The Gothic is the first European art and architecture style to have left a prominent mark on Lithuania’s cultural heritage. However, before research of the Vilnius Lower Castle’s residence had been conducted, very little was known about Gothic period interiors in Lithuania. Various artefacts characteristic of the Gothic period were found in the territory of the Lower Castle residence – ornamented floor and wall tiles, profiled bricks, pot-shaped and flat stove tiles, fragments of painted plaster finishes and many other artefacts that gave us a much broader picture of the Gothic in Lithuania.
This exhibition presents just one artefact group from this rich collection – Gothic flat stove tiles. The stove tile collection dating to the mid-15th century consists of around 650 stove tiles and fragments thereof, decorated with at least 60 different narratives. Some of the stove tiles from the turn of the 15th–16th centuries are also included in our Gothic collection. The stove tiles are decorated with heraldic symbols, scenes from the lives of the saints, biblical scenes, mythological and everyday life narratives. A hypothetical mid-15th century stove was reconstructed based on this collection as part of the overall reconstruction of the Gothic period interiors at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.
Such stoves crafted from stove tiles were not only heating fixtures, but would also become one of the most important accents in the palace interior, reflecting the social, religious, economic and political links and various aspects of the world view of Lithuania’s rulers and magnates at the time, as well as the early formation of heraldic traditions.
The period to which most of the stove tiles presented in this exhibition can be attributed relates to the reign of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir Jagiellon (1440/1447–1492), which lasted 52 years in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and 45 in the Kingdom of Poland. The prevailing opinion in historiography is that it was at this time that the status and significance of Vilnius was ultimately established as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This fact is evidenced by the routes taken on the ruler’s journeys around Lithuania, documents and privileges issued in Vilnius, gifts, correspondence and gatherings of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s nobility that were held here.
In the second half of the 15th century, a branch of the Gediminid dynasty, the Jagiellons, became established on the thrones of the kingdoms of Poland, Hungary and Bohemia, thus becoming one of the most powerful dynasties in Central Eastern Europe. The Gothic stylistics reflected in archaeological artefacts found at the Vilnius residence testify that this period was a time when Lithuania was an integral part of Latin European civilisation, while the markings on these stove tiles allow us to learn more about the symbols of power of that period’s rulers, magnates and clergy, as well as everyday narratives.
The exhibition consists of nine thematic parts. The first relates the development of the Vilnius Lower Castle in the 15th century; the second and third feature stove tiles with the heraldic symbols of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland; the fourth presents bishops’ symbols and coats of arms; the fifth – the hallmarks of noble families; the sixth has biblical-themed stove tiles, the seventh – stove tiles depicting everyday life and mythological narratives; the eighth introduces visitors to the find sites of these Gothic stove tiles and a reconstruction of a stove. The final part of the exhibition features stove tiles dating to the late 15th – early 16th centuries.
This exhibition, presenting unique archaeological artefacts going back almost 600 years and the narratives and symbols they depict, is yet another opportunity to remind ourselves of the important period of flourishing of Vilnius, which is celebrating its 700th anniversary, as well as many other aspects relating to Lithuania’s and Europe’s history – the formation of heraldic symbols in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the founding of the voivodeships of Trakai and Vilnius, the Christianisation of Lithuania, the significance of the Union of Horodło, and of course, Jagiellonian Europe.
Exhibition organisers
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Vilnius)
Exhibition curators
Texts
Photograph credits
Vytautas ABRAMAUSKAS
Sketches
Rasa ABRAMAUSKIENĖ
Drawings
Rita MANOMAITIENĖ
3D visualisation
Rimas SAKALAUSKAS
Authors of stove tiles matrices and copies
Conservation and restoration
Copy editor
Monika GRIGŪNIENĖ
English translation
Albina STRUNGA
Exhibition consultants
Exhibition coordinator
Ignas RAČICKAS
Exhibition publishing coordinator
Dr. Živilė MIKAILIENĖ
Exhibition marketing and information coordinators
Exhibition events coordinators
Exhibition educational programme coordinators
Exhibition restoration maintenance coordinator
Mantvidas MIELIAUSKAS
Exhibition technical equipment coordinators