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The printing house of the Vilnius Basilian monastery stands out as one of the oldest and largest printing houses of the Eastern Rite Catholic Church and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the activities of which lasted about 200 years. In this printing house, books were printed in the Polish, Latin, ecclesiastical Slavonic, Lithuanian and Latvian languages. Furthermore, among the books printed by the Basilians were the pieces printed in Italian, French, Greek and English. Following the abolition of the Eastern Rite Catholic Church in 1839, printing operations were not resumed. Instead, all printing equipment was sold out to the printers Teofilius Gluksberg and Abrahami Dworzec as well as to the townsman Gronim Pupkin. The article is the first attempt ever to analyse the organizational aspects of activities in the said printing house such as its localization and premises, legal situation, managers and employees, technical equipment and sales of the printed material. Research of material conditions makes it easier to establish the factors that have contributed to the development and decline of printing activities as well as identify the causes of multilingual multi-denominational printing output in this institutional enterprise. Such research is aimed to better understand the Lithuanian printing business up to the 19th century and provide background information for more comprehensive research in the fields of reading culture, the history of the Basilian order, social history and material culture of Vilnius. Throughout all the periods of its activity, the print shop was located in the territory of the Vilnius Basilian Monastery in the old part of the city close to the Sharp Gates (Lith. Astrieji vartai), currently the Gates of Dawn (Lith. Ausros vartai). The localization of the Basilian Monastery in the old centre of religious culture and crafts was favourable to developing the activities of the printing house. The founders and sponsors of the 17th century printing house were the metropolitan archbishops of the Eastern Rite Catholic Church, whereas in the second half of the 18th century the sponsorship was taken over by the superiors of the Lithuanian Basilian Province. Until the year 1768, the legal situation of the printing house was based on the right to print books, inherited by the Vilnius Basilian monastery in 1633 from the Vilnius Holy Trinity Fraternity belonging to the Eastern Rite Catholic Church. In 1768, King and Grand Duke Stanislaw Augustus granted the Lithuanian Basilians a special privilege for the printing house, allowing to transfer the Vilnius printing house to Vitebsk, but this privilege was never taken advantage of. The research made it possible to identify a considerable part of the staff working at the printing house. Thus, in the 17th century, the printing shop employed 3 staff members (1 townsman and 2 Basilians), in the 18th century, 5 printers-Basilians were working in the printing house, and in the first half of the 19th century, 5 printers were employed (all of them were hired secular persons). During the period from the second half of the 18th century to the start of the 19th century, in total six prefects were appointed to manage the printing house activities. During the research, the name of one more manager of the printing house – Markel Solokaj – was established. He was appointed as prefect on July 1, 1838, when printing activities were no longer resumed. Hypothetically it could be stated that during the most profitable period of activity, that is, during the period of 1760–1800, printing activities were carried out by about 20 persons. As a rule, the prefects appointed to run the printing house were chosen from the educated monks having the priest’s ordinances. Among the prefects, priest Nicefor Nenicz (1777–1793) was the most successful in running the printing house. In 1760–1800, 4 book-printing machines and 1 one-piece machine for carving press as well as other quality equipment purchased in foreign countries was installed at the printing house. In addition, a letter foundry, a bookbindery and a bookstore were operating in close proximity to the printing house. The printing house conducted a wide range of printing activities such as printing of books, brochures, sheet music and images of religious content, was specialising in accidental printing, etc. In general, the book production process was fairly well organized, and this allowed the printing press to operate continuously and profitably for several decades. However, the prefects of the printing house did not put any effort into developing book distribution channels. Under the circumstances, mediating monasteries, bookshops and publishers started the business of trading books. The print shop itself was not able to organize effective sales. The weak and shaky book trade is evidenced by the announcements of various individuals and companies about the sales of the book Lexykon geograficzny by I. Karpinski (1766), the publication of which appeared among the Lithuanian and Polish periodicals from 1768 to 1829. Only some issues of the publication were subscriptionbased. It could be concluded that it was not only the political pressure of the Russian administration, but also the weak management of book distribution that led the printing press in early 19th century to stagnation.

Nuo XIX a. II pusės Europoje plito meno ir amatų sąjūdis, skatinęs menininkus ieškoti naujų dailės formų ir visų meno sričių ansambliškumo. Po 1863 m. sukilimo iki tol Lietuvoje vyravusį bydermejerio1 stilių ėmė keisti neobarokas2 ir vietinei baldininkystei būdingu stabilumu bei tvirtumu pasižymėjęs neorokokas, o amžiaus pabaigoje išryškėjo neorenesansinės3 tendencijos. Vienas iš to laikotarpio Lietuvos dvarų kultūrą charakterizuojančių kūrinių – Lietuvos dailės muziejuje (LDM) saugomas eklektiško stiliaus XIX a. pab.–XX a. pr. bufetas (inv. Nr. LDM TD 4146). Jame dera neorenesanso ir neobaroko stilių elementai. Baldas įspūdingų matmenų (aukštis – 316 cm, plotis – 215 cm, gylis – 73 cm), gausiai dekoruotas, durelių intarpai papuošti teminių scenų drožiniais. Tokia puošybos gausa liudija aukštą užsakovo socialinę padėtį, priklausymą aukštuomenės luomui ir atspindi to meto visuomenei būdingą hierarchiją: viršutinėje bufeto dalyje durelių intarpuose vaizduojama kilmingų žmonių pramoga – medžioklė, apatiniuose durelių intarpuose – kasdieniai kaimo žmonių rūpesčiai. Dešinėje bufeto pusėje išdrožta scena su paukščius šaudančiu medžiotoju, šalia jo – laimikį pasiruošęs parnešti šuo. Kairėje pusėje – sėkmingos medžioklės atomazga: medžiotojas rankose laiko trofėjų, šalia ramiai tupi šuo. XIX–XX a. sandūroje dvaruose plito ir briedžių ragais dekoruoti medžiotojų baldų komplektai, nes medžioklė buvo populiari bajorų laisvalaikio leidimo forma. Eclectic style buffet from the Lithuanian Art Museum collection was brought to Pranas Gudynas Restoration Center in 2014 in a very poor condition. Due to the long-term effects of moisture, exhibit’s structural parts were detached, oak veneer was raised. Some parts were missing, among them several veneered fragments, front legs, rear supports, and part of lower structural crown fragment. Moreover, furniture edges were loose or nailed and mechanical damages were visible. The aim of restoration was to revive functionality and aesthetics of this piece of furniture without exceeding ethical norms of restorer. One of the goals of today’s restorer is to reveal the effects of restoration on artwork, to enable viewer to observe how a decayed object regained presentable appearance. Viewer is left with the opportunity to assess transformation of the decayed furniture into the full-fledged exhibit, to find out history of the restored object whose fragments were lost. The restored pieces should help viewer to grasp the whole of the exhibit, to engage into restoration process, to invite to a conversation with the restorer whose restored fragments are just his interpretation – after all restored fragments that are not easily recognizable and easy to remove have no historical value or lasting legacy.

Nuo seno Lietuvoje buvo statomi vietinių meistrų sukurti kryžiai, koplytstulpiai ir koplytėlės. Juos užsakydavo svarbiems bendruomenės ar šeimos įvykiams atminti, reikšmingoms istorinėms vietoms bei datoms pažymėti. Kunigas Adomas Jakštas (1860-1938) savo straipsnyje rašė: „Nežinome, ar yr kur ant svieto tiek kryžių, kaip Lietuvoje. Eini keliu - kas viorstas, kas antras - kryžius! Važiuoji par kaimą - beveik kiekviename kieme regi kryžių! Atėjai ant kryžkelio - ir čia stovi kryžius!“. Mediniai mažosios architektūros kūriniai buvo puošiami stilizuotais augaliniais, geometriniais ornamentais. Panašios ornamentų kompozicijos randamos ir pastatų, langų bei prieangių pagražinimuose, buities rakandų papuošimuose, bet medinių paminklų dekoratyvinės formos kur kas turtingesnės, jų meninė išraiška gerokai subtilesnė. Koplytstulpio konstrukciją sudaro aukštas stiebas, kurio viršuje įrengiamos koplytėlės, atviros iš vienos arba iš visų keturių pusių. Vienos jų paprastesnių formų, kitos turi savitai interpretuotų architektūros stilių (dažnai baroko ar klasicizmo) bruožų. Atvirose bei įstiklintose koplytėlėse buvo talpinamos skulptūrėlės, dažniau - po kelias, rečiau - po vieną. Kartais ant koplytstulpio stiebo buvo tvirtinama viena didesnė polichromuota skulptūra, virš jos ant atramų pritvirtinamas skardinis arba skarda apkaltas lentinis stogelis. Ir pats koplytstulpis, ir skulptūrėlės buvo polichromuojami. There is a small number of small architecture exhibits in the museums’ collections. Not every museum has special premises for a higher cross or a crucifix. Restoring them is also not an easy task: it requires larger premises with accessible entries without barriers. Carvings are usually very ramshackle, sometimes even their former structure is no longer possible to restore; fragments are lacking, particularly of openwork. Local intellectuals or conservationists usually hand over these art works to the museums. In 2003, Pasvalys Museum got several art works, the remains of crucifixes and crosses. Exhibit the chapel with the Baptism of Jesus scene of Kupiškis Ethnographic Museum was standing on a higher wooden pole, but unfortunately remained only chapel with a sculptural composition ‘John the Baptist and Christ’. Sculptures are damaged, wood severely affected by atmospheric factors. Polychrome was gone. Fragment of V. Svirskis cross (granted for the Lithuanian Art Museum) with double sided sculpture was in by Rukai Lake in 2009. St. Joseph with the Child is carved on one side and St. John Nepomuk on the other. The carving was rotten, crevices were stocked with dirt. The resulting deep cracks had been filled by the cement trying to repair the cross. Surviving polychrome traces could be seen in the depths of folds. Several crosses with chapels are stored in Alytus Museum. One of them with two chapels and sculptures was standing in Vaisodys village (Alytus District) in the 19th c. In 2004, it was found in the state of emergency and immediately handed over for preservation to Alytus Musuem. The other cross stored in Alytus Museum was built in the first part of the 20th c. in Alytus. Authors of both crosses are unknown. Many artworks of craftsman Antanas Sorakas are stored in Lazdijai Museum. Most of them are small, however they have crucifix with crucifixion sculptural group which was found in Kučiūnai village (Lazdijai District Municipality). During the restoration of crosses, crucifixes and chapels some parts were dismantled. Wood was scraped off, consolidated, remains of paint also consolidated. Chapels were mounted using wooden stopples, stands were made. Even wood was properly consolidated because the material cannot survive under outdoor conditions. Restored wood requires a special microclimate, it is appropriate to keep the restored carvings in the museum’s repositories and exhibition halls.

Gotikinės Kauno Šv. Mikalojaus (benediktinių) bažnyčios interjere šiandien atsispindi 1938–1940 m. rekonstrukcijos sprendimai. Straipsnyje keliamas klausimas, kokia buvo autentiška šios bažnyčios erdvė, kokie altoriai bei kūriniai ją puošė ir ką jie liudijo apie pačias benediktines, jų dvasingumą. Pirmosios žinios apie šventovės interjerą siekia 1700 m., tad apie jos įrangą bei dailę galima kalbėti pradedant XVIII a. ir darant kai kurias prielaidas apie XVII a. Remiantis šaltiniais bei išlikusiais kūriniais, straipsnyje analizuojami Kauno Šv. Mikalojaus (benediktinių) bažnyčios XVII–XVIII a. altoriai, siekiant atskleisti jų vietą bei kaitą interjere, meninę raišką, nustatyti ikonografinės programos ryšį su benediktinių dvasingumu. Išsamesni tyrimai šia tema iki šiol nebuvo publikuoti. Straipsnis parengtas pagal Lietuvos mokslo tarybos finansuotą projektą „Kauno Šv. Mikalojaus bažnyčios ir benediktinių vienuolyno istorija“ (sut. nr. MIP-104/2012). Kaunas St. Nicholas (Benedictine) church, built in the 15th century, presently represents one of the few examples of Gothic that have remained in Lithuania. There are many surviving authentic architectural details on its faēade and in its interior. Alas, we cannot say the same about the heritage of fine arts. In this respect the interior of St. Nicholas Church has experienced dramatic changes. Only one of Baroque altars, dating back to the end of the 17th century, has survived in this church – St. Benedict altar and several old paintings. The main altar of the 18th century which stood in the presbytery has also survived, although during the interwar period it was transferred to Ariogala St. Archangel Michael church in which it remained to this day. Today the solutions of the reconstruction carried out in 1938–1940 predominate in Kaunas Benedictine church. Seeing the current interior one inevitably wonders what the authentic space of this church was, what pieces of art were decorating it and what they told about the very Benedictines and their spirituality. The first information on the interior of Kaunas Benedictine church dates back to 1700, so one can only speak about its equipment and fine arts from the beginning of the 18th century and make certain prerequisites about the 17th century. The object of the article is the altars of Kaunas Benedictine St. Nicholas church of the 17th–18th centuries. Based on the surviving archive sources and pieces of art, the article revealed... [to full text]

Straipsnyje pristatomi Salantų bažnyčios senieji procesijų altorėliai, minimi rašytiniuose šaltiniuose, aprašomi išlikę pavyzdžiai. Išsamiau aptariamas veidrodinis procesijų altorėlis, jo meninės ypatybės, analizuojamas dirbinio sukūrimo laikas ir autorystė Based on written sources, in the epoch of Baroque, Salantai Church had a truly impressive collection of processional articles. In the second half of the 17th century, the professional banners alone numbered at a hundred and a half. The 1715 visitation act listed nine portable pictures, in more recent documents they were referred to as professional altars. As only one of them survived into the 19th century, two new ones were acquired in 1803. The expanses related with the manufacture of these altars are recorded in the extant expenses book of the church. In total, 2,097 Polish auksinas and 11 grašis were spent (the altars did not survive). In the second half of the 19th century, Salantai Church acquired its third processional altar. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was translated into a newly built brick church and has been preserved there into the present day. In its form and decor the altar appears closest to the works preserved by Ylakiai and Laukžemė churches and attributed to the craftsman Zenonas Virkietis. In 1917, Jonas Balčiūnas made three Neo-Gothic processional altars for Salantai Church. All of them are still housed in the church

Darbo tikslas ‒ ištirti drėgnio įtaką susmulkinto gluosninio žilvičio savaiminiam kaitimui ir šilumos sklaidai pjaustinio sampile. Atlikti tyrimai ir literatūros analizė leidžia teigti, kad didelis drėgmės kiekis lemia pjaustinio biologinį aktyvumą, taip pat jo tankį, poringumą ir kitas savybes. Susidaro palankios sąlygos pjaustinio savaiminio kaitimo procesui, kuris siejamas su medienos audinių kvėpavimu, grybų ir bakterijų veikla, biodegradacijos proceso intensyvumu bei medienos pjaustinio savaiminio užsiliepsnojimo rizika. Atlikus tyrimus nustatyta, jog didžiausiu biologiniu aktyvumu (800 ÷ 340 W/(t•h)) pasižymi nuo 50 % iki 33 % drėgnio gluosninio žilvičio pjaustinys. Jam džiūstant toliau, išskiriamas šilumos srautas intensyviai mažėja ir išdžiūvus iki 12 % drėgnio, tampa visiškai biologiškai neaktyvus. Nustatyta, jog medienos pjaustinio temperatūrinis laidis nevienodas įvairuojant jo drėgniui. Temperatūrinio laidžio maksimali vertė 21,6 m2/s fiksuota, kai gluosnių pjaustinio drėgnis siekė 30 %. The aim of this paper is to explore the influence of humidity to self‒heating and thermal dissipation pile chaff to cut Salicaceae osier. Performed research and analysis of literature suggests that high moisture content determines the biological activity of carving its density, porosity and other properties. It creates favourable conditions for self‒heating process of carving, which is associated with the wood tissue of breath, fungi and bacteria activity, biodegradation process, the intensity of wood carving and the risk of spontaneous ignition. The investigation revealed that the highest biological activity (800 ÷ 340 W/(t•h)) have between 50 % and 33 % of humidity Oyster osier chops. Further drying, heat flow decreases intensively and drying up to 12 % humidity, it is completely becoming biological inactive. It was found that the conductivity of wood carving temperature difference of unequal moisture. Thermal conductivity maximum value of 21,6 m2/s fixed, the willow carving moisture content was 30 %.

Folk wooden sculpture is one of the most common branches of the Lithuanian folk art, however, we have almost no records of its origin, old masters nor works. The particularity of conserving folk art sculptures is determined by the nature of wood decaying. The majority of works that have been kept outdoors are damaged by various atmospheric factors. Thus, a unanimous decision was made to conserve all the showpieces of the Museum’s collection. The decayed, broken or lost parts of wooden sculptures are not restored even if there is enough iconographic material necessary to reconstruct the showpiece, because of the difficulty to match fresh carvings with the original fretworks, that have been damaged by moisture. After cleansing and consolidating the wood and carving, deeper holes are filled with polymer (used for consolidating) and wood flour to prevent collection of dust. The loosened or lost details are tightened with wooden pegs. Polychromy - often just the remains of it - is consolidated with water-based glue. Small open areas of white undercoat, which is revealed when colours crumble away, are retouched with watercolour. The conserved sculpture is covered with preservative layer. Variations of the environmental factors, such as moisture and temperature, are one of the main causes of fragmentation and deformation of wood, crumbling away of the undercoat and polychromy. Although the conserved sculptures are relatively safe from changes of the environment, however great attention must be paid to the microclimate of the depositories and exhibition halls.

Straipsnio pradžioje aprašoma senųjų meno kūrinių restauracijos specifika: akcentuojama būtinybė iššifruoti menininko sumanymą ir nustatyti pirminę kūrinio būklę (išsiaiškinti kaip kūrinys per laiką pakito). Analizuojama kas lemia medinės polichromuotos skulptūros ilgaamžiškumą, dažų sluoksnio krakeliūrų susidarymą, kolorito pakitimus. Antroje dalyje kalbama apie bažnytinių kūrinių pokyčius renovuojant bažnyčias: jų perdažymą, vietos ir paskirties pakeitimą; nagrinėjama dviejų neseniai restauruotų polichromuotų skulptūrų būklė. Tai Lietuvos dailės muziejaus 1996 m. įgyta „Šventoji su knyga“ (kaip spėjama, sukurta XVII a.) ir Nacionalinio M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejaus „Nekalto Prasidėjimo Marija“ (XVIII a. pr.). Abi skulptūros patyrė daugybę intervencijų: ne kartą perdažytos, prarasta autentiška medžiaga, akivaizdūs daugybiniai detalių pažeidimai. Restauratoriams teko įdėti nemažai pastangų, kad būtų sugrąžintas pirminis vaizdas. Pirmojoje skulptūroje pašalinus uždažymus, sutvirtinus ir nuvalius autorinį dekorą, į smulkias grunto ištrupėjimo vietas įterptas restauracinis gruntas; atliktas retušavimas akvarele ir padengta apsaugine danga. Antrojoje skulptūroje atidengta autentiška veido ir plaštakų polichromija, pašalinti vėlesni uždažymai, sutvirtintas išlikęs gruntas ir polichromija. At the beginning of the article the specifics of restoration of the old works of art is described: the necessity to identify the artist’s idea and to determine the primary condition of the work of art (to elucidate how the work of art has changed in the course of time) are accentuated. Factors, which determine the longevity of a wooden polychrome sculpture, the formation of cracks in the layer of paint, changes in colouring are analysed. The second part deals with changes in church works of art in renovating churches. The condition of two polychrome sculptures that have been restored recently is analysed. The Lithuanian Art Museum purchased the sculpture “A Saint with a Book” in 1996. It is thought that a sculptor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania created the sculpture in the 17th century. The National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum acquired the sculpture “The Virgin Birth Mary”. Both sculptures have suffered greatly from interventions: they were repainted many a time, authentic material has been lost, damages of many details are obvious. The restorers put a lot of efforts into bringing back their original appearance. In the first sculpture a ground-colour was inserted in between crumbled places and the face was puttied with a ground-colour during restoration. The sculpture was retouched with an aquarelle and covered with a protective layer. In the second sculpture authentic polychrome on the head, hands and the globe was opened. The old polychrome with the ground-colour on the head, hands and the globe is still in a very good state.