In 1765 in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – a system of orders started to form when the last ruler of Poland and Lithuania, Stanisław August Poniatowski established an order named after himself and St Stanislaus, the heavenly patron saint of the entire Polish and Lithuanian federal state. The colours of the Order were red and white, while the motto was Praemiando incitat (Rewarding stimulate). At least 525 magnates, nobles and clergymen closely associated with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania receiced this Order in the years 1765–1795.
The 250th anniversary of the founding of the Order of St Stanislaus was celebrated in 2015. To mark this occasion, three museums housed in the historical residences of the rulers of Poland and Lithuania organised a special touring exhibition, stopping at all three historical capitals (Warsaw, Krakow and Vilnius), which in 2016 is being held at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. In the exhibition, most attention is drawn to the period 1765–1795 when the Order was also Lithuania’s state award. The beginning of the exposition proclaims the tradition of St Stanislaus’s cult, which is illustrated in the paintings of Szymon Czechowicz, Pranciškus Smuglevičius and Jozef Peszka. The exhibition continues with a presentation about how the Order of St Stanislaus was founded. Separate parts of the exhibition are devoted to the Order insignia from the late 18th century, and how the Order was reflected in the press of the day. Visitors’ attention is also drawn to how cavaliers of the Order used its attributes as a symbol of status and pride. The particular grouping of the exhibits conveys the fact that recipients of the Order of St Stanislaus were both laymen and clergy. The exposition ends with a brief mention of the Order’s fate in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
A total of around 160 exhibits are on display at the exhibition dedicated to the Order of St Stanislaus in Vilnius. Among the first items on show are insignia of the Order of St Stanislaus: crosses, miniatures, sashes and stars. The cross given to the Castellan of Minsk, Michał Obuchowicz. The most impressive group of exhibits are thirty portraits of cavaliers of the Order of St Stanislaus, painted by such famous artists as Marcello Bacciarelli, Francois-Xavier Fabre, Josef Grassi, Joseph Franz Pitschmann and others.
Some of the exhibition’s highlights are a document for the founding of the Order dated to 1765 and the Order’s statute, a sword used to knight cavaliers of the Order that was created in 1764 for the coronation ceremony, cavalier lists compiled in the 18th–19th centuries, diplomas certifying the award of the Order to officials of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, thirty other documents and stamps, as well as applied art works decorated with the Order’s symbols. A Sarmatian Order costume that belonged to the Lithuanian Court Marshal Stanisław Sołtan and was produced in the Hrodno manufactory is also on display. The exhibits aim to reflect the multi-faceted significance of the Order of St Stanislaus to cavaliers who hailed from some of the most renowned Lithuanian magnate families, like the Radziwiłł, Czartoryski, Poniatowski, Sapieha, Ogiński, Tyszkiewicz, Pac, Kossakowski, Karp, Prozori, and others.
Thus, the exhibition dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Order of St Stanislaus at the Palace of the Grand Dukes is no ordinary event in the Lithuanian museums’ calendar. At this show, visitors may become acquainted with various aspects of how the forgotten Order of St Stanislaus functioned, and their contexts. The content also gives a wider contextual background to the final stage of the history of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, presenting famous historical figures as well. In the late 18th century the Order of St Stanislaus was one of the links uniting Lithuania and Poland, while this exhibition devoted to the Order reminds us today of how important it is to be aware of our common historical heritage.
Exhibition patron
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė
Exhibition organizers
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Vilnius)
Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection (Kraków, Poland)
The Royal Castle in Warsaw – Museum (Poland)
Exhibition co-organizers
Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania
(Bažnytinio paveldo muziejus, Vilnius, Lietuva)
Lithuanian Art Museum, Vilnius
(Lietuvos dailės muziejus, Vilnius)
Lithuanian State Historical Archives, Vilnius
(Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas, Vilnius)
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Vilnius
(Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka, Vilnius)
M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas, Lithuania
(Nacionalinis M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejus, Kaunas, Lietuva)
Museum of the Kaunas Archdiocese, Lithuania
(Kauno arkivyskupijos muziejus, Lietuva)
National Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius
(Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus, Vilnius)
Polish Institute in Vilnius, Lithuania
(Lenkijos institutas Vilniuje, Lietuva)
Šiauliai Aušros Museum, Lithuania
(Šiaulių „Aušros“ muziejus, Lietuva)
The Samogitian Museum Alka, Telšiai, Lithuania
(Žemaičių muziejus „Alka“, Telšiai, Lietuva)
The Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Vilnius
(Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių biblioteka, Vilnius)
Trakai History Museum, Lithuania
(Trakų istorijos muziejus, Lietuva)
Vilnius University Library, Lithuania
(Vilniaus universiteto biblioteka, Lietuva)
Vytautas the Great War Museum, Kaunas, Lithuania
(Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus, Kaunas, Lietuva)
Exhibit lending institutions
Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania
(Bažnytinio paveldo muziejus, Vilnius, Lietuva)
Jan Ostrowski, Poland
Lithuanian Art Museum, Vilnius
(Lietuvos dailės muziejus, Vilnius)
Lithuanian State Historical Archives, Vilnius
(Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas, Vilnius)
M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas, Lithuania
(Nacionalinis M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejus, Kaunas, Lietuva)
Marshal Jozef Piłsudski Central Military Library in Warsaw, Poland
(Centralna Biblioteka Wojskowa im. Marszałka Jozefa Piłsudskiego w Warszawie, Polska)
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Vilnius
(Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka, Vilnius)
Museum of the Kaunas Archdiocese, Lithuania
(Kauno arkivyskupijos muziejus, Lietuva)
Museum of the Środa Region Manor House in Koszuty, Poland
(Muzeum Ziemi Średzkiej, Dwór w Koszutach, Polska)
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Vilnius
(Nacionalinis muziejus Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštytės valdovų rūmai, Vilnius)
National Museum in Krakow, Poland
(Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, Polska)
National Museum in Poznań, Poland
(Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu, Polska)
National Museum in Szczecin, Poland
(Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie, Polska)
National Museum in Warsaw, Poland
(Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Polska)
National Museum in Wrocław, Poland
(Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu, Polska)
National Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius
(Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus, Vilnius)
Polish Army Museum in Warsaw
(Muzeum Wojska Polskiego w Warszawie, Polska)
Princes Czartoryski Foundation in Kraków, Poland
(Fundacja XX. Czartoryskich w Krakowie, Polska)
Roman Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Dąbrowka, Poland
(Parafia Rzymskokatolicka p.w. Podwyższenia Krzyża Świętego w Dąbrowce, Polska)
Šiauliai Aušros Museum, Lithuania
(Šiaulių „Aušros“ muziejus, Lietuva)
The Museum of Medallic Art – The City Museum of Wrocław, Poland
(Muzeum Sztuki Medalierskiej, Muzeum Miejskie Wrocławia, Polska)
The Royal Castle in Warsaw – Museum, Poland
(Zamek Królewski w Warszawie – Muzeum, Polska)
The Royal Castle in Warsaw – Museum, The Ciechanowiecki Foundation, Poland
(Fundacja Zbiorow im. Ciechanowieckich w Zamku Królewskim w Warszawie – Muzeum, Polska)
The Samogitian Museum Alka, Telšiai, Lithuania
(Žemaičių muziejus „Alka“, Telšiai, Lietuva)
The Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Vilnius
(Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių biblioteka, Vilnius)
Trakai History Museum, Lithuania
(Trakų istorijos muziejus, Lietuva)
Vilius Kavaliauskas, Lithuania
Vilnius University Library, Lithuania
(Vilniaus universiteto biblioteka, Lietuva)
Vytautas the Great War Museum, Kaunas, Lithuania
(Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus, Kaunas, Lietuva)
Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collection, Poland
(Zamek Królewski na Wawelu – Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki, Kraków, Polska)
Exhibition concept and idea authors
Dariusz Nowacki
Michał Zawadzki
Authors of the Vilnius exhibition concept and plan
Dalius Avižinis
Vydas Dolinskas
Eimantas Gudas
Curators
Eimantas Gudas
Rita Lelekauskaitė
Coordinators
Dalius Avižinis
Jacek Dutka
Marijus Uzorka
Publishing coordinators
Gintarė Skujutė
Laima Kunickytė
Cultural programme coordinators
Vytautas Gailevičius
Jolanta Karpavičienė
Marijus Uzorka
Educational programme coordinators
Nelija Kostinienė
Daiva Tuinylienė
Information coordinators
Ramunė Hazir
Birutė Šulinskienė
Conservation and maintenance
Jurga Blažytė
Rimvydas Derkintis
Dalia Jonynaitė
Linas Lukoševičius
Janina Petrauskienė
Eglė Piščikaitė
Medeina Steponavičiūtė
Dainius Šavelis
Rytė Šimaitė
Algimantas Vaineikis
Eglė Virpilaitienė
Dalia Valujevičienė
Paulius Zovė
Technical equipment coordinators
Kęstutis Karla
Eduardas Kauklys
Exhibition installation
Fiodor Cvetkov
Eugenijus Iliška
Tomas Kubiliūnas
Aurimas Ramelis
Egidijus Stankevičius
Tomas Valatkevičius
Česlavas Voitonis
