LTKaralaitis Kazimieras (1458–1484), Katalikų Bažnyčios pripažintas šventuoju, popiežiaus Urbono VIII 1636 m. buvo paskelbtas Lietuvos Globėju, o Pijaus XII 1948 m. – viso pasaulio lietuvių jaunimo Globėju. Tvarios, ilgametės pamaldumo ir pilietinio sureikšminimo tradicijos dėka šv. Kazimiero atvaizdai, įvairūs kiti regimieji religinio tikėjimo bei istorinės atminties ženklai sudaro ypatingos svarbos kultūrinį sluoksnį. Leidiniu siekiama atskleisti Lietuvos Globėjo gerbimo tradiciją ir atvaizdo plėtotę nuo XVI a. iki mūsų dienų. Atvaizdu, kaip ir bažnyčios titulu ar žmogaus krikšto vardu, reiškiasi pamaldumas šventajam, skirtingose epochose ir bendruomenėse įgyjantis įvairias formas. Knygoje labiausiai norėta išryškinti pamaldumo šv. Kazimierui istorinę sklaidą, šventojo gerbimo pavidalų ir atvaizdo raiškos tendencijų pjūvį. Todėl įvairi ir gausi medžiaga buvo suskirstyta ne pagal dailės žanrus ar ikonografinius tipus, o pagal laikotarpius, kurie atitinka Lietuvos Globėjo gerbimo tradicijos pokyčius, yra neatsiejami nuo mūsų krašto praeities ir dabarties realijų. Leidinį sudaro penkios dalys, kai kurios iš jų suskirstytos į potemes, detalizuojančias šventojo gerbimo ir atvaizdo sampratas.Reikšminiai žodžiai: šv. Kazimiero ikonografija; Pamaldumas šv. Kazimierui; šventųjų kultas; Iconography of St. Casimir; Devotion to St. Casimir; Saints worship; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Šventieji; Šv. Kazimieras; Šventųjų gerbimas; Šaltiniai, rašytiniai,; Ordinai, religiniai; Bažnyčios; Brolijos; Dailė, sakralinė; Tapyba; Graviūros; Skulptūros; Saints; Saint Casimir; Cult of saints; Monastery; Church; Fraternity; Art, sacred; Painting; Sculpture; Engraving.
ENThe aim of the present publication is to illustrate the tradition of veneration of the Patron Saint of Lithuania and the development of his image from the 16th century to our days. [...] The materials presented in this book stem from the contemporary territory of Lithuania, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions consist in photographs, publications, banners, and numismatic items that reflect the activities of the societies of St. Casimir established in the United States by the Lithuanian diaspora, and history of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Casimir. [...] The principal consideration of the book was to highlight the historical dissemination of devotion to St. Casimir and to offer a cross-section of tendencies pertaining to the forms of veneration and visual expression. Therefore the voluminous and varied material was divided in accordance to historical periods, rather than artistic genres and iconographic types. These periods reflect the changes in the tradition of veneration of the Patron Saint of Lithuania, and are inseparable from the past and present realities of our country's history. The publication consists of five parts, and some of them are further subdivided into subtopics that present some notions related to the veneration and image of the Saint in greater detail. The first section, 'The origins and recognition of veneration in the 16'h and early 17'h century', presents the most important monuments created before the official sanctioning of the cult by the Church, such as the earliest biography of the servant of God Casimir and his earliest portraits.Subsequent development of the cult is attested by the brief of Pope Clement VIII, published in 1602 and permitting the celebration of the Feast of St. Casimir in the churches of Lithuania and Poland, and also by the books that bear witness to the early hagiographical and iconographic tradition, as well as the 'canonical' image of the Saint that appears in the liturgical texts (1603). The second section, 'Flourishing of the cult, 17th-19th centuries', presents the propagators and benefactors of the cult, and discloses the processes that took place after the great celebrations of 1604: multiplying hagiography, lavishly founded titular churches. In the baroque period the cult and iconography of a saint were conceived as a unified whole of devotion and artistic expression, of the invisible and the visible. Unfortunately, few painted or sculptural images survive from that period. This, as well as other sections, present the reliquaries of St. Casimir and the liturgical implements of Vilnius Cathedral- all this is inseparable from the zenith of the Saint's cult in the baroque epoch. The third section comprises the period from the late 19th to the first half of the 20th century. Declining recognition of the universal claims of Catholicism and the demise of the Lithuanian state also expressed themselves in the shifting emphases in the history of veneration of Lithuania's patron Saint. The Lithuanian national movement that began in the latter half of the 19th century under the harsh conditions of prohibition of the Lithuanian press by the Tsar's administration prompted the establishment of numerous societies of St. Casimir of religious and educational character, both among the Lithuanian diaspora in America and in Lithuania itself. Societies of St. Casimir were also active in the cultural life of Vilnius region in 1922-39.Individual subsections of the catalogue celebrate not only the aforementioned societies, but also the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Casimir, founded in the United States in 1907, as well as its mission, established in 1920 in Lithuania, in the former Camaldolese monastery in Pažaislis. The new Diocese of Panevėžys, which was established in 1926 and chose St. Casimir as its Patron, as well as the efforts of its first shepherd, Bishop Kazimieras Paltarokas, to propagate the cult of the Saint were very significant for the veneration of the saintly Prince in the independent Lithuania. The new titular churches established in the interwar period also contributed to its propagation. A great number of images from that period echo the traditions of popular devotion. Moreover, this section also contains the works of art and imprints that reflect the jubilees of 1922 and 1943, as well as the public artistic competition to create an image of St. Casimir which took place in 1943. The fourth section of the book which comprises the period of 1948-2000 intends to show what the veneration of St. Casimir meant and how it expressed itself in Lithuania and among the diaspora in the face of the new tribulations - under the conditions of Soviet oppression, exile, and political emigration. No less than four Jubilees of the saintly Prince were celebrated in the 20th century in 1922, 1943, 1958, and 1984, yet their aims and character were greatly divergent. These Jubilees influenced the emergence of new genres of St. Casimir's image and of a modern iconography conceived in a contemporary spirit. The fifth, comparatively minor section 'Varia, dubia' shows several images of St. Casimir which during certain period were venerated by the faithful as images of other saints. It also publishes images of various saints which, contrariwise, may have been associated with St. Casimir. [From the publication]