Tatsiana Varabei

The Baroque Architectural Heritage of the Former Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Persistence, Transformation, and Demolition, 1772–1918

The PhD project explores the fate of Baroque heritage in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the long 19th century, when these lands were part of the Russian Empire. During this period, the Baroque style fell out of fashion across Europe, displaced by Classicism and subsequent styles, and was considered in bad taste for decades until it was revisited and even experienced some revival in the late 19th century. The rich and diverse Baroque architecture in the present-day Belarus and Lithuania faced even bigger challenges at the time, and the political factor played a principal role here. In the aftermath of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and January Uprising of 1863–1864 against the Russian rule, the imperial authorities intensified their Russification policies in this region. This included the so-called “church-building reforms”, which involved transforming former Catholic and Greek-Catholic churches into Orthodox ones, mainly in Classicism or pseudo-Byzantine/Russian styles, with a focus on removing or replacing “Latin” elements, often associated with “Polish influence”. As a result, the Baroque monuments, being the most numerous, relatively recent, and extremely “Latin” ones, suffered the most from these policies.

My research aims to explore the peripeties of this heritage in connection with aesthetic changes, colonial policies of the Russian Empire, emerging art history and preservation, and national self-determination in the region. I plan to study how various groups and individuals such as government authorities, art scholars and enthusiasts, private patrons, clergy, and local communities, perceived the Baroque heritage and what role they played in the preservation or destruction of these monuments. Additionally, I intend to consider various social, religious, political, economic, and other factors behind these attitudes and processes, as well as their consequences.

Articles

• “Kasciol Sv. Jana Chryscicielia ŭ Stalovičach – pomnik «vilienskaha baroka» (pavodlie invientaroŭ XVIII–XIX stst.) [The church of St. John the Baptist in Stalovičy as a monument of Vilnius Baroque (according to the inventories of the 18th–19th centuries)],” Archivaryus 15 (2017): 113–125.
• “Zabieĺski kliaštar daminikancaŭ: zniešni i ŭnutrany vyhliad komplieksu ŭ XIX – pačatku XX st. (pavodlie dakumientaŭ Nacyjanaĺnaha histaryčnaha archiva Bielarusi) [Zabiely dominican monastery: the exterior and interior in the 19th – early 20th century (according to the documents from the collection of National Historical Archives of Belarus)],” Archivaryus 14 (2016): 207–220.
• “Stan architekturnaj spadčyny I.K. Hlaŭbica ŭ kancy XVIII – pačatku XX st. [The state of the architectural heritage of J.C. Glaubitz at the end of the 18th – at the beginning of the 20th century],” Archivaryus 12 (2014): 242–253.

Conference Proceedings

• “Tearetyčnaje asensavannie architekturnaj spadčyny «vilienskaha baroka» ŭ mastactvaznaŭstvie 1920–1930-ch hh. [The theoretical interpretation of Vilnius Baroque in the art criticism of the 1920–1930s],” in Iz istorii nauki Belarusi: k 25-letiyu istoricheskogo fakul’teta BrGU imeni A.S. Pushkina (November 25–26, 2016). Minsk 2018, 264–272.
• “Achova pomnikaŭ «vilienskaha baroka» ŭ II Rečy Paspalitaj (1921–1939) [The protection of monuments of Vilnius Baroque in the Second Polish Republic (1921–1939)],” in Tradycyi i sučasny stan kuĺtury i mastactvaŭ (November 24–25, 2016). Minsk 2017, 76–80.
• “Architekturnaja spadčyna I.K. Hlaŭbica na sučasnym etapie: zakanadaŭčyja asnovy achovy pomnikaŭ i ich pravavy status [The architectural heritage of J.C. Glaubitz at the present stage: legislative foundations for the protection of the monuments and their legal status],” in Tradycyi i sučasny stan kuĺtury i mastactva (November 20–21, 2014). Minsk 2014.

• “‘Styl kościoła i ołtarzy tak zwykły u nas w kraju …’: Multicultural Perspectives on the Baroque Architecture of the Former Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Early 20th Century,” international conference Old Cities, Former Capitals and the Nation-State Building in Europe (18th-20th Centuries): Regional and National Identities, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, November 19-21, 2024.
• “Baroque Architecture as Part of the European Landscape: 19th-Century Perception,” poster presentation at the conference Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Landscapes in Language, Society and Cognition 2024 (ILANSCO24), University of Zurich, September 9-11, 2024.
• “The Baroque Architectural Heritage of the Former Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Persistence, Transformation, and Demolition, 1772–1918,” international workshop Resonant Conflicts. Turning Points in the Baltic Sea Region, organised by the IRTG Baltic Peripeties. Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes, Department for Language and Literature, NTNU Trondheim, May 22-24, 2024.
• “Papuliaryzacyja i tvorčaja intepretacyja spadčyny ‘vilienskaha baroka’ ŭ 1920–1930-ja hh. [The Popularization and Creative Interpretation of the Heritage of Vilnius Baroque in the 1920–1930s],” 7th International Congress of Belarusian Studies, Warsaw, September 15-17, 2017.
• “Interpretacyja i achova spadčyny ‘vilienskaha baroka’: poĺski, bielaruski i litoŭski padychody ŭ histaryčnaj pierspiektyvie [The Interpretation and Protection of the Heritage of ‘Vilnius Baroque’: Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian Approaches in Historical Perspective],” 6th International Congress of Belarusian Studies, Kaunas, October 17-19, 2016.