ÿþ<html> <head> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 6.0"> <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <title>The exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania</title> <script LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="../Js/eVPopLib.js"></script> <script LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="../Js/ValdoDivsLib.js"></script> <style> <!-- h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times; font-weight:normal; font-style:italic; margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-top:0cm} --> </style> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2219844-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> </head> <body bgcolor="#FEE8D8" topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" link="#800000" vlink="#663300" alink="#996633"> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="863" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111"> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left" colspan="2" width="863" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="AutoNumber1"> <tr> <td width="28%"> <a href="../index.htm"> <img border="0" src="nuotraukos/LDM_logo.jpg" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="57" height="57"></a></td> <td width="60%"> <a href="../LDM/Parodos_en.htm"> <img border="0" src="../Naujausiosparodos/Naujparimages/Bendras_pavadA_09z.jpg" align="left" width="480" height="64"></a></td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" bgcolor="#FEE8D8"> <b> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p ALIGN="justify">&nbsp;</p> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="70%" id="AutoNumber4"> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left" valign="top"> <dl> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt><b><font color="#008080" size="4"> <span lang="EN-US" style="text-transform: uppercase"> Exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace</span><span style="text-transform: uppercase"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-transform: uppercase">Of the </span></font></b></dt> </div> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt><b><font color="#008080" size="4"> <span lang="EN-US" style="text-transform: uppercase">Grand Duchy of Lithuania</span><span style="text-transform: uppercase"> </span></font></b></dt> </div> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt style="text-align: justify">&nbsp;</dt> </div> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt> <b> <img border="0" src="nuotraukos/31_m.jpg" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="170" height="131"></b><font color="#800000"><span lang="EN-US">Exhibition opens on July 6, 2004 and will remain until December 31, 2008</span>.</font></dt> </div> <b> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt style="text-align: justify">&nbsp;</dt> </div> </b> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt style="text-align: justify"><font color="#008080">Address: <span lang="EN-US">Applied Art Museum</span> (<span lang="EN-US">Vilnius, Arsenalo str. 3A</span>).</font></dt> </div> </dl> <dl> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt style="text-align: justify"><font color="#800000"> <span lang="EN-US">Lithuanian Art Museum</span></font></dt> </div> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt style="text-align: justify"><font color="#800000"> <span lang="EN-US">Castle research Centre <i>Lietuvos pilys</i></span></font></dt> </div> <div style="text-align: left"> <dt style="text-align: justify"><font color="#800000"> <span lang="EN-US">Royal Palace Restoration Foundation</span></font></dt> </div> <li><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;</span></li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Museum of Applied Art, Arsenalo str. 3A, Vilnius </span></li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Open Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.  4 p.m. Closed on Mondays and national holidays</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Information tel. (0037 5) 212 1813</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">www.muziejai.lt; www.lietuvospilys.lt; www.lvr.lt</span>.</li> </dl> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> </b> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" bgcolor="#FFF4EC" align="justify"> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="60%" id="AutoNumber5"> <tr> <td width="33%" valign="top"> <ul> <li><b><span lang="EN-US"> <a href="#The exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"> The exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania</a></span></b></li> <li><a href="../Parodos/Atn_Vald-rumu_radiniu.htm"><b>About the exhibition </b><font size="2">(Lithuanian)</font></a></li> <li><a href="../Parodos/Valdovu_rumu_paroda.htm"><b>More abaut the exhibition </b><font size="2">(Lithuanian)</font></a></li> </ul> </td> <td width="33%" valign="top"> <ul> <li><a href="../TDM/TDM_pastatas.htm"><b>Old Arsenal palace of the Vilnius Lower Castle </b><font size="2">(Lithuanian)</font></a></li> <li><b><span lang="EN-US"> <a href="#Organizers of the exhibition">Organizers of the exhibition</a></span></b></li> <li><a href="../Naujausiosparodos/Valdovu_rumu_virt.htm"><b> Virtual exhibition </b><font size="2">(Lithuanian)</font></a></li> </ul> </td> <td width="34%" valign="top"> <ul> <li><b> <a href="#Speach made at the opening ceremony of the exhibition"> Algirdas Brazauskas s<span lang="EN-US">peach made at the opening ceremony of the exhibition</span></a></b></li> </ul> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="2" bordercolor="#FFFFFF" bgcolor="#FFF4EC" align="justify"> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <dl> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US"> <font size="4" color="#008080"> <a name="The exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"> The exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania</a></font></span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify">&nbsp;</dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">The exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was opened by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Algirdas Brazauskas, the Minister of Culture, and the Minister of Education and Science on July 6, 2004, commemorating the 751 anniversary of the coronation of Mindaugas, King of Lithuania, and celebrating Statehood Day. The exhibition was installed in the restored historical ground-floor spaces of the Old Arsenal, reminding of the vaulted halls of the Royal Palace under restoration. It will function at the Applied Art Museum, in the neighborhood of the Royal Palace, up to December 31, 2007, i.e. until the restoration of the Royal Palace of the Grand Dukes&#39; of Lithuania (GDL) and the completion of its interiors and expositions. Every year, on the eve of Statehood Day, the exhibition is to be renewed and augmented by the most impressive restored and new artifacts (for example, the collection of glass articles, the treasure of old coins, etc.).</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">At present, the exhibition Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania displays over one thousand findings - the most valuable, interesting and informative artifacts discovered and collected by the specialists of the Castle Research Centre <i>Lietuvos pilys</i> during archeological and architectural investigations carried out since 1987 on the site of the Royal Palace (over 300 000 artifacts have been accumulated in the course of nearly two decades). Among them stone architecture details and their fragments of parti-colored marble, local and imported sandstone, granite, ceramic, metal, leather, wood, bone and other articles. The earliest objects of the exposition are thought to reach the times of King Mindaugas, Grand Dukes Gediminas, Algirdas and Jogaila (Jagiello)  13<sup>th</sup> 14th c. and the latest to be connected with the 17th c. as the last period when the Royal Palace served as a residence, i.e., the years of the reign of the Vasa dynasty. The exposition features the majority of the artifacts in a chronological order with the intention of reflecting the main periods of artistic and historical development and stylistic changes in the Gothic, Renaissance and Early Baroque epochs. Some of them (jewellery pieces, coins, bone articles, etc.) are shown in smaller showcases through magnifying glasses thus enabling the visitor to notice the subtlety of finer and artistically as well as materially greatly valuable artifacts. One can better discern, for example, the masterly enamel work of the 15th-16th c. golden ring with a diamond eye, the fanciful forms of the setting, to see the miniature forms of 15th -16th c. chessmen and draughtsman figurines made of bone.</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">The most copious collection of artifacts displayed in the illuminated showcases reflects the heyday of Lithuania&#39;s Royal Palace as an European-scale residence - the Renaissance and Early Baroque epochs. The biggest group of the feature architectural and household ceramics - glazed stove tiles, floor and wall tiles, figurine bricks, various dishes and other household articles. The oldest glazed tiles reach the 15th c. -the Gothic epoch, the times of Grand Dukes Vytautas, Kazimieras (Casimir) and Aleksandras (Alexander). A particularly rich collection presents the Renaissance and Early Baroque (16th and early 17th c.) tiles most often decorated with parti-­colored glaze. Quite a number of them bear heraldic figures and the initials of Lithuania&#39;s sovereigns as well as prominent noblemen. Beside</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">the heraldic symbols and initials of Zygimantas Senasis (Sigismund the Old), Bona Sforza and Zygimantas Augustas (Sigismund Augustus) on renaissance tiles, the 17th c. examples show not only the state heraldic symbols of Lithuania and Poland as well as that of the ruling Vasa dynasty but also of Leonas Sapiega (Sapieha), Chancellor of the GDL, the Radvilas and other famous families of the nobles. Other tiles are often decorated with relief compositions on religious, allegorical, mythological or domestic subjects, stylized with plant or geometric polychrome and embossed ornamentation. Alongside the restored collection of tiles traced to the time of Bona Sforza, a model of the restored renaissance stove from the Royal Palace is put on display. The exhibits of household ceramics present rather fragile, therefore, fully or partially restored and recreated 13th-17th c. table wear used in everyday life -jugs, cups, bowls, plates, goblets, etc. Among these artifacts the frying-pans distinguish themselves in the originality of their forms.</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">The architectural details, the elements and their fragments cut from various kinds of stone (for example, the profiled window casings, cornices, windowsills, fine archi­tectural elements, the floor panels, etc.) exhibited from the Royal Palace are of great importance and provide valuable information sources for the recreation of the decor of the exteriors and interiors of Lithuanian grand dukes&#39; residence as well us unfold the most characteristic features of the palace&#39;s architecture in the 16th and the first half of the 17th c. The earliest stone details are thought to reach the Renaissance epoch (during the Gothic period, ceramics seem to have satisfied the needs). During the reign of the last rulers of the Gediminas-Jogaila dynasty, local sandstone came to be widely used for the embellishment of the palace; in the interiors - marble was used as well. At the time of the Vasa dynasty, instead of rather rough local sandstone, the Swedish kind was more often preferred, and in the interiors - marble and granite even more abundantly. The exposition</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">parison of results with written historical sources and typologically and chronologically analogous material of other close European residencies will create conditions for an exact and grounded realization of the programs set for the restoration of the Royal Palace and the arrangement of interiors and expositions, as well as facilitate to dispel the doubts and unfounded phobias of the skeptics and opponents of the restoration of the palace.</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">The exhibition places a particular emphasis on its educational goal. Therefore, specialists of the Lithuanian Art Museum Centre for Art Education and the Applied Art Museum have prepared several educational programs for schoolchildren (A Journey from the Old Arsenal of the Vilnius Lower Castle to the Royal Palace, The Royal Palace of Lithuania: Prosperity and Points of Interest in Lifestyle and The Palace of the Lower Castle - the Centre for Arts and Crafts). There are plans to prepare for the new school year some more thematic educational programs to be carried out by the pupils themselves. The intention of educational projects, the participation in which is stimulated by the Ministry of Education and Science, is to comprehensively familiarize Lithuanian schoolchildren, other members of cultural public and the visitors to Vilnius not only with the past of the Royal Palace but also to promote the principle project included in the Millennium program of Lithuania -</span> <span lang="EN-US">the restoration of the Royal Palace. In the exhibition one can also see several documentaries by Prof. Vytautas Urbonavicius about the investigations on the site of the Royal Palace and that of the entire Lower Castle.</span></dt> <dt style="text-align: justify"><span lang="EN-US">The&nbsp; long-lasting&nbsp; exhibition&nbsp; will&nbsp;&nbsp; serve&nbsp; the&nbsp; realization&nbsp; of national&nbsp; and international scientific projects (conferences, seminars, discussions) associated with historical functions of the Royal Palace and their restoration as well as the programs set for the propagation of the artistic heritage (music, theatre, literature, architecture and&nbsp; art)&nbsp; of the palace. Alongside&nbsp; the exposition in the exhibition hall of the Applied Art Museum featuring the artifacts from the Royal Palace, it is intended to organize national and international exhi­bitions up to 2009, related to the restoration of the Royal Palace, its future expositions, to the historical interiors of Grand Dukes&#39; residence planned for restoration. Beside the artifacts, architectural plans and dra­wings&nbsp; of the restorations&nbsp; of the Royal Palace are also put on display.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></dt> </dl> <p><font color="#008080" size="4"><span lang="EN-US"> <a name="Organizers of the exhibition">Organizers of the exhibition</a></span></font></p> <p><font color="#008080"><span lang="EN-US">Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:</span></font></p> </blockquote> <ul> <li><span lang="EN-US">Lithuanian Art Museum</span> <span lang="EN-US">(Director Romualdas Budrys)</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Castle Research Centre Lietuvos pilys</span> <span lang="EN-US">(Director Eduardas Kauklys)</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Royal Palace Restoration Foundation</span> <span lang="EN-US">(Chairman of the Board Edmundas Kulikauskas, Director Indre Jovaisaite)&nbsp;</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">The organizers of the exhibition were assisted by a group of architects from the Architectural Design and Restoration Institute, who prepared the architectural plans for the restoration of the Royal Palace (Head Rimas Grigas), and the Directorate of the Vilnius Castles (Director Saulius Andrasunas)</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Original concept of the exposition by Romualdas Budrys, Director of the Lithuanian Art Museum</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Exhibition consultants: Dr. Napalys Kitkauskas, Prof. Vytautas Urbonavicius, Dr. Gintautas Rackevicius, Gintautas Striska, Eduardas Remecas</span>.</li> <li><span lang="EN-US">Exhibition curators: Erika Striskiene, Dr. Vydas Dolinskas</span></li> <li><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;Exposition presents collections from the Castle Research Centre Lietuvos pilys, Lithuanian Art Museum, Lithuanian National Museum, Architectural Design and Restoration Institute</span></li> <li><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;Virtual exhibition www.muziejai.lt</span>.</li> </ul> <ul> <dt><font color="#008080"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="4"> Algirdas Brazauskas</font></span><font size="4">, <span lang="EN-US">Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania</span> <a name="Speach made at the opening ceremony of the exhibition"> <span lang="EN-US">Speach made at the opening ceremony of the exhibition</span> </a><span lang="EN-US">Artifacts from the Royal Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania</span>. </font> <span lang="EN-US"><font size="4">July 6, 2004</font></span></font></dt> </ul> <blockquote> <p><font color="#008080"><b><span lang="EN-US">Ladies and Gentlemen,</span></b></font></p> <p><span lang="EN-US">The present exhibition is one of the major events included in the program dedicated to the millennium of Lithuania. Its organizers - The Lithuanian Art Museum, responsible for the creation of interiors and expositions, the Castle Research Centre <i>Lietuvos pilys</i>, which researches and collects the artifacts from the Royal Palace, and the Royal Palace Restoration Foundation. A group of architects from the Architectural Design and Restoration Institute also has contributed to this event. The present exhibition heralds the very beginning of the Royal Palace Restoration Program approved by the Government.<br> Over 300 000 artifacts have been accumulated up to the present time. Some of them were found and restored between 1987-2004 during continuing archeological and architectural investigations, others - at the time of the earlier studies. Among them -stone architecture fragments, details, ceramic, metal, wood, leather, textile, bone, glass and other articles, jewelery and numismatic findings. Examples presented at this exposition show the importance of the residence of Grand Dukes&#39; of Lithuania -the Royal Palace as the centre of the state&#39;s political, legal, administrative, military and cultural life in the first half of the 14th-17th century. These artifacts reveal much about the rulers and their surroundings, everyday life and hobbies. The exhibition will serve as an important educational project and offer interesting themes for workshops and excursions.<br> I hope that this exposition will be of interest not only to the public at large, but will also serve for a better historical understanding of the Royal Palace. The exhibition will continue until the very end of the restoration of the Royal Palace. Every year, commemorating the Statehood Day, it will be augmented by new artifacts, and visitors will be familiarized with the results of the newest investigations. Thus, this project will facilitate to dispel the skeptics&#39; unfounded doubts about the restoration of the Royal Palace.<br> &nbsp;</span></p> </blockquote> <ul> <div style="text-align: right"> <blockquote> <p><span lang="EN-US">Publication editor and author of the text Vydas Dolinskas<br> Translator Laimute Zabuliene</span></p> </blockquote> </div> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify">&nbsp;</p> </blockquote> </blockquote> <p align="justify">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="center" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="287"> <a href="../index.htm"> <img border="0" src="../Muziejusirpadaliniai/Muzimages/IpradziaA.jpg" width="160" height="64"></a> </td> <td valign="top" height="62" align="center" width="576" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <p align="left">© <font size="1">Lithuanian Art Museum<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Comments, remarks send to:&nbsp; <a href="mailto:samogit@delfi.lt">samogit@delfi.lt</a><br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Page updated <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%Y.%m.%d" startspan -->2011.08.10<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="12623" endspan --></font>&nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left" width="863" colspan="2" bgcolor="#FFF4EC"><hr> <p align="left">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </div> </body> </html>