The view of Vilnius from the Green Bridge in winter, 20 February 1840

Lithograph after Barthélemy Lauvergne. Joseph Paul Gaimard, ‘Voyages of the Scientific Expedition to the North,
to Scandinavia, Lapland, Spitsbergen and the Faroe Islands in 1838, 1839 and 1840 on the Corvette La Recherche. An historical atlas of views’, vol. II, 1852.

The French artist Barthélemy Lauvergne (1805–1871) took part in expeditions around the world, drew views, and later used them to illustrate his descriptions of his voyages. He travelled across the Pacific, in New Zealand; and in 1835–1840, together with the French physician and zoologist Joseph Paul Gaimard (1796–1858), he explored northern Europe. They travelled all over Scandinavia in the ship La Recherche, and in December 1839 they arrived in St Petersburg. They continued their journey overland to Moscow, and then reached Lithuania via Smolensk, Orsha and Minsk in 1840, thus repeating the retreat by Napoleon’s army in the winter of 1812. Gaimard summarised the results of the journey in the eight-volu me publication Voyages de la Commission scientifique du Nord, en Scandinavie, en Laponie, au Spitzberg et au Feröe, pendant les années 1838, 1839 et 1840 sur la corvette La Recherche (Voyages of the Scientific Expedition to the North, to Scandinavia, Lapland, Spitsbergen and the Faroe Islands in 1838, 1839 and 1840 on the Corvette La Recherche). As a supplement, he published a book in 1852, printed at Lemercier’s printing press in Paris, with drawings by Lauvergne. Three of them, lithographed by Leon Jean-Baptiste Sabatier (?–1887), were devoted to Vilnius. They are views of the city from the Green Bridge, the Bernardine Gardens and the cemetery. The pallid lighting, the sky before a snow storm, and the open spaces with the silhouettes of churches are expressed by the soft graduation of grey tones. This is a chilling vision of a desolate, snow-covered city, which recalls the sufferings of the French army in Vilnius in 1812.

Lithograph after Barthélemy Lauvergne. Joseph Paul Gaimard