Grigorescu, Felicia: Forme de artă în cimitire evreieşti din nord-vestul Romaniei (Satu Mare, 2013)
Glosar de termeni
initial shape could be difficultly restored. At such a ruin, a part of the surrounding pillars have preserved, among which are balusters joined by a banister. An impressive monumental ensemble, but with a different structure, is being preserved in the cemetery from Salonta (Pic. 36). A hexagonal chapel develops the radial monument trough the radial attachment of some sarcophagus to five of its sides. The central body is surrounded by pillars supporting a cornice and raises above it, ending in a snapped arch. The roof is a hexagonal pseudo-pyramid in steps, which has on the upper part an impressive decorated vase. The entrance into the monument is in the sixth faţade and the access is done through a strong metal door having a sober decoration, which can be reached by ascending a few steps. Above the door is a David’s star engraved in the wall, as a sign of the Judaic identity. In the inside, a part of the white marble plaques dedicated to the deceased ones is preserved. In the other facades, five sarcophagi are placed radial on the stone trestle. Unfortunately the monument is covered in a proportion of 3A in buxus vegetation. The monument has been raised in the memory of more members of the Sternthal family. Other similar monuments have existed, but very little from their original shape has preserved until the present days. Such an example is the one if the Weinberger family, identified in the old cemetery from Oradea also. Also in Carei have been identified similar ones in the old cemetery (Pic.. 38), where the initial shapes are difficult to be reconstituted, but also un the new cemetery in which the same highlighting tendencies of the deceased prosperity exist, by enlarging the space occupied by the grave through decorative surroundings. In the neology cemetery from Oradea, a sarcophagus surrounded by a fence made up by stone pillars of uneven dimensions can be found. These uneven dimensions are meant to realize the waves of a square prismatic balustrade similar to the pillars. The sarcophagus can be reached through an impressive portal made of sculptured stone. At he base of the pillars, two consoles support big pots from which roses flow out and a curtain falls down. The upper part is wide enough for the bilingual inscription in Hebrew and Hungarian, on two rows between two narrow flower friezes representing roses in bloom. The sarcophagus seems to be covered by a curtain, having its folds naturally represented in the lower side and having a bunch of roses at its end (Pic. 37). The monument is unique in the area through its ensemble’s shape and elegancy. Much modest sarcophagus have been identified in the old cemetery from Carei, not that modest through their dimension, but from the ornamental point of view. The size is the one clearly corresponding to the average human’s size, but they lack in the ornamental richness and presentation as the ones from Oradea. Beginning with the XIX century small funeral chapels have been built. These represent a means of honoring the most important Rabbi and the thought people of the community. The chapels of the Jewish cemetery have the purpose of sheltering the funeral stones. In a chapel, a bigger number of funeral stones can be sheltered. In the studied area, the cemetery chapels are modest (Pic. 39), not decorated, and have small dimensions between 3 and 5 square meters. In the European cemeteries, where rich Jewish communities have lived, these chapels have been built to look like mini-palaces (Pic. 63), their amplitude being given by the precious treating, through shapes and materials, not through dimensions. The chapels are usually placed near the entrance of the cemetery. 123
