuli of prophets from the Dodecaorton (The Great Feasts) from the soffit of the oblique arches, trying also to establish a relationship between the prophetical registers of the St. George Church of Suceava and the evolutions of these registers in the Moldavian art from the 15th -16th centuries.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. The St. George Church of Suceava, the paintings of the nave spire. Fig. 2. The St. George Church of Suceava, Christ Pantocrator on the dome of the nave. Fig. 3. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the angelic registers. Fig. 4. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the registers of the prophets and apostles and of the Heavenly Liturgy. Fig. 5. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the prophets' register: David, Micah, Isaiah, Habakkuk. Fig. 6. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the prophets' register: Habakkuk, Nahum, Zephaniah (?), Amos. Fig. 7. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the prophets' register: Elijah, Haggai, Abdias. Fig. 8. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the prophets' register: Abdias, Jonah, Ezekiel, Joel. Fig. 9. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the prophets' register: Ezekiel, Joel, Malachi. Fig. 10. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, the prophets' register: Zechariah, Na- both, Daniel, Hosea. Fig. 11. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, registers of the prophets and apostles: Sts. Peter, John the Baptist and Paul. Fig. 12. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, registers of the prophets and apostles: Sts. Philip, Bartholomew and Andrew. Fig. 13. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, registers of the prophets and apostles: Sts. Paul, Simon, James and Thomas. Fig. 14. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, registers of the prophets and apostles: Samuel, Elisha, Moses, Salomon. Fig. 15. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tholobate of the nave spire, registers of the prophets and apostles: Aaron, unidentified prophet, Gideon. Fig. 16. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tympanum and the intrados of the northeast arch: The Annunciation and the prophets David and Salomon. Fig. 17. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tympanum and the intrados of the southeast arch: The Nativity of Jesus and the prophets Isaiah and Micah. Fig. 18. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tympanum and the intrados of the southwest arch: The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the prophets Moses and Isaiah. Fig. 19. The St. George Church of Suceava, the tympanum and the intrados of the northwest arch: The Baptism of Jesus and the prophets St. John the Baptist and Nahum. Fig. 20. The St. Nicholas Church of Popăuti-Botoșani, the prophets' registers on the arch of the central apse. Fig. 21. The St. George Church of Voronet the prophets' registers on the arch of the central apse. Fig. 22. The St. Nicholas Church of Bălinești, the prophets' register in the central apse.
This year we commemorate 350 years since the birth and 300 years since the death of Dimitrie Cantemir (October 26, 1673 - August 21, 1723), the most famous Romanian humanist thinker and also the author of the first original Romanian philosophical works.Dimitrie Cantemir represents one of the highest peaks of thought of his time, in all areas that his genius touched - in historiography, geography, philosophy, he opened up new perspectives for development...
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.
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.
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.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
