Lietuvos kryždirbystės vaizdai: Adomo Varno negatyvų rinkinys

LTŠis Adomo Varno negatyvų rinkinys — svarbus kryždirbystės istorijos ir meninės raidos šaltinis. Jis suteikia ikonografinių ir empirinių duomenų dailėtyrai, istorinio ir etnologinio pobūdžio tyrinėjimams, paminklų restauravimui ar atstatymui bei pasiūlo idėjų šiandienos kryždirbystės tradicijos puoselėtojams. Šiame leidinyje pirmą kartą skelbiamas visas iki šių dienų išlikęs dailininko surinktų stiklo ir celiulioido negatyvų rinkinys, šiuo metu saugomas Lietuvos nacionaliniame ir Nacionaliniame M. K. Čiurlionio dailės muziejuose. Prieš patekdami į muziejų rinkinius, negatyvai patyrė įvairių laiko ir netinkamų sąlygų išbandymų, todėl dalis jų išbluko, prarado kontrastą, atsirado įvairių dėmių. Leidinio dailininkė, palikdama laiko uždėtą patiną, kai kurias dėmes, nešvarumus, subraižymus išvalė, paryškino kontrastą ar išblukusias detales. Vis dėlto dalis negatyvų sugadinti negrįžtamai, vaizdas juose neišlikęs. Tarpukariu sukaupti pagrindiniai fotografijų ir negatyvų rinkiniai šiandien yra svarbus šaltinis tiriant XIX a. ir XX a. pirmos pusės kryždirbystės tradiciją. Albumą „Lietuvos kryždirbystės vaizdai: Adomo Varno negatyvų rinkinys“ sudarė ir įvadą parengė menotyrininkė dr. Skaidrė Urbonienė. Straipsnius parengė Skaidrė Urbonienė, Vitalija Jočytė, Monika Gineikienė, Žydrė Petrauskaitė. Dailininkė Vida Ona Kuraitė. Knygos leidimą finansavo Lietuvos mokslo taryba, parėmė Vasario 16-osios fondas.

ENThe National Museum of Lithuania, in continuing the publication of photographs as a significant source of Lithuanian culture and history, is hereby presenting the collection of negatives with the images of cross-crafting in Lithuania collected by the painter Adomas Varnas in the 1920s. Currently, this collection of glass and celluloid negatives is stored in the National Museum of Lithuania and the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art. Various monuments of Lithuanian cross-crafting were captured in Varnas's collection of negatives: crosses, roofed- poles (stogastulpiai), chapel pillars (koplytstulpiai), and wayside shrines (koplytėlės) both on the ground and in trees. Most objects are made of wood; however, there are some objects of iron or stone. The negatives represent the broad chronology of the erection of wood monuments in the ethnographic regions of Aukštaitija (Northeastern Lithuania), Žemaitija (Western Lithuania), Suvalkija (Southwestern Lithuania), and Dzūkija (Southeastern Lithuania) from the middle of the 19th century to the late 1920s. The negatives reveal the cross-crafting monuments in various environments: in farmsteads, in squares of villages and towns, at crossroads, at roadsides, in cultivated fields, forests, next to rivers, streams or springs, in cemeteries, and churchyards. Varnas sought to encompass all the regions, their counties and rural districts. Unfortunately, he was not able to fully implement his idea; the counties were represented in a rather unbalanced manner, some images from certain rural districts are missing. Realising that he would not be able to achieve the set goal, the painter also included the negatives by other photographers in the collection. Most negatives come from the regions of Aukštaitija and Žemaitija.In the collection negatives, we can clearly distinguish graceful silhouettes of the two- or three-storey roofed- poles, often reaching up to 7-8 metres in height - typical of Aukštaitija - the decoration of which varied from moderate to abundant and highly elaborate. The images also reveal iron tops of roofed-poles wrought by smiths. Ornate crosses with altar-shaped shrines at the centre - where the crossbars intersect - were especially interesting to Varnas. Such crosses were photographed in various areas of Anykščiai, Kupiškis, Rokiškis, Utena, and Zarasai. Traditionally, chapel pillars were not so popular in Aukštaitija; they were more widespread in the north of Aukštaitija - around Radviliškis, Pasvalys, Joniškis, Pakruojis, Biržai - and in the east of Aukštaitija, and their shapes differed. In northern Aukštaitija, the chapel pillars with opensided or glazed quadrangular shrines were prevalent; the figurines inside shrines were separated by fretwork carved wood panels of floral and geometric patterns. Such chapel pillars were usually crowned with majestic, richly ornamented metal tops. Whereas the chapel pillars in eastern Aukštaitija typically featured a massive quadrangular or round crosssection stem and an open shrine at the top constructed out of the four roof supports. Usually, this type of chapel pillars contained the sculptural group of the Baptism of Jesus depicting St John the Baptist baptising Jesus, or a single figurine of St John the Baptist or, more rarely, that of St John of Nepomuk.Such chapel pillars were photographed in the regions of Rokiškis, Utena, Kupiškis, and Anykščiai. The crosses and chapel pillars made by the cross-maker Vincas Svirskis (1835-1916) captured in the counties of Kėdainiai and Panevėžys added a touch of uniqueness and exclusivity to the landscape of central Aukštaitija. Wayside shrines, chapel pillars, and crosses were traditionally more dominant in Žemaitija, whereas roofed-poles were less common. Varnas sought to capture all those forms in his collection. In it, we will be able to see moderately decorated crosses of two and three crossbars called karavykai (the Cross of Caravaca) or the Crosses of St Benedict typical of Žemaitija. Traditional tall crosses of two and three crossbars were erected for the protection from epidemics or other great adversities (war, famine). People believed that such particularly tall crosses built on an elevated area would scare away any impending disasters. In Žemaitija, just like in other regions, a lot of crosses with one crossbar were erected. Usually, they were decorated much less lavishly compared to the crosses of this type in Aukštaitija. The people of Žemaitija also built moderately decorated one-storeyed roofed-poles. The unique feature of the cross-crafting in the region of Žemaitija are its wayside shrines on the ground as well as chapel pillars of various shapes and forms. The collection contains a lot of images of such chapel pillars, whereas the number of images of wayside shrines on the ground is significantly smaller. Chapel pillars in Žemaitija were not very tall, up to 2-5 m. Most of the chapel pillars captured in the images are not elaborately decorated, but some of them are quite ornate. There are not many negatives in Varnas's collection from Dzūkija; however, they do contain images of exceptional crosses characteristic of this region [...].