Restoration of Camaldoli Monastery in Pažaislis: Mistakes and Results

The project of restoration and adaptation of Pažaislis ensemble for the branch of the National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum in Kaunas” prepared by architect Stefanija Čerškutė in 1969 has initiated a range of complex restoration work of Pažaislis Camaldoli monastery ensemble. Various services of conservation, restoration and reconstruction have been provided for 35 years; however, no one has evaluated yet the quality of the results in terms of heritage preservation. Therefore, this is the first case of discussing and assessing the quality of heritage preservation work in terms of some evaluation criteria. According to the documents determining the concept of heritage preservation, the authenticity of a cultural asset is one of the main criteria with regard to its concept, form, materials, construction methods, aspects of surrounding and functions. The structure of this large object is very complex, and the volume and variety of work is impressing. Therefore, we have decided to choose the interior of St Virgin Mary Visitation Church with reference to some individual interior cases, which served as an example in discussing the most important issues of heritage preservation in the context of the entire Baroque ensemble. It has turned out that we need to address the heritage issues on three main levels of restoration and adaptation: 1) the restoration of murals, 2) the restoration of stucco mouldings, 3) the arrangement of surrounding space. Therefore, the article discusses in great detail the restoration of frescos, in the first place, and then the restoration of stucco mouldings, by highlighting the characteristic shortcomings, main issues and results. After evaluating these aspects in terms of the authenticity criterion, it has been admitted that the quality of fresco restoration is high. The same authenticity features have been used to assess the improvement of the church space.[...]Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta