Sculptural Ensemble of Constantin Brâncuși

The Monumental Ensemble erected in Târgu-Jiu in 1937-1938 by Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1957) is the only public work of the great sculptor. In early 1935, Milița Petrașcu, a sculptor and former student of Brâncuși, sent him a letter informing him that she had been proposed by the Gorj National Women's League and its president, Mrs. Arethia Tătărăscu - wife of the then Prime Minister of Romania, Gheorghe Tătărăscu - to raise a grand monument in memory of the Gorj heroes fallen in World War I. Feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project, she formally asks Brâncuși to create the monument. At first, the sculptor does not respond, but the proposal delights him, and Brâncuși replies to Milița on February 11, 1935: "Your letter brought me pleasure and joy. I have decided to come in May and I can not tell you how happy I will be to do something at home. I also thank Mrs. Tătărăscu for the privilege she wants to give me."

Thus begins the creation in Târgu Jiu of a sculptural ensemble that critics define as "the only sculpture of modern times that can be compared to the great monuments of Egypt, Greece or the Renaissance", combining sculpture, architecture and landscape.

The ensemble extends along an east-west axis that traverses the city, starting from the banks of the Jiul River in the municipal park, where the stone works - Silence Table, Alley of Chairs and Kissing Gate - are located, continuing with Heroes' Way, where the Church of the Holy Apostles is located, and culminating with the Endless Column, made of cast iron and steel, erected in the middle of a park, on a promontory.

The ensemble was officially inaugurated on October 27, 1938.

The "Table of Silence," carved in limestone, represents the table taken before the battle in which the combatants will participate. Time is present, represented by 12 hourglass-shaped chairs that measure it. Everything unfolds in silence.

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The Alley of Chairs, on the sides of which are 30 chairs that suggest moments of contemplation on the stages of life. The square-faced chairs, placed in ten niches on both sides of the alley, in groups of three, suggest either the funeral procession or the line of friends and relatives accompanying the hero who goes to war.

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The Kissing Gate, which appears to transition to another dimension, is rich with symbols and meanings.

Almost any couple passing under the gate kisses, consciously or unconsciously wishing to come closer to the feeling of an uplifting love.

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The Endless Column represents the ascent to heaven. The sculpture is a stylization of the funeral columns specific to southern Romania.

Its original name was The Endless Column of Gratitude and it was dedicated to Romanian soldiers who fell in the First World War in 1916 during the battles on the banks of the Jiu River. Brancusi himself called it "a column project that, enlarged, could support the celestial vault.

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Constructed during the period from 1929 to 1938, on the site of a church dating from the 18th century.

The building was officially inaugurated in 1938, along with Brâncuși's works in Târgu Jiu, and is considered an integral part of the "Heroes' Path" Monumental Ensemble, located on the axis connecting the "Silent Table" to the "Endless Column.

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