Vytauto Didžiojo portretai

LTVytautas Didysis (1350-1430) jau seniai yra tapęs Lietuvos valstybingumo ir nepriklausomybės simboliu, todėl ir dėmesys šiai istorinei asmenybei - neblėstantis. Dailininkai - tapytojai, skulptoriai ir grafikai, minint jo mirties 500-ąsias metines, sukūrė nemažai Vytauto Didžiojo portretų. Į tai gyvai reagavo menotyrininkas P. Galaunė, kuris savo pastebėjimus 1933 m. apibendrino straipsnyje "Vytauto portretai". Straipsnyje autorius sprendžia senųjų Vytauto Didžiojo portretų autentiškumo klausimą, nes kiekvienas dailininkas, kurdamas bet kurio istorinio asmens portretą, visų pirma domisi fizionominiu panašumu, o tik po to portreto menine išraiška.

ENFrom old times Vytautas the Great (1350-1430) is the symbol of selfdependence and independence of Lithuania, and the attention to this historical personality is never to die out. Commemoration of the 500th death anniversary of Vytautas the Great stimulated painters, sculptors and drawers into creating his portraits. Professor P. Galaunė, an art critic, discussed these portraits in the article "The portraits of Vytautas" published in 1933. P. Galaunė studied the problem of the authenticity of the oldest portraits of Vytautas the Great. He tried to answer the question, if there were portraits of Vytautas the Great painted from nature. In a portrait every artist aims rather at resemblance of appearance of a person than expressing his own artistic views. The view that there are no authentic portraits of Vytautas is erroneous. "Imaginary portrait" notion is used in art studies. Such portraits are created some hundred years later after a person's death. In such portraits resemblance of appearance can be only accidental or none at all because the imaginary portrait is the result of artist's fantasy. The art critic M. Matušakaitė affirms that all portraits of Vytautas the Great are imaginary portraits - but her proposition is not proved. In the course of ages authentic and imaginary portraits form the reliable iconographical way of a person's representation independent from changes in art styles. We can't except a possibility that there is resemblance of appearance in the portraits of Vytautas the Great, because the portraits can be the latest copies of the oldest authentic portrait. It may occur that the known old portraits of Vytautas the Great, i. e. his portrait in a miniature of the middle of the 16th century and his allfigure sculptural portrait dating from the first half of the 17th century, have been created from the earlier nature portraits. These suppositions could be confirmed with argumentation after having found th.