Architectural theory in the 18th century Lithuania

Straipsnyje nagrinėjami XVIII a. architektūros teorijos LDK ypatumai ir raida. Gvildenami šios mokslo srities tekstai, sukurti Vilniaus ir Polocko jėzuitų, dominikonų ir pranciškonų, taip pat pasaulietinių institucijų aplinkoje. Aptariami konservatyvūs ir modernūs architektūros teorijos raidos aspektai, žanrinė specializacija, sąsajos su šios srities Vakarų Europos ir Lenkijos darbais.Article deals with the peculiarities and development of architectural theory in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 18th century. The texts on architecture written by Vilnius and Polock Jesuits, local Dominicans and Franciscans as well as in the milieu of secular educational institutions are examined. Conservative and modern aspects of the theory, its objective specialisation, relations with Western European and Polish architectural theory are discussed. In the 18th century Lithuania, interest in architectural theory was increasing though the heritage of this kind is quite slender and mostly unpublished, remains as manuscripts. It means that ideas of local architectural theory did not spread widely and diffused in a rather exclusive environment. On the other hand, these works testify the impact and adaptation of European architectural theory. The first treatises on architecture in the 18th century matured in the milieu of monastic educational institutions ( Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans) and were related to the didactic process. Even in the Age of Enlightenment, Lithuanian Jesuits maintained a traditional conservative attitude towards architecture as a part of the ars liberalis world, a branch of the field of mathematics. Architectural treatises by Dominicans Głowicki and Jawerowski, Franciscan Kamieński, priest Dudziński, contrary to the earlier treatises by Jesuits, were dedicated purely to the architectural topics and reflected modern notions of the 18th century European architectural theory. Contacts with European cultural centres (Rome, Bologna) gave impacts to treat architecture and its theory as an independent field of intellectual activity, encouraged crystallisation of local architectural theory and contributed to raising the status of the profession of the architect