Throughout Lithuanian history religious art suffered heavy losses.
It was devastated not only by time, wars and fires but many of the
church interiors were destroyed after the 1831 and 1863 uprisings,
when the Tsarist authorities closed c
lown
monasteries and converted Catholic churches into Russian Orthod
ox
ones. Many artworks were lost after the war years of 1940, when
churches were forced to close. Despite its heavy losses, the heritage
of Lithuanian religious art which has survived can be proud of its
richness and diversity.
Hall XI of the exhibition presents the works of well-known
photographers: Lithuanian churches and their interiors, folk
monuments, sculptures and painting. Together with photographs, the
pictures, sculptures, decorative altar carving, antependia, and other
cult items from the churches restored in recent years are displayed.
Restoration commenced in 1950, when the Lithuanian Soviet government
commissioned the Board of Architecture under the LSSR Council of
Ministers to establish a special organization for the restoration of
cultural monuments. It was called The Institute for Monument
Restoration which marked the beginning of the restoration system of
cultural treasures.
The exposition features the fragments of decorative altar carvings and
sculptures from the restored Church of St Francis of Assisi in
Vilnius. The ensemble comprised of eleven altars made of untinted
wood, installed at this church in the 7th decade of the 18th century;
it was one of the most remarkable in Vilnius. The artist is unknown.
The only information that remains is the name of the master who worked
in the church - Daniel Giotto. The sculpture David Playing the
Harp was transferred to the Lithuanian Art Museum some decades
ago - in the Church of St Catherine in Vilnius it decorated the 18th
century organ. The church also possessed bells decorated with relief
ornaments and inscriptions.
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Lithuanian artist from the 17th c.
St Francis of Assisi.
Door of a Dresser.
Church of the Providence of Our Lord
in Daugai |
Lithuanian artist from the 17th c.
St Clara. Door of a Dresser.
Church of the Providence of Our Lord
in Daugai |
An edict by the Church in 1934 commenced the collection and
transferrence of unused art pieces to the future Museum of Church Art
in Kaunas. In the period between 1935 to 1940 this museum operated in
Kaunas and between 1941 to 1944 attempts were made to revive it in
Vilnius. In the post war years, the collections were scattered, and
parts were lost, the surviving works being kept in the Kaunas
Inter-Diocesan Seminary. Other art treasures were transferred to other
museums and escaped destruction. The sculpture Jesus of Nazareth,
encased in metal was brought to the Museum of Church Art from
Samogitia in the pre-war period and is kept in Vytautas the Great War
Museum.
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Antependium with the figure of St Francis
of Assisi. Lithuania, Vilnius, 1st quarter of the
18th c. Church of SS Peter and Paul the
Apostles in Vilnius |
Lithuanian artist from the 17th c. The
Crucified Christ and the Donors Samuel
and Barbara Kucevicius Family. LDM |
From 1946 onwards, a great number of fine and applied art items,
not only from the museums’ collections but also from churches, have
been restored at the Pranas Gudynas Centre for the Restoration of
Museum Treasures (branch of the Lithuanian Art Museum). Nearly all the
exhibited pictures, tapestries and sculptures owe their restoration to
the specialists working at this Centre. Their latest restoration - the
door of a dresser decorated with the figures of St Francis of
Assisi and St Clara from the Church of the
Providence of Our Lord in Daugai exemplifies their skill. Due to
accurate and qualified restoration, the painting Crucified
Christ and the Donors Samuel and Barbara Kucevicius Family has
regained its original appearance. In 1698 it was donated to the Church
of the Ascension in Eisiskes.
