Un posibil mormânt al primului mitropolit al Ţării Româneşti - Iachint de Vicina (1359 - 1372)
Authors:   Muzeul Național de Istorie a României, București, Rădulescu Maria Venera 
Published: November 2023

A valuable Middle Age Romanian art monument, the recumbent effi gy has its provenance from the “Saint Nicholas” Princely Church of Curtea de Argeş. To date, several scientifi c papers inferred that the gravestone belonged to the tomb of Prince Radu I (ca 1377 - ca 1383) or maybe of Prince Dan the 2nd (1420 - 1421). The bas-relief is carved in chalk and has the dimension 149.5 cm / 73 cm /33.5 cm. Th e sculpture shows a lying deceased person, with his hands on his chest. His face is surrounded by long hair and beard. Th e stone is cracked and the lower part is missing. Damaged and worn away, the recumbent effi gy has lost the details that could have made its identifi cation easier. Th is paper presents arguments in favor of identifying the recumbent effi gy with the gravestone of the fi rst Metropolitan Archbishop of the Romanian County, Iachint of Vicina (1359-1372). Specifi c religious vestments such as surplice (with a short collar round the neck), epitrachelion, phelonion (with luxurious embroideries on the chest and shoulders, and its bottom edge held on the left forearm, in a common gesture of a priest during the religious service), kamelavkion (with a long veil reaching to the ankles), reassemble the formal vestments that the first Metropolitan Orthodox Archbishop of Romanian County would have been buried with, in accordance with the religious customs. The Metropolitan Archbishop holds the crosier under his right arm. In addition, his head, covered with a “kamelavkion”, lies down on a carved piece of stone. In this connection, a brick is set under the deceased person’s head according to the monk burial customs, to date. The damaged condition of the recumbent effi gy doesn’t allow the identifi cation of certain details of the religious vestments of a high rank archbishop. However, one can’t rule out the possibility that the burial ritual of a Metropolitan Archbishop of that time included only the vestments and ornaments present on the recumbent effi gy, or that the craftman left out the carving of some pieces of clothing. On the right side of the gravestone, one can see an inscription with Cyrillic letters, “ПР ГЕРГЕ” - the name of the craftsman and his emblem. Th is is the fi rst registration of a craftsman stone carving in Romanian County. In conclusion, the bas-relief, even in its current state of preservation, is supporting the hypothesis that the recumbent effi gy is representing a high rank archbishop. Th is individual couldn’t have been any other than the fi rst Metropolitan Archbishop of UngroWallachia, Iachint of Vicina (1359 - 1372), buried in the church where he has served as a high priest. Th e “Saint Nicholas” Royal Church of Curtea de Argeş could, therefore, legitimately reclaim the title of the fi rst Metropolitan Orthodox Church of the Romanian County. Th e recumbent effi gy should be relocated to its initial site, at least in a form of a replica. Th is could be helpful in restoring the spiritually charged atmosphere from the second half of XIVth century.