International exhibition “Pidhirtsi Castle. History And Art Collections”

Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania GINTAUTAS PALUCKAS

 

The European diamond of Ukrainian heritage is being presented to the Lithuanian public and guests to the capital Vilnius at this international exhibition, Pidhirtsi Castle. History and Art Collections. The castle is an invaluable, geographically distant yet particularly significant cultural object of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania collectively – the Pidhirtsi residence and the immense treasures of its historical collections. Today, its contents have spread afield and are being protected at a number of museums in Ukraine and Poland. Probably the largest and most valuable part of the collection ended up in the Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery and the Lviv Historical Museum. Both museums are long-standing partners of the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and have participated in many exhibition projects, however this is the first time a collection of such scale from one residence is going to be presented. Up until now, only single treasures from the Pidhirtsi colllections have been displayed at themed exhibitions in Lithuania.

 

The Pidhirtsi Castle presented in this exhibition is an Italian palazzo in fortezza (fortified palace) residence, a splendid architectural monument noted for its rich history, standing out for its stylistic combination of Late Renaissance and Early Baroque elements. Architect Constante Tencalla (ca 1590–1646), who worked in Vilnius in the 17th century where he built St Casimir’s Chapel and reconstructed the Palace of the Grand Dukes, is likely to have contributed to the decoration of Pidhirtsi Castle. Situated on a picturesque incline, Pidhirtsi Castle and the entire residence ensemble with park and gardens was considered the most beautiful in the whole Kingdom of Poland in the 17th–18th centuries. Some time later, a significant part of the very rich collection of art treasures and historical relics found its way into museums in Tarnów, Kraków, Warsaw and Lviv, while the interior’s elegance and structure of the plafond ceilings served as a source of inspiration for the reconstruction of halls at the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków and the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius. 

 

The owners of Pidhirtsi Castle, representatives of well-known magnate families of the day (the Koniecpolskis, Sobieskis, Rzewuskis, Sanguszkos), changed over the years, however each left their mark on the residence’s colourful history, where periods of flourishing interchanged with times of immense loss. Interestingly, in 1865 the palace was owned by the descendants of a side branch of the Lithuanian Gediminid dynasty – the Sanguszko dukes. Pidhirtsi Castle was opened to individual travellers who would sign their names in guest books in the early 19th century. Understanding the value of Pidhirtsi Castle as a museum, Eustachy Stanisław Sanguszko (1842–1903) created conditions allowing the wider public to visit the palace and admire its interiors and art treasures. And today, in light of Moscow’s brutal aggression against Ukraine, the Pidhirtsi treasures showcased at the exhibition organised by the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, preserved despite their stormy history, testify to the shared rich cultural heritage of the whole region of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania. Some of the treasures, militaria and other relics in the collection amassed by aristocrats bear relation to Lithuanian history, inviting visitors to the exhibition to symbolically open the doors to this residence when doing so at present would be impossible due to the war in Ukraine. This serves to continue the tradition initiated almost two hundred years ago by the eminent Lithuanian duke E. S. Sanguszko to enlighten society, to introduce it to its honourable past and historical figures, to instil aesthetic sensibilities and spread European culture.  

 

The international exhibition features close to a hundred art treasures and other relics – alongside numerous portraits, battle scenes and sacred artworks by famous European artists and authors associated with Lithuania, applied art objects are also included in the exposition: salon furniture, mirrors, candelabra and militaria such as Hussar armour and halberds, thereby revealing to visitors the principles for forming a collection of this kind at an 18th–19th-century aristocratic residence and its content. 

 

The exhibition comprises of four thematic parts. The first presents the history of the Pidhirtsi residence and its architecture, accentuating not only the periods when the residence was in its prime and the collections were being amassed, but also facts relating to times of great loss. This part is also dedicated to the residence’s owners – prominent historical figures – and their deeds. The second part is a visual presentation of the special features of the Pidhirtsi Castle interiors. In the third part visitors may become familiarised with a unique part of the residence collections – works by famous foreign painters (e.g., Johann Baptist von Lampi, Jan de Baen and others). The fourth part is set aside for displaying the talent of masters from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (e.g., an artist associated with Vilnius – Szymon Czechowicz, Franciszek Smuglewicz’s grandfather Hiacynt Olesińksi, etc.).

 

The organisers trust that this exhibition, revealing the unique treasures of Ukraine’s cultural heritage, will awaken our shared historical memory, civil awareness and a critical approach to the false historical narratives being devised by our enemies, and will rather serve to protect and publicise the important European cultural heritage found in Ukraine. We hope that the exhibition will encourage deeper interest in the Lithuanian heritage preserved in Ukraine, that these prominent historical figures and development of statehood will remind us of the tradition fostered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, uniting Lithuania and Ukraine, and highlighting contexts of European cultural contectedness.