Lithuanian Art Fund

(Atr.) Sacred Heart of Jesus

Created: 1817.

Material / technique: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 179x88cm.

"Traces of the History of One Painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus", Regimanta Stankevičienė, Study of Art, 2020. T. 27, No. 4, Lithuanian Cultural Research Institute, Vilnius.

Kazimierz and Ewa (of Uwoyni) Burba, the wojskis (officials attending to the needs of soldiers’ families during wars) of Šiauliai and collators of the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Apytalaukis, donated the painting “The Sacred Heart of Jesus” to the high altar of the church in 1817. From 1755, when a fraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was established, this altar had been decorated with an earlier painting of the same name. The painting donated by the Burba decorated the first tier of a new high altar erected after 1817 and the existing high altar that was built before 1920s (?). It is believed that due to its poor condition, the old painting was replaced with a copy during repairs in 1964, and it is this copy that is on the altar to date. In 2019, the painting was restored as it had lost many fragments of the paint layer, especially at the bottom.

The prototype of this painting is the painting “The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Eucharist” by Pietro Tedeschi (the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, Imola, 1780). It is believed that the painter used an engraving of this image, presumably by Lorenzo Capponi. The painting in the church in Apytalaukis is narrower and therefore the baroque composi- tion created by Pietro Tedeschi is somewhat reduced and adjusted. In addition, the drawing, rhythm, and colours of the painting of 1817 are characteristic of the features of the classicist style and paintings of the Vilnius School of Art. Due to the analogies of stylistics and the well- known fact of Kazimierz Burba’s acquaintance with the painter Jan Rustem, the painting is hypothetically attributed to this artist. The face of Jesus in the painting in Apytalaukis can be compared to Burba’s portrait by Jan Rustem (unfortunately, only a copy has survived). We propose the title “The Eucharistic Sacred Heart of Jesus” as it defines the iconography of the painting more precisely.

Contexts and donors of the creation of the painting

After guessing the name of the church mentioned in the painting's donation record from the surviving fragments, the name of the latter's spouse was found out through its documents and published data about its colliator, and the entire text of 4 lines in Polish was deciphered (in square brackets – fragments restored according to the context of the inscription and other data): "Kosztem kolatorów [kościoła] / [O]pi[t]olockiego JW[P. Kazimierza] / [i Ewy] z Uwoyniow Burbow woj[-] / [sk]ich Pwtu Szawel: R. 1817." The translation with the abbreviations unfolded reads as follows: "At the expense of the collators of the Apytalaukis Church, the Vaiskias of Šiauliai District, the Merciful Gentlemen Kazimieras and Ieva Uvainytė Burbai. The year is 1817." It was discovered that the church of St. In the list of newly acquired objects of the 1820 Visitation Act of the Church of Peter and Paul, it is recorded that "in 1817, at the expense of Kazimieras Burba, the collator of the church of Šiauliai and Apytalaukis, the Blessed Virgin Mary painted on canvas was acquired for the high altar. Painting of the Heart of Jesus." Ieva Burbaitė Uvainienė is not listed here, but the place dedicated to the sacrificial work is indicated.

The choice of the theme and location of the painting continued the traditions of parish piety: as early as June 5, 1755, with the permission of Pope Benedict XIV and the approval of the latter by Bishop Mykolas Zenkevičius, St. Peter's Church in Apytalaukis. Peter and Paul, the Blessed Virgin Mary was introduced. The Brotherhood of the Heart of Jesus, initiated by the Jesuits who introduced this aspect of the cult of the Saviour, whose mission worked here. It is one of the first ten fraternities of this title, established in Lithuania (within the current limits) before 1765, when the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cult of the Heart of Jesus began to be consistently implemented throughout the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As early as the spring of 1755, the church of Apytalaukis hosted the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The image of the Heart of Jesus in the second stage of the high altar and two new processional flags with images of this scene. 1784 The painting of the Heart of Jesus (apparently already another) adorned the first stage of the high altar rebuilt after the fire, there was a processional altar with a large silver heart.

The new Blessed Virgin Mary. The acquisition of the image of the Heart of Jesus for the high altar is due to several overlapping reasons. XIX century BC. The church of Apytalaukis was obviously in poor condition, because in 1804–1811 the pastor Kazimieras Valentinavičius redid its roof with all the structures (1809), plastered the exterior and interior walls, later the priest Vincentas Narbutas took care of replacing the windows, doors, and paving the interior with bricks. It is likely that the altars of the church and other inventory had to be renovated, although in 1813–1820 Father S. Narbutas had acquired only textile embroidery and accessories (arnot, corks, curtains, etc.), tin patens of the sick, an altar bell, and the new painting that appeared was only the one offered by Burba. Perhaps the old Blessed Virgin Mary. The image of the Heart of Jesus was already in poor condition or the iconography that no longer satisfies the collager (or perhaps the pastor), but this could also have been prompted by the planned rearrangement of the high altar itself. It is believed that it was carried out soon (until 1828). On the other hand, the acquisition of the painting (and the renovation of the altar?) can be associated with the colliators of the sanctuary, i.e. with their recent change at that time, especially since there was a fight for the patronage of the church: on January 17, 1812, the decade-long conflict over the rights of patronage of the church ended in favor of Kazimieras Burba. It was not the owners of the Apytalaukis manor, Juozapas and Joana Karpytė Tiškevičius, who won it, but the Burbos, who based their right on the fact that they owned the foundational Jaugiliai (palivarkas; now a village in Kėdainiai district), inherited from the previous Jesuit colliders of the church through their uncle Jonas Burbas.

Finally, the donation of the painting could also have been motivated by a purely personal reason – the donors, Kazimieras and Ieva Burba, had their third daughter, Anelė, born that year, so they could be thanked after this event or donated before it (for example, hoping to have a son). In this context, the donation of a painting with a corresponding inscription and coat of arms to the most important place of the church – the first stage of the high altar – is to be perceived as a vivid manifestation of the piety of the colliators, attention to the church under their patronage, and generosity. It should also be noted that the donors were probably already familiar with the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the Heart of Jesus and practiced it themselves. Kazimieras and Ieva Burbos lived in their husband's family at the end of the eighteenth century. in the acquired Pašušvis manor (their first two daughters were born there in 1811 and 1813); These places were also operated in the Church of All Saints in 1769 with the permission of Pope Clement XIII. The Brotherhood of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and its altar stood in the chapel with a memorial plaque of Casimir's father Antanas Burba (c. 1713–1799) built into the wall.

The context can be supplemented by data on donors and their family's cultural interests. Ieva Burbienė grew up in the family of Leonas Uvainis (1755–1828), a Raseiniai county scribe, researcher of the Lithuanian language, who wrote an etymological dictionary that has not survived, who was offered a position as a lecturer in the Department of Lithuanian Language, which was planned to be established at Vilnius University, and who corresponded with Dionysius Poška. It is interesting that a whole group is formed, and more than one generation, her and Kazimieras Burba's descendants related to Lithuanian artistic culture. His son Cleopas Kletas became famous for the creation of the aforementioned Belvedere Manor complex, which is important for the history of architecture. His daughter Anelė married an amateur painter Severin Römer (brother of Edward Jonas Römer) and two of their children (Kazimieras and Maria Antanina) were also amateur painters. Two other granddaughters of Burbs were engaged in painting – daughters of their daughter Irena Gurskienė: Marija Anelė Volmerienė and Juzefa Alina Gurskytė. And these are not all artists related by kinship.

The Blessed Virgin Mary, donated by the Burbes. Painting of the Heart of Jesus after 1902–1919 The repairs of the Apytalaukis church and the restoration of the losses of the First World War once again decorated the first stage of its new high altar. The copy now on the altar was probably replaced in 1964, when the high altar was illuminated and its paintings were "renovated". After the reconstruction of the altar in the twentieth century, the upper part of the altar was acquired. The image of Bartholomew could certainly only have been renewed, but instead of the old lower picture of Jesus, it was then that a copy of it of brighter colors and freer paintings could have appeared on the altar. On the other hand, whether the painting "left" its original place then or a little later, and where it remained until it was acquired by the current owners, is not traced. And the incentives for changing the painting are clear: the condition of this work has become poor in the twentieth century. During the professional restoration, the painting areas of the painting that had deteriorated were restored correctly by retouching them and without leveling them with the surviving authentic painting, so it can be seen that there were considerable losses, especially at the bottom of the painting, where a fairly large area was only fragmentarily preserved, and there were other defects as well.

The heraldic element of the work deserves a separate discussion. The joint coat of arms of the family of Kazimieras Burba and Ieva Burbienė (originally from Blinstrubiškės Uvainiai) in the painting consists of a shield divided into two fields, there is no helmet and other additional elements. According to biographical references, coats of arms, etc., the Burbi family used the coat of arms Odyniec III, and the Uvainiai family used the coat of arms "Gulbe" (Cygnus, Łabędź). In this case, the colors of both fields of the coat of arms and their graphic figures are typical, but the figures themselves are modified in their own way. The gold graphic figure on the blue field on the heraldic right – the coat of arms of the Burbi – does not correspond to any of the at least five varieties of the coat of arms of Odyniec. Although its main cross-frame is repeated, instead of the arrow top and the semi-arrow bottom of the painting, the figures of the coat of arms of the painting, both stem and crossbar, both ends are folded at right angles, with the two flaps pointing at each other as if with a terminal. The doubt whether the "unrecognisable" sign was not changed during the restoration of the painting (or when it was renewed sometime earlier) is to be rejected, because the relief coat of arms of the newly formed Belvedere Manor ensemble of Casimir and Eve's son Kleopas Kletas Burba has remained almost identical on the façade of the chapel, i.e. without arrow-shaped elements. However, it has been modified in a slightly different way – the crossed branches of the ends of its figure are rotated to form the shape of a swastika, although they are atypically short for a swastika. However, the coat of arms of the Uvainiai family "Swan" on the heraldic left differs from the typical varieties of the latter coat of arms, because the white swan, depicted on a red field, is complemented by a brown arrow piercing it diagonally from below and a golden star above the bird. Thus, the coat of arms in question directs towards the research of the heraldry of both families and provides interesting material about the representations of the noble identity of the Burbai and Uvainiai families, which are important for the history and cultural history of Lithuania, especially Samogitia.

Foreshadowing of the painting, features of iconography and artistic expression

K. and I. Burbų donated the Blessed Virgin Mary. The iconography and composition of the painting of the Heart of Jesus are rare, their analogues are not known in Lithuania, although the original image exists and was based on it (in its repetition). This prototype is dated 1780 by Pietro Tedeschi (c. 1750 – after 1808) of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Painting of the Heart in Imola (Italy) St. The Church of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

Its discussion should begin by recalling the path of the Eucharistic motif to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Heart compositions. From the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which became more and more widespread in the Catholic Church. The representations of this plot accompanying the cult of the Heart of Jesus in art have changed both in terms of the image and the ideas conveyed by it. Initially, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Heart of Jesus was visualized only as a symbol of the heart, but soon angels adoring it were used, often signs of suffering symbolizing the sacrifice of the Redeemer and the Eucharist and/or the Lamb of God, the monstrance, the kielik with the host. The creation of these compositions was based on the late seventeenth century. St. The visionary of the Heart of Jesus, St. The words of the Saviour himself, heard during the mystical experience of Mary Margarita, who linked the Heart blazing with His love and the Eucharist. Such compositions of an emblematic nature, sometimes referred to as "Švč. Adoration of the Heart of Jesus", the second half of the eighteenth century – the nineteenth century replaced the Blessed Virgin Mary. Iconography of the Heart of Jesus, which depicts the whole or half visible figure of Christ with a burning heart on his chest (or stretched out in the palm of his hand). At that time, similar images, such as the paintings decorating the altars of the churches of Šiluva and Tytuvėnai and the sculpture of the porch of the second of these sanctuaries, spread in Lithuania as well. The Savior's gestures are of paramount importance for conveying the image and ideas of Jesus. They are varied, but Christ pointing to the chalice of the Mass with the host or holding it in his hand is an iconography that began to spread widely only in the twentieth century, born from the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sacred Heart and Blessed Sacrament. The convergence of the cult of the Blessed Sacrament, when common feasts of special veneration of them (for example, the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary) were introduced. The octave of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Thursday of the Eucharistic Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Day of the Heart of Jesus). Paintings of close content began to be created as early as the eighteenth century.

This is also the case with the painting painted by P. Tedeschi, which conveys these connections between Christ's Love and the Redemptive Sacrifice no longer in an emblematic composition, but in a figurative composition. The lower part of the painting depicts three adoring angels, similar to those of the early symbolic Blessed Virgin Mary. The characters of the compositions of the worship of the heart. The main figure of the painting is a straight figure of Jesus Christ rising on the central axis, with the Blessed Virgin Mary raised on his chest, surrounded by thorns, crowned with a cross and surrounded by rays. With the heart. With his right hand, outstretched, with his palm open and marked by a wound, the Savior points to the chalice of the Mass with the host held by the angel and additionally emphasized by the latter's gestures, gaze. On the other side, in front, the outline of the figure of an angel kneeling humbly in profile from the lower right corner guides the viewer's gaze and directs through the wing arc towards the host and the pointing hand of Jesus. The direction is echoed by a fragment of the third adorer seen behind the second angel. It is customary for the Savior to point to His Blessed Virgin Mary with his left hand bent on his left. Heart. In this case, the gentle gesture of this raised hand, holding the unfolded garment, directs the gaze towards the face of Jesus. The faces of the Savior and the angels have subtle features, characteristic of the art of sentimentalism, to which the whole work is to be attributed. Under the feet of the figures there is a blurred (church) pavement drawing, in the background – the glowing depths of the sky with soft clouds flying angels. The composition is baroque, but the mood is already different. According to the content, the painting is called "A Portrait of the Blessed Virgin Mary". The Heart and the Eucharist", but in Lithuanian it should be called "Eucharistic Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary". The Heart of Jesus".

Of course, the painter of the painting in Lithuania did not rely on this original, but on its repetition, presumably on the engraving. Perhaps Lorenzo Capponio (b. 1733), which quite accurately replicates the original, only with an inferior drawing and an additional inscription allowing it to be called "Švč. Adoration of the Heart of Jesus", or maybe another. The latter engraving has features that differ from the original, but are also found in the painting of Apytalaukis: The heart is surrounded by brighter rays, the shirt is no longer revealed and held by the hand, the head of the angel holding the cup is turned at a smaller angle.

The composition created by P. Tedeschi in the painting Apytalaukis has been further adjusted, adapted to a narrower canvas: space has been reduced, the coat of arms and inscription have been painted instead of angels in the clouds (before the painting of the painting disappeared there were clouds at the edges of the background), the fragmentarily visible angel has been abandoned, the kneeling one in profile has been raised higher, the figure of the angel with the cup is more compact (the former bare knees are covered, the left one is no longer raised). The gradually fading circles of mystical light in the Italian painting became circles with clear contours or a wide circle of rays. Their light and repetitive circular shape highlight and connect the most important elements of the composition – the face, heart and host of Jesus. And the raised hand of Jesus, which no longer holds the edge of the garment, seems to additionally envelop (protect) the radiant heart and directs the gaze more brightly to the face. The mood of the work is gentle, but much more moderate, and the face and gaze of Jesus are also calm.

Although the composition of the 1817 painting is inspired by example, the work is significant from the point of view of the development of the image of Jesus in Lithuanian art due to its rare iconography, as well as its artistry. It was painted by a professional artist during the smooth reduction and rearrangement of the composition of the original image, drawing and modeling of forms are characterized by an individual manner. Only due to partial decay, unfortunately, these features are now not revealed in all their former beauty.

The work reproduces the features of the following composition (the zigzag axis of the composition, the poses of the adorers), but its mood is different, and the drawing and rhythmic structure are more characteristic of the style of classicism, but not the most purified part of it. The colouring of the painting is richer than the colours of the original, the colours of the main colours – red, blue, green (bluish-green) and yellow – on the background of restrained tones of the local plane, the type of draperie folds and other features are characteristic of the painting of the Vilnius Art School. Although, in the absence of direct evidence and the lack of additional various researches, it would be incorrect to indicate the artist without any reservations, the gaze turns towards Jonas Rustemas (1792–1835). Kazimieras Burba (1780(?)–1841) is evidenced by the portrait of Vaiskis created by this artist (only a copy of the painting has survived). Comparing the Blessed Sacrament in question. The painting of the Heart of Jesus with the well-known works of this artist is noted by a similar drawing of hands, modelling of draperies, carnations of an angel with an angel on his bare shoulder, and other details.

One can compare the modeling of the neck of an angel with a monstrance, soft contoured shoulders, a bent arm, and a hand with portraits of women: images of Viktorija Šuazel, Antanina Veisenhofienė, Kristina Frankienė and others. Similarities or similarities in the modelling of draperies highlighting the movements of the figures of the adorants and the main structure of the body can be seen in J. Rustem's portraits of the whole figure (in the group painting in 1808 or by Ona Vankavičienė in 1805, in the latter the gesture of the hand raised upwards) and in the compositions. This comparison can be extended. It is even possible to see similar facial features in the portrait of K. Burba and in the church painting of Jesus. Although this similarity, as a result of the founder's wish, should be viewed with caution, it is certainly noticeable. The comparison is complicated by doubts about the originality of K. Burba's portrait. It is also difficult to judge the authorship of the painting painted for the church of Apytalaukis because no known compositions by J. Rustem for the altars of churches have survived. The paintings of St. John Kentietis and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The fate of the paintings of the Virgin Mary is unknown, and the bust of St. The image of Peter and the image of St. Francis Trevisani. The authorship of the copy of the family picture is still hypothetical; however, it should be noted that Vincentas Smakauskas testified that Rustem made copies. A comparison of chemical studies of the painting in question and other works of the painter would be useful in continuing the research. However, the authorship of J. Rustem already seems to explain the artistic quality of the painting and the smoothness of the corrections of the composition being followed. However, for the time being, the doubt remains – or is it the work of one of his students?

Conclusions

In 1817, the painting "Švč. The Heart of Jesus" is valuable for its history, artistry, and rare iconography, which allows it to be given a corrected title – "Eucharistic Blessed Virgin Mary". The Heart of Jesus". It adds to the knowledge about the work of the presumed author – the famous artist Jonas Rustemas, even if only the authorship of his pupil would later be revealed. The painting is important for the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the research of the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and this plot in Lithuanian art, significant for the history of the parish of Apytalaukis, patronage in Lithuania, and the families of the donors.

The work has been properly restored, its original image has been restored, and the historical-art research carried out has helped to reconstruct its original place and purpose, therefore this publication is presented to a wider circle of specialists and those interested in the history of Lithuanian culture.

In conclusion, it should be added that it is still difficult to discuss the relationship of the donors Kazimieras and Ieva Burbas with art and culture, but this is possible as a topic of research, especially if we look more broadly at the kinship relationships (perhaps it would be possible to unravel the genealogical threads wrongly intertwined in some publications).