Elenos Skirmantaitės-Skirmantienės šachmatai: pirmieji figūrų štrichai

Abstract

Straipsnis skirtas skulptorei, diaristei Elenai Skirmantaitei-Skirmantienei (Helena Skirmuntt (Skirmunttowa) ze Skirmunttów, 1827–1874) ir žinomiausiam jos kūriniui – krikščioniškosios koalicijos valstybių ginkluotųjų pajėgų 1683 m. prie Vienos pasiektos istorinės pergalės prieš Osmanų imperijos kariuomenę įkvėptiems šachmatams (1863–1873). Lietuvoje E. Skirmantaitės-Skirmantienės šachmatai dar nėra buvę atskiro nuodugnaus menotyrinio tyrimo objektu. Nei lietuvių, nei lenkų, nei baltarusių autoriai iki šiol neatkreipė dėmesio ir į labai svarbius tokiam tyrimui šaltinius – šachmatų figūrų eskizus, kurie saugomi Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių bibliotekos Rankraščių skyriuje, „Lietuvos dailininkų piešinių ir eskizų kolekcijoje“ (F320). Straipsnio tikslas – pristatyti E. Skirmantaitės-Skirmantienės šachmatų eskizus ir taip atverti naujas perspektyvas originaliam skulptūros kūriniui toliau tirti. Keliami klausimai, kaip kilo kūrinio idėja, ar lauktas rezultatas atitiko lūkesčius, ką atskleidžia šachmatų eskizai, kada ir iš kur jie pateko į Biblioteką, kas lėmė, kad keletą dešimtmečių jie gulėjo saugyklose neatpažinti? Esminiai žodžiai: Elena Skirmantaitė-Skirmantienė; pergalė prie Vienos (1683); Jonas Sobieskis; šachmatai; XIX a. skulptūra; Lietuvos dailės paveldas; fotografija; Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių biblioteka.

This article explores the work of the sculptor and diarist Helena Skirmuntt (also spelled as Skirmunttowa, 1827–1874), focusing on her most celebrated creation – a series of chess pieces (1863–1873) inspired by the historic victory of the Christian coalition forces against the Ottoman army achieved at Vienna in 1683. Despite their historical and artistic significance, these chess pieces have not yet been the subject of a dedicated, in-depth art-historical study in Lithuania. Moreover, scholars from Lithuania, Poland, and Belarus have so far overlooked vital primary sources for such research: the original sketches of the chess pieces, held in the “Collection of Drawings and Sketches of Lithuanian Artists” (F320) at the Manuscripts Department of the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. This article aims to present the sketches of Helena Skirmuntt’s chess pieces, opening new avenues for the study of her original sculptural work. It addresses questions such as how the idea for the work originated, whether the final result met expectations, what the sketches reveal, when and how they came to the Library’s holdings, and why they remained unrecognized in repositories for several decades. Helena Skirmuntt was a member of a prominent noble family from the Ruthenian part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (present-day Belarus), occupied by the Russian Empire. Helena was a liaison for the insurgents in 1863. Unable to acquire a consistent academic education in art schools, which was a strictly male privilege at the time, she challenged gender stereotypes by studying painting and sculpture privately in Vilnius, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna and Rome. Today she is hailed as the first professional female sculptor in the entire territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The life and career of Helena Skirmuntt, along with her most renowned, although unfinished, sculptural work, a chess set now held at the National Museum in Krakow, vividly recall the deep traditions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the enduring vitality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s imagery in the 19th century. This series of original figurines, which creatively combines artistic expression and a playful spirit, exemplifies mid-19th-century Lithuanian sculptural trends: an interest in historical themes, Romanticized depictions of notable figures, a preference for diminutive forms. What is particularly remarkable is that the creator of the chess set was a woman who boldly entered a field traditionally dominated by men, providing a model of achievement for future female sculptors. Four of the most significant chess pieces commemorate historical figures: the ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Jan III Sobieski; the Grand Crown Hetman, Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski; the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV; and the Grand Vizier, Kara Mustafa. The other chess pieces depict different types of soldiers and distinct social or ethnic groups: the Squire, the Flag-Bearer, the Janissary, the Tatar (for the bishops); the Hussar, the Knight, the Sipahi, and Ethiopian with the Moor (for the knights); as well as the Page, the Lad, the Field Camper, the Polesian, the Bashi-bazouk, and the Arnaut (for the pawns). The rooks are represented by animals and distinguished by motifs drawn from historical heraldry: the Camel; the Lion, holding a shield bearing the Crakow coat of arms; and the Bear (from the coat of arms of Samogitia), holding a shield with the image of St. Christopher (the coat of arms of Vilnius). The full chess set of 32 pieces was never completed, missing one rook and ten pawns, and it remains unclear what these missing pieces might have looked like. Although Austrians and Germans fought alongside the Poles at Vienna, none of these allies are represented in the set. Conversely, the Knight and Bear figurines are drawn from heraldic figures of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that did not actually participate in the historic battle. An analysis of Helena Skirmuntt’s works held in the Manuscripts Department of the Wroblewski Library reveals sketches for thirteen figurines: Jan Sobieski, the Hetman, the Squire, the Flag-Bearer, the Hussar, the Knight, the Lion, the Page, the Lad, the Field Camper, the Polesian, the Tatar, and the Ethiopian with Moor. Executed in graphite on paper no later than 1864 in Tambov and between 1870 and 1873 in Balaklava (Crimea), these sketches provide valuable insight into the creative process behind the figurines. It is clear that, for most of the pieces, the images closely resembling the final versions, aside from certain specific attributes, had already been fully conceived in the artist’s mind before she even lifted the pencil to the paper. After the death of Helena Skirmuntt, the sketches were transported from Crimea to Pinsk, to the Butrymowicz-Skirmuntt palace. Helena’s daughter Konstancja Skirmuntt took care of them. After Konstancja’s death in 1934, the sketches, together with other art pieces, were transported from Pinsk to Vilnius, where Helena’s other daughter, Kazimiera Römer (1865–1938) and her son Antoni Römer (1889–1973) kept them in the apartments belonging to the Römer family, on Tilto Street. In the first years of the Soviet occupation, the collection of Helena’s sketches was moved to the former palace of the Tyskiewicz counts, the then State Wroblewski Library (now the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences). Here they have been kept ever since. Keywords: Helena Skirmuntt; Victory at Vienna (1683); Jan Sobieski; chess; 19th-century sculpture; Lithuanian art heritage; photography; the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.