Cahle ornamentate cu motive decorative mai puţin cunoscute: leul, dragonul şi cavalerul

Abstract

The decorative repertoire of stove tiles from Moldova province is characterized by a remarkable variety, starting from simple geometric, vegetal and zoomorphic motives and continuing with heraldic elements, short stories from the sacred history, scenes related to the courtly life or the chivalry saga. Deriving from the category of stove tiles decorated with figurative ornaments, a less numerous group is decorated with zoomorphic representations inspired by literature – fairy tales with animals, fables and moralizing stories. By the discoveries from Negreşti „Dolheşti”, Neamţ county, the decorative repertoire of stove tiles from Moldova is enriched with a new literary theme – the knight and the lion fighting with the dragon, a theme inspired by the old medieval writings beginning since the 12th century, of Chrétien de Troyes – Yvain Chevalier au Lion. Dated back to the end of the 16th century and the first half of next century, this finding brings into discussion the diffusion manners of the above mentioned theme, known in Moldova as such and also giving birth to variants proper to this area.

Keywords: stove tiles, lion, dragon, chevalier, rural settlement, the 16th–17th centuries.