Skaitant "Atrastą Vilnių" su dailės istorike Birute Rūta Vitkauskiene
ENThe 2023 book "Atrastas Vilnius. Kartografiniai ir sociotopografiniai miesto maketo šaltiniai, published by the Lithuanian National Museum, introduced the groundbreaking research" by art historians Dr Birutė Rūta Vitkauskienė and Karolina Glinska. This work has been significant for both researchers of Vilnius and the broader public. By investigating a general plan of Vilnius from 1832 and facade drawings of Vilnius buildings from 1834, found in Russian military archives, the researchers were able to accurately identify depicted objects, many of which no longer exist today, and reconstruct the long-lost image of Vilnius. In a conversation with art historian Dr Birutė Rūta Vitkauskienė, the model that allowed a glimpse into an unseen Vilnius and its transformation was created based on material found in Russian military archives the 1832 general plan of Vilnius and the 1834 facade drawings of the city. Some of these drawings were obtained by Lithuanian scholars during the Soviet era. However, accurately identifying what was depicted and reconstructing the long-lost view of Vilnius was only achieved through Dr Vitkauskienės research. She discovered that the cartographic and iconographic materials scattered across different archives were prepared with a single purpose: to create a model of Vilnius as ordered by the Tsarist Russian government, useful for controlling a city frequently rising in the fight for freedom.
