4/5 Ina 4 years ago on Google
The
permanent
exhibition
is
largely
a
collection
of
portraits
of
Lithuanian
aristocracy,
intellectual
and
artistic
elite,
which
underscores
the
influence
of
the
Polish
aristocratic
portrait
tradition
on
the
artistic
vision
of
its
junior
partner
in
the
Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
(Might
be
of
interest
for
those
who
struggle
to
differentiate
Lithuania
from
its
Baltic
neighbors
Latvia
and
Estonia,
artistically
influenced
in
a
very
different
way,
by
a
protestant
German
culture
of
the
Hanseatic
league
of
independent
cities
with
merchants
and
guilds
as
important
social
actors
and
art
buyers.)
The
current
temporary
exhibition
(till
12
Jan
2020)
is
curated
in
a
modern
and
engaging
manner,
it
is
dedicated
to
the
history
of
buildings
of
the
central
street
(gatve)
Didźioji,
the
Picture
Gallery
is
situated
on
(in
a
palace
of
one
of
the
big
four
Lithuanian
aristocratic
families).
The
curators
supplied
every
exhibit
with
vivid
juicy
quotes
of
an
aristocratic
gossip
girl
of
XIX
c.
-
the
first
Lithuanian
female
novelist,
who
wrote
in
French,
the
language
of
European
aristocracy
of
her
time.
The
permanent
collection
of
Lithuanian
art
of
XVI-XIX
cc
is
very
good,
but
it
is
unfortunately
presented
without
any
engaging
context
-
the
portraits
without
any
story
or
history
behind
them
for
the
visitor
to
delve
into.
The
permanent
collection
should
definitely
borrow
the
approach
from
the
temporary
one.
Antique
history
subjects
weren't
familiar
to
me
(for
example,
who
was
Sophonisbe
and
why
she
had
to
be
poisoned?
Why
Scythians
came
to
Darius,
the
king
of
Persia?)
The
closer
to
XIX
c,
the
more
understandable
the
paintings
appear
to
be.
Back
to
the
female
novelist,
it's
interesting
that
despite
her
country's
politically
understandable
pinning
high
hopes
on
Napoleon,
she
clearly
sympathizes
with
the
Russian
emperor
Alexander,
who
apparently
had
better
human
skills
than
Napoleon.
One
of
her
anecdotes
is
a
XIX
century
me-too
moment:
one
of
Napoleon's
generals
stayed
in
her
father's
palace,
a
maid
entered
his
room
without
knocking
on
the
door,
the
man
was
exiting
the
bathroom
apparently
disrobed,
the
maid
was
shocked.
According
to
the
female
novelist
it
is
implied
the
man
was
in
the
wrong
instead
of
the
maid
should
have
knocked
on
the
door
before
entering.
No
audioguide.
The
lady
at
the
cash
register
gave
me
an
amazing
paper
street
guide
to
Didźioji
gatve
historical
buildings
to
walk
around.
Admission
3
euro.
A
manned
cloakroom.
Both
exhibitions
are
blended,
the
temporary
is
somewhere
in
the
middle
of
the
permanent
one.
It
was
helpful
that
I
read
in
previous
reviews
that
the
entrance
to
the
gallery
is
not
the
main
central
far
away
one,
but
the
side
one,
very
next
to
the
street.
