This unit was developed by Norbertas Černiauskas Bibliography Didactic Comments
Information Text Source Sheet Worksheet
Source Sheet: Vilnius 1655, Russian Invasion - Restructuring and Rebuilding the City
1. The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Vilnius: A Baroque Masterpiece
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The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul was built in the second half of the 17th century. The exterior of the church is not as decorative as the interior. Inside the church, the baroque images and symbols give you the feeling of being in a ‘sacral theatre’.
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Wikimedia Commons
Media in category ‘The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Vilnius‘
URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:St._Peter_and_St._Paul%27s_Church_in_Vilnius
The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Vilnius
URL: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafika:Church_of_St._Peter_and_Paul_in_Vilnius.jpg
URL: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafika:Lithuania_Vilnius_St.Peter%2BSt.Paul_church.jpg
URL: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/519909
URL: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/457361
URL: http://nv0.panoramio.com/navigate.php?id=457361
Look around
Panoramic/360° photos
URL: http://www.panoramas.lt/m_katalog.php?&p_id=733&code=4bbcdad727f7764c949bf3eadc02de4d&lg=2
The church was engineered, built and decorated by Polish and Italian artists. The founder of this church was the voivode (a local ruler) of Vilnius and the hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas (1624-1682), the same man who commanded the army which successfully expelled the Russians from Vilnius in 1660. The new church was to replace the old wooden church, which was destroyed during the war with Russia.
M. K. Pacas in Portraits
URL: http://aidai.us/images/69/214.JPG
URL: http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaizdas:Michal_Kazimerz_Pac.jpg
An inscription on the front of the church reads: ‘REGINA PACIS FUNDA NOS IN PACE’ (‘May the queen of peace keep us in peace’ or ‘May the queen of peace protect us in peace’). This inscription must have been well considered by the citizens who went through so many disasters caused by war during the 17th century.
Regina Pacis funda nos in pace
URL: http://galerija.antakalnis.lt/main.php?g2_itemId=7429
The wordplay with Pacas’ surname also demonstrates his striving to be memorialised. The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul also became the tomb of Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas. According to his last will the nobleman was buried in the cellar of the church beneath the doorstep of the main entrance with the Latin inscription: ‘HIC JACET PECATOR’ (‘Here lies a sinner’).
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Tasks
1) The founder of the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul expressed his last will to be buried beneath the doorsill of the church. Which Baroque values are embodied in this request?
2) With reference to M. K. Pacas‘ example, could it be said that the Catholic gentry, which possessed great wealth and held the highest appointments, exerted the most influence on the blossoming of European baroque art?
Describe which elements common to European baroque architecture are visible in the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Vilnius?
Turn the Baroque Pages in the Web
In English
URL: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2000/baroque/splash.htm
URL: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/artsandmedia/dic/colls/arh102/index.html
In German
URL: http://www.beyars.com/kunstlexikon/lexikon_920.html
URL: http://www.gds2.de/projekte/Barock/barock_allgemein.htm
2. The History of the City of Vilnius has only been Sufficiently Documented since the Second Half of the 17th Century
Tasks to Consider
1) What is a ‘historic document’ and what does ‘documented history’ mean?
2) Try to explain the difference between these concepts in terms of the archival situation of 17th-century Vilnius.
3) Find examples from the past where the concept “documented history” could be applied.
4) What do you think could be the meaning of the term “non-documented history”?
