St Casimir at the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary

According to the story, the young Prince Casimir (1458–1484) obeyed the teachings of Jesus, took a vow of chastity, and exhausted his weak body by his constant fasting, repenting and prayer. Sometimes he went out at night to pray secretly, and guards found him unconscious by the church door. Court physicians were worried about his health, and in keeping with medical thought in those days, they advised him to have sexual relations. But Casimir refused to break his vow of chastity, and chose to die. He earned the title ‘The Bloodless Martyr’, and became a mirror of Christian virtues, and an example for all of Europe to follow. This print shows the fallen Casimir, beside the altar to the Virgin Mary in a church, powerless and surrounded by worried servants and physicians. This illustration by an Italian artist is from the monumental 12-volume work Il Perfetto Legendario ovvero vite de Santi ... (Legendary Perfection or the Lives of Saints …) by Romualdo Gentilucci, published in Rome in 1841. Each volume was devoted to a separate month of the year, in which the feast days of the saints were given and their lives were described.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius (curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė)

According to the story, the young Prince Casimir (1458–1484) obeyed the teachings of Jesus, took a vow of chastity, and exhausted his weak body by his constant fasting, repenting and prayer. Sometimes he went out at night to pray secretly, and guards found him unconscious by the church door. Court physicians were worried about his health, and in keeping with medical thought in those days, they advised him to have sexual relations. But Casimir refused to break his vow of chastity, and chose to die. He earned the title ‘The Bloodless Martyr’, and became a mirror of Christian virtues, and an example for all of Europe to follow. This print shows the fallen Casimir, beside the altar to the Virgin Mary in a church, powerless and surrounded by worried servants and physicians. This illustration by an Italian artist is from the monumental 12-volume work Il Perfetto Legendario ovvero vite de Santi ... (Legendary Perfection or the Lives of Saints …) by Romualdo Gentilucci, published in Rome in 1841. Each volume was devoted to a separate month of the year, in which the feast days of the saints were given and their lives were described.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius (curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė)