Artistic features and typology of subject motifs
and objects on the matsevahs of Eastern Galicia XVI - the first third
of XX century
Authors: Boyko Khrystyna 
Published: December 2019

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