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GUIDE TO THE
EXHIBITION "CHRISTIANITY IN LITHUANIAN ART"
(28 December, 1999 - 31
December, 2003)
Hall IV
The visitor to the exposition which represents the historical Samogitian
Diocese is greeted by the bishops’ portraits,
 which
decorated the brick Cathedral in Varniai, built by Bishop Kazimieras
 Pacas
in 1691, or the Palace of Bishops in Alsedziai. With the relocation of
the Diocesan Centre, the portraits of the bishops were also moved.
After World War II, 35 portraits from this collection were transferred
to the present Vytautas the Great War Museum. The majority of the
portraits were painted in the 18th century using ancient models from
other collections up to the 1930’s.
The liturgical garments of the Samogitian Diocesan churches differ
from the liturgical vestments displayed in the hall devoted to the
Vilnius Diocese. They distinguish themselves by frequently employing
more motifs of decorative design as well as by a somewhat different
hue, more peculiar to Western Lithuania and Suvalkija (South-west). Of
particular interest is the collection of church garments and
processional church lanterns collected by the Rev Mykolas Dobrovolskis
OFM Cap. and lent to the exhibition by Paberze and Dotnuva Churches.
The exhibition was enlarged thanks to the liturgical garments and
articles given to the Lithuanian Art Museum by the Marijampole
Basilica and Alvitas, Zapyskis and Raudondvaris churches. Liturgical
garments have been safely kept by Vytautas the Great War Museum and M.
K. Ciurlionis National Museum of Art. Showcases 6 and 12 present the
articles by the 18th and 19th century Gardinas’ manufacturers,
featuring splendid sumptuous fabrics of superior craftsmanship.
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Chasuble. 2nd half of
the 17th c. Silk, velvet,
embroidered in silk and
metal thread, plates.
Museum of Church Art
attached to the Christian
Culture Centre of the
Vilkaviskis Diocese
(showcase 13) |
Dalmatic. France, 2nd
half of the 18th c. Silk
and metal thread,
galloons). Church of the
Visitation in Paberze.
From the Rev Mykolas
Dobrovolskis OFM Cap.
collection (showcase 11) |
Lithuanian artist from the
19th c. Portrait of
Motiejus Valancius,
Bishop of Samogitia.
VDKM |
Lithuanian artist from the
18th c. Portrait of
Duke Merkelis
Giedraitis, Bishop of
Samogitia. VDKM |
Samogitia adopted Christianity later than Aukstaitija. At the turn
of the 14th and 15th centuries, due to the ongoing dynastic conflicts
and inherent disagreements between Lithuanian Dukes, and the political
expansion of the Teutonic Order, Samogitia was passed from hand to
hand. It was only in 1410, when the victory over the Order at the
Battle of Grunwald was won that Lithuanian rulers were able to speed
up the process of baptizing Samogitia. In 1417, the Samogitian Diocese
was established.
Vytautas the Great deserves the greatest merit in establishing the
Samogitian Diocese and in funding the first churches. He was a
generous and attentive supporter and patron of the new diocese. The
first to mount the throne a Samogitian Bishop was the Rev Canon of
Vilnius Motiejus. He was an ardent adherent of the policy pursed by
Vytautas, and the supporter of the Grand Duke in the coronation
proceedings.
Bishops were always influential. However, in the people’s memories,
songs and tales survived about those who taught and forced them to
learn and foster Lithuanianism. In the years of Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation, Bishop Duke Merkelis Giedraitis, a supporter of
the Canon Mikalojus Dauksa, was like a true Samogitian apostle. The
pastoral activities of Samogitian bishops made a lasting impression on
the entire country and the Lithuanian written language. In the 19th
century, it was Bishop Motiejus Valancius who educated, taught and
sobered Lithuania, opposed Russification and assimilation by spreading
Lithuanian books.
Shortly after the 1863 uprising, when Motiejus Valancius served as
bishop, the centre of Samogitian Diocese under the order of the
Russian Empire authorities was relocated from Varniai to Kaunas, the
official seat of the Tsarist Governor. In 1926, with the establishment
of the Lithuanian Catholic Church Province, a historical territory of
the Samogitian Diocese was partitioned and given to the Kaunas
Archdiocese and the newly established Telsiai, Panevezys and
Vilkaviskis dioceses. During the period of the occupation of Vilnius,
the throne of the Samogitian Bishop in Kaunas was promoted to the rank
of Archbishop Metropolitan. Therefore, it is quite natural that the
bishops of Kaunas regard themselves as the inheritors of the
traditions followed by the historical Samogitian Diocese. The year
1997 saw the establishment of a new Siauliai Diocese on the territory
of the former Samogitian Diocese.
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