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Šiluvos koplyčia - unikalus XX a. pradžios architektūros pavyzdys
Date Issued | Issue | Start Page | End Page |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | 5 | 86 | 94 |
The article aims at revealing the architectural uniqueness of the Šiluva Chapel designed by Antanas Vivulskis in 1903–1906 and built in 1912–1924. It is sought to highlight national aspects observable in the architecture of the Chapel and evaluate the stylistics of the construction in the context of Lithuanian architecture of the first half of the 20th century. The Chapel of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Šiluva is the only monumental creation realised by the architect and sculptor Antanas Vivulskis (1877–1919) and the one that survived until the present day. Antanas Vivulskis was the first one at the time who acquired a “dual” education. In 1897–1901 he graduated from Higher Technical School in Vienna (Technische Hochschule) and in 1902–1908 he studied at Paris National School of Fine Arts (École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts). He had a possibility to visit a lot of countries of Western Europe and to get acquainted with their architecture. Being a representative of the historical nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania he consciously decided to work for Lithuania. Vivulskis designed the project for the Šiluva Chapel at the time when the cosmopolitan architecture of historical styles was spreading in Lithuania. In this context, the decision on the Chapel appeared to be very radical. Reasoning as a sculptor, alongside with the schemes he moulded out of clay the model of the Chapel. In one of his letters he formulated the aim that the Chapel had to be of the “Samogitian spirit“. Raising over a stable plinth and reminding of the obelisk, the tower of the Chapel exhibits some gothic reminiscences. Nevertheless, it is furnished with two absolutely ingenious constituents: the cross which has become an architectural form embossed in the facade of the tower and wooden porches girdling the plinth part.[...].