Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/2. (2011)
Paleontology
Rodica CIOBANU Fig. 7: Silvanit - Dognecea (CS), inv. no. 5339 7. The “inflammable” class includes sulf, lignite and ozokerite. It comes without saying that the numeric reports mentioned above between the minerals more or less often represented in the collection, were determined — beside their more or less impressive aspect - also by their more or less common presence in the nature of the various species, as well as by how easily one would come in their possession. It is likely that upon setting up his minerals cabinet, Brukenthal the collector might have been guided mainly by aesthetic criteria and possibly by their value or mineralogical particularities. With regards to the geographic spread, the samples are mostly from the Romanian territory, coming from the “golden quadrangle” of the Western Mountains (Muntii Apuseni) — Säcärämb, Baia de Aries, Mägura-Toplita, Bäita Cräciunesti, Fata Bäii, Techereu, Rosia Montana etc.), the Trascäu Mountains, the Poiana Ruscä Mountains, the Baia Mare metal-genetiacal area, the Moldova Nouä-Oravita-Dognecea area (Banat), the Rodna deposit etc. The samples purchased abroad are not in high numbers and belong to emerging areas from Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Norway and Russia. Baron Samuel von Brukenthal’ collections were accessible to all visitors and were visited by the foreigners passed by Sibiu at the end of the eighteenth-century (Armbruster, 1978, p.36). We cannot leave out the fact that the collector’s passion reflects the trend of the age, which however came to represent a purpose in itself for Brukenthal. (Armbruster, 1978, p. 36) Conclusions The baron’s mineral collection, which was further improved after the death of its founder, has nowadays a great scientific and historic importance, and an equally significant role for the museum perspective. It is the concrete proof of the preoccupations, knowledge about nature and the generosity of this forerunner of the systematic study of the environment, as starting point for its protection. If Sibiu “becomes at the end of the eighteenth century the center of the naturalist movement in Transylvania” (E. Pop), thus gaining an international reputation as scientific and cultural center, that was primarily thanks to this Mecena of sciences and arts that Samuel von Brukenthal embodied. 116
