Vilnius. A view of Šnipiškės

At the end of the 19th century, the renowned French geographer and writer Jacques Elisée Reclus wrote his 19-volume work Nouvelle Géographie Universelle. La Terre et les Hommes (New Universal Geography. The Earth and its People). In the fifth volume, called L’Europe Scandinave, Russe etc. (Scandinavian and Russian Europe, etc), published in 1880 in Paris by Hachette & Cie, there is a description of Lithuania and a picture of Vilnius. The woodcut shows how illustrations were made in the second half of the 19th century: the French landscape artist Eugene Baudouin (1842–1893) made a drawing from a photograph by Józef Czechowicz (1817–1888), one of the first Vilnius photographers, and Alfred Sargent engraved it. They did not even have to see the city. The view in the engraving is from Gediminas’ Castle towards Šnipiškės and the River Neris. This place was the most popular vantage point for several centuries. When Czechowicz came to Vilnius in 1865, he could not take pictures in public without permission from the governor general, and at that time Gediminas Hill was used by the Imperial Russian army and was out of bounds to the public. He obtained a permit to take pictures, and took impressive views, which were used by painters.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė)

At the end of the 19th century, the renowned French geographer and writer Jacques Elisée Reclus wrote his 19-volume work Nouvelle Géographie Universelle. La Terre et les Hommes (New Universal Geography. The Earth and its People). In the fifth volume, called L’Europe Scandinave, Russe etc. (Scandinavian and Russian Europe, etc), published in 1880 in Paris by Hachette & Cie, there is a description of Lithuania and a picture of Vilnius. The woodcut shows how illustrations were made in the second half of the 19th century: the French landscape artist Eugene Baudouin (1842–1893) made a drawing from a photograph by Józef Czechowicz (1817–1888), one of the first Vilnius photographers, and Alfred Sargent engraved it. They did not even have to see the city. The view in the engraving is from Gediminas’ Castle towards Šnipiškės and the River Neris. This place was the most popular vantage point for several centuries. When Czechowicz came to Vilnius in 1865, he could not take pictures in public without permission from the governor general, and at that time Gediminas Hill was used by the Imperial Russian army and was out of bounds to the public. He obtained a permit to take pictures, and took impressive views, which were used by painters.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Vilnius. Topophilia. Views of Vilnius from the collection of the law firm Ellex Valiunas”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Laima Laučkaitė)