This year has officially been declared the year of Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius and the Baroque literature in Lithuania. On that occasion, Vilnius University Library will be opening a documentary heritage exhibition “On Two Baroque Stars, or Sarbievius and the Artistic Poetry” on 19 March at 5 pm. The exhibition will not only invite visitors to have a look at the literary pieces written by the alumnus of Vilnius University and the distinguished poet of Europe and Lithuania, but also to see some figured poems standing out by their graphical forms and some artistic elements that were inherent in the Baroque epoch.
Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius is one of the most eminent Neo-Latin poets in Lithuania and Europe of the 17th century. A member of the Lithuanian Jesuit province, he was also a theoretician of rhetoric, a teacher, and a preacher at the court of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s ruler Władysław IV Vasa who bore the name of Christian or Sarmatian Horace and to whom Pope Urban VIII allocated the task of editing church hymns.
The ancient and Christian traditions, the realities of Europe, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth are intertwined in Sarbievius’ poetry. Its themes range from everyday life and experiences of earthly life to personal religious insights. The core element of Sarbievius’ literary work is the poet’s definition of the Baroque style, which is “peaceful discord or discordant peace”. It is embodied through a combination of two incompatible words or images so that a wise and witty concept emerges. The construction of contradictions became the hallmark of the Baroque epoch, defining the creative work and mentality of this epoch.
The exhibition consists of two parts. The first part is dedicated to the life and literary work of Sarbievius starting from the selection of his poetry The Books of Lyrics, and ending with his residing in the court of King Władysław IV Vasa. Visitors of the exhibition will get acquainted with the poet’s verses, treatises and various documentary materials related to Sarbievius’ activities at Vilnius University, where he studied and later carried out the duties of the rector’s assistant. Owing to this great poet, Vilnius University formed a literary group of humanists which included the most talented poets of the country.
Sarbievius' poetry book published in 1632 in Antwerp. The frontispiece sketch (on the left) drawn by Rubens was engraved by Gallais
The exhibition’s second part is devoted to the pattern poetry of Baroque, i. e. figured poems reminding of riddles and rebuses constructed to form a graphic image. Unlike the first part, the second one does not present the work of a single poet but rather a certain kind of poetry.
Interestingly, Sarbievius was critical of pattern poetry and its popularity, although he had succumbed to this poetic fashion on several occasions; moreover, his poetry was included in the textbooks on pattern poetry.
Date: 19 March 2025 at 5 pm
Location: Franciszek Smuglewicz Hall (ground floor) of Vilnius University Library, Universiteto str. 3.
Open until: 28 September 2025
Ramunė Gedvilaitė