A branch of Lithuanian folk art -
cross-crafting - is an inseparable part of the country's landscape. The
tradition of cross building is common in all Catholic countries, but
only in Lithuania can one find such a diversity and richness of the
forms. Various types of crosses, traditional cross-shaped and
pillar-type ones, as well as miniature chapels were erected in the
country, and they were embellished with ornamental carvings. Both the
crosses and miniature chapels were richly decorated with wooden statues
of saints. Their sculptural forms were very expressive because the
features of primitive art were peculiar to them - the proportions of the
bodies were boldly transformed, and they were painted in bright colors
that faded in the course of time.
The originality and artistic variety of this form of folk art were
recognized by UNESCO in 2001 by including Lithuanian cross-crafting into
the world cultural heritage.
The Museum of Utena has a collection of over 120 sculptures from the
region of Aukštaitija (eastern Lithuania). It comprises sculptures of
the crosses and miniature chapels, and some of them are from local
churches. The earliest statues date from the end of the eighteenth
century; the latest ones are from the first half of the twentieth
century. In the middle of the twentieth century the Soviet regime,
fighting against religion, prohibited the building of crosses and
destroyed the old ones. Therefore only few of those, built in great
numbers in the first half of the twentieth century in the villages,
homesteads, towns, at the roads, beside rivers, lakes and in the
cemeteries survived in the landscape of Lithuania. In the nineties,
after Lithuania regained its independence, cross-crafting was resumed
and many impressive crosses with their statues were rebuilt.
The names of the authors of old
wooden sculptures are unknown, though there is some information about
the most famous wood carvers Antanas Deveikis, Adolfas and Jonas
Ivanauskas, and Silvestras Toleikis. They came from poor peasant
families and were self-taught, although otherwise they were very
interesting and creative personalities.
The themes of old sculptures were taken from Christian iconography, the
most popular among them were the Crucifixion and Mater Dolorosa. Two
topics were especially typical of this region of Lithuania: the baptism
of Jesus in the Jordan River and St. John Nepomuk, a Bohemian priest,
who was allegedly drowned in the Vltava River for refusing to reveal to
the king the confessions of his wife; it was believed that he protects
people from drowning. There are many rivers and lakes in the environs of
Utena, therefore the sculptures, related to the symbolism of water, are
very common.
The text prepared by Catalogue SENOJI
LIAUDIES SKULPTURA UTENOS KRASTOTYROS MUZIEJUJE, Utena, 2002
