The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Antokol, as a brick building, was founded by Lithuanian Grand Hetman and Vilnius Voivode Michał Kazimierz Pac in 1667-1676. The temple was designed and subsequently built by Jan Zaor from Krakow. After his death in 1672, work (vaults, dome) continued under the direction of Giovanni Battista Frediani.

The interior of the church was decorated by Giovanni Pietro Perti and Giovanni Maria Galli, who were imported from Italy in 1677. Under their direction, a rich decoration was created, comprising figures of apostles and martyrs, scenes from the New Testament, the lives of saints and the history of the parish, and animalistic representations. The most magnificent stucco decoration among the churches of the Republic was further complemented by fresco paintings on the vault of the nave attributed to Martin Altomonte, numerous Baroque paintings, silver antependia, organs, the miracle-working image of Our Lady of Grace and a wooden pulpit in the shape of a boat.

Work completed in 2023

In the summer of 2023, comprehensive conservation and restoration work was completed on two ceramic figures from the façade of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Vilnius. Saints Peter and Paul in Vilnius.

The work on the sculptures was very demanding. The location of the sculptures and the difficult accessibility to them were a major challenge during the work carried out under the direction of Dr Maria Gąsior.

The conservation project for the statues began in 2022 with an examination of the ceramic heads of the statues by digital X-ray, even before the sculptures were removed from the church façade. An attempt was then made to make a reconstruction in porous ceramics, corresponding to the original.

The project was made possible thanks to the successful collaboration with the parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Antokol and after obtaining the relevant permits from the Kultūros paveldo departamentas prie Kultūros ministerijos (Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania).

Executor: Maria Gąsior 'Euklasis' Conservation of Works of Art

Work carried out in 2022.

In 2022, we commissioned laser scanning of the interior of the Antokal Church. The resulting point cloud is a digital copy of the object and can be used for future conservation and promotional activities.

Executor: Geometric Sp. z o.o.

In addition, a project has begun on the conservation of the ceramic statues of St Augustine and St Stanislaus Kazimierczyk from the church façade. The sculptures were placed on the façade in 1673 and their author was most probably Jędrzej Nowotny.

The project began with an X-ray examination of the figures' ceramic skulls, which allowed the conservation and restoration work programme to be updated. After obtaining the relevant permits, the two sculptures were dismantled and transported to a conservation workshop in Wrocław, where their preliminary cleaning and disinfection was carried out.

Executor: Maria Gąsior

Work carried out between 2022 and 2023 within the framework of the strategic programme of the Polonia Institute "Protection of Polish cultural heritage abroad"