St Casimir’s coffin and altar in Vilnius Cathedral

Chardon printing press

Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, Album de Wilna, series IV, fascicle I

The cult of St Casimir started to spread just after his death, and saw a particular resurgence in 1602 after his canonisation. Sigismund Vasa, the ruler of Lithuania and Poland, and later his son Władysław Vasa, undertook to construct a chapel in Vilnius Cathedral for the saint’s remains, and invited craftsmen from Italy to build it. The interior of the chapel was decorated with black and red marble, with silver details made by craftsmen from Augsburg, and the body of the saint was laid in a coffin decorated with silver figures and reliefs over the silver altar. The construction and decoration were finished in 1632, at a cost of three million Lithuanian auksinas. Unfortunately, the Muscovite army occupied Vilnius in the middle of the century, and destroyed the valuable interior. The remains of the saint, which had been removed and hidden before the invasion, were returned to the cathedral after the danger had passed. The chapel was decorated with stucco mouldings, and an altar was made of stucco around 1690 by the Italian artist Giovanni Pietro Perti (1648–1714). A new sarcophagus for the saint was installed over the altar in 1747. The chapel in Vilnius Cathedral housing the remains of Casimir Jagiellon is one of the most important Catholic shrines in Lithuania.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius. Curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė.

Chardon printing press

Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, Album de Wilna, series IV, fascicle I

The cult of St Casimir started to spread just after his death, and saw a particular resurgence in 1602 after his canonisation. Sigismund Vasa, the ruler of Lithuania and Poland, and later his son Władysław Vasa, undertook to construct a chapel in Vilnius Cathedral for the saint’s remains, and invited craftsmen from Italy to build it. The interior of the chapel was decorated with black and red marble, with silver details made by craftsmen from Augsburg, and the body of the saint was laid in a coffin decorated with silver figures and reliefs over the silver altar. The construction and decoration were finished in 1632, at a cost of three million Lithuanian auksinas. Unfortunately, the Muscovite army occupied Vilnius in the middle of the century, and destroyed the valuable interior. The remains of the saint, which had been removed and hidden before the invasion, were returned to the cathedral after the danger had passed. The chapel was decorated with stucco mouldings, and an altar was made of stucco around 1690 by the Italian artist Giovanni Pietro Perti (1648–1714). A new sarcophagus for the saint was installed over the altar in 1747. The chapel in Vilnius Cathedral housing the remains of Casimir Jagiellon is one of the most important Catholic shrines in Lithuania.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album HEAVEN AND BEYOND (2016). Compiler Dalia Vasiliūnienė. Text authors Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė
Expositions: “Heaven and Beyond. Works of religious art from the collection of Rolandas Valiūnas and the law firm Valiunas Ellex“, 31 May–24 September 2016, Church Heritage Museum, Vilnius. Curators Dalia Vasiliūnienė, Skaidrė Urbonienė.