#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

Chronological Axis

Aeneolithic Age

(late 5th millennium B.C. - early 3rd millennium B.C.)

The archaeological collections related to this period are the most representative ones. The development of material and spiritual culture testifies to the existence of different communities of farmers and nomadic cattle-breeders. Representatives of the Cucuteni-Tripolye culture inhabited the vast territory from the Carpathians to Dnieper for about 1,500 years (late 5^th millennium B.C. – early 3^rd millennium B.C.).

In the territory of the Republic of Moldova there are known more than 600 settlements of farmers, some of which were archaeologically investigated: Floresti, Rogojeni, Rusestii Noi, Radulenii Vechi, Petreni, Varvareuca, Brinzeni, etc. At this time there were first produced metal (copper) items. Tools made of bone and stone are predominant. The earthenware collection is remarkable for the variety of vessels decorated with carving or painted in diverse ornamental styles. The ornamental compositions contain cosmologic scenes, astral symbols, fantastic animals, and anthropomorphic deities. The spiritual life of the communities is represented by an impressive collection of zoo- and anthropomorphic figurines.

At the same time in the south of the Prut-Dniester area there was spread the Bolgrad-Aldeni culture represented by an impressive material.

Cattle-breeding tribes from North-Pontic steppes, which are represented here by the archaeological monuments of the Suvorovo-Novodanilovca and Cernavoda type, played an important part in the history of Aeneolithic communities. The stages of transition from the Aeneolithic to the Bronze Age in the Prut-Dniester area are represented by the archaeological cultures like the Brinzeni, Gordinesti, and Usatovo ones, which have harmoniously combined elements of the Cucuteni civilization and features of the cultures of the North-Pontic cattle-breeders identified with the ancient Indo-Europeans.

1.Vessel, the Bolgrad-Aldeni culture

2.Vessel, the Bolgrad-Aldeni culture

3.Female figurine of “Orante” type, the Bolgrad-Aldeni culture

4.Painted amphora with zoomorphic representations, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

5.Head of anthropomorphic figurine representing a slipping female deity, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

6.Anthropomorphic top of lid representing male deity, the Early or the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

7. Female figurine sitting on the zoomorphic “throne”, the Early Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

8.Female figurine, the Early Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

9.Stemmed “fruit dish” vessel with lid, with incised and excised decoration, the Early Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

10.Stemmed “fruit dish” vessel with incised and excised decoration, the Early Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

11.Stemmed “fruit dish” vessel with painted design, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

12.Painted anthropomorphic amphora with lid, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

13.Painted amphora with representation of the Great Goddess possessing animals, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

14.Female figurine, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

15.Bowl with zoomorphic representations, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

16.Painted pear-shaped vessel, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

17.Painted vessel, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

18.Female figurines, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

19.Female figurines, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

20.Painted amphora, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

21. Copper items, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

22. Painted dishes and bowls, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

23.Painted vessels, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

24.Binocular vessel, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

25.Figurine of a bull, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

26. Painted vessels: lidded anthropomorphic amphora representing a female deity and bowl, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

27. Binocular vessel, the Middle Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

28. Fragment of design of a painted amphora with zoomorphic representations, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

29.Fragment of design of a painted amphora with zoomorphic representations, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

30. Fragment of design of a painted amphora with zoomorphic representations, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

31.Fragment of design of a painted amphora with the scene of a ritual dance, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

32.Copper axe, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

33. Bone daggers, the Late Cucuteni-Tripolye culture

#Exhibit of the Month

Altar Gospel (1890)

Aeneolithic Age

(late 5th millennium B.C. - early 3rd millennium B.C.)

#Exhibit of the Month