Artwork

Biserica (monument istoric) din satul Scoica, comuna Andreești, județul Gorj (1990)

Paul Teodor Pleșa , 1990

Biserica (monument istoric) din satul Scoica, comuna Andreești, județul Gorj (1990) is a photography by Paul Teodor Pleșa. It dates from 1990 and is held in the collection of the "Dimitrie Gusti" National Village Museum. The black‑and‑white image records the wooden Saint Nicholas Church in the village of Scoica, part of the Andreești commune in Gorj County.

About this work

This black-and-white photo shows an old wooden church in a hilly village. Its steep roof is covered in shingles. The walls are dark planks. A single bell hangs under a small roof over the door.

Pleșa took it in April 1990. He was studying spring village customs. The church, built in 1808, has faded paintings inside from 1827.

See this photo next door at the Museum of Ethnography.

Overview

The black‑and‑white image records the wooden Saint Nicholas Church in the village of Scoica, part of the Andreești commune in Gorj County. The structure, erected in 1808 and interiorly painted in 1827, stands on a modest rectangular plan with a porch supported by four columns and a pentagonal altar. The photograph was taken in early April 1990 as part of a field study of local spring customs.

Technique & Style

Its walls consist of two rows of zimbră bricks separated by a narrow mortar joint, while the altar’s pentagonal shape reflects local liturgical design.

The church’s construction follows traditional wooden‑church typology: a rectangular nave capped by a steep, shingled roof, a porch whose exterior walls are painted, and a square tower featuring two levels. Its walls consist of two rows of zimbră bricks separated by a narrow mortar joint, while the altar’s pentagonal shape reflects local liturgical design. A single bell is suspended beneath a modest shelter over the entrance.

Context

Listed as a historic monument in 1955 under registration number 1089, the building was later omitted from the 2004 List of Historical Monuments (LMI). An inscription on the façade records the patronage of Jupan Constantin Sulescu and the involvement of the local hierarch Nicholas, linking the church’s construction to early‑19th‑century regional elites.

History & Provenance

The photograph appears in Research Report No. 186, authored by Paul Teodor Pleșea, which examined spring calendar customs in the area from 10 to 17 April 1990. The image serves as visual evidence of the church’s condition during that fieldwork, complementing ethnographic notes on the paschal cycle practiced by the village community.

Artist & collection

Artist

Paul Teodor Pleșa

Paul Teodor Pleșa shot black-and-white photos in 1990 that show painted icons and wooden crosses in Gorj villages, plus the worn fresco inside the historic porch of Scoica.

Museum

"Dimitrie Gusti" National Village Museum

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