The Fair in Vilnius by the Church of St Peter and St Paul

Wincenty Slendziński (1837–1909) studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, took part in the 1863 uprising, was imprisoned, and lived in exile for two decades. He only returned to Vilnius in 1883, and was a productive artist, painting realistic landscapes, portraits, historical compositions and religious pictures. After he married Anna Balcewicz, the widow of the photographer Józef Czechowicz (1818–1888), he gained access to Czechowicz’s photographs of Vilnius, which, according to the historian J. Mulevičiūtė, he used rather often ( J. Mulevičiūtė,Besotis žvilgsnis. Lietuvos dailė ir vizualiojikultūra 1865–1914, Vilnius, 2012, p. 60). This picture by Slendziński is based on the photographVilnius. St Peter’s Day Fair by the Church of St Peter and St Paulby Czechowicz, dated 1870–1880. The angle of view and the depiction of the details are identical. Slendziński’s painting is divided stylistically into two parts: the upper part, which shows the church, is painted geometrically and matter-of-factly; while the lower part, which depicts a crowd of people by the church, is more relaxed and sketchy. The hustle and bustle of the fair is painted in soft dabs, from under which separate details emerge: peasants’ carts, figures of well-dressed town dwellers, and ladies’ colourful umbrellas. Text author Laima Laučkaitė.