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- Title
Kilmė įpareigoja: decorum grafų Zabielų Paežerių dvaro rūmuose.
- Authors
Daraškevičius, Marius
- Abstract
The article analyses the application of the principles of decorum in manorial architecture in Lithuania in the 1700s. The case study focuses on the manor house of the Counts Zabiela (Zabiełło) in Paežeriai (Vilkaviškis district, Lithuania). Art historian Aleksandra Aleksandravičiūtė was the first to do research into this topic when discussing the sculptural décor of the Paežeriai. This article continues the analysis in the framework of decorum: the plan and functional structure of the Paežeriai manor house, and the relationship between the decoration of the remaining spaces and the function of the rooms. The research aims to assess whether the principles of decorum were applied in the Paežeriai manor house, considering the high status of the Counts Zabiela in society and the functions associated with their status – social, representative, and private. The plan and inventory data of the Paežeriai manor house are unknown, therefore the only possibility to discuss the primary plan and the functional structure of the house is the object itself, as well as analogues and examples which circulated in treatises on architecture. During the Age of Enlightenment, the issue of decorum was given much attention in aristocratic architecture. Like good manners, good architectural decorum was not mandatory, but it was usually respected and considered when designing façades, interiors, planning spaces and their functions. Since this topic was widely discussed during the Enlightenment, the concept of decorum is briefly addressed at the beginning of the article. Before starting the analysis of the manor house, the family of the Counts Zabiela and the importance of their rise in the 1700s are discussed. The question of the architect of the Paežeriai manor house is touched upon. The established opinion in historiography is that the house was designed by the German-born architect Marcin Knackfus vel Martin Knackfuss (ca. 1740–ca. 1821). The author of the article overviews the works on the theory of architecture, which discuss the issue of decorum, and which were presumably referred to by this and other architects who worked in Lithuania. As a similar house-planning analogue, the Ruzhany (Belarus) manor house of the Sapiega (Sapieha) family, designed by German-born architect Jan Samuel Becker, was chosen. The preserved project of this house and the inventory of the premises compiled shortly after its construction provide reliable knowledge about the plan and functional structure of the house. This data can be hypothetically applied to the case study of Paežeriai. The last part of the article presents a hypothetical reconstruction of the planning and functional structure of the Paežeriai manor house. In conclusion, it is argued that the plan and functional structure of the piano nobile of the Paežeriai manor house is typical of the 1700s and is based on the French model. The entire space of the first floor consisted of three types of rooms, which could be entered from the vestibule: the guest apartment (a drawing room, a dining room, and a butler’s pantry with a service staircase), the state apartment (a ball room, an antechamber, and a state bedroom) and a private (hostess?) apartment (an antechamber, a bedroom, a closet, and a staircase). The ground floor was supposed to contain service rooms and presumably the owner’s apartment. The group of vaulted rooms could be used for storing valuables or functioned as service rooms. The preserved exterior and partially preserved interior decoration of the Paežeriai manor house allows us to appreciate the principles of applying decorum. The general motif that is common to the entire decoration is the Ionic order. It is the only classical order used in the entire formal reception route: from the façade portico, the ground and first floor vestibules, to the state apartment including the state bedroom. In the decoration, the aim was to emphasize the function of the room and its character by artistic means. Regarding the house planning and room functions, the principles of decorum were applied considering the high position of the Counts Zabiela in society and the functions associated with their social, representational, and private status. The principle of decorum was consistently applied in the Paežeriai manor house: the space planning and room functions were combined with the decoration, and the general whole of the interior was directly connected with the exterior of the building. In the words of Voltaire, such simple and noble architecture, where every element is in its right place, allows you to enjoy a work that does not dazzle, but always pleases.
- Publication
Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, 2023, Issue 110/111, p398
- ISSN
1392-0316
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.37522/aaav.110-111.2023.181