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Stop 13Room 3: masterpieces of Cucuteni figurines
The Thinker of Târpești
Meet the Thinker of Târpești. It is a small figurine of fired, brick-red clay showing a man seated directly on the ground, elbows on his knees and palms pressed to his temples.
- Period
- Precucuteni III (Precucuteni: c. 5050–4600 BC)
- Material
- Fired clay, brick red
- Where it is
- Room 3: masterpieces of Cucuteni figurines, first floor
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Narration text
Meet the Thinker of Târpești. It is a small figurine of fired, brick-red clay showing a man seated directly on the ground, elbows on his knees and palms pressed to his temples. His pose immediately suggests meditation, and the comparison with the famous Thinker of Hamangia is unavoidable.
The figurine was found at Târpești, in Petricani commune, Neamț County, in a Precucuteni settlement excavated by the archaeologists Vladimir Dumitrescu and Silvia Marinescu-Bîlcu. Why is it so important? Because the sculpture of these communities depicts female figures almost exclusively.
A man, rendered so expressively, is an exception. Some specialists believe he is not thinking but praying, hands raised towards a deity. You are looking at one of the oldest images of a person lost in thought, or in prayer.
What do you think was troubling him?