Žvėrynas near Vilnius, previously the property of the Radvila dukes

Periodical TYGODNIK ILLUSTROWANY (Warsaw).

Woodcut after Alfred Rurawski.

Edward Nicz (1851–1916), a prolific and prize-winning engraver from Warsaw, made woodcuts for the illustrated magazines Tygodnik Illustrowany, Kłosy and Wędrowiec. He made an engraving of Žvėrynas, based on a drawing by Alfred Rurawski (1841–1873), for Tygodnik Illustrowany (no. 215, 1872), to illustrate the series of articles ‘Panorama okolic Wilna’ (Views of the Environs of Vilnius) by Edward Chłopicki. A long time ago, the Žvėrynas area, situated on the right bank of the Neris, used to belong to the Radvila family, who set up a zoo there, which gave the suburb its name (the word žvėrynas means ‘zoo’). In the 19th century, Žvėrynas was acquired by Ludwig Wittgenstein, who built a wooden house on the banks of the Neris around 1825, which later became a summer house for the governor general of Vilnius. In this 1872 woodcut by Nicz, Žvėrynas is still a wild pine forest, with a few summer houses hidden among the trees. But by 1901, the suburb had become a part of the city, and in 1902 the property developer Vasiliy Martinson divided it into plots which he sold to people who built villas on them.

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
Expositions: “Shaping the Landscape”, 30 June – 20 August 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Ona Lozuraitytė); “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)

Periodical TYGODNIK ILLUSTROWANY (Warsaw).

Woodcut after Alfred Rurawski.

Edward Nicz (1851–1916), a prolific and prize-winning engraver from Warsaw, made woodcuts for the illustrated magazines Tygodnik Illustrowany, Kłosy and Wędrowiec. He made an engraving of Žvėrynas, based on a drawing by Alfred Rurawski (1841–1873), for Tygodnik Illustrowany (no. 215, 1872), to illustrate the series of articles ‘Panorama okolic Wilna’ (Views of the Environs of Vilnius) by Edward Chłopicki. A long time ago, the Žvėrynas area, situated on the right bank of the Neris, used to belong to the Radvila family, who set up a zoo there, which gave the suburb its name (the word žvėrynas means ‘zoo’). In the 19th century, Žvėrynas was acquired by Ludwig Wittgenstein, who built a wooden house on the banks of the Neris around 1825, which later became a summer house for the governor general of Vilnius. In this 1872 woodcut by Nicz, Žvėrynas is still a wild pine forest, with a few summer houses hidden among the trees. But by 1901, the suburb had become a part of the city, and in 1902 the property developer Vasiliy Martinson divided it into plots which he sold to people who built villas on them.

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
Expositions: “Shaping the Landscape”, 30 June – 20 August 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Ona Lozuraitytė); “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)