The Caravaggio Question: The Painting The Taking of Christ. Educational Programme
9 June, 2026 – 2 May, 2027
Events
10 September 2026, 5 p.m.
Lecture-tour about the theft of the painting by Denis Fomichov, a participant in the special operation to return the painting The Taking of Christ, a former employee of the Special Operations Directorate, and the author of the book The Kiss of Judas.
*The event will be held in Ukrainian, with translation into Lithuanian.
15–16 October 2026
International scholarly conference The Same, Yet Different: Copy, Imitation and Forgery in Visual Art
Guided Tours
Guided Tours with the Curators*
8 July 2026, 5 p.m.
27 April 2027, 5.30 p.m.
Guided Tour with the Restorer*
27 October 2026, 5.30 p.m.
Sunday Guided Tours with a Museum Guide* **
12 July 2026, 1 p.m.
18 October 2026, 1 p.m.
18 April 2027, 1 p.m.
Registration for tours with conservators and Sunday tours with museum guides opens one week before the event.
* Participation in the tour requires purchase of a museum visitor ticket.
** Tours with a museum guide can also be booked individually by prior arrangement at gidai.vpg@lndm.lt or telephone +370 681 90 329.
Public Educational Workshops
24 October 2026, 1 p.m.
“The Story of One Painting” creative workshop
7 November 2026, 1 p.m.
2 February 2027, 5.30 p.m.
“The Laboratory of Light and Shadow”
Educational Workshops
“Observing the Painting” educational workshop
What happens when a painting begins to speak? This educational session invites participants to view art as a dialogue between creator and viewer. Each participant will receive a questionnaire to help them engage more closely with a chosen work, analysing its artistic language, symbolism, emotional content and historical context. We will discuss questions that have no single correct answer: what does this work say today, and what does it say to me? Participants will be invited to express their own views and to create a personal interpretation, through text, image or another creative form.
Duration: 60 minutes. Intended for pupils in years 8–12.
“The Story of One Painting” creative workshop
In this educational session, we explore one of the most enigmatic and much-discussed paintings of the Baroque era, The Taking of Christ, long associated with the name of Caravaggio. We will examine not only the painting’s artistic language but also its extraordinary journey, from auction houses and private collectors to the Odessa Museum. In the creative part, participants will produce their own interpretations of a detail from the painting, allowing a single image to inspire new stories, colours and forms.
Duration: 45–60 minutes. Intended for pre-school children, pupils in years 1–12, adults and senior citizens.
The educational session can be adapted for pupils and adults with special needs.
“The Laboratory of Light and Shadow” educational session
This educational session invites participants to immerse themselves in the magic of light and shadow. Chiaroscuro, in Lithuanian šviesotamsa, is the strong contrast of light and shadow used in the visual arts. It was discovered by the masters of the Renaissance but was especially favoured by the most celebrated Baroque painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. We invite participants to examine the mood of a painting by analysing how light alters the emotions of its figures and how this is used to create a dramatic effect. In the practical part, participants will draw a Baroque portrait or, using toned paper with dark and light pencils or pastels, create a copy of a figure from the painting.
Duration: 60 minutes. Intended for pupils in years 8–12.
To register for educational workshops, call +370 682 45 314 or email augustina.ivanauskaite@lndm.lt
Educational workshops can also be booked through the Culture Pass system.
Exhibition organisers: LNMA Vilnius Picture Gallery, The Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art
Project leaders: Director General of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art Arūnas Gelūnas, Director of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art Igor Poronyk, Director of the LNMA Vilnius Picture Gallery Aistė Bimbirytė
Exhibition curators and coordinators: Aistė Bimbirytė, Gabija Kasparavičiutė-Kaminskienė, Skaistis Mikulionis, Joana Vitkutė
Architect Ūla Žebrauskaitė-Malinauskė
Designer Dominyka Gurskaitė
Translators: Raminta Bumbulytė, Džiulija Elena Fedirkienė, Ruslanas Skrobacas
Editors Ilona Čiužauskaitė, Olha Proskura
Supervision by restorers: Linas Lukoševičius, Regimantas Paulionis, Lukas Rakauskas, Tomas Ručys, Jūratė Senvaitienė, Algimantas Vaineikis, Rolandas Vičys
Educators: Augustina Ivanauskaitė, Jolanta Sereikaitė
Tour guides: Dalia Kaladinskienė, Akvilė Murauskaitė
Project partners: Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine, Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Lithuania, Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Republic of Poland, Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, 1008th Šventaragis Riflemen Company of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, 313th Company of the 3rd Western (Sea) Riflemen Unit of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, State Border Guard Service under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Customs of the Republic of Lithuania, State Customs Service of Ukraine, Pranas Gudynas Restoration Centre of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Patrol Police of Ukraine, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society
Sponsor UAB Ad Rem
Patron Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Luhansk Region Robertas Gabulas
Media Sponsor Lithuanian National Radio and Television
Special thanks: Ambassador Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė, ambassador Olha Nikitchenko, ambassador Valdemaras Sarapinas
Serhii Burlachenko, Andrii Cherneha, Lyubomir Demyanchuk, Valdas Dovydėnas, Rita Grochovskienė, Tomas Ivanauskas, Renata Kanarskaja, Romas Klapatauskas, Mirijana Kozak, Lesia Rozhak, Narimantas Savickas, Andrius Šulskis, Agata Voleiko, Darius Zaura, Ieva Staškevičiūtė, Iryna Hlebova, Olha Kutsan
4 Didžioji st, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 261 1685
vpg@lndm.lt
