Artistic features and typology of subject motifs and objects on the matsevahs of Eastern Galicia XVI - the first third of XX century.

An important artistic element or symbolic text of ancient
Jewish cemeteries are the tombstones - matsevi. The most commonly used
motifs in decorative decoration of Galician matsevahs are zoomorphic,
ornithological and vegetative motifs, which are often used in all other forms
of Jewish art. The image of subject motifs and larger objects is just as original
as the decorative adornment of facades of matsevahs of Eastern Galicia XVI
- the first third of the XX century. and deserves a separate thorough study.
The presentation of these motifs on the matsevahs' facades gives the
viewer enough visual information about a particular person, even without
translating and deciphering the very text of the epitaph, which, in the vast
majority of cases, correlates and significantly supplements, interprets,
informs, extends and clarifies the symbols of the carving of the upper part
of the matsevahs. Sometimes the symbolic image was unrelated to the
text, it was only decorative and contained traditional Jewish characters or
symbols.
One should note the desire of the authors, stone-cutters, for originality,
artistic individuality, recognition of a particular object as a characteristic
feature, of the use of substantive motifs for the decoration of the matsevahs,
as well as the significant impact of family traditions with the provision of a
peculiar author's decision to build a composition or property of the client
with appropriate simplification or the complication of the carved decoration
and the refinement of the composition.
Very few monuments of stone-making art of the 16th-17th centuries
have remained intact until now, which makes it impossible to give a full
description of the artistic peculiarities of the memorial plastics; and, the vast
majority of the preserved monuments were erected over burials at the end
of the 18th and 19th centuries. and preserved until the first third of the XX
century. The article is based on materials of field studies by the author of
ancient Jewish cemeteries within Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk regions, in
particular: Belza, Brody, Bolechova, Burshtyn, Busk, Dobromil, Drohobych,
Zabolotova, Kosova, Kremenets, Kutov, Nikolaev, Leshnava, Stary Razdol,
Skole, Snyatin, Solotvyn, Stanislavchik, Old Sambir, Ternopil, Turks,
Shchyrets, Yabluniv, Yazlivets and others. In the article, individual examples
of carved decor are studied, the features of compositional techniques and
the specifics of their artistic and plastic expression on the facades of ancient
matsevahs of the studied region are analyzed and described. Subject motifs like zoomorphic, ornithomorphic, and vegetative, formed
on the basis of the texts of the Torah and the Talmud, biblical metaphors
and allegories, which became the symbols of the Twelve tribes of Israel, the
people and the land of Israel in the traditional Jewish art of Eastern Galicia
from the XVIII - the first third of the XX century. are the dominant motives
in stone carving and the matsevah's memorial plastics. The article deals
with the most common substantive motifs found on preserved matsevahs
of Eastern Galicia of the period under consideration. To systematize and
describe the subject motifs are presented in alphabetical order in the
following sequence:
Building. Vase. Zban (jug) and tray (bowl) for washing hands of levites.
Tools, objects and technical equipment. Interior. Chalice. Klepsidra. Book.
Ship. Crown. Well. Lamp. Menorah.
Subjects and objects of the second plan: Candle holder, candle, platform
for Tora, Decalogue tablets. Treasure chest. Arrow. Urn. Cabinet. Poison.
Further field investigations and thorough scientific research in
accordance with the methodology of scientific study of Jewish cemeteries,
which includes: architectural measurements, photo fixation, graphic
documentation, writing, reading, decoding and elaboration of texts of
epitaphs and documentation of information will help to discover, understand
and popularize the traditional art of numerous Jewish communities, which
were an integral part of the polyethnic Galician city of the studied period.
After all, most of the monuments of stone masonry art are in an extremely
poor condition, some of them are on the verge of extinction and require a
number of urgent professional measures for their further preservation and
research.