Šiluva ir 1937 m. Paryžiaus pasaulinė paroda

Abstract

The object of the article refers to the main focus of the Lithuanian pavilion at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition, the sculpture of The Christ in Distress created by Juozas Mikėnas (1901–1964). The article explores the creation history of this exhibit as well as cultural circumstances of the given period which determined the choice of the main subject for that exhibit. The paper also specifies a possible prototype of the J. Mikėnas’ Christ in Distress sculpture. About 1936 a small sculpture of The Christ in Distress created by a folk artisan was found behind the High altar in Šiluva. According to the witness of this event Zigmas Toliušis, namely this sculpture carved by an unknown folk artist became the source of inspiration for the sculptor J. Mikėnas. The choice of The Christ in Distress subject for the main exhibit of the Lithuanian pavilion at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition was determined by the political and cultural situation of the fourth decade of the 20th century. The image of Lithuania as “the country of the Christ in Distress”, formed in the second and third decades of the 20th century, became an unquestionable affirmation in the fourth decade of that century. The 1937 Paris World Exhibition turned to be one of the major “stages” in consolidating these ideas in the world. In spite of controversial evaluations in the press of that period, the work of the sculptor J. Mikėnas marks the whole cultural epoch of interwar independent Lithuania and also remains one of the most important works in the sculptor’s oeuvre.