Work of Nicolaus Wolscheid in Pažaislis monastery : the reconstruction of historical truth

The article analyses the works of the sculptor of German origin Nicolaus Wolscheid, who created in Pažaislis Camaldolese monastery until 1676 m. Until recently the stone sculpture of Pažaislis wasn't analysed as an autonomous subject. The main part of the figurative sculptures - eight stone statues - haven't remained. These were the St. Virgin Mary Visitation Church facade and Great gates stone sculptures, destroyed at the end of the third quarter of the XIX c. This research tries to fully reconstruct the image of the lost sculpture, which is analysed in the context of the iconographical program of Pažaislis monastery decor. The article shows that all these no longer existing works were significant within the ideological program of the Pažaislis monastery in terms of semantics, artistic and compositional aspects. The remaining fragments of N. Wolscheid figurative sculptures are analysed for the first time and the characteristics of his work are revealed. The article is illustrated by the N. Wolscheid works fragments, which are also published for the first time