Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 1. (2019)
Marius-Mihai Ciută: Two Sculptural Pieces Recently Returned to the National Cultural Heritage
74 М. М. Ciutä shaped. Also, the front legs are merely suggested, possibly in order to induce the idea that the piece is overlapped on a base. The ample mane of the lion is extended towards the back, under the head and on the side of the body, and the back thigh, partially maintained, keeps a part of the shape of the tale, which evolved parallel to the line of the thigh (Fig. 3). The attitude of the lion was meant to be fierce, imposing. The iconographic design of the lion respectively the position of the iconographic elements seems to be one regular within the Roman antiquity. The monument was meant to be looked from the front, respectively was applied on wall or bench, as proved by the negligent approach of the back side of the statuary representation, whereof one can see only negligent traces of the chisel (pick) of the craftsman, who only wanted to level that surface and under any form did he want to cover it by decorative elements (Fig. 3). This is not a stylophore lion, as it doesn’t have any trace of column. It is not an independent lion, but more of a pair (in the Roman era, the pairs appear adhered, very rarely affronted), occurrence that can be confirmed by the break on the back of the lion, that could have had, therefore, a pair on the left side. According to the size, this figurative monument should be readily located on a building rather as cornice, as the stele or the base (in case of a monument made up of several segments) should be tall and thick. The dating suggested by the expert for the sculptural piece - starting from the technique elements of the iconographic representations, of provincial nature - is somewhere at the middle of the 2nd century (Hadrian era) or, rather, the first half of the 3rd century (era of the Severi).5 Considering that this piece might even come from ‘a workshop outside Dacia, probably Asia Minor’, as location of the crafting, relating the conclusion to ‘the larger context of the pieces discovered in Apulum or Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, showing similar execution techniques, but of a better nature, attest, probably, the entering within the province of Dacia of certain elements from the population from Asia Minor’.6 According to the stylistic analysis we consider the lion a Roman funeral monument, dating from the end of the 3rd century.7 For the cultural-chronologic interpretation but also to understand its correct origin, we have to appeal also to the data provided by the collector. He stated that he bought the funeral lion from a local in Bucerdea Gränoasä (Hu: Búzásbocsárd, Alba county), who owned the piece embedded into the wall of his household. It is already well known the situation wherein the sculptural or epigraphic Roman monuments (or medieval), are framed, with a functional, but also decorative purpose, into the walls of old houses or built-in walls from various urban and rural areas of Transylvania.8 The origin of such sculptural-decorative elements is not mandatory to come from the border of the respective place as there are cases when the peasants being outside their area of abode, to discover such pieces under various circumstances and would take them and transport them for the aforementioned purposes. As the numerous examples show, such monuments or fragments of monuments could had been found in situ at large distances from their place of storage. In the archaeological repertoire of the Alba County no Roman finds are mentioned in the vicinity of Bucerdea Gränoasä.9 Moreover, Roman finds were not found on the territory of the neighbouring villages of Bucerdea Gränoasä (Cräciunelul de Jos, Cistei,10 Mihalt, Ocnisoara etc). The only exception is the settlement (and the necropolis) from Obreja (Mihalt),11 located at a distance of about 10-12 km towards west, downstream on the 5 Radu Ciobanu, Expert report within the criminal file 370/P/2018, Alba Iulia, 1 March 2018 (criminal file). 6 Radu Ciobanu, Expert report within the criminal file 370/P/2018, Alba Iulia, 1 March 2018 (criminal file). 7 We would like to thank for the kind information provided by dr. Alexándru Sonoc, National Museum BrukenthafSibiu. 8 Popa-Totoianu 2003, 215-230; Popa-Totoianu 2009, 73-90, notes 43-45, with further bibliography regarding the origins and significance of the Roman funeral lions. 9 RepAlba 1995, 63-64. 10 From this place shaped Roman blocks are mentioned (RepAlba 1995, 76). 11 Here a ‘Dacian-Roman settlement was reported and researched in the place called Cánepi and Täul lui Filip, and its
