Lietuvos istorijos institutas

The article discusses one of the earliest images of Vilnius University, which was engraved and printed in 1781 in two publications from the Vilnius Academy printing house. Copies of this image are nowadays found in modern historical literature and in various types of printed material (on book covers, diplomas and posters). However, until now, there has been no attempt to examine the original image as a historical source. The uniqueness and relevance of this engraving are determined by the fact that it was created during a crucial period in the university’s reform by the National Education Commission. The aim of the article is to identify which elements of the image of Vilnius University are based on reality, and which represent the unfulfilled ideas of the reformers. Additionally, the article raises questions about the authorship of the engraving, the relationship with the book in which it appeared, and its reuse in later publications. A comprehensive bibliographical description of two publications in which the engraving was printed is provided in the article’s appendix.

On the map of schools in 18th-century Vilnius, a prominent place was occupied by the Vilnius Academy, which during the times of the Commission of National Education was called the Main School of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and after the loss of independence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Vilnius Main School. In addition to the university, there were also schools providing secondary and elementary education, as well as educational institutions. The paper is an attempt to look at the possibilities of education in Vilnius during the period of the Commission of National Education and in the years after the Commission, until the reform of Alexander I in 1803.