The Vilnius physician Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński (1806–1885) published the most notable, the most valuable and the most extensive work of Lithuanian graphic art in the 19th century, the Album de Wilna (Album of Vilnius). He came from a family of landowners, and grew up on the Jasoniai estate in the Ukmergė district. From 1822 to 1827 he studied medicine at Vilnius University, and between 1829 and 1831 he lived in Paris, where he visited exhibitions and ‘became infected’ by his love for art. He began to work as a physician in Warsaw in 1831, and in 1837 he came to live in Vilnius. He was a passionate art lover, collector and patron of art. Wilczyński never married, and gave up his profession in order to devote all his time and resources to publishing the Album de Wilna, which lasted from 1845 to about 1858. He wrote: ‘During my travels in foreign countries, I have noticed that more than a few castles have splendid selections of carefully made drawings of them. Meanwhile Vilnius, so important in the history of the north, and rich in memorable old monuments and beautiful environs, is still unknown elsewhere, and even in our country there are few people who know about the past of the capital of Lithuania’ (Vilniaus albumas. Iš Jono Kazimiero Vilčinskio leidinių, compiled by Z. Budrytė, Vilnius: Vaga, 1987, p. 8). Therefore, he decided to publish a book to show that not only Vilnius but also all of Lithuania and Poland had impressive examples of architecture, art and history, and also prominent people.
Text author Laima Laučkaitė
Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album
VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė,
RES PUBLICA (2018). Compiler and author Rūta Janonienė
