Published: 20260303
Event date: 2026 y.March0310 d. - 2026 y.July0712 d.00:00 All events
2nd floor of the Exhibition Center
The international exhibition “Verdures with the Vytis. Tapestries of the Wiśniowiecki and Sanguszko Princes from Wawel” presents exclusive treasures associated with Lithuania – tapestries with heraldic symbols from the Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collections (Kraków, Poland). These textiles – a special phenomenon of artistic and cultural heritage, patronage and representation, invaluable relics of Poland’s and Lithuania’s history – are being shown to the public for the first time ever.
The tapestries featuring the Lithuanian symbol, the Vytis, on display in this exhibition testify to the complicated, secret filled history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its magnate families. They reveal the representational aspirations of those magnates who, following the ruler’s example, wished to accentuate their family’s honourable origins and nurtured the goal of establishing their status in the Polish-Lithuanian state. Tapestries, one of the most opulent and prized of all artworks, helped the magnates see this goal realised. This is likely to have been what motivated Polish Grand Hetman and Castellan of Kraków Duke Dymitr Jerzy Korybut Wiśniowiecki (1631–1682) to commission a series of heraldic tapestries (seven textiles in total) in the second half of the 17th century. The most important accent in textiles depicting panoramic woodland landscapes with wildlife was meant to be the combined coat of arms, taking pride of place in the centre of the top border of the tapestry. This particular coat of arms was used in 1650–1680 on the same client’s heraldic seal.
A four-field shield with a smaller shield in the centre (a heart shield, or inescutcheon) make up this coat of arms. At its centre is the Vytis – the symbol of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, indicating the Wiśniowieckis’ lineage tracing back to the Gediminid dynasty that once ruled Lithuania – specifically, the grandson of Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas (reigned 1316–1341), Kaributas Algirdaitis. The first field depicts the coat of arms of the holder’s father, Janusz Wiśniowiecki (1599–1636) – Korybut (a cross and half-moon). The second field displays the Leliwa coat of arms (a star and half-moon), belonging to his mother Katarzyna Eugenia Tyszkiewiczówna (ca 1610–1646). The third has the Korczak (also Wręby, or Three Slashes) coat of arms (three horizontal bands becoming shorter from top to bottom), which belonged to the holder’s paternal grandmother Anna Zahorovska. The fourth field featuring the Wadwicz coat of arms (two fish back-to-back, facing outward) belonged to his maternal grandmother Barbora Naruševičiūtė. The combined coat of arms is topped with a princely crown highlighting the princely status of the Wiśniowiecki family.
Tapestries served a representational purpose, displaying their clients’ lineage, political and social position, and also testifying to their artistic taste. These heraldic textiles, most likely woven in France’s (Beauvais) or Flanders’ workshops from wool and silk, are attributed to the verdure group of tapestries. The word verdure has its origins in Old French, meaning verdant greenery, and perfectly echoes the dominant colours and themes featured in such tapestries: lush woodland imagery, dense foliage, wild animals and panoramas of other natural scenery. These artworks do not relate mythological or religious stories but convey the eternal, often idealised harmony of the natural world.
Verdures were very popular in the 17th to first half of the 18th centuries – they served representational, decorative and practical functions, acting as a veritable outlook onto an orangerie or window into nature during the drearier times of the year. Lithuania’s magnates particularly appreciated verdures. This is evident from the series of verdures commissioned by Lithuanian Grand Marshal Prince Stanislaw Kazimierz Radziwill (1648–1690), which once belonged to the Vilnius Cathedral’s treasury and exists to this day. These particular textiles feature scenes from Roman poet Ovid’s (43 BCE – 18 CE) mythological poem Metamorphoses amid backdrops of natural scenery.
After the passing of Dymitr Jerzy Korybut Wiśniowiecki, the tapestry collection showcased in this exhibition was inherited by his wife Teofila Ludwika z Zasławskich Wiśniowiecka (1654– 1709). When her daughter from her second marriage Marianna Teofilia Lubomirska (1693–1729) married Prince Paweł Karol Sanguszko (1680–1750) in 1710, the tapestries along with the rest of her dowry ended up at the most important of the Sanguszkos’ residences at the time – Iziaslav (Ukraine). The Vytis adorning the top of the tapestries ideally represented the Sanguszko coat of arms too, as they also originated from the Gediminids. It was precisely for this reason that these textiles were so important to the Sanguszkos as well, with some researchers even mistakenly attributing them to this family initially.
From the mid-19th century the tapestries were constantly moved from place to place – the Sanguszkos transported them to their new residence in Sławuta (Ukraine). It is likely that in the early 20th century the textiles could have also been kept at Pidhirtsi (Ukraine) for some time. In the end, when fleeing the turmoil of World War II, Roman Władysław Stanisław Andrzej Sanguszko (1901–1984) took them away to São Paulo, Brazil.
The series of six verdures was acquired by the Wawel Royal Castle in 2022 from the last descendant of the Sanguszko princely family, Paweł Sanguszko (b. 1973), who lives in São Paulo. The seventh textile from this series belongs to the São Paulo Museum of Art (Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriend). This exhibition at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania displays three of the tapestries from the Wawel Royal Castle’s collections that are in the best condition; the remaining three are still awaiting the attention of restorers
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Exhibition organisers
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Vilnius)
Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collections (Kraków, Poland)
Exhibit owner
Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collections (Kraków, Poland)
Exhibition idea authors
Prof. habil. dr. Andrzej Betlej, dr. Vydas Dolinskas, Marijus Uzorka
Exhibition curators
Magdalena Ozga, dr. Živilė Mikailienė
Exhibition scientific consultants
Magdalena Ozga, dr. Ieva Kuizinienė
Exhibition coordinators
Zamek Królewski na Wawelu – Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki (Kraków, Polska)
Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie (Polska)
Exhibition restoration maintenance coordinators
Sławomir Korzeniowski, Damian Pyznar, Joanna Pasieka
Exhibition publishing coordinator
Dr. Živilė Mikailienė
Exhibition copy editor
Laima Kunickytė
English translation
Albina Strunga
Polish translation
Karolina Malinowska, Andrius Kerulis
Lithuanian translation
Karolina Malinowska
Exhibition scientific and cultural programme coordinators
Dr. Ramunė Šmigelskytė-Stukienė, Viktorija Liubinaitė
Exhibition educational programme creators
Agata Sadovska-Bumbul, Inga Bagaliūnienė
Exhibition marketing and communication coordinators
Mindaugas Egidijus Puidokas, Monika Petrulienė, Augustė Gočelkytė
Exhibition design and technical installation
Saulius Marteckas, Kęstutis Karla, Aurimas Ramelis
