Crosses and chapels abroad: exploring European countries

In 2011 due to the postdoctoral traineeship I had an opportunity to visit several European countries. I spent one month in the Austrian Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art in Vienna and one month in the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), moreover I spent a relatively shorter period of lime in the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology in Ljubljana and one week in the Prague National Library. These are my impressions of what I have experienced during the period of my traineeship. At present, I am involved in exploring the contemporary folk sculpture and cross-making traditions; therefore it was interesting for me to find out whether similar traditions are still alive in other European countries. The tradition of erecting memorial monuments with the images of saints on roadsides, in the squares of small and big towns and near houses has been alive in all Catholic countries in Europe since ancient times. Agriculture is a predominant feature of European countries, therefore people have particularly been concerned with the protection of the crop, livestock and property against different hardships and disasters, namely pests, natural disasters, etc. that were considered to be caused by the evil spirits. The main means of protection - prayers to God, the Virgin Mary and the saints; therefore in many Catholic countries crosses and chapels depicting the images of saints were built to the Glory of God for fulfilling people's requests and for the grace of God as well as a sign of gratitude (a sacrifice) for the fulfilled requests. Motives for building monuments were similar in different countries: they marked the final resting places, locations of wars and tragic events likewise other important events. Additionally, monuments were built to mark the boundary lines of the adjoining parcels of land or villages. People were building chapels or crosses near their houses and prayed for a better harvest, health, happiness, etc. Although the reasons for building monuments were similar everywhere in the world, the types, shapes and materials of monuments were slightly different. Lithuania is a distinctive country for building wooden memorial monuments; however a great number of wooden monuments have been built in Poland likewise. In the countries which I have visited, that is, Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia as well as the Catholic areas of the Netherlands, brick and stone wayside shrines and chapels were built most frequently. The only exception concerns crosses, since they were made of wood, stone or cast metal. I was also concerned about the current situation regarding folk sculptures and the art of cross-making in Europe. The same as in Lithuania, in other countries one can seldom see ancient sculptures in an authentic environment. Monuments, especially those made of brick and stone and built at the beginning of the 19-20th centuries or even in earlier periods of time, have survived though most of them have remained without any decorations and just occasionally people decorated them with pictures or factory - made sculptures. Nowadays, in many countries ancient chapels and wayside shrines serve their primary function. This is apparent from the elements of ornamentation: they are arrangements of flowers and candles. Generally, wooden crosses are new; nevertheless they are built or reconstructed according to the ancient iconographic materials. Chapels and other monuments are supervised and renewed, whereas some monuments are reconstructed or even build anew; the images of saints are decorated with flowers and candles. For example, in Slovenia wooden crosses have been decorated with patterned towels until recently. Explorations in Europe have demonstrated that wood carvers lived and created works of art in many Catholic countries, moreover they set sculptures on crosses, wayside shrines and chapels. Earlier I used to think that my nation should boast itself for a diversity of stories for folk sculptures, though presently I have doubts about it. Other countries do not differ from us with respect to this particular matter. So, I sometimes ask myself "What is it that makes us uniquely different?" I should consider the diversity of shapes and ornamentation of our crosses as well as the shapes and decor of our chapels and wayside shrines. I should also stress the fact that we are distinguished for our persistent traditions. Many new crosses, wayside shrines and chapels are still being built in Lithuania, whereas in other countries they are merely reconstructed. We should be proud for we have a large number of wood carvers and sculptors who create not only traditional religious iconographic sculptures but also the works of art of different genres (mythological, historical, etc.). In the countries which I have visited, artists make sculptures but they are more like souvenirs. The viability of traditions is the basic factor indicating why the art of cross-making in Lithuania has been inscribed on the UNESCO list of masterpieces of intangible heritage for its protection