Pažaislis is the most mature and magnificent work of art of all time in the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. CAN WE "READ" IT?
The book is richly illustrated with color photographs, diagrams and maps
100 copies were printed in July, 2021, later reprinted several times.
You can buy the book by writing to the author directly via e-mail indicated at the bottom of this webpage.
This photograph shows the culmination of the entire Pažaislis complex - the threshold of the central door of the church. Here you can see the 17th century's technical and artistic solutions that are among the most mature ever created in the lands of historical Lithuania. On the walls and the ceiling you can see 3D frescoes by M. Paloni from Florence. They are framed by white stucco sculptures made by G. Merli and dark marble brought from southern Poland. We will not find so much marble so skillfully processed in any other building that has survived in the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Photo of Martynas Ambrazas.
The Pažaislis complex includes the Camaldolese monastery with the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. The ensemble is considered one of the most perfect examples of mature baroque in Northern and Eastern Europe.
The most famous avant-garde elements created in Italy and especially in Rome were transferred to Pažaislis and perfected there. It is said that at the second half of the 17th century European civilization experienced its climax. Pažaislis is the place where the architecture, stucco sculptures, frescoes and other artistic solutions of that period are perfectly concentrated and harmonized. It is here that you can find what Western art has always been characterized by – proportions, religion, philosophy, natural lighting, craftsmanship, exceptional materials and wisdom.
This booklet asks what specific ensemble elements are important, why they are considered so, and how to recognize them. What symbols and what meanings are encoded in architectural and artistic solutions. After all, why are the elements of perfect beauty arranged in such a way that it is not easy to see them.
It is not enough to look and admire Pažaislis, you need to be able to see and to understand. Only then will this masterpiece open up in all its beauty and become a perfect helper when "reading" other works of Western civilization discovered all over the European continent stretching from Italy to Finland and created through a long period of more than a thousand years from the Middle Ages to the present day.