The Gates of Dawn in Vilnius

The early 20th-century painter Odo Dobrowolski (1883–1917) visited Vilnius in 1914, and painted the Gates of Dawn. During the First World War, the place took on a special significance, as praying in front of the miracle-working picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary could save supplicants from death and hardship. Dobrowolski pictured part of the gate from close up, and focused on the street and the figures of praying women. He highlighted an unexpected aspect: the Gates of Dawn are plunged into darkness, and the window with the holy picture is dark, with only a dimly burning lamp in it; but the other side of the gateway is bright, like the light at the end of a tunnel, or a glimmer of hope in the turmoil of the war which had just broken out. Soon afterwards, Dobrowolski was to die in war-torn Kiev, at the age of only 34.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė

The early 20th-century painter Odo Dobrowolski (1883–1917) visited Vilnius in 1914, and painted the Gates of Dawn. During the First World War, the place took on a special significance, as praying in front of the miracle-working picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary could save supplicants from death and hardship. Dobrowolski pictured part of the gate from close up, and focused on the street and the figures of praying women. He highlighted an unexpected aspect: the Gates of Dawn are plunged into darkness, and the window with the holy picture is dark, with only a dimly burning lamp in it; but the other side of the gateway is bright, like the light at the end of a tunnel, or a glimmer of hope in the turmoil of the war which had just broken out. Soon afterwards, Dobrowolski was to die in war-torn Kiev, at the age of only 34.

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA I (2014). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė