A bend in the Vilnia

A unique view of the Old Town opens out from the staircase in Užupis that today is called ‘The Path of Jonas Mekas’ Drafts’. This has long been a favourite place with artists, and it is no surprise that the painter Ferdynand Ruszczyc, a great lover of Vilnius’ past and an enthusiast for its culture, lived there. Every day, he saw a wonderful sight from the windows of his house: the River Vilnia, the Bernardine Gardens, and the churches of St Anne, St Michael and Sts Johns. This view was painted from nature by Vaclovas Gražėnas (b. 1931). He studied painting at the State Institute of Art of the LSSR, and painted A bend in the Vilnia in 1956 while he was still a student. The view recalls what the banks of the River Vilnia looked like half a century ago, before becoming overgrown and hidden by trees. The painting is elaborate, with all the details and even the crosses on the churches painted, which was dangerous in Soviet times when religious faith was persecuted. Gražėnas chose a melancholic moment in the late afternoon, when the colours of the city lose their brightness in the cold shadows, and the afternoon sun gilds the sky.

A unique view of the Old Town opens out from the staircase in Užupis that