Lietuvos istorijos metraštis

The aim of this article is to establish which events of greater historical impact and in what manner affected the community of the Lithuanian Friars Minor Conventual. The article attempts to uncover what historical events were noticed, how they were reflected and thus inscribed in the collective memory of the Conventual Franciscans based primarily, but not exclusively, in Vilnius. The principal object of this investigation is the Memoriale of the Friars Minor Conventual that began to be compiled in 1702 by fr. Antoni Gumowski and received its final shape at the hands fr. Antoni Niewiarowski in 1842. This manuscript is kept at the Lithuanian State Historical Archive (f. 1135, ap. 20, b. 669). It includes miscellaneous materials relating to the culture of memoria as was practiced at the convent of Vilnius. For the sake of comparison, the information contained in the necrologies of the Valkininkai convent has also been used. The idea is, that memorial books containing detailed biographies of famous friars broke out of the limits of being a strictly necrological commemoration and approached to chronicling contemporary events. The local collective identity of the Vilnius Friars Minor Conventual rested on the memory of the Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius (fourteenth century) and the first two bishops of Vilnius, who were Franciscan friars themselves: Andrzej Jastrzębiec (1388–1398) and Jakub Plichta (1398–1407). The description of events and the enumeration of the names of friars of the fifteenth sixteenth centuries indicate that all this data was transmitted through the mediation of written records and notes. The 1610 fire of Vilnius may be viewed as the oldest event inscribed in the living memory of the early eighteenth-century Franciscan community. Other events that became seared into their collective memory are the mid-seventeenth century Muscovite invasion, the Swedish occupation of Vilnius in 1702, the great pestilence of 1710, and the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. All these events of greater historical significance provided stimulus to produce a number of detailed descriptions of local events as lived through by the local Franciscan communities and individual friars. Their experiences range from a collective dislocation of communal life to the individual martyrdoms. The Vilnius Memoriale also describes events related to the Russian imperial policy in a matter-of-fact fashion, allowing a reader to draw conclusions as to the policy of interference, control and the eventual suppression of monastic communities and their convents.

The article is dedicated to discussion about the opportunities artists had in the eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania, what factors were defining artist’s career and his valuation and how it changed along with social and cultural shifts in the country. Historical sources retain names of around 700 artists that worked in the eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The artists belonged to a peculiar inter-estate stratum with significant differences in education, social and economic situation. Majority of artists lived and worked in towns, with smaller part working in the manors of noblemen under continuous service or temporary contracts, and also there was a small number of artist friars who did jobs in various convents of the country. Social and economic situation of artists in towns was similar to that of craftsmen, yet artists working in the manors of aristocrats usually had status of the middle-rank manor officials. Still, eighteenth-century artists were able to achieve higher levels of career than most of craftsmen because of the rank of their patrons. The work of artists was in demand mostly in higher levels of society and that determined better pay, sponsoring of studies and other kind of encouragement. Career opportunities for artists were usually defined by their reputation and education. The top level of the career was occupied by the status of royal court artist, which was a guarantee of high qualification. Noblemen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Church hierarchy, when trying to realize important projects sought to engage the royal masters. Artists that studied abroad were also in demand. Noblemen of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, because of the deficit of good artists, tried to keep those artists that worked long-term in their manors. Career of a court artist guaranteed steady payment and legal protection, however artists not always desired long-term service because of the significant limitations on their life and work. Difficulties in searching for a decent master encouraged noblemen to keep artists in their manors while teaching arts to local kids. The need in arts for vocation or special gifts is demonstrated by the fact that only a small part of children selected by the noblemen were able to learn painting. Apart from the ties to influential customers, to the career of an artist were important links to requested architects, also familial links to the ruling elites of towns and important officials of the courts. In the second half of the eighteenth century, especially at the end of the century, attitude towards artistic occupation has incurred significant changes. Social status of famous artists, large compensations and ennoblement affected attitudes towards arts among both the society and the artists, and promoted its prestige. Rise of prestige of the profession was aided by the fact that society started appreciating more of the local artists (artists-fellow countrymen). They have begun to be mentioned in various contexts among the most deserving of the nation.

The article summarizes data on the training of painters and sculptors in the eighteenth-century workshops of the Radvilas’ artists. We seek to evaluate it in the context of the educational phenomena of early modern times. The analysis concerns organization of training, teaching practices, and their dissemination. In the eighteenth century, training of the subjects was carried out in the Radvilas’ residences of several generations. Some teachers were subjects of the dukes, some – arrivals working under contracts. The Radvilas continuously renewed the manor using qualified masters. Some of them were foreigners, experienced artists that mastered different art techniques. Training usually took place in the manor although there are known cases of sponsored trips of the artists to larger cities of the Commonwealth of Both Nations, where subjects improved their skills in the workshops of local artists. In the Radvilas’ residences practical training was dominant. Basics of drawing were studied first, pupils drew sculptural models, copied paintings from the collections of the aristocrats, assisted to masters in implementing orders from the dukes. Thus training in the Radvilas’ residences was performed using practices common in training artists of the early modern times. In the context of training of the Radvilas’ artists stands out the project by Jeronimas Florijonas Radvila to establish a drawing school, which had to be directed by a member of the Viennese academy of painting, sculpture and architecture, painter and drawer Lorenzo Titian de Vecceli. Perhaps in 1756, an eight- year contract was concluded according to which he was to teach young men the drawing of landscapes, figures and ornaments. In the contract this drawing school was called academy, probably after a fashion of the similar eighteenthcentury European, often small ones, schools, called academies. In Biala of Podlasie, Lorenzo Titian worked until the death of Florijonas Radvila in 1760. Although almost there is no data on activities of this artist in Biala, it is probable that the master was teaching to draw. Titian’s work for Radvila was brief and, possibly, did not have any significant influence on the education of the local artists. Despite this, Radvila’s idea and start of its implementation showed the need for higher level training of artists. Links of the Radvilas’ artists with professional and specialized educational institutions were rare. In the residences of the dukes, just like in the rest of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dominated little formalized education of artists. Although it was not always effective, it has produced a number of masters that continued working for the Radvilas. Tutors were usually shared among family members, although there is data on the work of the artists of the dukes for the representatives of other families. Having in mind the scope and dissemination of the training of artists, residences of the Radvilas can be considered one of the important centres of art education in the eighteenth-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Straipsnyje atskleidžiama Vilniaus jėzuitų ganytojiška veikla plačiame Katalikų Bažnyčios potridentinio atsinaujinimo kontekste. Autorius analizuoja įvairialypius vienuolių veiklos aspektus, tokius kaip pamokslininkystė, šventųjų ir Švenčiausiosios Mergelės Marijos kulto puoselėjimas, studentų kongregacijų bei suaugusiesiems skirtų brolijų veiklos skatinimas ir kita. Pažymima, kad, būdami ypač kompetentingi kalbų srityje, jėzuitai teikė dvasinę globą ne tik Vilniaus gyventojams lenkams, bet ir vokiečiams bei lietuviams. Jėzuitai taip pat atliko svarbų vaidmenį reformuojant kitas vienuolijas, o jų įtaka bazilijonų vienuolijos intelektualinei ir dvasinei raidai nekelia jokių abejonių. Šv. Ignaco Lojolos ordino vienuoliai aktyvia veikla ir aukomis prisidėjo tiek prie 1655–1660 m. Maskvos okupacijos padarytos žalos, tiek ir prie 1710 m. miestą nusiaubusios maro epidemijos padarinių likvidavimo. Šių kataklizmų metu jėzuitai vykdė nesančios diecezinės dvasininkijos funkcijas. Organizuodami ganytojišką veiklą, Vilniaus jėzuitai sulaukė ne tik bajorijos ir didikų palaikymo, bet ir pasiturinčių miestiečių paramos. Atsakydamas į išsikeltus tyrimo tikslus, straipsnio autorius pažymi, kad Vilniaus jėzuitų ganytojiška veikla atitiko bendrąsias potridentinės Katalikų Bažnyčios dievotumo tendencijas. Tačiau Vilniuje veikę Jėzaus draugijos nariai išliko atviri gilias šaknis įleidusioms vietos religingumo apraiškoms ir prisidėjo stiprindami lokalinį šv. Kazimiero kultą, to meto visuomenės akivaizdžiai tapatintą su Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės valstybingumu.

Straipsnyje analizuojama Vilniaus jėzuitų personalinė sudėtis Lietuvos jėzuitų provincijos kontekste. Remiantis Jėzaus draugijos personalinės sudėties katalogais, aptariama jėzuitų institucijų, veikusių Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės sostinėje, ekonominė situacija, personalinės sudėties kiekybiniai pokyčiai, vienuolių sudėtis pagal kilmės regionus, kalbų žinojimą, turėtus akademinius laipsnius.