Vilniaus Švč. Mergelės Marijos Ramintojos bažnyčia: prototipo ir autoriaus problema

LTStraipsnis skirtas unikalaus vėlyvojo baroko architektūros kūrinio – Vilniaus Švč. Mergelės Marijos Ramintojos bažnyčios – prototipo ir autorystės klausimui. Vienabokščio bažnyčios fasado architektūrinis sprendimas išskirtinis ne tik Vilniaus, bet ir visos Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės XVIII a. sakralinės architektūros kontekste. Fasado kompozicinis savitumas žadina norą išsiaiškinti galimą pirmavaizdį ir projekto autorių. Tyrimui susiklostė nepalankios sąlygos – istorinių dokumentų, sutarčių, sąskaitų knygų neišlikę, nėra duomenų apie statybos ir dekoravimo darbus atlikusius meistrus. Siekis nustatyti išskirtinės architektūros bažnyčios projektuotoją istoriografijoje suformavo situaciją, kai autorystė buvo priskirta neturint argumentuoto istorinio ar stilistinio pagrindimo. Straipsnyje istorinio ir meninio konteksto pagrindu aptariamas statinio prototipo klausimas. Remiantis istoriografija, archyviniais šaltiniais, stilistine analize nagrinėjama, kuris iš XVIII a. antrame ketvirtyje Vilniuje dirbusių architektų galėtų būti laikomas Vilniaus Švč. Mergelės Marijos Ramintojos bažnyčios projekto sumanytoju. Reikšminiai žodžiai: XVIII a., Vilniaus Švč. Mergelės Marijos Ramintojos bažnyčia, vėlyvojo baroko architektūra, prototipas, autorystė, architektai. [Iš leidinio]

ENIn the context of the Vilnius Baroque School, the Augustinian Church of Our Lady of Consolation stands out as a distinctive architectural gem. The façade of this single-tower church is unparalleled among sacral architecture not only in Vilnius but throughout the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 18th century. Despite its uniqueness, the church has long been overlooked by art and architecture historians due to the loss of the Augustinian monastery’s archive, which contained crucial construction documents. The absence of archival records has hampered research into the church and monastery’s history, and the identity of the architect remains a mystery obscured by various assumptions. The construction of the church, initiated by Kazimierz Dominyk Królikowski, the prosecutor and envoy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, supervisor of Tendžiogala, began in 1738, funded by his will. The construction and interior decoration unfolded between approximately 1738/46 and 1757. Around 1790–1810, the façade underwent reconstruction with the addition of square-plan annexes, the treasury-library and the chapel of the Lord Jesus. This alteration, while expanding the church, deviated from the original design, disrupting the intended emphasis on the vertical line, dynamism, and the impression of spatial dissection. The article focuses on two main issues: the potential prototype of the church and its authorship. It briefly traces the evolution of single-tower Catholic churches in Central Europe and posits the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Dresden, commissioned by Augustus III, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, as a key prototype for the church façade. Gaetano Chiaveri, an architect from the royal court milieu, supervised the design of the Dresden Cathedral and its construction, which began in 1738.The article explores segments of Chiaveri’s creative path to uncover how certain cultural experiences and architectural ideas circulated in various socio-cultural environments, among different creators and states, shedding light on the channels through which the Dresden Cathedral’s concept could have developed and reached Vilnius. The architect responsible for the design of the Church of Our Lady of Consolation remains unknown, with historiography suggesting several potential architects. This article critically assesses the validity of these assumptions. It concludes that attributing the authorship to the Augustinian monk Erazm Bartold-Grymała lacks source based and theoretical justification rooted in stylistic features. An additional review of historiography, along with an analysis of both previously discovered and new sources, rejects the claim of Antonio Ludovico Paracco’s authorship. While the version proposing Joannes Valentinus Tobias de Dyderzteyn (Didreysteen, Didrichstein, Dietrichstein) as the architect, which had been previously raised by the author of this article, it is now subject to questioning. Although, in the totality of the analyzed data, Dyderzteyn’s authorship seems the most convincing, deeper stylistic and comparative studies are deemed necessary for robust argumentation. Doubts about his possible authorship stem from the newly discovered fact that the construction of the church might have started before Dyderzteyn arrived in Vilnius. The article explores the potential authorship of Giuseppe (Józef) Fontana, an architect active in Vilnius. This analysis is based on the interpretation of historical facts and a stylistic examination.Among the architects of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Fontana is considered as an architect who could have been exposed to the construction of the Wettin Cathedral or its drawings, possibly even having a personal acquaintance with the architect Gaetano Chiaveri. However, a critical analysis of the architectural stylistics reveals no common features between Giuseppe Fontana’s work and the Church of Our Lady of Consolation in Vilnius, making it difficult to hypothesize about his authorship. The article briefly discusses several other architects working in Vilnius during the church’s construction. It is concluded that the architect behind the design of the Church of Our Lady of Consolation was knowledgeable about the practice of designing single-tower churches. Their professional expertise encompassed not only the traditions of Italian High Baroque architecture but also familiarity with the contemporaneous stylistic innovations in Italian Late Baroque and the architectural context of Saxony and Bavaria. These influences are reflected in the shape, proportions, and expression of the architectural elements of the Church of Our Lady of Consolation’s façade. Keywords: 18th century, Church of Our Lady of Consolation in Vilnius, Late Baroque architecture, prototype, authorship, architects. [From the publication]