Dailės kūrinys viešajame XIX a. pradžios Vilniaus gyvenime
A work of art in the public life of the early 19th-century Vilnius

Summary/Abstract: In the early 19th century, a link between a work of art and public was making slow progress in Lithuania, conditioned by an inconsistent development of art. Public presentations of the works of art only in certain cases displayed some features peculiar to the present-day exhibitions of art, as in most cases a work of art in a public space served as an object of manipulation in order to subject it to a representational ideology. A piece of painting or sculpture most frequently was exploited in the decoration of para-theatrical ventures. Emblematic and narrative (mainly allegoric) banners painted by the most prominent residents of Vilnius, mostly by J. Rustemas, professor of Vilnius University, and his pupils, were a composite part of the decoration program for city space. I. Bruškevičius' portrait of the Tsar Alexander 1 exhibited in the Town Hail of Vilnius in 1802 was the first venture in Vilnius, displaying some features of a public exhibition. More systematic exhibitions were held since 1X20, putting a greater emphasis on their educational importance, promoting both the students' and society's interest in art; unfortunately, those exhibitions failed to provoke more lively considerations and discussions on art. Certain features characteristic of public presentations of artworks can be sometimes found in other cultural forms of the period, for example in decorations of theatre performances and representations of artworks in press.

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