Prieš visus amžius sutvertoji: Švč. Mergelės Marijos Nekaltojo Prasidėjimo paveikslas iš Vilniaus Bernardinų bažnyčios

LTStraipsnyje aptariamos Švč. Mergelės Marijos Nekaltojo Prasidėjimo ikonografijos XVII a. dailėje ypatybės, jų pasireiškimas Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje šios temos kūriniuose, daugiausia dėmesio skiriant ypač vertingam paveikslui iš Vilniaus Bernardinų bažnyčios. Tai Europoje gana retos ikonografijos drobė, sukurta XVII a. pab., galbūt šioje bažnyčioje veikusios Švč. Mergelės Marijos Nekaltojo Prasidėjimo brolijos užsakymu. Publikacija parengta vykdant Lietuvos mokslo tarybos finansuojamą Vilniaus dailės akademijos mokslininkų grupės projektą „Tapybos istorija ir teologija: Švč. Mergelės Marijos atvaizdų Vilniaus vyskupijos bažnyčiose restauravimas ir tyrimai“ (MIP-15377, vad. dr. Tojana Račiūnaitė). [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Mergelės Marijos ikonografija; Nekaltasis Prasidėjimas; Vilnius; Mažesnieji broliai observantai; Bernardinai; XVII a. tapyba; Immaculate Conception; Vilnius; Friars Minor Observants; 17th century painting.

ENPainterly depictions of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary embody the theological ideas that underlie the concept of the Virgin Mary as a perfect spirit, full of grace and free from Original Sin. Being a historical, real person, Mary is also considered as foreseen by God from the very beginning of the World, the Mother of the Saviour created by God’s thought; she is also a personification of the entire Catholic Church. The uneasy task to create a concrete, worldly portrait of the Mother of God and to express within it a multidimensional, metaphysical image of the New Eve, the fiancee of the Holy Spirit and the Woman of the Apocalypse compelled artists to search for symbolic means of art. The paper surveys the iconography of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the 17th century art of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, focusing on an especially valuable piece from Vilnius St. Francis of Assisi (Bernardine) Church. This canvas, characterized by a rather untypical iconography, was created in the late 17th century, possibly as a commission by the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary that operated at the Church. The theological thought is conveyed via certain symbols (a palm branch, a mirror, a crown of twelve stars, a crown of roses, the dove of the Holy Spirit, etc.) and a particular visual rhetoric: the Virgin is depicted among cherubs, standing on the sphere of the Universe that hovers above the ground in a timeless space; on a cloud above one sees the Infant Jesus with a long cross-shaped spear, piercing a dragon entwined around the Universe.The painting reflects the Christocentric view of the exclusivity and chosenness of the Mother of God, which is characteristic of Mariology of Franciscan Observants. Images with similar iconography appeared in Europe after the victories against Turks, and spread in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth presumably in the 17th century. This artwork is also interesting as an illustration of the view of the Universe characteristic of that time, and the landscape in the lower part of the canvas is intriguing as a possible representation of the city of Vilnius. [From the publication]