Grigorescu, Felicia: Forme de artă în cimitire evreieşti din nord-vestul Romaniei (Satu Mare, 2013)
Glosar de termeni
Through the variety of the shapes which each Jewish cemetery represents, they are unique. Yet, from all the cemeteries researched, the neology cemetery from Oradea distinguishes through originality, luxury, and exuberance of the monument’s shape, which contains funeral monuments which most of the times can’t be named funeral stones. Most of them are bigger than the ones above presented, which through their developing also in the depth, are much closer to the public tribute monuments. These are frequently surrounded, some times their solces are placed in steps, and other times they have equal developing between width and depth, compound by complex shapes, with an uncountable number of levels done through rhythm interruptions, strongly profiled cornices, decorated with spectacular vases placed on the acroterion. A big part of these funeral stones are unique artistic statement, impossible to be counted in the uniformity of some types. III.B. The content of the stone In the body of a funeral monument from a Jewish cemetery two main components can be distinguished: the pedestal and the funeral stone. Although as dimension, the two components can be close, the main function is worn by the funeral stone. There are cases in which the pedestal is missing, the stone’s body being tamped into the ground. The funeral stone itself is made up by a field meant for the decoration, usually in the upper part, and a lower field meant for the epitaph. The proportion between the two fields varies from a geographical area to another, from a stone workshop to another. In many cases, the fields don’t have a clear separating line, the decoration extending itself in the epitaph’s sector. The cemeteries from NW Romania have the sculptural field much smaller than the epitaph’s one and the fields are usually separated through architectural elements. The writing’s field occupies between 2/3 and % of the funeral stone. Very few monuments present a protector, metallic pseudo-roof (identified in the orthodox cemetery from Satu Mare), similar to the ones from the cemetery situated next to the Remuh synagogue from Cracovia (Pic. 40). III. B.l Decorum Besides the specific forms of the architecture of the Jewish funeral stones, the decorum brings connotative identitary Jewish elements, through the usage of a symbolic vocabulary that is specific to Judaism. We are talking, first of all, about the Jewish religious symbolism, which can be found only in the Jewish cemetery: the menorah, the candlestick, the Star of David, the priestly blessing, The Tablets of Stone, the Jachin and Boaz Pillars . Except for the hexagram, all the other symbols are taken by the cemeterial symbolism from the biblical text. To these, a few other groups that are specific to the Jewish cemeterial ornamentations are added: the zoomorphic and phytomorphic symbolic motifs, as well as representations of some religious functions. These belong to Judaism through the fact that most of them are imported from the fauna, flora and religion of the place of origin of Judaism - the Ancient Israel -, their usage thus acquiring profound identitary connotations. s<’ S. Sanie, Şiret.... p. 258, T. Haragan, Cairo..., p. 35 124
