The Chapel of St. Casimir in Vilnius Cathedral
Vytautas Ališauskas, Mindaugas Paknys
The Chapel of St. Casimir in Vilnius Cathedral
Išsirinkite dar vieną knygą ir už pristatymą mokėkite mažiau
Kaplica św. Kazimierza w Arcykatedrze Wileńskiej
Vytautas Ališauskas, Mindaugas Paknys
Knygos anotacija
Casimir, the second son of the royal family, was born
in Cracow on the 3rd of October, 1458. His life was not long:
he died before he reached 26 years of age, on the 4th
of March, 1484, in the castle of Gardinas in Lithuania.
The young man had all the traits that the epoch prized
in the ruler: political instinct, intelligence, education,
personal charm. Yet he was strangely different from
the majority of the rulers of that time, just as he is
from the present ones. His ideal as a man and a statesman
was spelt out in the words of the Psalm: 'He that has
clean hands, and a pure heart' (Ps 24, 4).
It is sometimes said that every true temple is an image
of the Universe: it contains both the Heaven and the Earth,
the human world and the signs of eternity.
The Chapel dedicated to the patron of Lithuania likewise
encompasses the totality of reality, both visible and spiritual.
Two centuries after his death, Casimir's ideal of sanctity
was retold in the language of the new Baroque epoch.
It is the language of movement and passion,
of paradox and metaphor. Curved and broken lines
of the Chapel's architecture convey Casimir's striving for God.
Garlands of fruits and herbs remind one of immeasurable
spiritual harvest which life in the union with Jesus yields.

