Palomenės bažnyčios Pranciškaus Smuglevičiaus Šv. arkangelo Mykolo paveikslas: tyrimai ir atodangos

LTStraipsnis skirtas prieš dešimtmetį išaiškintam Palomenės Šv. arkangelo Mykolo bažnyčios Pranciškaus Smuglevičiaus paveikslui „Šv. arkangelas Mykolas“. Besirengiant restauruoti kūrinį 2021 m. buvo atlikti detalūs žvalgomieji ir technologiniai tyrimai; atodangos leido sutapatinti šį paveikslą su Smuglevičiaus mokinio Gasparo Barausko (1785-po 1854) minimu paveikslu. Tai paskatino nuodugniau pažvelgti į istorinius faktus, aptarti paveikslo ikonografijos ypatumus, kompozicijos, formato kaitos prielaidas. Raktiniai žodžiai: Pranciškus Smuglevičius, šv. arkangelas Mykolas, ikonografija, Palomenės bažnyčia, Zaleskiai. [Iš leidinio]

ENThis article discusses the titular painting in the main altar of the Palomenė church in Kaišiadorys District, St Michael the Archangel. A decade ago, based on an archival entry and having confirmed this with historical data and a stylistic analysis of the work, its author was confirmed to be Lithuania’s most well-known representative of Neoclassicism, Franciszek Smuglewicz. Ahead of its restoration, technological research of the painting was performed in 2022. The X-ray image indicated alterations had been made to its composition, the revealed contours and silhouettes of the initial conception allowed us to confirm the painting’s attribution and prompted further research of this unique work. An inspection under natural conditions confirmed the assumption that the painting had been reduced in size, adjusted and retouched. The local estate-holders, the Zaleskis, can be credited with the appearance of Smuglewicz’s painting in the Palomenė church, in a provincial district in Lithuania. While it was not possible to ascertain when and how it had been acquired, we can presume that the painting of the heavenly patron saint was commissioned or purchased after the artist’s death by the famous public figure, Michal Antoni Zaleski (1744-1816), who built a chapel on his estate lands in 1809. His heir and son Marcin Mauricius (1785 - after 1845) had the chapel rebuilt in around 1840, enlarging it and adorning the main altar with Smuglewicz’s painting of St Michael the Archangel; the shrine had been granted the privilege “for souls suffering in purgatory” by the Holy See in 1819, and later confirmed by the Vilnius bishop in 1834. The church was closed down after the 1863 Uprising but the locals preserved its inventory along with the cherished titular painting until 1915, when the Palomenė parish was founded.It is believed that in the middle of the 20th century (before 1960), when the church’s internal cylindrical vaulting was replaced with a flatter ceiling and the presbytery space became lower, the large painting of St Michael the Archangel could not be accommodated and was thus drastically minimised in size (30 cm was cut away from the top). Having conducted technological research, it became evident that the upper motif in the composition of the St Michael the Archangel painting had been altered - in the initial work, the figure of the Lord, Our Father had been composed amid the clouds, but was later painted over with a triangular emblem. Based on the composition of the paints, the painting manner and analogues, this could have been an original correction made by Smugle- wicz. This discovery allowed identifying the St Michael the Archangel painting as Smuglewicz’s work, mentioned by his contemporary and pupil Gasparas Barauskas in the latter’s memoirs as having been sighted in most likely his teacher’s workshop in 1801-1807. The symbolic imagery in Smuglewicz’s painting of St Michael resonated with late 18th century political and humanistic Enlightenment ideals. The non-traditional iconography used for this religious narrative could have been influenced by the great poem “Paradise Lost” (1667) by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674) that had been translated into Polish in 1791. The archangel is depicted in the manner of an elevated god of Antiquity, not wearing any armour, bearing no weapons, yet with the wings of a swan, with Adam and Eve portrayed in the background, signalling the paradise lost motif. Roman Neoclassical influences are sensed in the painting, expressed by this painter in his characteristically tempered interpretation of Antique beauty.The manner and stylistics of this painting suggest that it was created some time from the 1780s to the early 19th century; it is a period work in Smuglewicz’s biography and in Lithuanian painting history. As a representative piece of enlightened Neoclassical stylistics, Smuglewicz’s painting St Michael the Archangel can be compared to the most prominent examples of this iconography in European art. [From the publication p. 300-301]