DOI Heft:
Nr. 3-4
DOI Artikel:Kaminska, Rūta: The late Baroque church interiors of Livonia within pre-partition Poland
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.34475#0469
THE LATE BAROQUE CHURCH INTERIORS OF LlVONIA WITHIN PRE-PARTITION POLAND
459
ó. /Ars/unu Aowun Cu/Au/ic uAiuvA. /wur/'or view o/'/Ac cAu/'cA. DAo/o/ 7975, A.S7A/P DC
assess, since furnishings have been lost and were not surveyed. It is known that wood-
carved benches, confessionals and painting frames were commissioned from the Order
workshop headed by Michael Schulz.^ The only major conclusion, relevant to the
Baroque sacred buildings in this region, is the overall solution of Daugavpils church,
creating the interior space as a unified ensemble. The interior conception, spatially
merging rich plastic finish with the major constituents (altars) and emphasising particular
elements (detached columns), invites comparison with the processes going on in the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania. The spatial solution and plastic decor are decisive elements in the
overall image of this outstanding monument. The designer of Daugavpils church had no
rivals in Livonia at that time; no major earlier examples of Baroque-style sacred buildings
are found in the architectural heritage of Latvia in general. The most excellent one, the
Jesuit church at Skaistkalne (Schonberg, Szomberg) (1692) features varying nuances of
interior solution. Typical elements of Baroque compositions are found in this interior, too,
but the furnishings, although harmonised with the overall solution, are not completely
integrated in it. The impressive wood-carved High Altar construction as well as the pulpit
can be perceived as autonomous objects as well. Another impressive solution - that of
Liepaja (Libau, Lipawa) Holy Trinity Church, by the architect Johann Christoph Dom
from East Prussia, stands out with its Rococo-style woodcarving ensemble and was
created almost precisely as the same time as the Daugavpils church (1742-1758,
furnishings from the 1770s). The solution found in Daugavpils is based on different
^ POPLATEK, PASZENDA, op. cit., p. 195.
459
ó. /Ars/unu Aowun Cu/Au/ic uAiuvA. /wur/'or view o/'/Ac cAu/'cA. DAo/o/ 7975, A.S7A/P DC
assess, since furnishings have been lost and were not surveyed. It is known that wood-
carved benches, confessionals and painting frames were commissioned from the Order
workshop headed by Michael Schulz.^ The only major conclusion, relevant to the
Baroque sacred buildings in this region, is the overall solution of Daugavpils church,
creating the interior space as a unified ensemble. The interior conception, spatially
merging rich plastic finish with the major constituents (altars) and emphasising particular
elements (detached columns), invites comparison with the processes going on in the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania. The spatial solution and plastic decor are decisive elements in the
overall image of this outstanding monument. The designer of Daugavpils church had no
rivals in Livonia at that time; no major earlier examples of Baroque-style sacred buildings
are found in the architectural heritage of Latvia in general. The most excellent one, the
Jesuit church at Skaistkalne (Schonberg, Szomberg) (1692) features varying nuances of
interior solution. Typical elements of Baroque compositions are found in this interior, too,
but the furnishings, although harmonised with the overall solution, are not completely
integrated in it. The impressive wood-carved High Altar construction as well as the pulpit
can be perceived as autonomous objects as well. Another impressive solution - that of
Liepaja (Libau, Lipawa) Holy Trinity Church, by the architect Johann Christoph Dom
from East Prussia, stands out with its Rococo-style woodcarving ensemble and was
created almost precisely as the same time as the Daugavpils church (1742-1758,
furnishings from the 1770s). The solution found in Daugavpils is based on different
^ POPLATEK, PASZENDA, op. cit., p. 195.