ETHNORELIGION SERIES II

BETWEEN EARTH AND HEAVEN

SYMBOLS AND SIGNS
Papers presented at the international symposium
FROM SYMBOLS TO SIGNS. SIGNS, SYMBOLS, RITUALS I N
SANCTUARIES
Suceava, Romania, 11-13 September 2015

In memory of Henrieta Todorova

Edited by
Constantin-Emil Ursu, Adrian Poruciuc, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici

This international symposium was sustained by Muzeul Bucovinei, Suceava

Muzeul Bucovinei Suceava

Academia Romn-Filiala Iai * Institutul de Arheologie Iai
Editura Karl. A. Romstorfer
2016
3

BETWEEN EARTH AND HEAVEN

SYMBOLS AND SIGNS
In memory of Henrieta Todorova

Publication is financed by Suceava County Council through Bucovina Museum

Published by
Muzeul Bucovinei Suceava and Academia Romn-Filiala Iai * Institutul de
Arheologie Iai, 2016
DESCRIEREA CIP A BIBLIOTECII NAIONALE A ROMNIEI
FROM SYMBOLS TO SIGNS. International symposium (2015 ; Suceava)
Between Earth and Heaven - Symbols and signs : papers presented at the international symposium "From
symbols to signs - Signs, symbols, rituals in sanctuaries" : Suceava, Romania, 11-13 September 2015 / ed.:
Constantin-Emi Ursu, Adrian Poruciuc, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici. - Suceava : Editura Karl A. Romstorfer, 2016
ISBN 978-606-8698-10-6
I. Ursu, Constantin-Emil (ed.)
II. Poruciuc, Adrian (ed.)
III. Lazarovici, Cornelia-Magda (ed.)
398(498)
28

Muzeul Bucovinei
Editura Karl A. Romstorfer, Suceava
tefan cel Mare street-33, Suceava -720003
phone: 004-0230-216439; fax: 004-0230-522970
mail: contact@muzeulbucovinei.ro
www.muzeulbucovinei.ro
The authors assume full responsibility of all published materials and translations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici ~ In Memoriam Henrieta Todorova - 7
Vasile Chirica, ValentinCodrin Chirica ~ Decouvertes archeologiques concernant les
manifestations cultiques dans les sanctuaries palolithiques de l'Europe - 9
Mihaela Cazacu-Davidescu ~ Birds representations in central european prehistory - 45
Gheorghe Lazarovici, Radu Pop ~ Hunting symbols from the Some cliffs - 59
Sawomir Kadrow ~ Ritual, Meaning and Moral Order. Social and Symbolic Significance of Copper
Artifacts. A Case Study of an Early Eneolithic Settlement in Poland - 109
Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici, Gheorghe Lazarovici ~ Bucrania Symbol and Sign. Monumenthal
bucrania. Part I - 127
Adela Kovcs ~ Sign, Symbol, decoration perspectives on benches from the neolithic and Copper
Age in South East Europe - 281
Stefan Chohadzhiev ~ Sultana und Hotnitsa zwei siedlungen an beiden ufern der Donau - 329
Ilia Palaguta ~Snakes ornaments in Cucuteni-Tripolye: icon, symbol or signal? (to the problem on
interpretation of decorative motifs) - 337
Sergiu-Constantin Enea ~ Symbols of power on the Cucutenian Anthropomorphic Statuettes. Case
study the Diagonals - 355
Ioana Bdocan, Zoia Maxim ~ Sacred Geometry - a few Observations about the Rhombus - 387
Ion Rotaru, Ovidiu Bozu ~ Signs on stones at the edge of the Prigor village, in Cara-Severin
County - 403
Ovidiu Bozu ~ The yoke with snake heads, Zlagna village, Turnu Ruieni Commune, Cara-Severin
County - 421
Andrey Behr-Glinka ~ Serpents Head in Traditional Beliefs of European Peoples - 427
Iharka Szcs-Csillik, Zoia Maxim ~ The snake and the agrarian rituals - 435
Gheorghe Lazarovici, Diana Gavril ~ About symbols and signs on rock sanctuaries - 453
Adrian Poruciuc ~ From pentalobular body-temples to magic pentagrams - 483
Pr. Gabriel Herea ~ Geometric symbols in the Moldavian medieval art - 489

GEOMETRIC SYMBOLS IN THE MOLDAVIAN MEDIEVAL ART

Pr. Gabriel Herea

Ptrui, Romania
parintelegabriel@yahoo.com
Key words: Moldavian churches, symbols, interpretation

Introduction
An ancient preoccupation with the organisation of the space dedicated to bringing
sacrifice to God is demonstrated by all Holy Scriptures and by the archeology of the antiquity.
Symbolic plastic elements can be easily identified in the architecture and iconography
of medieval Moldavian churches. The present study demonstrates that these symbols are not
used at random rather they constitute an integrated system, a coherent cultural assemblage. This
testifies to the centrality of metaphysical issues in Moldavian culture in the 15th and 16th
centuries.
Geometric shapes are used in Moldavian art due to their symbolism connected to mans
journey from earth to heaven. This symbolism is easily accommodated by the structure of the
sacred place. These shapes are also used to decorate ceremonial or funerary objects. This shows
that Moldavian culture was highly creative, and did not employ these geometric images at
random or mimetically.
1. Space as Way in ecclesiastical architecture
The symbolism of the Christian church cannot be understood unless we refer to the way
in which the sacred space was organised in the Jewish antiquity. Churches display a major
symbolic separation between the nave-altar (revealed by God as a Tabernacle and Temple made
up of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, an image of the cosmos as a whole) and the
buildings that were added to it (revealed by God as the outer court of the Tabernacle and
Temple, as a place of purification for those who wished to come close to the holy place1). In
this context, worth mentioning is the interpretation that Origen assigns to the three sections of
the temple, which he considers symbols of the three stages of the spiritual life: purification,

The Court of the Tabernacle contained the Altar of Whole Offering and the Bronze Laver, which served to
prepare those who came near the Tabernacle - Exodus 30, 18-21: Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and
his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and
the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet
thereat. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or
when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: So they shall wash
their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed
throughout their generations.

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enlightenment and union with God.2 Egon Sendler concludes: The court of the temple (space
as way, G.H.) thus represents the first stage, mans active life, through which he must free
himself from passions.3
Like the Court of Moses Tabernacle and Solomons Porch, the first rooms of the
Christian church,4 up to the door of the nave, are a a space of preparation which has to be
crossed in order to reach the liturgical space. Moldavian architecture augments the significance
of the space that has to be crossed by using the classical methods for building a Space that
serves as a Way. Heinrich Ltzeler describes the Space-Way as having three main components:
a beginning, a direction and a target.5 It is a dynamic space, which urges one to cross it, a space
that presupposes a successive temporal development.6 While the Space-Way urges you to step
in, the Resting Space invites you to pause. Here man is a living axis, above him there rises the
dome, while the remaining space embraces and surrounds him.7 The necessity to go through
distinct spatial segments successively, which is emphasized in Moldavia by the introduction of
several walls that have to be passed in order to reach the nave-altar, makes Virgil Vtianu
speak about a psychological effect over the faithful who have to go through these rooms on
their way to the altar.8
The Space-Way obligatorily contains a main direction. The vector of this direction is
inserted in the architecture of the Moldavian church. The church indicates the west-to-east
direction in the way it is built, its entrance door or doors on the western side opposing the altar
and the dome.9 Wilhelm Nyssen sees in the axial form of the church and its west-to-east
orientation, a path which, alongside the painting of the church, are in unison to the sole
purpose of cultivating the liturgical life in man.10 After crossing a linear space, the pilgrim
arrives under the dome, a place where the dynamic vector going from the west to the east is
split into two. We are talking about an ascending vector which meets the descending vector
which originates in the representation of the Pantocrator, and a vector which continues to the
east, namely to the altar.

Origen, On Psalm 117, PG. 12. col 1581, apud Egon Sendler, Icoanele bizantine ale Maicii Domnului [Byzantine
Icons of the Mother of God], Ed. Sophia, Bucureti, 2008, p. 29.
3
Egon Sendler, Icoanele... [Icons], p. 29.
4
In Moldavian architecture: the porch, the narthex, and the burial vault.
5
Heinrich Ltzeler, Drumuri spre art [Paths to art], vol. 1,2, apud Maria Urm, Istorie a compoziiei ambientale
[History of ambient composition], Ed. Artes, Iai, 2007, p. 11.
6
Maria Urm, Istorie...[History], p. 11.
7
Heinrich Ltzeler, Drumuri spre art [Paths to art], vol. 1 Ramuri ale artei [Art branches], Ed. Meridiane,
Bucureti, 1986, p. 49.
8
V. Vtianu, Studii de art romneasc i universal [Studies on Romanian and world art], Bucureti, 1987, p.
78.
9
Orienting Christian churches towards the east becomes a generalised practice in the 4th century. See Louis Rau,
Iconographie de L`art chrtien, Tome premier, Introduction gnrale, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris,
1955,
p. 69.
10
W. Nyssen, Pmnt cntnd n imagini Frescele exterioare ale mnstirilor din Moldova, Ed. Institutului
Biblic i de Misiune al B.O.R., Bucureti, 1978, [The Earth Singing in Images], p. 30.

490

Fig. 1. The Medieval Church of Ptrui. Moldavia,

Romania.

Fig. 2. The Medieval Church of Probota. Moldavia,

Romania.

Trying to capture in a literary form the encounter with the sacred built space, Anca
Vasiliu speaks about images that are hidden by the walls, about fascination and collision,
attraction and withdrawal as movements generated by the encounter, the reference points that
silently guide one inwardly and the absolute freedom to step inside and discover this space
little by little.11 Writing about the value of the interior space in Christian architecture, Sorin
Ulea tries to describe the sensations he had inside the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople: There
is such an enveloping and indeterminable force of transcendence and extension in all directions
in this space that, once you enter, you have the sensation that gravity no longer holds you and
you feel you are being gently lifted and diffused into ether... A miracle of the impalpable and
undefinable in total contrast with the imperatives of spatial tension.12
In Moldavia, the beginning of the Space-Way is connected to the scene of the Last
Judgement, which is usually located close to the entrance into the narthex. With the exception
of the churches in Arbore, Rca and Vorone, which propose different solutions, in the other
churches, the scene of the Last Judgement is painted right around the entrance to the narthex,
symbolically assimilating the fire doors of heaven with the succession of the doors between the
narthex and the nave, which open the way to gaining heaven. Following this, space is still ruled
by symmetry. In fact, the Space-Way (Fig. 3-7) can be recognised in ambient composition as
developing around a longitudinal vector, requiring a bilateral symmetry.13 One can only go
through the first sections of medieval Moldavian churches by following the symmetry line that

11

Anca Vasiliu, Celebrri bizantine trzii ale omului i imaginii, n TABOR, an IV, nr. 3, iunie 2010, p. 5-20,
[Celebrations], p. 9.
12
Sorin Ulea, Arhanghelul de la Ribia [The Archangel in Ribia], Ed. Cerna, Bucureti, 2001, p. 12-13.
13
Maria Urm, Istorie... [History], p. 11.

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divides the space into two equal parts. Architecture and painting are conceived as two
interdependent forms of artistic expression which act upon each other, generating a unitary
artistic vision. The harmony between architecture and painting is considered to be a
fundamental trait of the esthetics of Moldavian painters from the classical period the 15th
and 16th centuries.14

Fig. 3. The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (1), Egypt.

Fig. 4. The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (2), Egypt.

The symbolic message of mural painting cannot be discovered without analysing the
liturgical role of this space. In fact, a well-known rule of ambient composition is that a SpaceWay can be supported laterally by narrative decoration, presupposing a perception that one
arrives at by crossing the respective space.15 Maria Urm exemplifies the above-mentioned
idea with the row of saints that guard the two sides of the main nave of the Basilica San
Apollinaire Nuovo in Ravenna.

14

Sorin Ulea, in Istoria Artelor Plastice n Romnia, vol.I, Ed. Meridiane, Bucureti, 1968, [The History], vol. I,
p. 351
15
Maria Urm, Spaiu i percepia vizual, vol II, Ed. Artes, Iai, 2005, [Space...], vol II, p. 131.

492

Fig. 5. The Medieval Church of Dobrov. Romania.

Fig. 6. The Medieval Church of Sucevia. Romania.

Churches in Moldavia also display this narrative decoration that involves the same type
of perception. We are talking about Ecclesia, a composition which occupies the first register in
each section of the church, beginning with the narthex and ending with the nave-altar. Saints are
presented as educators (monks), with their teachings written on scrolls, as paragons of faith
(martyrs) and intercessors (the hierarchs in the altar). In this cursive composition are also
interposed the votive and funerary tableaux, demonstrating the founders hope in the full
communion of the Ecclesia.16
The relational perspective of the composition and the characters only serves to emphasize
the fact that the space of the Moldavian church was conceived as a Space-Way towards
Something, or rather Someone. Up to a point, the presence of the narrative decoration serves as
a substitute for the educator and comes to the aid of him who has to teach the novice about the
potential of going through such a space. Writing about the event of entering the sacred space,
Anca Vasiliu states that once the linear approach is replaced by the necessity to carry out a
circuit (a circular, perichoretic approach), the detachment from the physical laws that regulate
movement and the exercise of the visual faculty are gradually transformed into an awareness of
something else rather than a mere space built out of walls and embellished by colours.17 Anca
Vasiliu describes the something else which one can become aware of when experiencing the
sacred space by quoting St Irenaeus of Lyons: underneath the bodily [somatic] man lies the

16

Dumitru Stniloae, Teologia Dogmatic Ortodox, vol.2, Ed. Institutului Biblic i de Misiune al B.O.R.,
Bucureti, 1997, [Theology...], p. 137 : The Church is the unity of everything that exists or is destined to
encompass all that exists: God and creation. It is the fulfilment of Gods eternal plan: the unity of all.
17
Anca Vasiliu, Celebrri bizantine... [Byzantine celebrations], p.10-11.

493

man of soul (psychological) and the spiritual man. Admittedly, the same steps are to be
climbed when experiencing the sacred space.18

Fig. 7. The Medieval Church of Probota. Moldavia, Romania.

Given the observations made regarding the sequential componence (porch, narthex,
burial vault) of the Space-Way (of preparation) in the Moldavian church and, in some
churches19, the presence of a decorative drawing which can be interpreted as a Labyrinth,20 we
consider that one can talk about a symbolic connection between the spiritual growth of any
believer and the Space-Way of the ecclesiastical edifice. In fact, the Labyrinth itself is
considered by Paolo Santarcangeli as having a sacred function, that of reminding man about
the journey of life or the difficulty of earning salvation or finding heavenly Jerusalem.21 Ren
18

Ibidem.
Probota, Humor, Vorone, Sf. Gheorghe-Suceava.
20
We will attempt a more detailed analysis of this topic in the subsequent chapters.
21
Anca Vasiliu, Celebrri bizantine... [Byzantine celebrations], p. 63.
19

494

Gunon, talking about the same subject, states that going through the labyrinth is nothing else
than a rehearsal of initiation trials and it is believed that when the labyrinth was really used for
access to certain sanctuaries it was laid out so as to allow for the relevant rituals to be carried
out at the same time.22
Going back to the Moldavian church, we must say that the porch of the church has the
role to differentiate the sacred space from the natural space, to introduce one to the sacred space,
to show man, who is still within the natural space, the purpose of the sacred space into which he
is invited. This purpose is indicated through the scene of the Last Judgement, which can be
present even without a porch, as it is in Ptrui, Arbore i Rca. The invitation is obvious when
we think about the Labyrinth drawn at Humor, a drawing which begins under the scene of the
Last Judgement. The open or closed porch emphasizes the feeling that one must detach oneself
from the natural space and enter the sacred space.
The narthex is known as an initiation room, a room in which baptisms23 are carried out
to this day and where catechumens were educated. Passing through this room is a reminder of
the fact that ones personal baptism is not only a historical event, but one that goes beyond time,
opening up possibilities that must be permanently actualised, the more so on ones way to the
meeting with the Eucharistic God.
The burial vault is very important for our demonstration of the labyrinthic nature of the
ecclesiastical space in Moldovia. The crypt does not appear in Moldavian church architecture
out of necessity. Dumitru Nstase, in his study on funerary space in Moldavia,24 shows that many
solutions for placing graves inside churches were used throughout time. The burial vault appears
for the first time in the princely churches in Bistria25 and Putna,26 with the purpose of marking
the grave of the founder and those close to him. In addition to sheltering the grave of the founder,
the burial vault had a symbolic role as well. This is demonstrated by the fact that there are
churches that have a burial vault even if they did not have tombs that were immediately
connected to the founder of the church. The Dobrov and Moldovia churches are such
examples. Both churches are built with a burial vault even if the founder had another church
ready for his burial. Stephen the Great had the church in Putna, while Peter Rare, the founder
of Moldovia, had the church in Probota. Bogdan III enters the church in Dobrov among
princely necropolises through the late burial of his wife Nastasia,27 yet, in Moldovia, the first
tomb in the burial vault appears only in the 17th century when bishop Ephrem, who had become

22

Ren Gunon, Simboluri ale tiinei sacre, Ed. Humanitas, Bucureti, 1997, [Symbols], p. 201.
Ene Branite, Liturgica Special, pentru facultile de teologie, Ed. Nemira, Bucureti, 2002, [Special Liturgics],
p. 278.
24
Dumitru Nstase, Despre spaiul funerar n arhitectura moldoveneasc [On funerary space in Moldavian
architecture], in SCIA-AP, tome14, vol. 2, 1967.
25
Lia and Adrian Btrna, Contribuia cercetrilor arheologice la cunoaterea arhitecturii eclesiastice din
Moldova n secolele XIV-XV [The contribution of archeological research to an understanding of ecclesiastical
architecture in Moldavia in the 14th and 15th centuries], in SCIVA, t. XLV, nr. 2 (1994), p. 159.
26
Ioana Grigorescu, Repere de arhitectur n determinarea transformrilor bisericii de la Putna. Cercetri n
vederea restaurrii [Architectural bearings in the analysis of the transformations of the Putna church.
Investigations for restoration], Ed. Muatinii, 2007, p. 57-76.
27
Vasile Drgu, Dobrov, Ed. Meridiane, Bucureti, 1984, p. 43-44; Voica Maria Pucau, Mnstirea Dobrov
[Dobrov Monastery], in Monumentul ... [The Monument], p. 19.
23

495

a founder by building the vestry, builds his funerary canopy,28 above the place where he was to
be buried.

Fig. 8. St. Pachomius and the Angel. Dobrov.

Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 9. Varlaam and Ioasaf. Dobrov. Moldavia,

Romania

The symbolic role of the burial vault must be connected to the thought about death, so
often exploited in the writings of the Church Fathers,29 the communion with the departed, which
takes place during the Liturgy (since the burial vault is part of the introductory section of the
church, the section that prepares one for the Liturgy), but also to the meaning of the Christian
mystery which consists in dying and rising with Christ.
The meanings of some elements in the iconography of the crypt at Dobrov are also
related to this. The painter commissioned by Petru Rare placed the scene representing the
encounter between the Angel and Saint Pachomius (Fig. 8) to the left of the portal leading into
the nave of the church, and the scene of the meeting between Barlaam and Josaphat (Fig. 9) to
the right of the portal.30 Both scenes present initiations (into monasticism and royalty), and both
initiations are connected to killing ones own desires and death to oneself.

The Labyrinth in Humor and the Space-Way of the Moldavian church

The research presented in this chapter began when I noticed the labyrinthine drawing in
the painting in the church of the Humor Monastery (Fig. 10-12). A Labyrinth is painted where
the wall decoration meets the floor, lower than the curtain one can see in most churches in
Moldavia. At first sight, this seemed accidental or unusual, but the confirmation that this was
28

G. Bal, Bisericile Moldoveneti din veacul al XVI-lea [Moldavian churches in the 16th century], BCMI, 1928,
p. 37.
29
Liviu Petcu, Gabriel Herea, Lumina din inimi, Spiritualitate isihast n traducerea i tlcuirea Printelui
Stniloae [The light of the heart. Hesychast spirituality in the translation and interpretation of Father Stniloae],
ed. Trinitas, Iai, 2003, p. 259 and 688.
30
The novel Lives of Barlaam and Josaphat circulated and was already read in Moldavia in the 15th century, as
shown by the following note made in the 15th century: Lazarus, the humble hieromonk, read it. This note was
inserted in the manuscript that contains the above-mentioned novel. The manuscript is at the the Library of the
Romanian Academy and is registered as Slavonic Manuscript no. 132. See I. Caprou, E. Chiaburu, nsemnri de
pe Manuscrise i Cri vechi din ara Moldovei, vol. I (1429-1750), Casa Editorial Demiurg, Iai, 2008,
[Notes], vol. I (1429-1750), p. 25; Also see Ecaterina Cincheza-Buculei, Menologul de la Dobrov (1529) [The
Dobrov Menology], Extras din SCIA-AP [Excerpt from SCIA-AP], Editura Academiei Romne, Bucharest, 1992.

496

not the case came a few years later, when I had the opportunity to notice, in the Eastern side of
the lateral naves in the Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople, at the base of the wall
decoration, a labyrinthine model with two routes and a swastika key, a model which was

Fig. 10. The Labyrinth drawn at Humor

Medieval Church. Moldavia, Romania.
Exonarthex.

Fig. 11. The Labyrinth drawn at Humor Medieval

Church. Narthex. Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 12. The Labyrinth drawn at Humor

Medieval Church. Burial Vault. Moldavia,
Romania.

Fig. 15. The Rope motif. Vorone. Moldavia,

Romania.

Fig. 13-14. The Labyrinth in Hagia Sophia Church. Istanbul, Turkey.

497

sculpted in the marble blocks (Fig. 13, 14). The labyrinthine drawing in Humor has a single
route, but the fact that its position is idential, between the wall decoration and the floor, as well
as the labythine drawing itself may lead to the conclusion that we are dealing with the same
symbolism.
In the case of the Single-route Labyrinth in Humor, at first sight, the drawing resembles
the Twisted Rope. However, the lines that give the impression of twisting are rhythmically
interrupted, creating a space that can be easily taken in from one end of the drawing to the other,
obeying, of course, the rules imposed by the lines. Geometrically speaking, we are dealing with
a labyrinth. One becomes intrigued when one follows closely the route of this labyrinth. It
begins in the porch, it continues in the narthex and crypt and it disappears when it encounters
the portal leading into the nave. It is worth mentioning that the labyrinthine drawings on the
north and south walls of the church are not mirror images of each other relative to the middle
axis going through the church from west to east. This means that the one cannot say that the
labyrinth has only one direction. This is not only an instance of marking the route towards the
nave-altar, but also a sign of the route to the exit of the ecclesiastical edifice. The two routes
correspond to the north and south sides of the Space-Way. This drawing solution emphasizes
the labyrinthine semantics of the ensemble. Thus three great modules are created, highliting the
fact that the three doors to the nave-altar have the role of defending the sacred space. The first
great module is in the porch and is linear. When going into the porch from the north or south,
if one strictly follows the labyrinth route, the door to the narthex might be missed, because the
drawing continues in an identical form beyond the portal. Ignoring the door, but following the
route in the drawing on the opposite wall, a possible seeker might end up outside the
architectonic edifice. The next two modules overlap with the narthex and the crypt. Following
the labyrinthine drawing on the four sides of the narthex we are in for a surprise: if the doors to
the crypt or the porch are ignored the route becomes circular, a symbolic trap placed on our
way to the nave-altar. The same phenomenon occurs in the crypt if the doors to the nave or
narthex are ignored. Once we are past the three labyrinthine modules, and into the nave, the
Labyrinth disappears - it would be symbolically pointless here, but we will speak about this
idea in the chapter dedicated to the space of fulfilment31.
Evidence that the medieval painter did not confound the Rope motif with the Labyrinth
can be found at Vorone. In 1547, shortly after Humor was painted, Metropolitan Gregory
Roca added yet another room to Saint Georges Church in Vorone. Since Stephen the Greats
time, there had been a funerary slab in the narthex of this church laid over Daniel the Hermits
tomb. This tomb slab, totally different from others from Stephens time, is framed with the
motif of the twisted rope on its four sides (Fig. 15). Gregory Roca attaches great importance
to the veneration of Daniel the Hermit, whom he considers a saint, painted as such to the left of
the outside entrance into the church, next to his own votive portrait and in the Synaxarion inside
the exonarthex.
The motif of the Labyrinth (Fig. 16), geometricly identical to the one in Humor, is
painted on the intrados of the arches of the portals leading to the room added by Roca. In
31

Pr. Gabriel Herea, Mesajul eshatologic al spaiului liturgic cretin Arhitectur i icoan n Moldova secolelor
XV-XVI [Eschatological Message of the Christian Liturgical Space Architecture and Icons in 15th-16th
Century Moldavia], Ed. Karl A. Romstorfer, Suceava, 2013, p. 117-233.

498

addition, the pews kept in the Vorone nave, dating back to the time of Metropolitan Gregory
Roca, have the same drawing painted on the edges of their legs (Fig. 17). This drawing can be
seen in the exterior painting, in the setbacks of some of the arcatures carved in the walls of the
apses and in the window of the crypt in the church whose building he had supervised as an
abbot at Probota (Fig.18).

Fig. 16. The Labyrinth. Vorone. Exonarthex.

Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 17. The Labyrinth. The medieval pews. Vorone.

Nave. Moldavia, Romania.

The fact that the labyrinth begins in the area of the open porch at Humor and is
interrupted at the portal leading to the nave can be explained through the liturgical
considerations that architecturally divide the church into two. The altar and the nave are the
places where the Liturgy is performed and the miracle of the encounter with God, the experiene
of the mystery takes place. The rest of the building is only an annex that plays the part of
preparing the person who wants to approach the Liturgy and union with Christ. To this day,
during the Liturgy, the priest is forbidden to go out of the nave towards the narthex.32 Writing
32

There are two moments during which the priest and the deacon go away from the Holy Altar during the Divine
Liturgy: the processions with the censer during the reading of the apostle and the Cherubic Hymn. In both cases,
the Liturgikon states that the priest goes to the middle of the church, where he censes the faithful. Entering the
narthex is not allowed by the Typikon, even if in current practice this may happen. See the Liturgikon, p. 136 and
149.

499

about censing while the apostle is read, Father Peter Vintilescu says: during it, the altar and
the nave are censed, according to the rules for the small incensing.33 The small incensing only
applies to the altar and the nave.

Fig. 18. The Labyrinth. Probota. Burial Vault. Moldavia, Romania.

The point where the Labyrinth stops, namely the portal leading to the nave, is a place
with a rich semantics expressed by the architecture and painting of this space. The stone portal
that frames the entrance has always signified a bridge that unites two different spaces. In
temples and churches, the two spaces symbolize two worlds: the visible and invisible worlds.
P. A. Michelis states that two vertical stones supporting a horizontal one form porticos and
create the impression of a bridge thrown between two worlds. 34.
The succession of portals up to the entrance into the nave has the sole function of
marking the road that needs to be walked and to highlight its progressive nature. The absence
of another portal after the entrance to the nave shows that the aim of the journey has been
reached. The iconostasis and its doors do not have the same symbolism as the walls and doors
of the church. The doors of the iconostasis do not have the role of symbolizing a passage or
a unification, rather aspects pertaining to the metaphysics of time and the cosmos.35 The

33

Petre Vintilescu, Liturghierul explicat [The Liturgikon Explained], Ed. Institutului Biblic i de Misiune al
B.O.R., Bucureti, 1998, p. 192.
34
P. A. Michelis, Estetica arhitecturii [Esthetics of architecture], Ed. Meridiane, Bucureti, 1982, p. 5-6.
35
St Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogia, cosmosul i sufletul, chipuri ale bisericii, traducere din grecete,
introducere i note de Dumitru Stniloae, Ed. Institutului Biblic i de Misiune al B.O.R., Bucureti, 2000,
[Mystagogy], p. 16: The nave is an altar in its potentiality, initiated and consecrated through the fulfilment of the
act of initiation and consecration. The altar is an actualized nave, having it as a beginning of the act of initiation
and consecration which is one and the same through both. In the same way, the totality of the things that God
brought into being through creation is divided into the intelligible cosmos, comprising spiritual and non-bodily
beings, and the sensible and bodily cosmos, majestically built out of many forms and natures. In this, it is like
another church of God, not made by hand, wisely made visible by the one made by hand. This totality has the
upper cosmos as its altar, and the lower cosmos as its nave.

500

dome or cupola that opens up over the nave symbolizes the heavenly kingdom and makes this
space a New Jerusalem, to which the faithful have access through the Liturgy.

Fig. 19. St. Zosimas and Mary of Egypt. Humor. Moldavia, Romania.

Not everyone can go through this door and enter this space without adequate
preparation. At Humor, the scene in which Mary of Egypt receives communion from Saint
Zosimus (Fig. 19) is painted on the jamb created in the thickness of the wall on the side of the
portal that faces the nave. Placing the scene here does nothing else but to strengthen the
significance that has already been demonstrated by the last portal. The Life of Mary of Egypt
explicitly relates her attempt to enter, out of curiosity, the nave of the church in Jerusalem where
Christs Cross was kept. Not being ready for this, an energy that she did not understand stopped
her every time she reached the door. Only after intense penance and prayer before an icon of
the Mother of God found in the preparatory section of the church does Mary of Egypt manage
to go past this portal.36
When interpreting the presence of Saint Zosimus giving communion to Mary of Egypt
close to the nave door, Anca Vasiliu considers it a warning that one finds himself in the space
of liturgical communion through the Eucharist, which occurs in the nave, before the royal doors
of the iconostasis of the altar.37 Another interpreter of Christian iconography, George Gerov,
identifies a semantics related to the desert hermitic life in the representations of hermits and
Mary of Egypt usually placed in the entrance area of the church. This semantics is assumed to
36

The portal where Mary of Egypt had been stopped is the place where other such miracles occurred. This is where
Cosminiana, the heretical wife of Herman, a patrician, as well as Ghivermer, Duke of Palestine, had been stopped.
See Gabriel Mihilescu, Viaa Sfintei Maria Egipteanca, Cele mai vechi traduceri, manuscrise i versiuni, studii
i texte [Life of Saint Mary of Egypt. The most ancient translations, manuscripts and versions, studies and texts],
Ed. Universitii din Bucureti, 2008, p. 45.
37
Anca Vasiliu, Monastres de Moldavie, XVe-XVIe sicles. Les Architectures de l'image, Ed. Humanitas, ParisMilano, 1998, p. 28.

501

have been attributed to the narthex by the founding community.38 Referring to the association
between the image of Mary of Egypt and the entrance door to the nave, Gerov sees here an
expression of veneration for her, because there is historical evidence that, during the reign of
emperor Leo VI (886-912), the icon of the Virgin Mary before which the Venerable Mary of
Egypt prayed to be allowed to enter the nave was placed close to the main doors leading to the
nave of Hagia Sophia.39

Fig. 20. The Medieval Church of Vatra Moldoviei. View from the West. Moldavia, Romania.

The above-mentioned plastic and architectural elements prove that there is a solid
connection between the liturgical significance of the space beyond the last portal and the way
in which the church is structured as a space for worship. There are obvious differences between
the plastic and architectural treatment of the space that prepares us for the Liturgy and the the
space where the Divine Liturgy is performed.

38

George Gerov, The Narthex as Desert: The Symbolism of the Entrance Space in Orthodox Church Buildings, in
Ritual and Art, Byzantine Essays for Christopher Walter, The Pindar Press, London, 2006, p. 144-159, p. 153.
39
Ibidem, p. 153.

502

Fig. 21. Detail of Fig. 20.

Fig. 22. St. Martyrs George,

Demetrius, Mercurius and
Nestorius. Vatra Moldoviei.
Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 23. The Aerial Toll Houses. Vatra

Moldoviei. Moldavia, Romania.

The nave and the altar, the most important section of the church, are present in all
ecclesiastical edifices. The Space-Way, however, features a dynamism that leads to a new
development in the architecture in Moldavia - from the church with two rooms (narthex and
nave-altar)40 to the church with four rooms (porch, narthex, crypt, nave-altar).41 Among all
Moldavian medieval churches, the churches in Humor and Moldovia have a distinct
architecture, through the introduction of an open porch. The analysis of the iconography in
the porch area of the two churches suggests that this architectural solution is connected to the
idea of way and labyrinth.
In both Humor and Moldovia, the west sides of the porch pillars (Fig. 20) feature the
Genesis Cycle with the Creation of Man, Man in Heaven, The Sin of Adam and Eve, Banishment
from Heaven, Cain and Abel, etc. One can see the Last Judgment through the empty space
between the pillars of the porch (Fig. 21). Thus, through an architectural artifice, namely the
open porch, the viewer can see the beginning and the end of this world, seen from the west
as one approaches the church. Becoming aware of ones condition is the beginning of the way,
and the architectural complexity of the church, with niches meant to be crossed by people and
the light, may suggest that the journey is not easy but tortuous. The difficulty of the journey is
also suggested by the presence of the Victories ensemble on the south side of the south-west
pillar. Martyrs George, Demetrius, Mercurius, and Nestorius (Fig. 22) illustrate the victory
against persecutors, a victory attained through martyrdom. At the same time, the presence of
the scene of the Aerial Toll Houses on the north wall of the north-west pillar strengthens the
idea of journey, way and labyrinth.

40

St Nicholas-Rdui (end of the 16th century), Holy Trinity-Siret (end of the 16th century), Holy Cross-Ptrui
(1487), St Procopius-Miliui (1487), St George-Vorone (1488), St Elijah-Suceava (1488) etc.
41
Ascent of the Lord Neam Monastery (1497), St George in St Johns Monastery-Suceava (1514-1522),
Dormition of the Mother of God in Humor Monastery (1530), St Nicholas from Probota Monastery(1530), the
Annunciation from Moldovia Monastery (1532) etc.

503

Fig. 24. Detail of Fig. 23.

Fig. 25. The Heavenly Gates that close behind Adam.

Vatra Moldoviei. Moldavia, Romania.

At Moldovia, the suggestive image of the Aerial Toll Houses (Fig. 23, 24) and the image
used to symbolize the heavenly gates that close behind Adam (Fig. 25) are identical. This
strengthens our conviction that, by painting the Aerial Toll Houses, the medieval artist wanted
to stress the idea of a journey or path for returning to heaven. At the same time, we shouldnt
neglect the fact that the Toll Houses, with their 24 entrances but with only one ladder to Christ,
create the impression of a labyrinthine road.

2. The geometric symbolism of the way from earth to heaven

The quadrature of the circle

Christian art, as authorised by the seventh Ecumenical Council, revolves around human
representation. For theologians, the fact that a divine person, Jesus Christ, took on a human
body becomes an argument for the use of the human image in Christian art.42

42

St John Damascene, Cele trei tratate mpotriva iconoclatilor, traducere din limba greac de Pr.Prof. Dumitru
Fecioru, Ed. Institutului Biblic i de Misiune al B.O.R., Bucureti, 1998, [The three treatises], p. 43,44: It is
obvious that when you see that He Who is Bodiless became man for you then you shall make the icon of His
human face. When He Who is Invisible became visible in body then you shall represent the likeness of the One
who became visible in the icon.

504

The Quinisext Council in Trullo even forbids the single usage of zoomorphic elements
as symbols of Jesus Christ.43 Thus the human image becomes prevalent in iconographic
compositions. When canon 82 of this synod was issued, it was proposed that symbolic images
should be given up, since plastic compositions containing only zoomorphic, phytomorphic or
geometric elements were no longer necessary.
These plastic elements did not disappear from Christian art. Zoomorphic elements do
appear in iconography, and are associated historically with human characters or semantically
with various spheres of the intelligible world (the dragon the devil; the horse virtue, etc.),
each time in the context of events generated by humans. The phytomorphic and geometric
elements have prevailed as decorative means ever since the art of the Antiquity.44 Their
presence and obvious decorative role in the catacombs in Rome suggest that they were quickly
adopted in the art of early Christianity.45 Geometric elements continued to be used in wall and
floor decorations in the second half of the first Christian millennium and the beginning of the
second.46 This is the period when iconic plastic compositions occupied only the cupolas and the
upper sections of the walls, the rest being decorated with marble and geometric elements.
Geometric and phytomorphic decorative elements47 survived the renunciation of mosaic
and marble, gaining an increasingly important role once Byzantine churches filled with iconic
representations, painted in the fresco technique. The architectural transfer between various
surfaces that allowed for ample compositions to be painted was realized through pilasters,
arches, pendentives and consoles. This led to the fragmentation of surfaces and it became to
hard to fit in scenes or characters whose proportions would interact harmoniously with the
ensemble. That is why these fragmented surfaces are painted with phytomorphic and geometric
decorations.48 At the same time, a desire to highlight the thematic difference between various
iconographic friezes made room for decorative art.
In art history, the attempt to assign theological or historical significance to geometric
and phytomorphic plastic elements has been regarded as being prone to ridicule. Phytomorphic
decorative motifs are so numerous and have such varied asssociations throughout the
geographic area where Byzantine art developed and spread that the only meaning that was
assigned to them was a general one, related to nature to which they belong, and the glory that
it gives to its Creator. Geometric motifs have been used over the course of history without any
proof that they have a coherent semantics. Consequently, historians usually content themselves
43

Canon 82: Henceforth the One who lifted the sins of the world, the lamb, namely Christ our God must be
represented in his human form and through icons instead of the ancient lamb, apud Petre Semen, Icoana n biblie
[Icon in the Bible], Ed. Fides, Iai, 1998, p. 87, 88.
44
See the room with frescoes in the Pompeian style from the second period in Casa Livia, apud Andrea Augenti,
Rome Art and Archaeology, Ed. Scala, Firenze, 2004, p. 25.
45
See the Catacomb on Via Latina, apud Fabrizio Mancinelli, The Catacombs of Rome and the Origins of
Christianity, Scala, Firenze, 2005, p. 38.
46
See the inside of basilica San Clemente in Rome, apud Andrea Augenti, Rome..., p. 66; The apse of the basilica
of St Catherines Monastery in Sinai, apud Corinna Rossi and Araldo de Luca, The treasures of the monastery of
Saint Catherine, The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, 2006, p. 79.
47
Florentina Dumitrescu, Motivul Palmetei n decoraia medieval romneasc [The palmette motif in Romanian
medieval decoration], in Omagiu lui George Oprescu cu prilejul mplinirii a 80 de ani, Editura Academiei
Republicii Populare Romne, Bucureti, 1961, p. 143-156.
48
The smaller a church is, the more inadequate transit architectural elements are for painting iconographic scenes.
The church in Ptrui is a good example in this sense. Here the archivolts of the small arches in the nave were
covered exclusively with decorative motifs because of their small size.

505

with integrating geometric and phytomorphic elements in the category of wall decorations of
Byzantine inspiration.
The present chapter seeks to launch a debate related to a few personal observations made
in Stephen the Greats church in Ptrui (1487), related to the semantic coherence of some
elements in the geometric decorative band present here.49

The geometric decorative band in Ptrui

The medieval church in Ptrui was built in 1487. In the space between the floor and
the first iconographic register (a space which is usually dedicated to a curtain-like drapery),
there is an interesting row of geometric motifs which are seeemingly chosen randomly. The
curtain-like drapery is not excluded from the decorative ensemble, rather painted under the level
of the geometric decorations, being made progressively smaller from the narthex
(approximately 70 cm) to the nave and altar (approximately 30 cm). This decorative ensemble,
unusual for Moldavia, has always been noticed by art historians, most of them likening them to
Byzantine geometric motifs from parietal mosaics.50 Anca Vasiliu is one of the researchers who
identified a theological and eschatological symbolism in these fake marble decorations.51 This
symbolism is derived from the vision of John the Theologian who had the revelation of the
foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem adorned with every kind of precious stone, which he
enumerated: the first foundation stone was jasper, the second, sapphire, the third, chalcedony,
the fourth, emerald. 52
At first sight, an attempt to correlate symbolically the various geometric figures in the
parament decoration or to establish a correspondence between these figures and the
iconography seems destined to fail. However, in Ptrui, there are several points of congruence
that can be used to argue for an informed usage of the symbolism of some of the geometric
elements. We are talking about the correspondence between the representation of the Descent
into hell in the nave and the Eight-point Star (Fig. 26) and the associations that are made
between the Skeuophylakion, Jesus Christ the Lamb and the geometric diamond shape
(Fig. 27).

49

I have to confess that I was encouraged to study and launch this topic by Professors Elka Bakalova and Dumitru
Nstase. Both meetings took place in the Ptrui church. I met Professor Dumitru Nstase in 2008 during a field
trip that he went on after the Putna Colloquia together with Emil Dragnev and Silviu Tabac from Chiinu.
Professor Elka Bakalova visited Ptrui on the 31st of August 2011, together with Ivan Biliarsky and Radu Pun.
50
I. D. tefnescu, L`Evolution de la peinture religieuse en Bucovine et en Moldavie depuis les origines jusqu'au
XIXe sicle, Nouvelles recherces. tude iconografique. Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1929, p. 59; G.
Bal, Bisericile lui tefan cel Mare, Comisiunea Monumentelor Istorice, 1926, [Churches of], p. 23.
51
Anca Vasiliu, Monastres de Moldavie..., p. 28-29.
52
Revelation 21, 19.

506

Fig. 26. The Descent into Hell and the Eight-point

Star. Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 27. Jesus Christ the Lamb and the geometric

diamond shape. Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

As for the first association, we should say that the Eight-point Star symbolizes the
Eighth Day, a temporal symbol of Christs Resurrection, which took place on the first day of
the week,53 hence (7+1), and a symbol of the resurrection of all mankind, which will take place
on the eighth biblical day (up until now six biblical days passed during the Creation, and the
seventh day is ongoing54). The eighth day of the Creation will start with the Parousia and the
Last Judgment. The placement of the geometric symbol of the Eight-Point Star under the
composition of the Descent into hell55 (Fig. 26) in Ptrui indicates that we are dealing with an
informed association of two plastic elements with similar semantics. In Orthodox worship, the
scene of the Descent into hell substitutes the representation of Christs resurrection, which is
the main argument for the resurrection of all mankind at the time of the Parousia.

53

Matthew 28, 1; Mark 16, 9; Luke 24, 1; John 20, 1, 19.

The Epistle of Barnabas, written between 70 and 131, interprets a passage from prophet Isaiah, attributing the
following words to God: when I have set all things at rest, I will make the beginning of the eighth day which is
the beginning of another world. (Epistle of Barnabas, 15, 8, n Scrierile Prinilor Apostolici [Writings of the
Apostolic Fathers], p. 159, [English translation by J.B. Lightfoot,
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lightfoot.html]).
55
The association between the composition The Descent into hell and the Eight-point Star can also be seen in the
apse of the chapel of the Chora Church in Constantinople, where the Descent into hell occupies the half-dome of
the altar and the Eight-point Star is painted togetehr with a twelve-point star on the axis of the altar, between the
window and the formation line of the half-dome.
54

507

Fig. 28. The cornerstone. Speculum Humanae Salvationis.

Augsburg. 1473.

Fig. 29. The cornerstone. The Manuscript of

Speculum Humanae Salvationis,
XIV century.

The other two associations are in the altar and, as mentioned above, they focus on the
geometric shape of the diamond. In the circles of European cathedral builders, the latter was
known as a symbol of the cornerstone, as shown by the drawing in Speculum Humanae
Salvationis, a book published in Augsburg in 1473 by Gnther Zainer (Fig. 28). The book is an
editing of an older manuscript (Fig. 29) that had a wide circulation in Europe,56 and can be
found at Romanias National Library under the shelf mark Inc.II 21 (mutilus, 154 f). The
diamond is painted twice in Ptrui, under the image of Child Jesus Christ on the holy diskos
(Fig. 27), and under the Prothesis (Fig. 30), which might suggest an informed use of the
diamond to mark geometrically the cornerstone57 of the ecclesiastical edifice, Jesus Christ Who
offers Himself through the Eucharist. Citing Saint Simeon of Thessaloniki and
Metrophanes Kritopoulos, Father Petre Vintilescu states that the Holy Table on which the
Eucharistic Sacrifice is performed symbolizes, among others, Gods throne and Christ, the
True Cornerstone.58

56

Louis Rau mentions the fact that, at the end of the Middle Ages, figurative symbols were extensively used
thanks to two hugely popular works: Biblia Pauperum (the oldest manuscript dates back to 1300) and Speculum
Humanae Salvationis (the oldest manuscript dates back to 1324). See Louis Rau, Iconographie..., Tome premier,
p. 195-196.
57
Ephesians 2, 20: built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief
cornerstone.
58
Petre Vintilescu, Liturghierul explicat [The Liturgikon Explained], p. 183.

508

Fig. 30. The geometric diamond

shape under the Prothesis.
Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 31. The square. Nartex. Ptrui.

Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 32. The square and the circle.

Nave. Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 33. The star with six

corners (1). Nave. Ptrui.
Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 34. The octagon. Nave. Ptrui.

Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 35. The star with six corners (2).

Nave. Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 36. The star with six corners (3). Nave. Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

The square, the diamond, the eight-point star and the circle are geometric shapes used
in the decoration at Ptrui (Fig. 27, 30-36). From a symbolic point of view, the square is

509

associated with the telluric dimension of the creation.59 Through its orientation towards four
directions, the square captures the four dimension of the Earth (N, E, S, W). The four directions
are plastically marked either through the Wind Rose, also known as the Eight-Point Star, or
using the crown with four fleurons when the Cosmos is symbolized (in the reprepresentation of
the Descent of the Holy Ghost Fig. 37), or political power in the images of some popes (Fig.
38), Byzantine emperors (Fig. 39) and Pilat (Fig. 40). The iconographic use of the crown with
four fleurons, despite its inexistence in the Byzantine protocole60, seems to be an influence of

Fig. 37. The crown with four fleurons. The Cosmos in the representation of the Descent of the Holy Ghost.
Mitropolitan Church, Suceava.

the Polish monarchy which had used a crown with four fleurons (Fig. 41, 42)61 ever since the
time of king Cazimir III Wielkiego (1310-1370). The four fleurons can be symbolically
connected to the four directions of the Earth. In this context, the insertion of this plastic element
in the representation of the serpent-devil62 in the Creation Cycle at Sucevia (Fig. 43) evokes
the biblical passages that call the devil the Prince of this world. 63

59

Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, Dicionar...[Dictionary], vol. 3, p. 50: The square is the symbol of the
Earth, by opposition with the sky, but also at a different level, the symbol of the created universe, earth and heaven,
by opposition with the uncreated and the Creator: it is the antithesis of the transcendent.
60
The Byzantine imperial crown was a closed, centripetal crown, which resembled the mitre used by bishops
nowadays. The plastic use of the open, centrifugal crown in the representation of Byzantine emperors is a late
convention, which might be the result of Western influence, being present in most Moldavian iconography.
61
See the crown discovered in 1910 at Sandomierz and attributed to Casimir III (cf. Kalendarium dziejw Polski,
p. 78). The images in Fig. 41 and 42 display a copy of this crown, now preserved in the museum in the Mayors
Hall in Sandomierz.
62
Louis Rau mentions the appearance of the crown on the anthropomorphic head of the serpent that tempts Eve
ever since the 12th century in monuments in France, while in the 13th century, this type of representation can be
found in German miniatures. See Louis Rau, Iconographie... [Iconography], Tome II, vol. 1, p. 84.
63
John 12, 31; 14, 30; 16, 11.

510

Fig. 38. St. Silvester and the crown

with four fleurons. Dobrov.
Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 39. St. Constantin the Great and

the crown with four fleurons. Ptrui.
Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 40. Pilat and the crown

with four fleurons. Probota.
Moldavia, Romania.

The circle is symbolically associated with the spiritual dimension of the Creation. 64
Crusader maps of Jerusalem inscribed in a circle65 demonstrate that the symbol was extensively
used with this significance. The image of the city of Jerusalem is considered an icon of the
Heavenly Jerusalem. Bianca Khnel signals the existence of many 12th century maps in which
Jerusalem is represented with its walls in the shape of a circle. 66 Two of them are in Brussels,
at the Bibliotheque Royale, ms. 9823-9824, fol. 157, and in the Hague, at the Koninklije
Bibliotheek, ms. 75, F5, fol. 1. The presence in Moldavia of the iconographic representation of
the Heavenly Jerusalem as a city-garden incribed in a circle indicates that Moldavian painters
were familiar with this significance of the circle (Fig. 44-46).
Human life in its entirety unfolds between the telluric and spiritual dimensions, and,
from the point of view of geometric forms with a symbolic value, between the square and the
circle. In architecture, usually in the area of influence of the Eastern Church, this problem is
marked by the ascending sense of the ecclesiastical edifice with a polygonal-square base, a
parallelepipedic-cubic elevation and a hemispheric cupola. The plane and the elevation
symbolize the telluric, and the hemispheric cupola is the symbolic equivalent of the canopy of
heaven, and by extension, of Heaven itself, a spiritual temple of the Godhead. 67

64

Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, Dicionar...[Dictionary], vol. 1, p. 295: Dionysius the Areopagite
described the relation between the created being and its cause in philosophical and mystical terms, using the
symbolism of the centre and concentric circles; the more everything moves away from the central unity, it divides
and multiplies. Conversely, in the centre of the circle, all radiuses coexist in a unique entity.
65
See the 13th century map of the crusader Jerusalem in William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely, Templul lui
Solomon mit i istorie [Solomons Temple: Myth and History], p. 123.
66
Bianca Khnel, From the Earthly to the Heavenly Jerusalem, Representation of the Holy City in Christian Art
of the First Millenium, Herder, Rom-Freiburg-Wien, 1987, p. 139-140.
67
Tereza Sinigalia, Relaia dintre spaiu i decorul pictat al naosurilor unor biserici de secol XV-XVI din Moldova
[The relationship between space and the painted decoration of the naves of some 15th-16th century churches in
Moldavia], in RMI, LXXVI, 2007, p. 48.

511

Fig. 41. The crown from

Sandomierz (1). Poland.

Fig. 42. The crown from

Sandomierz (2). Poland.

Fig. 43. The serpent-devil and

the crown with four fleurons.
Sucevia. Moldavia, Romania.

Analysing the composition of the icon of the Holy Trinity painted by Andrei Rublev
(cca. 1360-1425) from a technical point of view, Professor Jen Bartos identifies in the
compositional design used by the Russian iconographer the geometric shapes that symbolize
the journey from the earth to heaven: According to the mystical symbolism of geometric
figures, the characters are inscribed in (a) circle(s), which, in their turn, are composed in a
rectangle coming very close to a square. 68
The square (a symbol of Earth) and the circle (a symbol of Heaven) are exploited in
architecture and in the floor and wall decorations with the intention for them to symbolize the
microcosmic presence of the entire universe inside the sacred Christian space. Andr Grabar
lists Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor among the theoreticians of this idea
and considers Justinian (527-565) to be the first founder who established the ecclesiastical
edifice with a cubic base and a hemispheric cupola.69
In medieval maths, the geometric route from the square to the circle turned into a
problem with a spiritual semantics known as the quadrature of the circle.70 The solution to
this problem is a true cornerstone, geometrically symbolized by a diamond shape (Fig. 27).
From the point of view of Christian theology, successfully going from the telluric (the square)
to the spiritual (the circle) can only be done through the union with Christ the Cornerstone.
Personal observations made at the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua and the Santa Cecilia Basilica in
Rome, as well as drawings published by Gabriel Millet and Gojko Suboti indicate that some
Christian painters associate the diamond geometric shape with Jesus Christ and the Eucharist,
in a way similar to the association in Ptrui.71
68

M. J. Bartos, Compoziia n pictur [Composition in painting], Ed. Polirom, Iai, 2009, p. 145, 146.
Andr Grabar, Simbolisme cosmique et monuments religieux, in L'art de la fin de l'Antiquit et du moyen age,
premier volume, p. 71-72.
70
Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, Dicionar...[Dictionary], vol 1, p. 296: The circular shape combined with
the square shape evokes the idea of movement, change of order or level. The circular figure associated with the
square is spontaneously interpreted by the human mind as a dynamic image of a dialectics between the heavenly
transcendence that man naturally aspires to and the Earth on which he is situated at the moment, on which he
perceives himself as the subject of a passing that he can go through immediately, through the use of signs.
71
Fig. 27: The axis of the altar of the church in Ptrui; Fig. 47: The Lamb of the Lord, Hagia Sophia, Mistra,
apud Gabriel Millet, Monuments Byzantins de Mistra, Editeur Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1910; Jesus Christ High Priest,
Ohrid, apud Gojko Subotic, L`ecole de peinture d`Ohrid au XVe siecle, Ohrid, 1980, p. 157; Communion with the
69

512

The six and eight-point stars, the hexagon and the octagon are transit geometric shapes
between the square and the circle.72 Among these, the most frequently used in Moldavia is the
Eight-point Star. The symbolism of this figure is in close connection to the eighth day,73 the
day of the Eschaton, when the new time, no longer subject to material cyclicity,74 will be
inaugurated. In Christian art, this semantics is also associated with the geometric shape of the
octagon.

Fig. 44. The Heavenly Jerusalem

as a city-garden. Arbore.
Moldavia, Romnia.

Fig. 45. The Heavenly Jerusalem

as a city-garden. Sucevia.
Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 46. The Heavenly Jerusalem

as a garden. Sucevia. Moldavia,
Romania.

The Octagon, which can be found in the decorative band at Ptrui (Fig. 34) as well,
started being used in Christian art at least from the 4th century A.D. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote
about Constantine the Greats building of a church in the shape of an octagon in Antioch. 75
Built between 327 and 341, the Octagon in Antioch would last until 588, inspiring the throne
room in the Byzantine imperial palace,76 and even more ecclesiastical constructions,77 among

Holy Body, Peribleptos, Mistra, apud Gabriel Millet, Monuments ..., plana 112; Communion with the Holy Blood,
Peribleptos, Mistra, apud Gabriel Millet, Monuments..., plana 112; The altar of the Scrovegni chapel in Padua,
apud Giotto, The Scrovegni chapel, p. 4; Fig. 48: Pulpit, 6th century, Church of the Holy Spirit, Ravenna, apud
Gianfranco Bustacchini, Ravenna, Capital of mosaic, p. 96; Various altars in the Santa Cecilia Basilica, Rome,
apud Valentina Oliva, The Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Rome, p. 34, 35.
72
Grard-Henry Baudry, Les symboles du christianisme ancien, Ier-VIIe sicle, ditions de Cerf, Milan, 2009, p.
78-79.
73
A. Grabar, La reprsentation de l'Intelligible dans l'art byzantin, in ACIEB VI, republished in ART, I, p. 51-57,
apud Ecaterina Cincheza-Buculei, Cteva particulariti ale menologului de la Sucevia [A few characteristics of
the Sucevia menology], Moviletii, Istorie i spiritualitate romneasc, vol. III, Art i restaurare, Sf. Mnstire
Sucevia, 2007,vol.III, p. 21-28, p. 22.
74
Robert F. Taft, In the bridegroom's absence. The Paschal Tridiuum in the Byzantine Church, in La celebrazione
del Triduo pasquale: anamnesis e mimesis, Atti del II Congresso Internazionale di Liturgia, Roma, Pontificio
Istituto Liturgico, 9-13 maggio 1988, Rome, 1990, p. 71-97. Reprinted in Taft, Robert F., Liturgy in Byzantium
and Beyond, Variorum Collected Studies Series, CS 493, 1995, p. 71.
75
Eusebius of Caesarea, Viaa lui Constantin [Life of Constantine], in PSB, nr. 14, Ed. Institutului Biblic i de
Misiune al B.O.R., Bucureti, 1991, p. 55, 214ff.
76
About the possible octagonal plane of Crisotriklinos, see The Dictionary of Art, vol. 9, Editor Jane Turner,
Macmillan Publishers Limited, Londra and Grove's Dictionaries Inc, New York, 1996, p. 524 and 537; The Oxford
Dictionary of Byzantium, Prepared at Dumbarton Oaks, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1991, vol. I,
p. 455-456.
77
See Ana-Maria Goilav-Guran, Sanctuarul central n cretinismul timpuriu... [The Christian Sanctuary in Early
Christianity], in Comuniune i contemplaie. Despre cretinismul patristic i bizantin, Ed. Zetabooks, Bucureti,
2011, p. 58-59.

513

which the church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople and San Vitale in Ravenna.78
In addition, Saint Gregory of Nyssa (379-394) describes the architecture of a chapel he had
built in the 16th Letter to Bishop Amphilochius of Iconium.79 The description is very detailed
technically and it is interesting to see how Saint Gregory uses the geometric images of the cross
and the circle in order to describe the octagonal plane.80

Fig. 47. The Lamb of the Lord, Hagia Sophia, Mistra,

Greece, apud Gabriel Millet.

Fig. 48. The Pulpit, 6th century, Church of the Holy

Spirit, Ravenna. Italy.

Fig. 49. The Octagonal Edifice. Hierapolis. Turkey.

The ruins of Saint Philips Martyrion in Hierapolis bear witness to this day to the
associations that were made in the 5th century between the octagonal edifice (Fig. 49), the
geometric symbols of the Cross inscribed in a circle (Fig. 50) and the Eight-point star inscribed

78

Josef Strzygowski, Origin of Christian Church Art, , New Facts and Principles of Research, Oxford at the
Claredon Press, 1923, p. 45.
79
O. M. Dalton, East christian art A survey of the Monuments, Oxford, at the Clarendon Press, 1925; reeditat de
Hacker Art Boocks, New York, 1975, p. 45.
80
NPNF2-05, Gregory of Nyssa,: Dogmatic Treatises, n Christian Classics Ethereal Library, web page; Mango
Cyril, The Art..., p. 27, 28; Dalton, O.M., East Christian..., p. 138.

514

in a circle (Fig. 51), the geometric figures being sculpted in the keystones of the arches of the
circular nave.81

Fig. 50. The Cross inscribed in a circle. Hierapolis.

Turkey.

Fig. 51 The Eight-point star inscribed in a circle.

Hierapolis. Turkey.

Fig. 52. The Eight-point star. Hagia Sophia. Istanbul.

The first octagonal churches were used as mausoleums for the tombs of the martyrs.82
Thus the geometric symbol is connected to the idea of waiting for the universal Resurrection.
81
82

We owe the images from Hierapolis to Profesor Mihaela Palade, whom we thank for her generosity.
Charles Delvoye, Arta bizantin [Byzantine Art], vol I i II, Ed. Meridiane, Bucureti, 1976, vol 1, p. 76.

515

The octagonal plan of the mausoleum would be exploited in the building of baptisteries,83 a fact
supported iconologically by the equivalence between death and baptism proclaimed by Saint
Paul: We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death.84
Since we are talking about octagon-shaped architectural edifices, one must mention the
fact that in the Imperial Palace in Constantinople, in front of Saint Stephen the Martyrs Chapel,
there was a room which Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus called the Octagon. The same
author records the fact that the imperial ceremonies in which the emperor wore his crown and
chlamys started and ended in this room. It was the place where, at the beginning of the
ceremony, the crown was put on the emperors head and the chlamys on his shoulders,85 only
to be removed at the end of the ceremony.86 The symbol of the Eight-point star can be seen to
this day on the marble balustrade of the imperial gallery in Hagia Sophia (Fig. 52).
Obviously, we have not exhausted the topic. We consider that we have put forth enough
arguments for the presence of the problem of the quadrature of the circle in Byzantine art and
for considering it and its spiritual meaning in 15th century Moldavia.
3. Maria Asanina Palaiologhina and the Symbolic Byzantine Treasury
The Moldavian-Polish Chronicle writes: In the year 6980 [1472] September 14th
Prince Stephen took Maria of Mangup for his wife; there was a Christian kingdom in that
place... 87 Maria of Mangups presence at the court in Suceava represents the most important
political connection that was ever made between Moldavia and what was left of the Byzantine
Empire. This marriage, into which Stephen entered on a symbolic day (the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross88), will occasion the manufacturing of liturgical artefacts that carried geometric
symbols used in the Byzantine Empire and other various areas of Byzantine influence (Crimea,
Serbia). We will analyse the four artefacts recognised to this date as being directly influenced
by the alliance of the Moldavian princely house with the Asen-Palaiologos family, namely, the
Tetraevangelion illuminated in 1473 for the Humor Monastery, the burial shroud of Maria of
Mangup, an epitrachelion and an epigonation, which can all be found in the Museum of the
Putna Monastery.
The pious and Christ-loving tsar, voivode Stephen, sovereign of Moldo-Wallachia, had
this Tetraevangelion written by Hieromonk Nicodemus and offered it to the monastery in

83

Marco Bussagli, S nelegem arhitectura [Understanding Architecture], Enciclopedia Rao, Bucureti, 2005, p.
235.
84
Romans 6, 4.
85
Constantin VII Porphyrognte, Le Livre des Crmonies, tome I, Livre I, Socit ddition Les Belles Lettres,
Paris, 1935, p. 6, 133.
86
Ibidem, p. 16, 63, 135.
87
Cronica moldo-polon [The Moldavian-Polish Chronicle], in tefan cel Mare i Sfnt 1504-2004, Portret n
cronic [Saint Stephen the Great 1504-2004, A chronicle portrait], Sfnta Mnstire Putna, Ed. Muatinii, 2004,
p. 43.
88
About the role of this feast in the history of the life of Stephen the Great, see Maria Magdalena Szkely, tefan
S. Gorovei, Semne i minuni pentru tefan Voievod. Note de mentalitate medieval [Signs and Wonders for
Voivode Stephen. Notes on the Medieval Mentality], in tefan cel Mare i Sfnt 1504-2004, Portret n istorie
[Saint Stephen the Great 1504-2004, A historical portrait], Sfnta Mnstire Putna, 2003, p. 67-85.

516

Humor, for the remembrance of his soul and those of his parents and children, when Father
Gheorghe was the hegumen, and it was completed in the month of June 17, 6981 [1473].89
In the first year of his marriage to Maria of Mangup, Stephen offers to the Humor
Monastery an illuminated Tetraevangelion, which contains five large minatures. Two of them
are of interest for the present study: the miniature representing Mark the Evangelist (Fig. 53)
and the votive miniature representing Stephen the Great offering the Tetraevangelion.

Fig. 53. St. Mark the Evangelist.

Tetraevanghel of Humor. Putna
Museum. Moldavia, Romania.

Fig. 55. The burial shroud

belonging to Maria of Mangup.
Putna Museum.

Detail from fig. 55

As for the miniature that introduces the text of Marks Gospel, we must say that the
Evangelist is represented against an arhitecturally Hellenistic background, sitting on a bench
and writing. The scene is bordered by a blue band inside which there are phytomorphic motifs.
An interesting labyrinthine drawing is inserted between this band and the red frame of the
page.90 When I noticed the Labyrinth in the Tetraevangelion, my first reaction was to compare
it to the one in the fresco of the church in Humor (Fig. 10-12). However, the differences are
obvious, we are dealing with different labyrinthine drawings. While in the painting in the church
there is a single route through the Labyrinth, which preserves a clear line and rhythm, the
89
Donation text, calligraphed on the verso of leaf 265, apud Claudiu Paradais, Comori ale spiritualitii romneti
la Putna [Treasures of Romanian Spirituality in Putna], Editura Mitropoliei Moldovei i Sucevei, Iai, 1988, p.
362.
90
I cannot hide the fact that I could hardly contain myself when I realised we are dealing with a coherent labyrinth
with clear passage ways. I noticed the Labyrinth in the Tetraevangelion in 2011, two years after the publication of
the study on the Labyrinth at the Church in Humor (See Gabriel Herea, Pelerinaj n spaiul sacru bucovinean, Ed.
Patmos, Cluj-Napoca, 2009, [Pilgrimage], p. 22-28), and the Tetraevangelion offered by Stephen the Great was
probably at the monastery when the present church of the Humor Monastery was being built and painted.

517

drawing in the miniature offers two possible routes between the modules of the Labyrinth. The
two ways meeet inside each module in what would seem to be an intersection of two
labyrinthine routes. It is interesting that, regardless of the solution chosen to get out of this
intersection, the route continues to the next labyrinthine module and, inevitably, to the next
intersection. This type of Labyrinth was not new for me. In 2008 I had noticed a similar
drawing in the mosaic at Galla Placidias Mausoleum in Ravenna (Fig. 54). The importance of
the intersections between routes in this drawing led to a thorough analysis of its geometric
possibilities. I noticed then that, by closing the two entrances and the two exits of the
intersection, we get the geometric figure of the Swastika, as it is embroidered four times on
the burial shroud belonging to Maria of Mangup (Fig. 55). The geometric identity is obvious,
as can be seen in the drawings that we have made in order to confirm the observations made
(Fig. 56). It is important to mention the fact that on this piece of embroidery, unique in the
entire Byzantine heritage, the four angles of the tilted cross are not united through a point but
through a square. Comparing the labyrinthine motif in the Tetraevangelion with the geometric
shape of the Swastika, as it is embroidered on the burial shroud and on the epigonation (Fig.
57), it is easy to see that the Swastika is a real key for the Labyrinth with two routes.
Following the confirmation of the observations made with respect to the Labyrinthine motif in
the Tetraevangelion, we called this motif the Labyrinth with a Swastika key.

Fig. 54. Galla Placidias Mausoleum. Ravenna. Italy.

Fig. 56. Labyrinth with two routes. Drawings

Gabriel Herea.

This might seem unusual, but, in reality, the graphic association of the Swastika with
the Key can be observed in churches in Serbia, like Deani91 and the Church of the Holy
Apostles in the Patriarchate complex in Pe, where the key Swastika is inserted into the entry
doors into the church92 (Fig. 58, 59). At the same time, the key Swastika is associated with

91

The presence of the closed Swastika on the door at Deani was signalled to me by tefan Stareu, a History MA
student.
92
It is interesting that the association of the Swastika with doors is also present in Constantinoples Islamic art.
We noticed this on the bronze doors at the entrance to the exterior court of the Mosque built by Sultan Ahmet (The
Blue Mosque) between 1609-1616.

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the journey from Earth to Heaven, through its insertion in the superior rosettes of the Censer93
offered by Stephen the Great to the Putna Monastery94 (Fig. 60, 61). In the European Middle
Ages, the censer symbolised the Heavenly Jerusalem. In the 9th century, in Western Europe,
Theophilus, a goldsmith monk, wrote the work Schedula diversarium artium, in which he
stated that the censer should be an image of the city seen by John the Evangelist on the holy
mountain.95

Fig. 57. The Epigonation. Putna Museum.

Detail from fig. 57

Following the advice offered by Professor Elka Bakalova, with whom I shared my
observations regarding the symbolic value of some of the geometric motifs used in the wall
decoration, I went to Instanbul to do some research on the iconography of the Chora Church.
I discovered two labyrinth types in the mosaic decoration of the church. One of them (Fig.
62, 63) is identical to the drawing in the Tetraevangelion in Humor (Fig. 56), and the other one
(Fig. 64) is similar to the labyrinthine drawing in the fresco in Humor (Fig. 10-11). In Chora,
both labyrinth types are associated with the symbol of the eschatological cross, which will
appear in the sky at the end of time96 (Fig. 63, 64). This association emphasizes the
eschatological meaning of the Labyrinth.

93

The prayer read for the blessing of incense mentions the journey from Earth to Heaven: We offer to
Thee, Christ our God, this incense as a spiritual fragrance; receive it, we pray, to Thy heavenly altar and send down
to us, in return, the grace of Thy Holy Spirit. (Liturghier [Liturgikon], p. 116).
94
The censer was donated in 1470, which proves that the symbol of the closed Swastika circulated even before the
arrival of Maria of Mangup.
95
Marie-Thrse Gousset, Un aspect du symbolisme des encesoires romans: la Jrusalem Cleste, n Cahiers
Archologiques, 30, 1982, p. 81-106, apud Maria Magdalena Szkely, Vino s-i art pe mireasa, femeia
mielului. Cdelnia domneasc de la Putna i semnificaia ei [Come, let me show you the bride of the Lamb.
The princely censer at Putna and its significance], nchinare lui Petre . Nsturel, volum ngrijit de Ionel Cndea,
Paul Cernovodeanu i Gheorghe Lazr, Brila, 2003, p. 421-432, p. 423.
96
Matthew 24, 30.

519

Fig. 58. The Church of the Holy Apostles in the

Patriarchate complex in Pe. Serbia.

Fig. 59. The key Swastika. Pe.

Fig. 60. The Censer offered by Stephen the Great to

Putna Monastery. Putna Museum.

Fig. 61. The key Swastika. The Censer. Putna

Museum.

The representations of the Labyrinth with a Swastika key in Galla Placidias Mausoleum
have an eschatological semantics, related to the path from Earth to Heaven, as well. In fact,
this type of two-route labyrinth can be found in similar forms in various geographic areas and
520

at great time distances, even in pre-Christian cultures. The Archeology Museum in Istanbul
preserves the sarcophagus attributed to Alexander of Macedon, as well as other sarcophagi from
the 4th century BC, which were discovered in the royal necropolis in Sidon. All four marble
sarcophagi (Inventory Nos 370T, 371T, 372T and 373T) are decorated with a sculpted band
that uses the motif of the Labyrinth with a Swastika key (Fig. 65). Probably, the drawing had

Fig. 62. The Labyrinth (1). Chora Museum.

Istanbul. Turkey.

Fig. 63. The Labyrinth (2). Chora Museum.

an eschatological meaning, because it can be found on a sarcophagus kept at the Pergamon

Museum in Berlin (Fig. 66, 67). This motif is widely spread in the Hellenistic era, and can be
seen in the 2nd century BC in the floor mosaic in the Acropolis of Pergamon, a mosaic kept at
the museum in Berlin, but also on the bronze doors of the temple in Tarsus (Fig. 68). These
doors are now preserved in the Hagia Sophia Church in Instanbul, having been brought here by
Emperor Theophilus (829-842). In the Byzantine era, the motif of the Labyrinth with a Swastika
key is present in the east side of the lateral naves in the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in
Constantinople, sculpted in the marble blocks, at the limit between the wall and floor
decorations (Fig. 13, 14), in the wall decoration of the altar of the same church, in the sculpted
marble in the churches of the Holy Apostles (Fig. 69) and John Prodromos in Constantinople97
(Fig. 70), or in the 11th century mosaic at Saint Lukes Church in Phocida98.

97

The two sculpted marble fragments are kept in the sections dedicated to the two churches in the Museum of
Archeology in Instanbul. The fragment from the Holy Apostles is exhibited next to a fragment from Emperor
Constantines sarcophagus, without an inventory number on display, and the fragment from the Saint John
Prodromos church has the inventory number 3967T.
98
In this case, the labyrinth borders the scene of the Washing of the Feet.

521

Fig. 64. The Labyrinth (3). Chora

Museum.

Fig. 66. The sarcophagus kept at the

Pergamon Museum (1). Berlin.
Germany.

Fig. 65. The sarcophagus attributed to Alexander of Macedon.

Archaeological Museum. Istanbul. Turkey.

Fig. 67. Detail from

Fig. 66.

Fig. 68. The bronze doors of the temple in

Tarsus. Hagia Sophia Museum. Istanbul.
Turkey.

Without trying to go deeper into the symbolic connection between the Labyrinth with a
single route and the Labyrinth with two routes now, we consider that this connection is real and
demonstrated by the presence of both labyrinth types, both at Chora, and at Humor. The
522

representations in Constantinople were made during the same epoch, the reign of emperor
Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328). The representations in Humor were not made at the
same time the miniature was executed during the reign of Stephen the Great, in 1473, and the
fresco is dated in the first years after 1530. The care shown to Stephans Tetraevangelion by
Peter Rare and Hegumen Paisios, the founder and abbot of the church from 1530, may indicate
that the information it contained rendered it superior to other Tetraevangelions, which might
have led to the fresco representation of the Labyrinth. The note made on a page of the
Tetraevangelion in the middle of the 16th century is very revealing for the importance granted
to this manuscript.

Fig. 69. The sculpted marble from the Church of the

Holy Apostles. Archaeological Museum. Istanbul.
Turkey.

Fig. 70. The sculpted marble in the Church of the

John Prodromos. Archaeological Museum. Istanbul.

In the 46th year past 7000 [in 1538], it came to pass that the Turkish emperor [Suleiman
the Magnificent] rose with all his country, the Eastern, Tartar and Wallachian parts against this
wretched Country of Moldavia, in the days of Prince Peter [Rare] Voivode. The whole country
was terrified, and, because of the terror that had swept over the country, we, the monks in
Humor, sent this Tetraevangelion to the Hungarian Land, to the Citadel of Ciceu. And when it
came to pass that Prince Peter Voivode left his throne, he went to the Hungarian Land and
arrived at his citadel Ciceu and found this Tetraevangelion there. Taking it with him, in his
hands, he kept it for as long as he stayed in the Citadel of Ciceu and when he went to the Turkish
Land he took it with him again to arigrad [Instanbul] and he held this Holy Gospel there as
well. Having spent a long time in the Turkish Land, God and His All-Pure Mother took mercy
on him and gave him the crown so that he might be a prince in the Country of Moldavia and of
Christians again. He came with the Turks and he took the sceptre, that is the flag of Moldavia,
523

and safely came to Suceava, his glorious throne citadel. He returned this holy Tetraevangelion
to the holy Monastery of Humor, for his soul and the soul of his father, Stephen Voivode the
Old, during the time of Hegumen Paisios the hieromonk, he who had sent it to Ciceu.99

Fig. 71. The Key Swastika, the Grille and the Open Diamond.
Drawings Gabriel Herea.

Fig. 72. The Epitrachelion. Putna

Museum.

The second artefact that we will dwell upon in the present chapter is the burial shroud
of Maria Asanina Palaiologhina (Fig. 55). Maria Magdalena Szkely and tefan Gorovei
consider it the unique piece known so far that gathers all the insignias of power of the last
Byzantine emperors. 100 The two historians have in mind the imperial monograms of the
Palaiologues and Asens, but also the controversial geometric symbols of the Key Swastika, the
Grille and the Open Diamond101 (Fig. 71).
The historians from Iai wrote a comprehensive study on these motifs, which includes the
historiography of the theme, as well as the conclusions of their own research.102 Bearing in mind
the fact that the various researchers quoted in the above-mentioned study did not reach a
common conclusion regarding the heraldic role of the latter geometric constructions, we will
99

Note made on the verso of leaf 7, probably by hieromonk Paisios, in 1541; apud Claudiu
Paradais,Comori...[Treasures], p. 362.
100
Maria Magdalena Szkely, tefan S. Gorovei, Maria Asanina Paleologhina O prines bizantin pe tronul
Moldovei [Maria Asanina Palaiologhina A Byzantine princess on the throne of Moldavia], Sfnta Mnstire
Putna, 2006, p. 177, 178.
101
The geometric motif that seems to comprise two leaned letters C of the Latin alphabet was called an open
diamond for the first time by Gabriel Millet. Ibidem, footnote 85, p. 171.
102
nsemnele imperiale ale doamnei Maria [The imperial insignias of Lady Maria], in Maria Asanina...,
p. 157-183.

524

mention here the conclusions of some authors who find metaphysical meanings in these
representations.

Fig. 73. Patriarchs and Bishops. Ptrui. Moldavia, Romania.

Interpreting the insignias on Maria of Mangups burial shroud, Gary Vikan considers
that, morphologically and symbolically, they can be understood as derivations of some
eschatological symbols present in Ezekiels vision and in Saint Johns Revelation.103 The Open
Diamond and the Grille can be seen in the lower part of the epitrachelion in which are
represented Stephen Voivode and Alexander, the son of Stephen Voivode 104 (Fig. 72). The
swastika key and the open diamond are present on the contour of an epigonation which is not
dated and has no inscription, but whose embroidered composition is a real key for the
eschatological interpretation of the geometric symbols present on the above-mentioned pieces
(Fig. 57). The conclusion of tefan Gorovei and Maria Szkely is that the two priestly vestments
are related to the arrival of Maria Asanina Palaiologhina in Moldavia.105 Describing the two

103

Gary Vikan, Review of H. Buchthal and H. Belting, Patronage in Thirteenth-Century Constantinople. An

Atelier of Late Byzantine Book Illumination and Calligraphy (Dumbarton Oaks Studies, XVI), Washington, D.C.,
1978, p. XXIV + 124, in The Art Bulletin, LXIII, 1981, 2, p. 326, apud Maria Magdalena Szkely, tefan S.
Gorovei, Maria Asanina..., p. 175.
104
The epitrachelion is kept at the Putna Monastery museum, under inventory number 39. See Claudiu Paradais,
Comori...[Treasures], p. 307-312.
105
Maria Magdalena Szkely, tefan S. Gorovei, Maria Asanina..., p. 180, 181.

525

pieces, Anca Lzrescu considers the swastika a symbol of the souls immortality and
perpetual regeneration, the open diamond a signifier of the connection between heaven and
earth and the grille a symbol of power 106. We can conclude that the meanings proposed by
Anca Lzrescu are eschatological meanings.107 The contexts in which the symbols are inserted
on the pieces preserved at Putna confirm the respective meanings. The burial shroud is a piece
of embroidery which, through its purpose, namely covering the tomb stone, and through its
composition in which Maria of Mangup is represented with her eyes closed, is clearly related
to the symbolism of the journey to Heaven and the after death state of the person represented.
The epitrachelion is a liturgical vestment that symbolizes the power of the divine grace
that descends upon the priest and through which he performs the holy service... The tassels that
hang at the lower part of the epitrachelion symbolize the souls of the faithful for whom the
priest is responsible.108 The prayer that the priest recites every time he places the epitrachelion
on his shoulders is an excerpt from Psalm 82: Blessed is God, Who pours out His Grace over
His priests, like myrrh poured on the head, running down on the beard, on Aarons beard,
running down on the skirts of his garments.109 It is obvious that the epitrachelion represents
the connection through grace between Heaven and Earth, realised through the priests prayers.
The lower part of the liturgical piece (the skirts of the garments) signifies the meeting point
between grace and the faithful. It cannot be by chance that the geometric motifs standing for
the connection between Heaven and Earth are placed in this area of the epitrachelion. At the
same time, the labyrinthine context in which the grille and the open diamond are represented
in the embroidery strengthen the eschatological and liturgical meaning of the piece.
The epigonation was preserved at the National History Museum of Romania110 during
the second half of the 20th century, and was returned to the Putna Monastery on the eve of the
500th anniversary of the death of the voivode.111 The similarities between the epigonation and
the epitrachelion analysed above lead us to believe that they were part of the same liturgical
vestment, either priestly or hierarchical. 112 The outer border of the embroidery is decorated
with a phytomorphic motif that surrounds the central composition, creating circular surfaces
which contain the key swastika and the open diamond. The key swastika appears twice on each
side of the epigonation and the open diamond appears once or twice. It is interesting to note
that the swastika is drawn both anti-clockwise, as it is on the burial shroud of Maria of Mangup,
and clockwise. We should mention the fact that, in the other Byzantine monuments in which I
noticed the swastika, it appears in both forms. Referring to the two drawing types, Ren Gunon
106
Anca Lzrescu, Broderii [Embroidery], in the volume Civilizaia epocii lui tefan cel Mare, 1457-1504 [The
Civilization of Stephen the Greats Epoch, 1457-1504], p. 83.
107
During a phone call with Mrs Anca Lzrescu, on 6 October 2011, the author of the texts about embroidery in
the two catalogues quoted above, suggested the Dictionary of symbols by Chevalier and Gheerbrant as a
bibliographical reference for the meanings proposed in the two texts.
108
Ene Branite, Liturgica general [General Liturgics], p. 617, 618.
109
Psalm 82, 2-3.
110
According to Anca Lzrescu, phone conversation on October 6th 2011.
111
Maria Magdalena Szkely, tefan S. Gorovei, Maria Asanina..., p. 178.
112
The sakkos was not commonly used as a hierarchical vestment in the 15th century. The sakkos was reserved
only for patriarchs, while common metropolitans used the priestly vestments: the phelonion, epitrachelion and
epigonation. A telling example can be seen in the altar of the Ptrui church, where Saint John Chrisostom is
represented as patriarch of Constantinople with a sakkos, while Saint Basil the Great, as archbishop of Caesarea in
Cappadocia, is represented with a phelonion, even if the two hold the first positions among hierarchs, as authors
of the liturgical anaphoras (Fig. 73).

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stated: As for the direction of the rotation indicated in this figure, its importance is secondary
and does not affect the general meaning of the symbol; in fact, both shapes can be found with
both right-to-left and left-to-right rotations, and it is not always necessary to see an intention to
establish some form of opposition between them.113 For the French author naturalized at Cairo,
the swastika is an image of the the Principle acting on the world.114 If we analyse the
composition inside the epigonation, we can state that Gunons definition can be applied here.
The composition represents the Parousia, with Jesus Christ coming as a Judge, surrounded by
the elements which the Revelation predicts will accompany the end of history and the beginning
of the Eschaton. Jesus Christ, with a cruciform nimbus and the Open Heavens in the shape of
an octagonal star, holds the sealed book in his left hand and blesses with his right hand.
Archangels Michael and Gabriel are represented with censers which they hold in their right
hands and which they move in order to cense. The four figures of the Tetramorph are
represented in the four corners of the epigonation, where the names of the evangelists are
inscribed. In the spaces between these elements are represented phytomorphic motifs and
geometric elements known as Solomons Knot.115 It is interesting to look at the geometric
elements, because they are two developments of the grille motif, which is absent from the outer
decoration of the epigonation. The eschatological connotation of the composition inside the
epigonation is further argument that the three geometric motifs have an eschatological
significance.
A geometric analysis of the figures shows that they have a common particular trait: each
of them has eight external points. By uniting them, we see that the three motifs are geometrically
identical they either turn into a Cross, or an Octagon (Fig. 71). It is clear that again we are
dealing with the problem of the quadrature of the circle, which was explicitly developed in the
Ptrui church. On the route from the Square (a symbol of Earth) to the Circle (a symbol of
Heaven), the square evolves into intermediary shapes until the Keystone (symbolized by the
diamond) is found. The square turns into a circle going through the Octagon (the eight-point
star, a symbol of the open heavens). The motifs of the key swastika, the grille, and the open
diamond are geometric shapes that indicate the solution to the problem of the quadrature of
the circle through their symbolism. In each of them is inserted the Square, which turns, thus
becoming a keystone (a diamond), and in each of them is marked the Octagon, the last stage
before the Circle. In his analysis of the swastika, Ren Gunon states: if we compare it to the
figure of the cross inscribed in a circle (emphasis mine), we can easily tell that they are,
essentially, two equivalent symbols in some respects: however, the rotation around the fixed
centre, instead of being represented through the trajectory of the circumference, is only
indicated in the swastika through the lines that are added to the extremities of the arms of the
cross, forming square angles with them; these lines are tangential to the circumference, marking
the direction of its movement in the corresponding points. 116 Yet the Cross inscribed in the

113

Ren Gunon, Simbolismul Crucii [The symbolism of the cross], p. 108.

Ibidem, p. 108.
115
See the talk given by Andrei Adrian Rusu, Pe urmele Nodului lui Solomon n arta medieval de la grania
secolelor XV-XVI. Ipostaze identificate [In the tracks of Solomons Knot in medieval art between the 15th and
16th centuries. Identified hypostases], at Colocviile Putnei [The Putna Colloquia], 12th edition, July 2012.
116
Ren Gunon, Simbolismul crucii [The symbolism of the cross], p. 108.
114

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circle is itself a geometric symbol which is used in Byzantine art, being inserted as a distinctive
sign on the sakkos of patriarchs or some bishops (Fig. 73).
The semantic equivalence between the two symbolic geometric elements shows that,
metaphysically, the geometric constructions that involve the square and the circle are part of
the same symbolic problem of the quadrature of the circle.

Given the above, we conclude that medieval Moldavian architecture, painting, miniature
art, embroidery constitute a culture that sought to provide a theoretical definition of the sacred
space and its physical expression in the context of the biblical texts and the Judeo-Christian
tradition. The edifices to the east of the Carpathians demonstrate a clear logic in the use of
symbols. Consequently, it is clear that medieval Moldavian art cannot be ignored by the history
of the use of symbols in the Christian culture.
Finally, we claim that many significant answers regarding the use of symbolic plastic
elements in Christian art can be found by studying the art of the Moldavian Middle Ages.

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