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The heritage of liturgical textile in Lithuania: development and peculiarities of the artistical embroidery from the 17th century to 1915

Embroidery, a field of the applied arts, has been not comprehensively studied in Lithuania. In the first half of the last century, embroidery was rejected as being unoriginal field of the Lithuanian folk creation. Religious art forms the biggest part of Lithuanian art heritage. Investigations of the religious art were almost prohibited in the Soviet period; it was allowed to analyse the creation only within the formal style analysis method. After restoration of the independence, the investigations of the religious art was started.  During the implementation of the project, it is planned to examine the embroidered textile sets from the largest Lithuanian museums in Vilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai, Telšiai and the biggest collections of embroidered liturgical vestments and accessories stored in Catholic churches (Veliuona, Šiluva, Kaišiadorys, Veiviržėnai, Pikeliai, Žiežmariai, Molėtai, Kernavė, Trakai, Švėkšna, Eišiškės, etc). We will also investigate the historical and archival sources to reveal the development and dissemination of the embroidery art in Lithuania from the 17th century to 1915. These chronological limits were selected because the embroidered artifacts since the 17th century form the biggest part of the heritage, while previous works are extremely rare. The upper chronological limit of our study (1915) coincides with the end of the Art Nouveau stylistics and fall of the entire production of church workshop accessories caused by the World War I. The activity of embroiderers, which belong to the tailors guild in Vilnius was not investigated in Lithuania until now as well as the embroidery in the monasteries of nuns, where it was a daily life routine, and the embroidery in manors whose owners were the most frequent donors of the liturgical textile. During the study we will attempt to determine the workshops of church accessories of the 19th century, which produced the liturgical accessories decorated with embroidery technique. In addition, we want to ascertain the influence of the embroidery styles in Lithuania, the pathways of the samplers and the origin of embroidery techniques, stitches and ornament. This work differs from the other studies carried out in Europe because it will present a systematized and contextually assessed subject that includes the expression of secular and monastic embroidery of liturgical vestments.

Result: The project results were presented at three international conferences abroad, and four publications were prepared (one for the international scientific journal and three for the national scientific journals). We held two seminars, participated in radio and television broadcast, and delivered a public lecture.

The most important project result is a prepared monograph manuscript in the 19.75 author’s pages (790861 characters) and 381 illustrations. The heritage of embroidered liturgical vestments in Lithuania is presented as an organic part of a common European and locally distinguished tradition in the monograph. In the monograph, Lithuanian embroiderers (craftsmen of Vilnius – Catholics and Jews) are discussed for the first time. We present identified embroideries made by the sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary, the Bernardines in Vilnius and Kaunas, the sisters of the Holy Cross from Krakės, and Benedictines from Kražiai and Vilnius, as well as groups of the décor they used. In addition, we identified embroidery examples from the manors made by Anna Lopacińska, Rachella Petkiewicz-Gorska, Maria Gorska-Wolmer, and Jadwyga Swiatopelk-Czetvertinska Tyszkiewicz. Based on dated artefacts, it can be affirmed that different embroidery stitches, ornaments, and styles appeared in Lithuania simultaneously as in other European countries. Hence, the myth that artistic styles in Lithuania were delayed compared to European tendencies was denied.