A team of historians and art historians from the Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), led by art historian Dr. Aušra Vasiliauskienė, is embarking on a unique research project to investigate the history of the Church of St Cross in Kaunas, on the right bank of the Nemunas River, at the beginning of Gediminas Street, and the closely related Carmelite monastery from the 16th century to the restoration of independence in 1990. The research project, funded by the Lithuanian Research Council (LRC), will last three years.
According to the project participants, today, the Kaunas Church of the Holy Cross is identified in the public memory with the Discalced Carmelites, primarily because the parish has been served by members of the Order of Discalced Carmelites since 2017. However, the history of the church, its heritage, and its links with the Discalced Carmelites are much more complex.
Investigating not only the unique circumstances of the founding of the Church of the Holy Cross
The research project will be pervasive and should reveal the most critical stages of the history of the Church of the Holy Cross and the Discalced Carmelites of Kaunas and the heritage of sacred art in the 16th-20th centuries in the broader Lithuanian and international context of research on this monastery and church art, highlighting the links with the present. The researchers hope that such a complex investigation will fill one of the gaps in the fundamental Lithuanian research on sacred heritage and the history of the city, will contribute to the understanding of Kaunas’ identity, and take a new perspective on specific stereotypical historical and heritage evaluations.
The Church of the Holy Cross in Kaunas was founded in 1510 by Darata Nabienė, a citizen of the city (a new church was built at the end of the 17th century). Until 1772, it was an essential and wealthy branch of the parish church of St. Peter and Paul in Kaunas, which took care of the faithful of Kaunas and had nothing to do with the Discalced Carmelites until it was handed over to them in 1772. The research conducted by the Kavolis Institute will deepen the knowledge of the relationship of the Kaunas Church of the Holy Cross with the Kaunas parish during this period (1510-1772), assess the changes in the architecture, exterior, and interior of the church, and the iconographic program.
Reflecting on the origins of the Kaunas Discalced Carmelites in the Church of St. Elijah and St. Therese
The history of the Discalced Carmelites in Kaunas did not begin in the Church of the Holy Cross, but rather in the now defunct Church of St Elijah and St Teresa, which was demolished in the 19th century, and the Discalced Carmelite monastery that used to be situated near it. However, the history of the church and the monastery is still completely untouched by research, which the research team will try to unravel. The two histories of the churches of the Holy Cross and St Elijah and St Teresa converge in 1772 when the church of the Holy Cross was transferred to the Discalced Carmelites. The project participants will be concerned with describing the peculiarities of the Discalced Carmelite Rule, the features of spirituality in the European context, and their reflections on Kaunas from the beginning of the 18th century until 1772.
The Discalced Carmelites had a relatively short stay in the Church of the Holy Cross in Kaunas for less than a century, from 1772 to 1845. Researchers from the Kavolis Institute will conduct a detailed study of the situation of the Kaunas Church of the Holy Cross and the Discalced Carmelites during this period, compiling biographical sketches of the Discalced Carmelites, highlighting their economic situation and the peculiarities of their daily life. In addition, the research project will delve into the history of the formation of the church and the monastery ensemble, the architectural features, the iconographic program, and its links to the spirituality of the Discalced Carmelites.
Showcasing the Polish character of St Cross Parish between the wars and the dissident resistance during the Soviet era
After the closing of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery, the Holy Cross Church in Kaunas became a parish church in 1881, a function it still performs to this day. In 1918-1940, a large part of the congregation of this church were Polish-speaking believers who were not welcomed by the Lithuanian society between the wars, and this may have been why there was not much desire to delve into its history. However, during the Soviet era, the Church of the Holy Cross was a famous site of dissident resistance. However, research on this period is still lacking. This project funded by Lithuanian Research Council will also investigate the formation and development of the Holy Cross Parish in Kaunas between 1881 and 1990, revealing its impact on the local community, and assessing the artistic changes to the site, the surviving heritage of sacred art, and its losses.
The project involves both experienced and junior researchers
The coordinator of the project, Dr. A. Vasiliauskiene, Senior Research Fellow at the V. Kavolis Institute of VMU and Associate Professor at the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Arts, is an experienced researcher of historical art in Lithuania, including sacred art, iconography, and manor collections. She also has many years of experience at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art. The Board of the Lithuanian Museums Association awarded her the title of 2020 Museologist of the Year and a prize for her professional activities in promoting the cultural heritage of Lithuanian manors at national and international levels. She has published significant scientific publications on the art of the Kaunas Benedictine nuns’ monastery and the changes in the iconography and artistic expression of the altars of the St Nicholas Church in the 17th-18th centuries, the heritage of the Kaunas Bernardine nuns’ monastery, and the iconography of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Lithuanian art of the 17th-18th centuries, the art collection of the Rokiškis manor, the graphics of the Oginskis’ art collection, and other critical scholarly articles on the historical sacred art, iconography, and the art of manors, churches, and monasteries in Lithuania.
Another experienced researcher, historian Prof. Dr. Vaida Kamuntavičienė, whose research interests include mainly the history of relations between the Catholic Church and society in Lithuania, the development of mentality, and the micro-history of the Catholic Church. Among her most important scientific publications are monographs on the relations between the Catholic Church and the state in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the second half of the 17th century, the history of the Kaunas Benedictine monastery in the 17th and early 20th centuries, and the Catherine monastery of Krakiai. Dr. V. Kamuntavičienė has published scholarly publications on the Cathedral Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul with other authors., the history of the Kaunas Benedictine nuns and the monastery ensemble from the end of the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century, the history of the Kaunas Bernardine nuns monastery and has also compiled books on Czesław Miłosz, among others.
Dr. Ričardas Jaramičius, historian and junior research fellow at the Kavolis Institute, is known to the Lithuanian scientific community as one of the translators of the Third Statute of Lithuania. He defended his PhD thesis on the Kaunas nobility in the political life of the Kaunas estate in 1588-1648, but for his Master’s thesis, he researched the Kaunas Discalced Carmelite Monastery in 1772-1845. Dr. R. Jaramičius is also actively involved in a research project at VMU on the church’s relationship with the state and society in Lithuania.
Another junior researcher and member of the research team of the Kavolis Institute, Dr. Žygimantas Buržinskas, has defended his dissertation on “Artistic Links and Transformations of Catholic and Orthodox Sacred Architecture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Reign of Tsarist Russia.” He also has an MA degree in Archaeology, is the head of the Merkinė Regional Museum, the author of the book “Historical Merkinė Town Hall,” the album “Merkinė Town and Region in Historical Cartography,” and several articles on the history of Merkinė and the architecture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Daiva Vaišnorienė, a doctoral student who researches the iconography of female saints in the art of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has, in her scientific research publications, studied the visual history of the painting of St. Barbara in the church of Alėjai, the phenomenon of the cult and iconography of St. Barbara in Lithuanian sacral art of the 17th-18th centuries.
