Decoration of the Great Concert Hall of Vilnius city Hall Palace (current Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall)

Tyrimas skirtas Lietuvos nacionalinės filharmonijos Vilniuje, buvusios Miesto salės XX a. pradžios interjero dekorui, sukurtam po 1910 m. gaisro, aptarti. Pristatomi išlikę Didžiosios salės puošybos projektai, minimi lipdybos ir dekoratyvinės tapybos atlikimo konkursai ir juose dalyvavę bei laimėję meistrai. Taip pat atkreipiamas dėmesys į sovietmečiu dėl ideologinių priežasčių pakeistas detales, pristatoma 1974-1993 m. salės restauracija, kurios metu suformuotas vaizdas matomas ir mūsų dienomis.The article analyses the interior decor of the beginning of the 20th century of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius, the former City Hall, created after the fire in 1910. Projects for decoration of the Great Hall are presented, contests for moulding and decorative painting, as well as masters who have participated and won them, are mentioned. Also, attention is paid to details which changed during the Soviet times for ideological reasons, the restoration of the hall in 1974-1993 during which the view that is visible even today was formed. The decor of the Great Concert Hall was created by the sculptor Juozapas Vožnickis, who won the contest and the painter Franciszek Gajkowski in 1911. Their work has partly reached our days. The moulded decor of arches of the scene and sidewalls of the parterre has changed most; the change has been caused by political events in the country. For a long time, it was the main concert hall, thus even the “innocent” ornamental moulding would have to express ideological postulates of the prevailing politics. In the last period of the restoration (1986-1993) combinations of colours chosen during the restoration process and combinations of colours seen today partly show the assonance of brown-ochre pigments found in polychromatic studies but mitigated, that only partially reflects the authentic colour solution. However, mentioned transformations did not conceal the general expression of the work of the architect V. Michnevičius, sculptor J. Vožnickis and painter F. Gajkowski. The decor typical of buildings of Vilnius of the beginning of the 20th century can be still seen clearly. Explaining the facts of the creative biography of masters, it can be concluded that F. Gajkowski started decorating buildings in Vilnius in 1887. After having lost his partner (the artist Treu) in 1910, the work on the polychrome of the City Hall could be one of the last orders in this city. It seems that after World War I he did not work here because he mostly resided in Warsaw. Meanwhile, Vožnickis began to become more active in Vilnius in 1909, and he could work here in the interwar period. The study made it possible to find out not only those architects, sculptors and painters who worked on the construction and decoration of the building, but also provided data on artists who participated in contests for the decoration, but did not win. This allowed expanding creative biographies of some masters, and some of their names were included for the first time in the circulation of Lithuanian art history