St Casimir

After settling in the United States, Viktoras Vizgirda (1904–1993) spent 15 years working at the Boston-based stained-glass studio of John Terrence O’Duggan. In 1956 he took part in an exhibition of religious art organised by the Lithuanian community in Chicago. The exhibition at the Holy Cross Parish Hall featured 153 works, primarily stained-glass windows and designs of them. Vizgirda presented St George (1951), a stained-glass window now in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNDM T-11973). Another work from the same period, St Casimir, is part of the collection. As Dalia Vasiliūnienė notes, ‘At first sight, this work, portraying Lithuania’s prince St Casimir, matches traditional iconography. The subject of this piece of stained glass is religious, but it also takes account of national aspirations. St Casimir, dressed in princely clothing, is holding a cross, as a symbol of faith, in one hand. But in his other hand, instead of the usual lily, he is holding a three-stemmed red tulip, which is associated with woven folk textiles. Behind him, the tower of a Lithuanian country church rises against a rich blue background’ (Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Heaven and Beyond, Vilnius: Ellex Valiunas Law Firm, 2016, p. 268).

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė

After settling in the United States, Viktoras Vizgirda (1904–1993) spent 15 years working at the Boston-based stained-glass studio of John Terrence O’Duggan. In 1956 he took part in an exhibition of religious art organised by the Lithuanian community in Chicago. The exhibition at the Holy Cross Parish Hall featured 153 works, primarily stained-glass windows and designs of them. Vizgirda presented St George (1951), a stained-glass window now in the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNDM T-11973). Another work from the same period, St Casimir, is part of the collection. As Dalia Vasiliūnienė notes, ‘At first sight, this work, portraying Lithuania’s prince St Casimir, matches traditional iconography. The subject of this piece of stained glass is religious, but it also takes account of national aspirations. St Casimir, dressed in princely clothing, is holding a cross, as a symbol of faith, in one hand. But in his other hand, instead of the usual lily, he is holding a three-stemmed red tulip, which is associated with woven folk textiles. Behind him, the tower of a Lithuanian country church rises against a rich blue background’ (Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Heaven and Beyond, Vilnius: Ellex Valiunas Law Firm, 2016, p. 268).

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė