Ancient Romanian Landscape 

Horia Bernea painted this landscape recalling ancient Romania with simple lines and humble materials. The church tower that rises above the village connects the earthly and the divine. This reaching towards the heavens is an archetypal motif, a symbolic gesture seen across cultures and epochs, from the Tower of Babel in ancient Mesopotamia to the soaring Gothic cathedrals of Europe. The collective yearning for transcendence is rooted deep within the human psyche. Consider the tree, barren and bent, a symbol of resilience. Such gnarled trees appear in medieval tapestries and Renaissance paintings, representing the enduring spirit of nature and the cycles of life and death. Bernea evokes primal emotions, a deep sense of connection to the land and to the spiritual heritage of his ancestors. This landscape is not just a place but a repository of cultural memory. These symbols resurface, evolve, and take on new meanings in different historical contexts, in a continuous, cyclical progression.