Lietuvos istorijos fragmentai Verkių peizažuose
Fragments of Lithuanian history in Verkiai landscapes

Summary/Abstract: The article introduces and gives the Lithuanian translation of the Mykolas Balinskis' (1794-1864) manuscript The History of Verkiai Village in the Vicinity of Vilnius which is kept in the Historical Archives of Lithuania. The historian Balinskis tells us the story of Verkiai on the basis of five J. K. Vilčinskis' lithographs after watercolour paintings by V. Sadovnikov produced in 1848 for The Vilnius Album. Along with the historical facts of the locality, through the descriptions of separate scenes (the entrance gates, courtyard, dining-room, orangery, and orphanage) and by telling the readers how the fragments of the manor-house not depicted in the lithographs look like, Balinskis gives a detailed picture of the manor-house at that time. Apparent is his desire to make the Verkiai manor something of a model for manor keeping of the epoch. In this way the elite's conception of the "ideal" image of Lithuania reveals itself. Along with the legendary episodes of the pagan past and the facts of historic battles against the Teutonic Knights or Moscow, this conception encompasses the realia of later epochs: splendid and convenient manor houses, art collections that drew the Lithuanian nobles closer to European elite, collection of antiquities helping to preserve and encourage interest in the national heritage, education of poor children and other charity activity serving as the base for future society. It is well worth noting that the historian does not forget the wonderful nature, which is regarded as an integral part of the national image of Lithuania and the perpetuation of which seems to be placed on the same footing as the preservation of historical monuments.

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