Sr. Ona Mikaila

Reflections

CHRISTIANITY IN ART

Sr. Ona Mikaila is a writer and editor of Bendradarbis, and belongs to the order of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Lithuanian order in Putnam, Connecticut..

Among: a number of interesting events taking: place in Lithuania to celebrate the Great Jubilee is a magnificent exhibit of religious art titled “Christianity in Art”. Some 5,000 art treasures are on display at the Vilnius Art Museum housed in the Armory of the lower Vilnius Castle, at the foot of the Hill of Gediminas.

The exhibit was officially inaugurated by President Valdas Adamkus on December 28,1999 and will be open to the public until October 30, 2003. This date marks the 750th anniversary of the coronation of King Mindaugas who was baptized a Christian in 1252 and crowned in 1253.

This art exhibit is the largest ever and includes paintings, sculpture, sacred vestments and vessels, tapestries, historical documents and parchments, as well as unique examples of religious folk art. The artists who created them came not only from Lithuania, but also from the Italian and Flemish schools of Western Europe.

Historically the exhibit spans 1000 years. Its oldest document is an account of the martyrdom of St. Boniface, which took place on Lithuanian soil in 1009. This Boniface was a Camaldolese monk who came to preach Christianity to the Prussians.

The centerpiece of the entire exhibit is an extensive collection of religious artifacts belonging to the Vilnius Cathedral. This collection dates soon after 1387 when Lithuania as a nation accepted Christianity. It grew over the centuries augmented by gifts to the Catholic Church given by Lithuanian rulers and the great noble families. Among the 270 art treasures are jeweled chalices and monstrances, reliquaries and ornate liturgical vestments.

The Vilnius Cathedral Art Collection has a most interesting history. Even native Lithuanians did not know of its existence until last year. They now have the opportunity to see it for the first time.

These art works were hidden inside the thick wall of the Vilnius Cathedral and plastered over in 1939, just as World War II started. After the war, Lithuania found itself annexed to the Soviet Union. In 1950, Vilnius Cathedral -- the pride of the whole nation -- was nationalized by the Soviet government and could no longer be used as a church. In 1956, it was given to the Vilnius Art Museum and turned into a picture gallery and so it remained for 40 years.

The Cathedral was returned to the Catholic Church in 1989, renovated and reconsecrated. Archeological excavations made in 1984 - 85 had discovered the secret cache of art treasures, but only a few persons knew about it. Art Museum Director, Romualdas Budrys, and the archeologists who had found the art treasures decided to keep the find a secret for fear that the Soviet authorities would confiscate them and take them away to Russia.

An inventory was made of everything that had been found and included in the Art Museum books. In 1991, however, Soviet tanks once again rolled through the streets of Vilnius, and the secret art collections was returned to its hiding place. Its existence was announced to the Lithuanian public in 1999.

At the opening ceremonies of the “Christianity in Art” exhibit, President Adamkus said that we can all appreciate the initiative of the Vilnius Art Museum for giving us the opportunity to celebrate 1000 years of Lithuanian history. It is thanks to Christian culture that the European people of the Middle Ages first heard of Lithuania in 1009. Archbishop Audrys Bačkis, head of the archdiocese of Vilnius, also spoke on this occasion. One thousand people patiently waited in line to see this unique exhibit for the first time and many more will be visiting it over the years.