Shrine with a figure of St Casimir, the Pietà and a Crucifix

Radviliškis district

Ignas Bieliauskas (1845–1932/1937) came from Tryškiai in Žemaitija, and learned to make religious carvings from his father. He was a book smuggler in the years of the ban on printing in Lithuanian, bringing books from Prussia and selling them with his sculptures. He lived in Šeduva, but sold his work in other towns too (Radviliškis, Panevėžys and Šiauliai), so that his works became widely known in the Panevėžys and Šiauliai areas. He installed sculptures of St Casimir and the Pieta in a small shrine to hang on a tree, and nailed a crucific to a wall. Usually only one sculpture would be put in small shrines, but this one is longer than most, and spacious enough to contain three sculptures, which were probably chosen with the client’s intention in mind or after taking a vow. Sculptures of the Crucifixion and the Pieta in small suspended shrines were common, and expressed various prayers and intentions, or gratitude. The sculpture of St Casimir, a Lithuanian and Polish prince (1458–1484), and patron saint of Lithuania, could have been chosen as a personal patron saint.

Text author Skaidrė Urbonienė

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). „Dévotions privées“, 20 September – 06 October 2024, Chapelle Sainte-Blandine, Metz, France. Curators of the project Philippe Cossalter, Asta Dambrauskaitė, Daiva Tonkūnienė.

Radviliškis district

Ignas Bieliauskas (1845–1932/1937) came from Tryškiai in Žemaitija, and learned to make religious carvings from his father. He was a book smuggler in the years of the ban on printing in Lithuanian, bringing books from Prussia and selling them with his sculptures. He lived in Šeduva, but sold his work in other towns too (Radviliškis, Panevėžys and Šiauliai), so that his works became widely known in the Panevėžys and Šiauliai areas. He installed sculptures of St Casimir and the Pieta in a small shrine to hang on a tree, and nailed a crucific to a wall. Usually only one sculpture would be put in small shrines, but this one is longer than most, and spacious enough to contain three sculptures, which were probably chosen with the client’s intention in mind or after taking a vow. Sculptures of the Crucifixion and the Pieta in small suspended shrines were common, and expressed various prayers and intentions, or gratitude. The sculpture of St Casimir, a Lithuanian and Polish prince (1458–1484), and patron saint of Lithuania, could have been chosen as a personal patron saint.

Text author Skaidrė Urbonienė

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). „Dévotions privées“, 20 September – 06 October 2024, Chapelle Sainte-Blandine, Metz, France. Curators of the project Philippe Cossalter, Asta Dambrauskaitė, Daiva Tonkūnienė.