Diversitatea și valoarea surselor de cercetare ale artei metalelor din Basarabia

Abstract

The reconstruction of the overall picture of the evolution of Bessarabian metal art requires the analysis of the various documentary sources. The author of the article highlights the main categories of sources – written and material – whose examination constitutes the success of a scientific research. It is found that the original files and the ones published by the archives, insufficiently explored or explored in other contexts, represent an important supplier of data on church heritage, silverware, metal objects. A mandatory condition is to make a connection between the written and material sources, including items made from noble and common metals, currently preserved in the funds of the National History Museum of Moldova, the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History, the National Art Museum of Moldova, other museums of local importance and the ones belonging to the patrimony of the places of worship. The multitude and value of the written and material sources offers the possibility of realizing the general picture regarding the evolution of local plate and ironwork in the context of the applied decorative art in the Romanian space