On 29 October 2024, a unique exhibition opens at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius. “The Pacs. Lilies in the Garden of History" presents about 300 exhibits from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, which tell the story of the Pac family – one of the most prominent magnate families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The exhibition will last until 26 January 2024.
The Pacs – magnate family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The unique role of the Pacs in the history of Lithuania, can be compared to the role of the Radziwiłłs or Sapiehas in the history of the Republic of Poland. The Pac family is one of the oldest and most influential magnate families in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They were proud of their aristocratic title. Their coat of arms featured a double lily motif, also used by the monarchs of France or the Florentine Medici. Thus, the exhibition title: “The Pacs. Lilies in the Garden of History”.
The exhibition at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius dedicated to the Pacs will show the family against the background of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its culture, with emphasis placed on the most prominent representatives of the family, their activities and artistic foundations. Their extraordinary role can be evidenced by the fact that in the second half of the 17th century there was even talk of the existence of a specific “Pac Baroque” in Lithuania. At the same time, the Pac family line has already become extinct. The exhibition is a kind of monument illustrating the importance of the family’s merits and its unique heritage, in a situation where there are no descendants to manage the ancestral legacy, amass collections or build a historical picture of family members.
The exhibition in Vilnius “The Pacs. Lilies in the Garden of History”
The exhibition “The Pacs. Lilies in the Garden of History” brings together a total of about 300 exhibits: paintings, prints, sculptures, textiles, goldsmithing and other works of applied art, drawings and designs, old photographs, authentic documents and early prints, weapons and armour, as well as other relics from museums, libraries, archives, churches, monasteries and private collections of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Particularly noteworthy are the Pacs’ architectural monuments, astonishing works of sacred goldsmithing, magnificent liturgical costumes, impressive heraldic tapestries and valuable paintings, including portraits of the Pacs, of which relatively few have survived.
The exhibition will open on 29 October 2024. The exhibition at the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius will be available for viewing until 26 January 2025. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is a co-organiser of the exhibition. All visitors are welcome!
- Patrons of the exhibition: President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, Metropolitan Archbishop of Vilnius Gintaras Grušas, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kaunas Kęstutis Kėvalas.
- Organisers: National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius, Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
- The exhibition was co-financed with the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.
- Co-organisers: Bažnytinio paveldo muziejus, Vilniaus universiteto biblioteka
- Partners: Kaišiadorių Vyskupijos Kurija, Kauno arkivyskupijos Kurija (Kauno arkivyskupija), Lietuvos nacionalinis dailės muziejus, Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus, Panevėžio Vyskupuijos Kurija, Telšių vyskupija Kurija, Vilniaus Arkivyskupijos Kurija, Royal Castle in Warsaw
- Special sponsor: The PACAI Hotel, Vilnius
- Sponsors: BTA Vienna Insurance Group, DOJUS agro, LRT, Lietuvos Rytas, lrytas.lt, JCDecaux, Legendos Žmonės