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Polychromy research conducted in 2021 at the Church of Our Lady of Consolation (unique object identification code 1093, Savičiaus St. 15, Vilnius) serves as a valuable supplement to historiographic material, particularly in light of limited information available on church interiors. The visitation document of 1830 noted elaborate decorations, including artificial marble and gilded mouldings on altars, painted vaults, and marble floors. However, in 1858, during the conversion of the building into an Eastern Orthodox church, significant alterations took place - monks' choir removal, pulpit demolition, altar dismantling, and destruction of décor. A fire in 1944 further damaged the church, leading to its conversion into a storage facility in 1962, followed by reconstruction in 1967. The building endured neglect for an extended period, and subsequent reconstructions and repairs inflicted considerable harm on the church's interior and its polychrome décor. Prior to 2021, the church's polychromy had never been subject to study. The recent research, however, unveiled the evolution of both façades and interior polychromy. The church tower façade revealed fragments of painted décor, showcasing polychrome painting of architectural elements from the initial stage in the 18th century. Exploring the interior polychromy, the study identified individual Baroque-era décor fragments. This discovery suggests that post-construction, the vaults were adorned, and trompe l'oeil altars were painted on the walls of the side naves. In the course of Soviet-era reconstruction, the church's interior underwent complete destruction, with the exception of the adornments in the chapel of the Lord Jesus, albeit obscured by paint layers. A meticulous examination of the chapel brought to light the evolution of its polychromy, revealing hidden trompe l'oeil paintings on the walls and vaults. There are now plans to dismantle the 20th-century partitions, aiming to restore and showcase this artwork in the future. Detailed research was conducted to assess the preservation status of the church's polychromy, identifying valuable features and providing recommendations for ongoing maintenance efforts. Photofixation of façades and interior décor, along with the creation of copies, played a crucial role. Additionally, colour retrospections capturing key stages in the development of polychromy were established, aiding in the restoration and reproduction of the original colour scheme from the church's initial polychrome phase. The research furnishes comprehensive insights into suitable conservation techniques for preserving and exhibiting these valuable décor discoveries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comprehensive results of the technological research conducted during the restoration process in 2008-2012 of Lukiškės' Mother of God painting are presented in the article. The icon was analysed by non-destructive structural research methods: optical microscopy (OM), ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) photography, x-ray and chemical microanalysis methods: scanning electronic microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). During the analysis, the condition of Lukiškės' Mother of God icon was assessed, the structure of the icon's shield, painting technique were determined and the pigments binding materials were identified. The results of the technological research supplemented research by art historians on the painting and also provided new important information on the painting techniques of post-Byzantine icons. Lukiškės' Mother of God icon is painted on a shield of lime wood, partially covered in linen fabric. The icon's primer is of white colour and derived from chalk, the authentic palette consists of natural pigments: red ocher (hematite), cinnabar, yellow and brown ocher, gold, indigo, lead white, organic black; the paint binder is egg yolk. The icon was renewed several times - partially primed and fully overpainted in oil. The pigments used in later overpaintings were: indigo, lead white and zinc white, brown, red and yellow ocher, Napoli yellow, lead chromate, cadmium yellow, green earth, cinnabar, and cadmium red. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The picture of Mother of God from Vilnius district Lukiškės, which is said to be miraculous, hasn't been researched in depth up until now. During the restoration process (2008-2012, restorer Janina Bilotienė), at Pranas Gudynas Restoration Centre of the Lithuanian Art Museum, the original tempera painting hidden for hundreds of years under repainted layers was revealed. The process of restoration has inspired new research by art historians aiming to establish the icon's creation place and date. This article discusses the icon's origin, stated in the written tradition in the icon's book of miracles *Fontanna mistyczna...* (*Mystical fountain*) by the Dominican monk Remigijusz Śmiarowski and published in 1737 along with a discussion of the circumstances of the icon's arrival in Lithuania. The article also analyses the iconographic type of the painting, its origin and spread of the type, and describes the process of the icon's exposure. The painting technique and stylistic expression of exposed original painting allows the presumption that the painting was created in the end of the 15th c. - beginning of the 16th c. in Russia. The article discusses the circumstances of the icon's arrival in Lithuania, which are not entirely clear; however it is possible to assert that the painting was brought to the Lazdijai estate as war booty by the Gosiewski family members, possibly by the famous diplomat of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy Alexander Gosiewski who led Moscow's Kremlin's siege in 1610-1612. Gosiewski's heritage was passed on to one of his four sons, Kazimierz Mateusz Gosiewski, and on his death the icon went to Seinai Dominican monastery, and it has been owned by Sts. Philip and James church in Lukiškės since 1684. Analysing the painting empirically, the Russian origin of the icon, stated in the icon's book of miracles *Fontanna mistyczna...* published in 1737 is confirmed. Physical and chemical analysis revealed that the original tempera painting on lime wood was repainted repeatedly in oil and covered in metal casing. Before the restoration, the icon's style was attributed as eclectic, which can be linked to the widely known tradition of usage and renewal of icons in the Catholic Church. The Lukiškės Mother of God icon belongs to the iconographic type of Hodegetria of Smolensk, which was widely spread in Russia in the end of the 15th c. The exposed original painting in its composition, painting and execution is similar to the icons created in Russia no earlier than the end of the 15th c. and no later than the beginning of the 16th c. The comparative style analysis and technological research allows the researcher to state that the Mother of God painting of Lukiškės was painted circa that time by masters in Dionysius school working under commission from Moscow and north east Russia monasteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data on the management of early easel painting works is certainly not abundant, data mostly exists on the paintings of Vilnius churches and monasteries that have been worked with numerous times and, since 1950, researched employing classical art work research methods. There is a large amount of contemporary non-scientific publications on these paintings, which in turn contain information on the management of paintings as well, supported by various sources. Examining the history of the management of paintings, it is critical to mention that up until the first half of the 16th c., a tempera on wood technique was used for paintings, which is much harder and more resistant to damage than oil painting techniques, which spread in Europe in the second half of the 16th c. - oil based paint contains ingredients that speeds up the disintegration of the painting. The problems of paintings' damage management became evident in the 17th c., because artworks were moved around in simple transport and therefore easily damaged. Paintings executed in oil paint on a canvas base become "detached" from the wall. The outcome of the reduction in the production price due to technological developments is that the painting itself is no longer considered a treasure and an investment, but the need and notion of a painting as a valuable object remains since a painting becomes valued not as a material object, but as an embodiment of idea and creative work. The painting is valued not for its specific artistic features, but as a sign and expression of occurrence. In Lithuania, these "non-artistic" values are particularly appreciated. In the works of art depicting a person close to God, most attention was bestowed on the depicted person's face, and efforts were made to paint a realistic and mysterious face. The notion that a worshipped image is addressed in prayer as a living creature, which is called on to watch over the believers and has the powers to convey to God their pleas, has created a solid field of divinity and magic around the paintings. Imaginary rules, which could not be broken, were formed. During the restoration of paintings the secondary subjects were often repainted following the author's composition, but the artists strived to preserve the face of the main person - the Virgin Mary. From the perspective of paintings' management a duality of actions is noted: some parts of primary composition were damaged and changed, and some were preserved. The painting as a visual entity was not maintained at that time. In drawing conclusions on the type of the performed paintings' management it can be stated that paintings' management in the examined timeline influenced the basis of artworks, their size, their ideas and composition. To manage paintings, the materials used by artisan painters of that time were used; the original materials of the painting were not considered (tempera paintings were retouched using oil paint, a canvas was glued onto the wooden base etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The permanent exhibition of Klaipėda Gallery of the Lithuanian Art Museum features work of the famous Expressionist painter Pranas Domšaitis (1880-1965). From 1989 through 2001, The Lithuanian Foundation of Chicago (Chicago, Il, USA) donated to Lithuania and handed over to the Lithuanian Art Museum a collection of 530 works of Domšaitis. In the beginning of 2007, the Lithuanian Foundation donated additional 135 works. To date, the LA M has in its possession the bulk of the collection, in total 665 works, purchased from the painter's widow in 1980 by the Lithuanian Foundation. Meanwhile the process of identifying unknown works of Domšaitis in the possession of state museums abroad, private galleries and individuals is ongoing. The article is limited to several aspects of this work, such as the issues of dating the work, the artist's inter-war contacts in Germany and the proliferation of his works on the basis of these contacts. The painter signed all works by his full name or monogram, yet he dated them only prior to his studies at Königsberg Art Academy, that is prior to 1907. The creation year of some of his works can be only established by the dates when they were exhibited or reproduced in catalogues, printed in press or other subsidiary information. The problem of dating is illustrated using the example of his three landscapes with the motif of birch trees. One of them is exhibited at Domšaitis Gallery of the Lithuanian Art Museum, the other two were discovered by the author of the article, in 2006, in Austria, in the Land of Vorarlberg, in the villages of Sulz and Röthis, where the artist lived in the 1930s -1940s. Recently Germany experienced a growing interest in the collections of Jewish collectors destroyed or scattered during the years of the Third Reich, and the problem of restitution. The article further discusses the collections of Siegfried Feldberg and Robert Graetz - these included also works of Domšaitis. In 1976, the collection of Feldberg was acquired by the Berlinische Galerie, Berlin's Land museum. Through correspondence with the Berlinische Galerie, this museum has been discovered to hold three works of Domšaitis. The Graetz collection, disintegrated after the 1933, also included a still-life of Domšaitis. The Feldberg and the Graetz collections were only two of multiple collections of modern German art. The presence of Domšaitis' works in these collections illustrates his weight and popularity in Berlin's artistic life in the 1930s - 1940s. The discoveries of these recent years identified four national museums in possession of the work the artist: alongside with the previously known Berlin's National Gallery, Lüneburg East Prussian Land Museum, Art Forum East German Gallery in Regensburg, the Berlinische Gallery - the Berlin Land Museum is now included. Additional works of Domšaitis have been added to those known to survive in Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]