Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 1. (2019)
Marius-Mihai Ciută: Two Sculptural Pieces Recently Returned to the National Cultural Heritage
Two Sculptural Pieces Recently Returned to the National Cultural Heritage 73 The lot presented by the present study is made up of two pieces: 1. The lion (?) made of limestone is fragmented and partially covered on the right side by a white coloured crust. The artefact was found in the dining room of the collector, being found deposited directly on the wood flooring, in good preservation conditions. The stony material whereof it is made is a rough limestone, whitegrey, displaying characteristics specific to limestone within the area of Trascäului Mountains, easy to process by carving and polishing, as a result of its properties. The piece shows a specific patina but also deposits of limestone, that can be explained by the fact that a good part of its existence, was either stored underground, or in open space. It is fragmented, evidently showing fractures, however made in antiquity, as they were covered by a white coloured film, that we interpret to be whitewash, therefore pleading for the idea that it was part of a fence wall, circumstance wherein it was covered, presumably periodically, by a lime solution, applied with a brush. The sizes of the sculptural piece are: 44 cm maximum length; 34 cm maximum height; 18 cm maximum thickness. The most prominent rupture is the one on the back of the lion, who is missing the extremity of the left thigh and part of the tale. The artefact was made by the technique of carving and polishing, being visible the traces of chisel on the unfinished sides. The method of rendering of the animal is found to be clumsy, disproportioned. The head is way too big in relation to the body, and the volumetric values of body parts, as well as the features of the nose, are unnatural. From the different way of approaching the head, are clearly highlighted the neuro-cranium (brain box), volumetric spherical volumetric, respectively the viscera-cranium (nose), elliptical volumetric (Fig. 3). The mane is done by means of linear curve incisions, relatively parallel, disposed under the shape of inlaid arcades (intersected), leading to the volume effect, and on the head is done symmetrical, starting from the middle of the forehead or the root of the nose. On the forehead, the start of the mane is shaped in slightly arched ‘V’-s, which are parallel to the arches and frame, in the middle, a triangle (Fig. 2-3). It is an area whereupon the craftsman insisted for a long time, taking care of the details. The eyes are exophthalmic, well contoured and singularized, under the form of deep incisions; the arches are prominent, being shaped inclusively the eyeball, under the shape of notches. The nose is enormous, being broken from antiquity, strongly moulded, resulting in a mouth of high size and deeply scooped. The tongue is not visible nor are the teeth identifiable, but it is not excluded for them to have been Fig. 3. The limestone lion
