ŠI LU VO S
Š V E N T OV Ė
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Fig. 2. The prospect of the interior of the Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Šiluva. Photo by R. Valinčiūtė-Varnė.
The basis of the interior decoration is provided by a deeply meditated multilayer ideological programme which can be distinguished for the harmony of the whole. This iconographical programme is undoubtedly attributable to great iconographical programmes that are characteristic of Baroque shrines. Unfortunately, information about its creators that would be based on archival documents could not be found (this happens nearly always when one tries to find out authors of ideological programmes). Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the inspiration for this programme was bishop Jonas Dominykas Lopacinskis, with contribution probably made by the church architect Jonas Kristupas Glaubicas. Definitely, while creating this programme they were cleverly aided by the earlier mentioned priest T. J. Bukota. This could be indirectly proved by a perfect multilayerness of the programme as separate themes and subthemes harmoniously develop into a great integral creation. For, on the one hand, bishop J. D. Lopacinskis was also known as “a so
phisticated architect and constant connoisseur of building matters of [Vilnius] capitula”8. The bishop had visited Rome and had been more than once in Warsaw, therefore, art novelties of that time were certainly not strange to him. On the other hand, a young parson T. D. Bukota, who joined at the height of building works, most probably also had a weighty word to say. All the more as later namely he invited to the shrine of Šiluva the Jesuit Tomas Podgaiskis, a moulder and carver who had before worked in the church of St. John the Baptist in Vilnius and the church of St. Peter and Paul in Kaunas9. Therefore, we tend to assume that the project of the new church architecture and the ideological programme of the church interior were worked out at the same time. Nevertheless, we accept the fact that during the realization of the programme one or other more pronounced or hardly discernable changes could certainly occur and did occur10. To be precise, equipment and decoration of the Ba silica interior were created this day two hundred and