The residence of Mikhail Muravyev, governor general of Vilnius

The Bishops’ Palace beside Vilnius University was one of the most prestigious residences in the city, and that is why it was used by monarchs who passed through Vilnius in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Stanisław August Poniatowski, Napoleon, King William of Prussia and Tsar Alexander I of Russia all stayed there. After the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Imperial Russian authorities confiscated the palace, and in 1832 they rebuilt it in the Empire style, according to a design by Vasily Stasov, a St Petersburg architect. It was used as the residence for the governor general, including Mikhail Muravyev, who was nicknamed ‘The Hangman’ for his cruel suppression of the 1863 uprising against Russia. The uprising was covered by the Western press, and this engraving of the governor general’s residence was printed on 19 September 1863 in the illustrated magazine L’Illustration. Journal Universelle in Paris. The picture was drawn by the French artist L. Dumont, based on a photograph taken by Abdon Korzon (ca. 1826–1866), one of the first photographers of Vilnius. The engraving was made by J. Caildrau. It is a documentary view of Vilnius in the period of the uprising: in the centre of the square is a tall Russian soldier, proudly sitting astride a horse, an armed soldier stands not far away, and civilians are passing by. Korzon himself participated in the uprising: he photographed insurgents and distributed his photographs, and in April 1863 he was arrested. By the time the engraving that was based on his photograph was printed in Paris, he had been deported to Siberia, where he died.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė

The Bishops’ Palace beside Vilnius University was one of the most prestigious residences in the city, and that is why it was used by monarchs who passed through Vilnius in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Stanisław August Poniatowski, Napoleon, King William of Prussia and Tsar Alexander I of Russia all stayed there. After the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Imperial Russian authorities confiscated the palace, and in 1832 they rebuilt it in the Empire style, according to a design by Vasily Stasov, a St Petersburg architect. It was used as the residence for the governor general, including Mikhail Muravyev, who was nicknamed ‘The Hangman’ for his cruel suppression of the 1863 uprising against Russia. The uprising was covered by the Western press, and this engraving of the governor general’s residence was printed on 19 September 1863 in the illustrated magazine L’Illustration. Journal Universelle in Paris. The picture was drawn by the French artist L. Dumont, based on a photograph taken by Abdon Korzon (ca. 1826–1866), one of the first photographers of Vilnius. The engraving was made by J. Caildrau. It is a documentary view of Vilnius in the period of the uprising: in the centre of the square is a tall Russian soldier, proudly sitting astride a horse, an armed soldier stands not far away, and civilians are passing by. Korzon himself participated in the uprising: he photographed insurgents and distributed his photographs, and in April 1863 he was arrested. By the time the engraving that was based on his photograph was printed in Paris, he had been deported to Siberia, where he died.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė