A short report on the progress of sculptor Henryk Kuna in creating a monument to Adam Mickiewicz to be erected in Vilnius. Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, the monument was not completed. Information from the journal "Sztuki Piękne",1933, no. 10, pp. 363-364 (public domain, reprinted from the Library of the University of Silesia, Katowice).

A modernised reading of the text

Construction of the Adam Mickiewicz monument.

The terms of the agreement between the Main Committee for the Construction of the Adam Mickiewicz Monument in Vilnius and the sculptor Henryk Kuna stipulate that the monument will be fully completed and erected on the designated site in Vilnius in June 1935. The progress of the work to date allows us to assume that, provided funds do not fail, this deadline will be met. In October last year, Mr Kuna presented the Committee's Receiving Committee with a life-size plaster model of the bard's figure (about 1 m 80 cm) and the first clay reliefs begun.

During the winter of last year, Mr Kuna continued working on the bas-reliefs, which he made in clay and then cast in plaster, and began work on a statue of Mickiewicz 6 m high, that is, in the dimensions envisaged in the project for the monument. Initially, the artist intended to make a sculpture of the figure to be cast in clay and plaster, but with the agreement of the Committee's Board of Directors, he decided to prepare a wooden model, as this allowed the sculpture to be worked out more calmly and precisely.

The wooden model will become the property of the Committee once it has been cast in bronze. In August b. The Receiving Committee, consisting of Prof. Slendzinski, Prof. Lalewicz, Prof. Breyer and Dr. Lorentz, concluded that all the bas-reliefs, 12 in number, were completed and cast in plaster, and that work on the statue in wood was nearing completion. At the same time, the Commission took delivery of the first shipment of granite from the Volyn quarries from the Grzezowski and Strug company. Almost all the granite needed for the construction is now in Warsaw, the granite for the footings has been largely worked and the forging of the first bas-reliefs in the stone has begun. In two to three weeks the wooden model of the statue will be finally finished, and over the winter the Committee will consider bids for the bronze casting.

Since, for technical reasons, the sculpting and casting work is being carried out in Warsaw, the people of Vilnius have generally not yet had the opportunity to see for themselves how the construction of the monument is really progressing. A few days ago, announcements in the press brought news of the Committee's intention to proceed with the construction of the foundation for the monument in Mickiewicza Street. On 11 October, at a meeting chaired by President Maleszewski, matters relating to the construction of the foundation were considered in detail, after which the Committee's Executive Committee, together with invited experts, determined the order of the work.

Due to the dimensions of the monument (over 17 metres high), it was decided to make the foundation as solid as possible and to test the ground by drilling beforehand. A test drill has already been carried out under the direction of Director Jensh in recent days. In the near future, the area for the monument will be marked out and a diversion and fencing of the site will take place. It should be recalled that the monument will stand in the middle of the current roadway on Mickiewicza Street more or less at the exit of the alley leading to the water feature.

The roadway and pavements will in future surround the monument on both sides, but for the time being only one section of the roadway and pavement will be constructed - from the side of the square. The new roadway will run on this side more or less along the line of the current pavement. The next stage of foundation work will be the relocation of the water and gas pipelines and cables, the deletion of the sewer and the repositioning of the electric lights. All this work will be done in the coming weeks, after which the construction of the foundation will begin.