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GUIDE TO THE
EXHIBITION "CHRISTIANITY IN LITHUANIAN ART"
(28 December, 1999 - 31
December, 2003)
Hall V
The Grand Chamber displays less glitter of gold. Here other values
are offered.
The 700th anniversary of the baptism and
 coronation
of Mindaugas, who united Lithuanian lands, was not commemorated in
Lithuania in 1951. We are grateful to Lithuanian-Americans for this
exposition devoted to the man who surpassed his contemporaries with
his determination to transform a pagan land into a Christian country.
Lithuanian-Americans celebrated this commemoration in all locations
with a larger emigrant population. Artists devoted their works to this
commemorative date. The works Vytautas Kasuba (1915-1997), Anastazija
Tamosaitiene (1910-1991), Adolfas Valeska (1905-1994) and Adomas
Varnas (1879-1979) reached Lithuania only years later.
Adomas Varnas worked on the painting Coronation of Mindaugas
for four years. Despite the fact that he had specialized in portraits
and small-scale landscapes all his life, he decided to create a
multi-figure composition. When collecting historical material for his
painting, he put his heart and soul in the realization of the set
goal. He burned with a desire to pay homage to his nation’s past. He
worked in a small studio keeping with an emigrant’s modest life. The
canvas is an artistic portrayal of a solemn moment and the
painting’s attributes result in a harmonious unity.
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Smalt mosaic following Madonna Salus
Populi
Romani, decorating a patriarchal Roman Basilica
of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Art studios of St
Peter Basilica. Gift of Pope John Paul II to the
President of the Republic of Lithuania on the
occasion of his visit to Lithuania in 1993.
Office of the President of Lithuania. |
Tapestry Cavalcade. Flanders,
Brussels, 1st
quarter of the 18th c. Lambert de Hondt
cardboard, Jerome le Clerc (?) studio. The
tapestry is supposed to have belonged to the
Radvila family. Later it was acquired by count
Povilas Ksaveras Bzostovskis, Referendary of
Lithuania and Canon of the Vilnius Cathedral
capitula, who donated it to Vilnius Cathedral in
the early 19th c. LDM |
The exhibits also feature other honoured people of Lithuania. Among
them, one can see a memorial plaque, i.e., its fragment, of Duke
Jurgis Radvila, Bishop of Vilnius and the first Cardinal of Lithuania
and read the words praising him. They were engraved on granite after
the death (1600) of the sagacious and educated ecclesiastic.
The great war drums and the treasury chest used by Lithuanian troops
can be associated with the military talent of Mykolas Kazimieras
Pacas, the Commander-in-Chief of Lithuania and Governor of Vilnius, as
well as with the glorious victory of the Lithuanian and Polish troops
over the ‘heretic’ Turks at Chotin in 1673. These items were
donated by Pacas to his funded Church of SS Peter and Paul the
Apostles in Vilnius.
Besides the jeweller’s artistry and the drums of war displayed in
the Treasury hall, there are also featured old tapestries which
belonged to the Vilnius Cathedral but are now kept at the Lithuanian
Art Museum. These works of art are equal of other collections
elsewhere in Europe. Lithuanian rulers and noblemen possessed valuable
textiles in the period between 16th to the 20th century. Several
families of nobility established workshops and made their own fabrics,
still, they preferred those brought from France, Flanders and Italy.
The tapestries, which displayed their charm on the walls of Lithuanian
palaces, today are scattered throughout in the museums of Lithuania,
Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and in private collections; some
decayed or are lost. There is every reason for the Lithuanian Art
Museum to be proud of these valuable works kept safe by the
inhabitants of Vilnius even after the 1931 great flood, which reached
the foundations of the Cathedral. The capital restoration required
large funds, which were intended to be raised by selling the
tapestries. However, the cultural elite of the city protested and the
tapestries of the Cathedral remained in Vilnius.
Of particular interest and suitable for display in this hall is the
sacred art collection of the Office of the President of Lithuania.
This includes the gifts from the heads of State of Vatican, Poland,
Israel and prominent people such as Duke Jurgis Giedraitis (Giedroyc).
The Grand Chamber features cultural and educational activities.
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