The cross near the road

In the villages all over the country, there is a very large number of crosses and roadside crosses, and this fact indicates their ancient history on the Romanian territory and it proves the honoring always given by peasants to the main Christian sign, the cross. Roadside crosses are usually located at crossroads, borders, in the crop field, near wells.

The cross near the road (the roadside cross) has a strong Christian message, addressed to the locals or hikers, reminding them, when they are at crossroads, to invoke the divine presence to guide them and watch their steps.

The roadside crosses were made by craftsmen who needed to have, in addition to the science of processing and ornamenting wood, a special moral attire, men who had various vices were not considered to be worthy of “cross” craftsmen.

The artefact in the image is made of hardwood (oak), decorated on both sides and made of separately worked elements and assembled with wooden and iron nails.

The motif of the circle, of the rosette inscribed in the circle, of the twisted rope, the zigzag, the X’s, and the rhombuses are decorative elements found on most of the roadside crosses from the Hunedoara areas, called in this area “rugi” (prayers). The object in the image, decorated on the entire surface, shows all the mentioned decorative motifs. The richness of the decor and the chosen proportions result in a very refined sculptural object.

“The cross near the road”, with inventory no. 195, is 2.37 m high and 1.12 m wide; it comes from Poienița Voinii (Hunedoara county) and it entered the M.E.T. patrimony in 1923. The cross is exhibited in the Pavilion Section, the basic exhibition.

Text: Anca Zahaniciuc – MET museographer

Photo: George Ciupag – MET, photo-video museographer