The Church of St Michael

Łucja Bałzukiewiczówna (1887–1976), a member of the artistic Bałzukiewicz family from Vilnius, painted realistic townscapes. They include one of St Michael’s Church and monastery from beside the Church of St Anne. If she had wished to show the architectural qualities of the building, she would have chosen a view of the Renaissance façade. Her aim was to express the wintry atmosphere, to show a sunlit corner of the Old Town, with snow-covered roofs, melting icicles, smoking chimneys, and playful clouds sweeping across the blue sky. This winter idyll is deceptive, as the picture was painted in 1917, during the First World War, in a starving and freezing city suffering from deprivations. Bałzukiewiczówna’s quiet picture was probably intended for German soldiers stationed in Vilnius, who happily bought pictures like this as souvenirs to send back to Germany.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Académie de Vilna. Vilnius Drawing School (1866–1915)”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Jolanta Širkaitė). Published: Académie de Vilna: Vilniaus piešimo mokykla 1866-1915 / Vilnius drawing school: Exhibition Catalogue, Nacionalinė dailės galerija 2017 m. 4 d. - lapkričio 26 d., compiled by Jolanta Širkaitė, Vilnius: Lietuvos kultūros tyrimų institutas, 2017, p. 99.

Łucja Bałzukiewiczówna (1887–1976), a member of the artistic Bałzukiewicz family from Vilnius, painted realistic townscapes. They include one of St Michael’s Church and monastery from beside the Church of St Anne. If she had wished to show the architectural qualities of the building, she would have chosen a view of the Renaissance façade. Her aim was to express the wintry atmosphere, to show a sunlit corner of the Old Town, with snow-covered roofs, melting icicles, smoking chimneys, and playful clouds sweeping across the blue sky. This winter idyll is deceptive, as the picture was painted in 1917, during the First World War, in a starving and freezing city suffering from deprivations. Bałzukiewiczówna’s quiet picture was probably intended for German soldiers stationed in Vilnius, who happily bought pictures like this as souvenirs to send back to Germany.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
Expositions: “Académie de Vilna. Vilnius Drawing School (1866–1915)”, 5 October – 26 November 2017, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (curator Jolanta Širkaitė). Published: Académie de Vilna: Vilniaus piešimo mokykla 1866-1915 / Vilnius drawing school: Exhibition Catalogue, Nacionalinė dailės galerija 2017 m. 4 d. - lapkričio 26 d., compiled by Jolanta Širkaitė, Vilnius: Lietuvos kultūros tyrimų institutas, 2017, p. 99.