The ideological and artistic tendencies of Christian Europe
penetrated into Lithuania not only through churches and monasteries,
but also through the life style of landed gentry
.
During the 16th century, it was
traditional for young members of the nobility and for landed gentry to
gain an education abroad and to travel throughout other lands. Their
life in the cities of Italy, Germany and Netherlands enabled them to
get to know the customs of those countries and shaped their taste as
well as a feeling for art. During their stay in foreign countries they
got acquainted with painters who would later come to Lithuania and
work on their estates. These masters painted works for the private
collections of the gentry. Individual families oriented themselves to
the art of different countries. The Catholic examples are the Sapiega
and Pacas families - Italian, whilst that the Evangelical Reformers
Radvila - Protestant Dutch and German.
Unfortunately, very few collections owned by old estates have
survived. The great majority of the paintings by West European masters
are kept at the Lithuanian Art Museum. They are from the collections
amassed in the early 20th century. Among them are the paintings from
the collections of the Lentvaris Count Vladislovas Tiskevicius, the
Merkine (Pavlovo) landowner Vitoldas Vagneris (Wagner), the Vilnius
merchant Vladislovas Fiorentini, the painter Boleslovas Ruseckas
(Rusecki), etc. The exhibited collection of the Lithuania Art Museum
is augmented by the collections of Mgr Albertas Talacka and the Church
of St Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist in Rokiskis.
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The Bassano workshop.
Entombment of Christ. LDM |
Lodovico Carracci (1555-1619).
Entombed Christ. LDM |
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Cornelis van Haarlem (1562-1638).
Allegory of the Old and New Testament.
LDM |
Jan van Boeckhorst (1605-1688).
The Finding of Moses. LDM |
The exhibition reflects different West European schools of painting
and the changing art styles. Holy Women at the Tomb of Christ. by the Italian artist from Cremon Antonio Campi (?-1591) continues
the painting tradition of the Lombard which is mature Renaissance. The
painter depicts an evangelic scene against the background of the
mountainside at dawn, devoting to nature the same detail as to the
women within sight of the empty tomb. The Pieta by the
Roman painter Marcello Venusti (1512/1515-1579) was painted following
the drawing of his teacher Michelangelo. Apart from the Mother’s
anguish, he also renders the idea of the Redemption of mankind. The
cold greenish, reddish and yellowish colours highly conform to the
abstract intellectuality of the composition. The painting Entombment
of Christ created in the Bassano workshop is typical of the
Venetian Mannerism. Jacopo da Ponte (1515-1592) and his four sons,
known by the contemporaries as the Bassano family, employed a rich
paint texture, creating a sharp perspective, dramatic night lighting
using effects of flashes for his religious and domestic compositions.
The second half of the 16th century witnesses the dominance of
Modernism in all European art. The Netherland’s masters are famous
for their religious paintings. One of them is Cornelis van Haarlem
(1562-1638). His Allegory of the Old and New Testament
is a complex multifigure composition. It narrates the history of
mankind from the first sin to Redemption through the scenes of Holy
Scripture. The figures are painted against a landscape background,
however, nature in this work, different from the Renaissance epoch, is
void of any unifying and mood-creating role. It is overshadowed by
sinewy, dynamic figures.
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Carlo Dolci (1616-1686).
Virgin Mary of Sorrows.
LDM |
Flemish painter from the 17th c.
Christ in Emmaus.
LDM |
Johann Michael Rottmayr
(1654-1730).
Lot and His Daughters LDM |
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Luis de Morales
(1515/1520-1586).
Head of Christ the Crucified.
LDM |
Italian artist from the 18th c.
Blessed Virgin Mary of the
Rosary. LDM |
Italian artist from the 17th c.
Madonna of Loretto. LDM |
In the 16th century Luis de Morales’ (1515/1520-1586) paintings,
featuring the Virgin and Child, the suffering of Christ, the Pieta,
enjoyed a great popularity in Spain. His favourite devotional images
have earned him the nickname “Divine” (Sp. El Divino). Head
of Christ the Crucified is attributed to his brush. The face
distorted by pain is portrayed against a dark, nearly black
background. The contrasting lighting, the soft forms melting in
shadows, reinforce a dramatic tension. The painting produces the
impression of the mysteriousness and non-materiality.
The beginning of the Baroque style in Italian painting was heralded by
Caravaggio’s works and the Bologna Academy. The brothers Caravaggio,
the founders of the Academy, were not satisfied with the cold
intellectual and unnatural character of the media peculiar to
Mannerist art. They strove for a more clear-cut and simple art based
on the studies of nature and the greatest achievements by Renaissance
artists. Of special charm is Entombed Christ by Lodovico
Carraci (1555-1619), thanks to its splendid drawing and subtle
colours. The soft light flooding the painting creates an air of calm
and sadness. The lessons of Caravaggio’s brave and radical realism
manifests itself in the painting Caritas
by the Parma master Bortholomeo Schedone (1576-1615). He conveys the
idea of divine love between God and His people through the scene
composed of ordinary people as non-idealized personages.
Caravaggio’s works served as the starting-point for a realistic
trend in Baroque painting. St Paul the Hermit can serve
as an ideal example characteristic of this trend. The painting is
attributed to Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), who was active in Naples and
Rome. His bold and energetic brushwork produces an emotional effect on
this monumental canvas which is dominated by a dramatic mood. In the
works of Bolognese painters, dynamism and expression are inseparable
from idealization. The images of the Madonna, as well as Christ and
the saints created by Guido Reni (1575-1642) gained widespread
popularity. At the request of individual commissioners, the artist
created several variations and replicas of his paintings. One of such
works is St Sebastian known for four artist’s replicas
and a host of copies. It is noteworthy that as early as the 17th
century Rome became the art centre of Italian Baroque style throughout
Catholic Europe. The city of popes saw the establishment of
decorative, theatrical painting. Pietro Berretini da Cartona
(1596-1669), its most prominent representative, painted huge-size
frescoes, where the inhabitants of heaven and earth together with real
and illusionary space merge into an intoxicating sight. The master had
many pupils and followers. The impact of his style is exemplified by
the Madonna of Loretto, featuring Mary’s small house
carried by angels from Nazareth conquered by heretics to the city of
Loretto in Italy. Another outstanding Roman painter was Carlo Maratti
(1625-1713). His compositions are more moderate. The master favoured a
horizontal format and was more concerned with linear rhythm. The small
picture Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple is
admired for its intimacy and the gracefulness of form. The sentimental
devotional paintings by the Florentine master Carlo Dolci (1616-1686)
deserved the attention of his numerous admirers and opponents. Virgin
Mary of Sorrows was a particularly great successful. Many
museums and private collections all over the world have the replicas
and copies of this painting.
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Antonio Campi
(?-1591).
Holy Women at the Tomb of Christ.
LDM |
Domenichino,
Domenico
Zampieri
(1582-1641) ?
The Annunciation.
Church of St
Matthew the
Apostle and
Evangelist in
Rokiskis |
Domenichino,
Domenico
Zampieri
(1582-1641)?
The Deposition
of Christ.
Church of St
Matthew the
Apostle and
Evangelist in
Rokiskis |
Juan Rizi
(1600-1681).
Priest with a
Cross.
LDM |
Francesco
Londonio
(1723-1783).
St Elizabeth
Assisting the
Poor.
LDM |
Spanish painters used folk personages of saints and deep
backgrounds, which had symbolic meaning in their works. In the
painting Mary Magdalene by the Saragossa painter
Francisco Ximenez, the dramatic chiaroscuro contrasts, apart from
creating a certain mood, become a metaphor of the struggle between
darkness and light, sin and penance, matter and spirit.
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Guido Reni
(1575-1642).
St Sebastian.
17th-cent. copy. LDM |
Salvator Rosa
(1615-1673).
St Paul the Hermit.
LDM |
Bartholomeo Schedone (1570-1615). Caritas.
17th c. copy. LDM |
Francisci Ximenex
(1598-1670).
Repentance of Mary
Magdalene. LDM |
The Baroque period demonstrated the maturity of more joyful,
sumptuous and rich forms of art in Flanders. The Finding of
Moses by the Antwerp master Jan van Boeckhorst (1605-1688)
reveals its charm through a host of details. It is a splendid example
of court art.
A decorative and efficient Austrian baroque is represented by Johann
Michael Rottmayr’s (1654-1730) painting Lot and His Daughters.
