Intercessors and Patron Saints. Restored paintings from the churches of the Vilnius Archdiocese

2017 06 13
The exhibition presents rare artworks of high artistic value that have been saved from deterioration, their history and iconography. The visitors will be able to see 27 paintings from the churches of the Vilnius Archdiocese with descriptions, introducing the saints popular in the environment of Eastern Lithuanian towns and villages, customary and rare means of their representation and veneration.
 
In the process of conducting the restoration works of paintings from the churches of the Vilnius Archdiocese that started in 2000, a great many art treasures have been saved from decay. In this exhibition, paintings restored between 2015 and 2017 are presented for the first time. Their research revealed both rare and most typical features of the iconography of Eastern Lithuanian saints and the tendencies of the spread of worship traditions. As layers of dirt and later overpaintings were removed from the paintings, little known but very impressive and highly artistic works were exposed. Before returning the paintings to the parishes, it has been decided to present them in an exhibition, so that the museum’s visitors interested in Christian iconography for scholarly or religious purposes could admire the restored cultural treasures of Lithuania.
 
The visitors will see both popular paintings and those with particularly rare plots. The exhibition consists of two parts. The first part contains paintings with traditional episodes from the Gospels, whose tradition of representation is explained by quotations from the Holy Scripture added to the descriptions. The second part of the exhibition introduces the visitor to various saints of the Catholic Church, their iconography, special cases and curiosities. The restored paintings feature patron saints who once had great importance for the local people: Saint Peter, Saint Joseph, more seldom represented Saint Roch, Saint Sophia, Saint Jerome, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Theophilus or even the Blessed Osanna of Mantua. Some works amazed art researchers by their artistic value. Among them are the earliest paintings in the exhibition – seventeenth-century works “The Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus” and “Lamentation over Christ” painted on wooden boards, found in the Rūdninkai Church of the Holy Trinity, which show the extraordinary craftsmanship and sense of sacrality of a talented painter. Another discovery was a painting with rare iconography “Vision of Saint Francis” (17th–18th century) from the Church of Saint Joachim and Anne in Naujasis Daugėliškis, which presumably belonged to some closed Franciscan parish.
The paintings were given new life by the restorers of the Vilnius Archdiocese, Dovilė Kokanauskaitė, Eglė Ševčenkienė and Alma Valickienė (LLC “Restoration and Construction Trust”), several works – by Rūta Kasiulytė (Pranas Gudynas Centre for Restoration of the Lithuanian Art Museum). Each image at the exhibition tells a unique story of appearance, veneration, deterioration and restoration. The visitors are invited to get to know these stories not only by reading extensive descriptions, but by also taking part in the educational classes “My Heavenly Patron” (painting on silk) and “Lilies and Chains, Symbols and Their Meanings” (production of souvenir pendants decorated with traditional symbols) prepared by the Church Heritage Museum. The organizers hope that the exhibition and the accompanying educational programme will allow the museum’s visitors of every age to discover the newly restored valuable works of sacral art, as well as the saints and patron saints captured in these works.
 
                                                           
Exhibition organizers: Violeta Indriūnienė, Indraja Kubilytė, Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė, Rita Pauliukevičiūtė, Sandra Stonytė, Birutė Valečkaitė
Sponsors: Vilnius Archdiocese, Lithuanian Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania





FUNDING FOR THE MUSEUM IS PROVIDED BY

Vilniaus Akivyskupija          
 
   

Informational sponsors

                   bernardinai.lt
         

Sponsors

       Domus Maria