„Cimitirul vesel” din Săpânţa – abordări tematice şi stilistice. Studiu de caz
“The Merry Cemetery” from Săpânţa – thematic and stylistic approaches. Case study

Summary/Abstract: The present article proposes to the anagnost a theme, although much circulated in the area of heritage values, in part still unexplored and unfinished: the stylistic and iconic aspect of figurative, narrative compositions and decorations on the surface of funerary monuments. Similarities with the ordering mode of images and text can be found since ancient art, respectively painted or sculpted funerary stars, and in the register of iconic representation we propose a parallel with the Transylvanian icons on glass. The lyrics and the making of the Săpânţa crosses are largely due to the famous folk craftsman Ion Stan Pătraş (1908-1977) and later to his descendants who still continue the tradition today. Occupations, agricultural and household crafts, common objects, folk costumes, vices or virtues, superstitions or aspects of everyday life, but especially the portraits (or figures) of those who have passed into eternity from the world of the Maramures village are graved and colored in symbolic chromatics that includes five colors, such as: blue, red, yellow, green and black, colors existing in the folk art of these lands. This naïve-folk representation led to the creation of a style, which has real similarities with that of icons on glass, in both cases coexisting the taste for description and for decoration to which the creative genius of the Romanian folk master is added. Death is expressed, therefore, in a traditional plastic form, with accents of humor that Ion Stan Pătraş has perpetuated through these works, one of a kind each, that transmits, beyond the pain and sadness of parting with the loved ones, a wave of joy for meeting the beautiful.

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