People have carved or painted numerous forms of inscriptions on both civil and ecclesiastic buildings ever since ancient times. These inscriptions have contained words of wisdom or admonitions, quotations from the scriptures or other religious texts, Latin proverbs, poetic rhymes, and even funny, sarcastic epigrams. One of the most characteristic types of inscriptions though are the ones that document and commemorate the exact date when a certain edifice was built or restored, along with the name and/or rank/function of the one who commissioned the work. “Built/renovated in the [….] year of the Lord, during the time of the great plague” or “Built/refurbished during the devastating cholera epidemic” is a common inscription one can see on the façade of a renovated house in Rădăuţi (Radóc, Radautz). Today, on the wall of one family home in this city, one can read: “Covid 2020.”
Rădăuţi is located in Suceava County, in northeastern Romania, which is part of the historical Bucovina Region. One resident refurbished his house last year in a definitely eye-catching manner, foter.ro news portal reported. The walls of the edifice have been painted in a pale turquoise color, so the original white plaster decorations on the facades now stand out nicely. Furthermore, as a final touch, the owner had the craftsman paint on one of the exterior walls of the home’s attic the very informative inscription: “Covid 2020.”
“That’s certainly an unmistakable way to tell the world, and all future generations, when one’s house was renovated. Thus, when one’s grandchildren look up at the walls, they might ponder the fact that their ancestor’s home was refurbished in the age of the great coronavirus pandemic,” foter.ro wrote.
Title image: “Covid 2020” – A new kind of inscriptional memento referring to the age of coronavirus
Source:foter.ro/Eugen Pănescu
