Our Lady of Sorrows

These primitive sculptures were made by an unskilled carver, and are therefore difficult to date. However, they differ from the folk art of the 19th century in several small features and rare details. The motionless and narrow-shouldered figures of Our Lady of Sorrows and St Mary Magdalene have discreet silhouettes and minimal modelling, and both are standing with the right hand pressed to their bosom. The clothing of the Virgin Mary is not unusual, the selvages are held together at the waist by her left hand. An effort was made to make the clothing of St Mary Magdalene more ornate: the dress shrouding her figure has a Gothic silhouette, and the long hair falling down her back is notched in imitation of a hairnet. Both sculptures were probably part of a larger composition portraying the Crucifixion.

The third sculpture, of St Anthony the Great (the Abbot), is likely to have been made by the same carver. The saint is identified by his period clothing, the book held in one hand, and the bell in the other. Images of St Anthony the Great (250– 356), who is also referred to as Anthony the Anchorite or the Father of All Monks, are rare in Lithuania (there is another primitive sculpture dated to the late 17th or early 18th century in the church in Skaistgiris). The spread of the cult of this saint in Lithuania has never been studied, but it is likely that in the 18th century his protection was invoked against infectious diseases, in particular skin diseases.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

These primitive sculptures were made by an unskilled carver, and are therefore difficult to date. However, they differ from the folk art of the 19th century in several small features and rare details. The motionless and narrow-shouldered figures of Our Lady of Sorrows and St Mary Magdalene have discreet silhouettes and minimal modelling, and both are standing with the right hand pressed to their bosom. The clothing of the Virgin Mary is not unusual, the selvages are held together at the waist by her left hand. An effort was made to make the clothing of St Mary Magdalene more ornate: the dress shrouding her figure has a Gothic silhouette, and the long hair falling down her back is notched in imitation of a hairnet. Both sculptures were probably part of a larger composition portraying the Crucifixion.

The third sculpture, of St Anthony the Great (the Abbot), is likely to have been made by the same carver. The saint is identified by his period clothing, the book held in one hand, and the bell in the other. Images of St Anthony the Great (250– 356), who is also referred to as Anthony the Anchorite or the Father of All Monks, are rare in Lithuania (there is another primitive sculpture dated to the late 17th or early 18th century in the church in Skaistgiris). The spread of the cult of this saint in Lithuania has never been studied, but it is likely that in the 18th century his protection was invoked against infectious diseases, in particular skin diseases.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė