Chief Curator Laura Petrauskaitė recently participated in the international symposium What Gems Can Say. Contemporary Perspectives for Small Works in Gemstone, held at the Munich Residence (Residenz München), the historic residence of the Bavarian rulers.
The symposium brought together leading art historians, archaeologists, and historians of science to discuss new approaches to the study and interpretation of glyptic art. During the event, Laura attended scholarly presentations and took part in collaborative workshops alongside curators and specialists from the British Museum, the Louvre Museum, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, and the Staatliche Münzsammlung München.
The symposium also provided a unique opportunity to explore one of Germany’s most significant collections of cameos, and intaglios, housed in the Bavarian State Coin Collection (Staatliche Münzsammlung München). The core of this remarkable collection was formed in the sixteenth century from the holdings of the Wittelsbach dynasty, the rulers of Bavaria. Of particular interest was the opportunity to study objects connected to the history of Lithuania. Among the highlights of the collection is a sardonyx cameo depicting Barbara Radziwiłł, wife of Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. The cameo was created by the Italian gem engraver Jacopo Caraglio, who worked at the court of the Jagiellonian dynasty.
Participation in the symposium fostered valuable international exchanges and strengthened Church Heritage Museum‘s professional connections with leading European institutions engaged in the research, preservation, and interpretation of gemstone art.
Fot. Laura Petrauskaitė
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