Returned to Life: Our Lady of Sokal 

8 April – 14 June, 2026

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to encounter a sacred image of exceptional significance to Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland, before it returns to its rightful home — the altar bearing its name in the Church of St Francis of Assisi and St Bernardino of Siena in Vilnius (hereafter referred to as the Bernardine Church).

 

According to legend, the original prototype of the painting was created in the late 14th century by an artist of Lithuanian origin known as Little Grass Snake (Lithuanian: Žalčiukas), who worked in the court of Jagiełło and, upon baptism, received the name Jacob. The painting was brought to Sokal (present-day Ukraine), where in 1599 it came under the care of the local Bernardine friars and became known for its miraculous qualities. In 1724, it was crowned with papal crowns. The original work was lost in a fire during the 19th century, and its spiritual legacy was carried forward through copies. One such copy — painted in the late 17th or early 18th century — is the work presented here. The painting is recorded in the Vilnius Bernardine documents of 1713, making it unquestionably one of the oldest known replicas of this image.

 

Like its predecessor, it was venerated for the graces attributed to it, and the altar itself came to bear the name of this image. It remained in the Vilnius Bernardine sanctuary until the 1940s, when the occupying Soviet authorities closed the church, and the painting was transferred to the storerooms of what was then the Vilnius State Art Museum (now the Lithuanian National Museum of Art). In a severely deteriorated condition and barely recognisable, the image of the Mother of God was rediscovered and identified in 2012. This brought renewed hope that the painting might once again offer its light to the faithful and provide heavenly consolation. Officially returned to the Vilnius Bernardine Church in 2024, the painting of Our Lady of Sokal and its revetment have been restored to their former beauty through the dedicated efforts of the conservators at the Pranas Gudynas Restoration Centre.

 

 

Exhibition Organiser LNMA Vilnius Picture Gallery

Curators: Aistė Bimbirytė, Gabija Kasparavičiutė-Kaminskienė, Joana Vitkutė 

Coordinator Algimantas Vaineikis 

Conservators: Arūnas Baublys, Rūta Kasiulytė, Linas Lukoševičius, Greta Žičkuvienė 

Conservation Scientists: Jurga Bagdzevičienė, Irena Bubinienė, Rūta Butkevičiūtė, Laima Kruopaitė,  Dalia Panavaitė, Rūtilė Pukienė, Tomas Ručys 

Photographer Vilma Šileikienė 

Architect Ūla Žebrauskaitė-Malinauskė 

Designer Ieva Jackutė 

Editor Ieva Puluikienė

Translator Raminta Bumbulytė

Partners:  St. Francis and St. Bernardine Monastery, Lithuanian National Radio and Television

 

We would like to thank Rūta Janonienė, Fr. Arūnas Peškaitis, Fr. Julius Sasnauskas for their help in preparing the exhibition.

 

​

4 Didžioji st, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 261 1685
vpg@lndm.lt