Verkiai. The banqueting room
| Author: |
Philippe Benoist (ca 1813–1879) |
| Created: | 1848–1849 |
| Material: | paper |
| Technique: | litograph |
| Dimensions: | 37.80 × 49.10 cm |
| Signature: | inscription: Album de Wilna. / 2e. Série. / Dess. par Sadownikoff. / Imp. par Lemercier a Paris. / Lith. par Ph. Benoist. / WERKI WŁASNOŚĆ I. O. X. LEONILLI SAYN WITTGENSTEIN BERLEBOURG. Izba Jadalna. / WERKI PROPRIÉTÉ DE S.A.Me. LA PRINCESSE LÉONILLE SAYN WITTGENSTEIN BERLEBOURG. Salle a Manger. / No. 3. |
Lithograph after Vasily Sadovnikov, Jan Kazimierz Wilczyński, ‘Album of Vilnius’, series II, fascicle I, No. 3.
The Wittgensteins had a collection of West European art at Verkiai, including a suit of armour brought from Nieswizh Castle, and it was the most valuable collection at that time in Vilnius. Guests were enraptured by the banqueting room, where, according to Count Konstanty Tyszkiewicz, the woodwork was ‘of such inimitable design and so artistically made that, while being a really unique masterpiece, it was the only such example in Lithuania to ignite the public’s curiosity, and awakened in many minds ideas of style, design and composition’ (Konstantinas Tiškevičius, Neris ir jos krantai, Vilnius: Mintis, 1992, p. 201). The banqueting room was depicted in a lithograph by the French artist Philippe Benoist (1813–1879).
Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album VILNIUS. TOPOPHILIA II (2015). Compiler and author Laima Laučkaitė
