Konkurs na pomnik Księcia Witolda. Niezrealizowany projekt Ludomira Sleńdzińskiego w duchu nowego klasycyzmu

Abstract

The competition for a monument to Prince Witold / Vytautas in Wilno / Vilnius: Ludomir Sleńdzinski’s unrealized project in the spirit of new classicism

The article presents hitherto unpublished research on the competition for the design of a monument to Prince Witold / Vytautas, which was to be erected in the square next to the Cathedral in Wilno / Vilnius. The initiative to erect the monument was organized on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of the brother of King Władysław Jagiełło in 1930. Although information on Sleńdziński’s project and its artistic value has appeared in a small number of studies by Polish and Lithuanian scholars, the background of the project, its artistic inspirations, as well as its turbulent history, including the trial for plagiarism, have so far been unknown. By means of studying documents belonging to Marian Morelowski (who participated in the activities of the Committee for the Celebration of the Witold Anniversary), preserved in the Department of Manuscripts of the Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław, archival materials in the possession of the heirs of Marian Morelowski, and searches abroad, it was possible to discover much new, previously unknown information. Research into archival materials and contacts with the staff of the Sleńdzinski Gallery in Białystok have yielded very interesting results, which shed new light on this fascinating sculptural project and its history. The article presents the history of the project of the monument to Prince Witold, beginning with the establishment of the Committee for the Celebration of the Witold Anniversary, leading to the artistic concept and the suggestions of the author of the sculpture as to its final design, and ending with the dispute over plagiarism, which was settled in court, and whose outcome brought an unexpected conclusion to this valuable initiative to honor the memory of Prince Witold.