Stan Ioan Pătraș

Stan Ioan Pătraș (1908–1977) was a Romanian wood sculptor, the creator of the tombstones in the Merry Cemetery in Săpânța, Maramureș County.

Stan Ioan Pătraș was born in 1908 in Săpânța commune, Maramureș County (then in Austria-Hungary) in a family that had a long tradition in wood sculpting.

Even from his youth he was attracted to sculpture, painting and poetry and at the age of 14 he started to sculpt oak crosses.

By 1936 he had already perfected his style: the tombstones became narrower, he started to paint relief figures on them using bright colours obtained from natural pigments.

The other colours were also symbolic in their unique way: Green - life, Yellow - fertility, Red - passion, Black - death.

Portrait of Stan Ioan Pătraș at his memorial home museum in Săpânța
The workshop at Stan Ioan Pătraș's house where the tombstones of Merry Cemetery were created