Vilnius seen from the Tivoli Gardens

The painter Karol Raczyński (1799–1860) studied art at Vilnius University under Jan Rustem, and lived in Vilnius afterwards. He knew the city very well, and liked to paint views of it. In 1830, he painted Vilnius seen from the Tivoli Gardens from life, which was made into a lithograph at the printing press of Maciej Przybylski in Vilnius. With the growth of cities in the 18th and 19th centuries, pleasure gardens, often called Tivoli Gardens, with promenades, pavilions and sideshows, spread all over Europe. A view of the city unfolds from the hill of the Tivoli Gardens in Antakalnis (not far from the Vileišis mansion), with the River Neris, Gediminas Hill, the Sapiega mansion and the silhouettes of numerous churches. Opposite Gediminas Hill, on the other side of the Neris, we can see the former Church of St Teresa, which was closed in 1837 and pulled down in 1844. The early 19th century in Lithuanian art was the era of Romanticism, and that is why Raczyński’s picture has a romantic and emotional feel to it. The city basks in the tranquillity of nature, lying deep in the shadows of trees, and seems to be framed by pastoral details: a herd of cattle, a couple of resting shepherds, and a large old tree. The idyll is only broken by the sky, which introduces a restless and romantic mood to the picture.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė

The painter Karol Raczyński (1799–1860) studied art at Vilnius University under Jan Rustem, and lived in Vilnius afterwards. He knew the city very well, and liked to paint views of it. In 1830, he painted Vilnius seen from the Tivoli Gardens from life, which was made into a lithograph at the printing press of Maciej Przybylski in Vilnius. With the growth of cities in the 18th and 19th centuries, pleasure gardens, often called Tivoli Gardens, with promenades, pavilions and sideshows, spread all over Europe. A view of the city unfolds from the hill of the Tivoli Gardens in Antakalnis (not far from the Vileišis mansion), with the River Neris, Gediminas Hill, the Sapiega mansion and the silhouettes of numerous churches. Opposite Gediminas Hill, on the other side of the Neris, we can see the former Church of St Teresa, which was closed in 1837 and pulled down in 1844. The early 19th century in Lithuanian art was the era of Romanticism, and that is why Raczyński’s picture has a romantic and emotional feel to it. The city basks in the tranquillity of nature, lying deep in the shadows of trees, and seems to be framed by pastoral details: a herd of cattle, a couple of resting shepherds, and a large old tree. The idyll is only broken by the sky, which introduces a restless and romantic mood to the picture.

Text author Laima Laučkaitė.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė, RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė