Past Exhibitions
Corpisanti. The Catacomb Relic-Sculptures in the Valkininkai and Buivydžiai...
2022 11 23 – 2023 02 15
The exhibition of the Church Heritage Museum presented the relics-sculptures from the Roman catacombs, the so-called corpisanti (Latin ‘holy bodies’). From the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century, they were globally distributed across over twenty countries. In the centre of this exhibition were the relics-sculptures of St. Boniface and St. Florian, the only two surviving examples of corpisanti in Lithuania. The exhibition represented the ritual translation (translatio) of these relics to the Valkininkai and Buivydžiai churches, the symbolic and religious meaning of the sculptures, the historical environment and artistic features, written and iconographic sources, the radiographic analysis of the relics of the holy martyrs, as well as other geographically closest cases evidencing the relics of this type that were destroyed, lost or survived outside Lithuania, and bearing witness to the phenomenon that has reached our times.
2022 11 23 – 2023 02 15
The exhibition of the Church Heritage Museum presented the relics-sculptures from the Roman catacombs, the so-called corpisanti (Latin ‘holy bodies’). From the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century, they were globally distributed across over twenty countries. In the centre of this exhibition were the relics-sculptures of St. Boniface and St. Florian, the only two surviving examples of corpisanti in Lithuania. The exhibition represented the ritual translation (translatio) of these relics to the Valkininkai and Buivydžiai churches, the symbolic and religious meaning of the sculptures, the historical environment and artistic features, written and iconographic sources, the radiographic analysis of the relics of the holy martyrs, as well as other geographically closest cases evidencing the relics of this type that were destroyed, lost or survived outside Lithuania, and bearing witness to the phenomenon that has reached our times.
Centenary of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science
2022 09 19 – 2022 12 01
The Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science (LCAS), the oldest academic organisation in Lithuania, is celebrating the centenary from the establishment. In Šiauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Klaipėda the Church Heritage Museum together with the Academy presents the itinerant exhibition which tells the history and explores the activities of this institution.
2022 09 19 – 2022 12 01
The Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science (LCAS), the oldest academic organisation in Lithuania, is celebrating the centenary from the establishment. In Šiauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Klaipėda the Church Heritage Museum together with the Academy presents the itinerant exhibition which tells the history and explores the activities of this institution.
Through the Gates of the East: Orient in Lithuanian liturgical textiles...
With this exhibition, the Church Heritage Museum of the Vilnius Archdiocese presented unique 32 Oriental fabrics and embroideries preserved in Lithuanian liturgical textiles. The exhibition featured fabrics and embroideries created in China, the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Persia, India and Central Asia. These are the countries through which, the Silk Road stretched from since the II century BC, to the XV century AC, laying the foundations for a deep tradition of silk fabric production.
With this exhibition, the Church Heritage Museum of the Vilnius Archdiocese presented unique 32 Oriental fabrics and embroideries preserved in Lithuanian liturgical textiles. The exhibition featured fabrics and embroideries created in China, the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Persia, India and Central Asia. These are the countries through which, the Silk Road stretched from since the II century BC, to the XV century AC, laying the foundations for a deep tradition of silk fabric production.
After Reading, Share with Others: The Chronicle of the Catholic Church of...
2022 06 17 – 2022 09 30
The Church Heritage Museum invited you to visit an installation in the bell tower of Vilnius Cathedral dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of "The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania". Visitors were be able to interactively experience the dangerous work of distributing "The Chronicle", symbolically becoming collaborators and boldly "freeing" the knowledge trapped in the "cage" of Soviet censorship. The installation in the bell tower was complemented by audio recordings from the archive of "The Voice of America" radio, as well as information stands in the cathedral square, which invited visitors to learn more about the history of the publication and distribution of "The Chronicle".
2022 06 17 – 2022 09 30
The Church Heritage Museum invited you to visit an installation in the bell tower of Vilnius Cathedral dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of "The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania". Visitors were be able to interactively experience the dangerous work of distributing "The Chronicle", symbolically becoming collaborators and boldly "freeing" the knowledge trapped in the "cage" of Soviet censorship. The installation in the bell tower was complemented by audio recordings from the archive of "The Voice of America" radio, as well as information stands in the cathedral square, which invited visitors to learn more about the history of the publication and distribution of "The Chronicle".
The Star is Alight! Nativity Scenes from the Alps to the Baltic Sea
The exhibition of the Church Heritage Museum and the Diocesan Museum Freising (Bavaria, Germany) encompasses 29 items (20 from Germany and 9 from Lithuania) coming from museum collections, churches and private collectors. The exhibition presents the traditional way of depicting the birth of Jesus Christ in the Alpine region and in Lithuania. The oldest reliefs, paintings, Nativity scenes and sculptures dating back to the 14th century have symbolic iconographic accents, while the works of professional artists and modern pieces demonstrate the variety of interpretation possibilities of this theme. The gem of the exhibition is the Bavarian and Tyrolean Nativity scenes of impressive size encompassing hundreds of figures that have been supplemented and expanded throughout the decades.
The exhibition of the Church Heritage Museum and the Diocesan Museum Freising (Bavaria, Germany) encompasses 29 items (20 from Germany and 9 from Lithuania) coming from museum collections, churches and private collectors. The exhibition presents the traditional way of depicting the birth of Jesus Christ in the Alpine region and in Lithuania. The oldest reliefs, paintings, Nativity scenes and sculptures dating back to the 14th century have symbolic iconographic accents, while the works of professional artists and modern pieces demonstrate the variety of interpretation possibilities of this theme. The gem of the exhibition is the Bavarian and Tyrolean Nativity scenes of impressive size encompassing hundreds of figures that have been supplemented and expanded throughout the decades.
