#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

Exhibitions

"Borders"

Media exhibition by multimedia artist Valeria Barbas

April 26 – May 10, 2023

On April 26, at 15:00, in the premises of the National Museum of History of Moldova, will take place the opening of the mixed media exhibition "Frontiers" by the multimedia artist Dr. Valeria Barbas. The exhibition symbolically marks April 27 - Tricolor Day, and represents an unprecedented collaboration with the Museum and Archive of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.

Within the " Borders " exhibition, various artistic mediums are represented - 10 paintings from the series created by the artist Valeria Barbas over two decades (2003-2023) with reference to various socio-political events of reference, audio-video installations and for the first time are presented objects saved from the fire of April 7, 2009.

The "Borders" exhibition project reveals a retrospective of the crucial events that marked and shook the Republic of Moldova during the thirty years of independence, with April 7, 2009 as the axis of reference. The exhibition presents for the first time a collaboration between various media historical and contemporary art. This correspondence finds its expression in the concept of borders, viewed from various perspectives, whether geographical, historical, or of an internal nature, of mentality. The exhibition project includes 10 canvases-chronicles, the first being dated from 2003, audio-video installations with reference to the 30 years of independence, objects and documents saved from the fire of April 7, 2009.

During the events of April 7, 2009, a significant part of the collection of documents in the Parliament Archive was burned. Around 3000 files containing information from 1946-2009 were destroyed. These are transcripts of plenary sessions of the Parliament, collections of adopted acts, decisions of the Permanent Bureau, minutes of committee meetings, provisions of the Parliament's leadership, documents regarding the activity of parliamentary fractions, personal files of deputies and employees of the Parliament Secretariat.

Among the salvaged items is a flag. We remind you that for the first time the Tricolor Day was designated on April 27, 1990. Those who will cross the threshold at the National History Museum of Moldova will have the opportunity to see for the first time various objects and documents recovered from the building after the events of that time.

The exhibition "Borders" can be visited between April 26 and May 10, 2023, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, 31 August 1989 street, 121A.