The international exhibition "Pidhirtsi Palace. History and Art Collections" presents the European diamond of Ukrainian heritage. This is a geographically distant, but important common cultural object of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania - the Pidhirtsi Residence. Today, the treasures of its historical collections are scattered and stored in several museums in Ukraine and Poland. The Palace Museum of the Rulers brought to Vilnius the most valuable works of art collections accumulated in Pidhirtsi over the centuries, stored in the Borys Voznytskyi National Art Gallery in Lviv and the Lviv History Museum.
“Visitors to the Exhibition Centre of the Royal Palace Museum will see about a hundred art treasures – in addition to portraits, battle and sacred scenes by famous European artists, works by painters associated with Lithuania are also exhibited, and a separate space is dedicated to objects of applied art: we are recreating the interior of the Pidhirtsi Palace with salon furniture, mirrors, candlesticks, hussar armour and halberds,” says the author of the exhibition concept, Dr. Vydas Dolinskas. “Here, it will be possible to learn about the principles of forming collections accumulated in the aristocratic residence of the 17th–19th centuries, and old photographs of the palace show how those collections looked in the halls of the palace.”
The exhibition begins with a story about the history and architecture of the Pidhirtsi residence, its owners - prominent historical figures. The second part of the exhibition presents the interiors of the Pidhirtsi Palace, the art collection - works by famous foreign painters (e.g., Libalts Gotfryd, Jan de Ban, etc.). A separate exhibition space is dedicated to the talent of masters from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (e.g., Simonas Čechavičius, associated with Vilnius, Hyacinth Olesinskis, grandfather of Pranciškus Smuglevičius, etc.).
"I hope this exhibition will encourage a deeper interest in in Ukraine "...the preserved Lithuanian heritage, prominent and important personalities for us, the context of cultural ties between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Republic of Both Nations," says V. Dolinskas.
The palace, whose interior was an example for the restoration of the residences of rulers in Lithuania and in Poland
Pidhirtsi Palace – an architectural monument with a rich history – Italian palace in fort (fortified palace) type residence, distinguished by the stylistic harmony of late Renaissance and early Baroque elements. The architect Constante Tencalla (c. 1590–1646), who worked in Vilnius in the XNUMXth century and built the Chapel of St. Casimir and reconstructed the Royal Palace, could probably have contributed to the decoration of the palace. Built on a picturesque hill, the Pidhirtsi Palace and the entire ensemble of the residence with a park and garden fascinated guests and art connoisseurs in the XNUMXth–XNUMXth centuries, and the elegance of the interior and the structure of the ceiling plafonds were a source of inspiration for the reconstruction of the halls of the Wawel Royal Castle in Krakow and the Royal Palace in Vilnius much later.
“The Pidhirtsi residence was ruled by famous noble families (Konecpolskis (Koniecpolscy), Sobieskis (Sobiescy), Żevuscy (Rzewuscy), Sanguškas). Each of them left an imprint on the colorful history of the residence. In 1865, the palace passed to the descendants of a branch of the Lithuanian-origin Gediminas dynasty – the princes Sanguškas. Eustachijus Stanislovas Sanguška, realizing the museum value of the Pidhirtsi, created conditions for the wider public to visit the palace and admire its interiors and art treasures. The records of individual travelers have survived in the guest books,” says the exhibition curator Ignas Račickas.
The events accompanying the exhibition will feature interesting stories about the owners of the Pidhirtsi Palace, the fate of the collection that was scattered at the beginning of the 20th century, and the possible future of the palace. The curators and coordinators of the exhibition are: Halyna Skoropadova, Mykhaylo Kobryn, Viktor Kushnirenko from Ukraine and Marijus Uzorka, dr. Živilė Mikailienė, Ignas Račickas, Gabija Tubelevičiūtė. The patron of the exhibition is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Gintautas Paluckas.
The international exhibition "Pidhirtsi Palace. History and Art Collections" symbolically opens the doors of the Pidhirtsi residence to visitors, when this is currently impossible due to the war in Ukraine, and will be open until September 28.
