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- Title
RŪPINTOJĖLIO KULTAS LIETUVOJE.
- Authors
Surdokaitė, Gabija
- Abstract
The image of Christ in Distress belongs to the group of devotional (Andachtbild) images which were formed during the late Middle Ages. In the middle of the 17th - 19th centuries the image preserved this tradition. The spread of this image during the 17th - 18th centuries relates to an inveteracy of devotion for the Passion of Christ and it is for this reason that this iconographical type can be very often found in churches where works devoted to the theme of Christ predominate. The first attempts to relate the image of Christ in Distress to political events are noticeable from the third division of the Republic of the Two Nations onwards. These tendencies grew stronger after the rebellions of 1831 and 1863. The meaning of the Christ in Distress gradually became altered during this period. During the last decade of the 19th century and the early 20th century, the idea of the Christ in Distress as a symbol of the nation was formed, an idea which grew especially popular during the third and fourth decades. At the same time other essential changes to this subject occurred. Efforts made in the 17th and the first half of the 19th centuries to merge a sense of imitatio and compassio to the image of the Savior changed the concept of Christ in Distress - he became a Christ who suffers together with the nation. This was transformed into a form of spiritual support during the Soviet and post- Soviet period, when within the image of Christ in Distress there was a quest for consolation, strength, Lithuanian identity and resistance against oppression. The historical events of the end of the 20th century (13th of January in1991) and religious anniversaries (the anniversaries of the 600 hundred years after the baptism of Lithuania and 2000 years of Christianity) destined a drive towards the "massive production" of Christ in Distress. However, many works devoted to the commemoration of these occasions were more of an expression of nationality and had a political character and were, consequently, not so much representations of the idea of the Christ in Distress. Furthermore, the abundance of monuments and the rather frequent usage of the conception of Christ in Distress led to the complete de-sacralization and profanation of this symbol.
- Subjects
LITHUANIA; CULTS; JESUS Christ; DEVOTIONAL objects; ATTRIBUTION of sculpture; SYMBOLISM in art
- Publication
Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, 2008, Issue 51, p155
- ISSN
1392-0316
- Publication type
Article