Exhibition: Hidden Within

The Vilnius Cathedral Treasury, concealed for nearly a century before being rediscovered and gradually restored to history, is presented to the public for the first time as a complete collection.

The exhibition explores the dynamic and dramatic story of the Cathedral’s treasures—their concealment, rediscovery, and return to public view—responding to the long-standing interest in these objects of exceptional importance to the history of both the Church and Lithuania.

Created for the liturgy, royal burials, bishops’ consecrations, the decoration of the Cathedral, and donated in prayer, gratitude, and hope, the treasures are presented as witnesses to Lithuania’s history and to periods marked by conflict, uncertainty, and upheaval.

The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through time, following the discoveries of the treasury in 1931, 1985, and 2024, while also recounting the stories of its concealment in 1655, 1939, and 1991.

Some of the objects are displayed in the same condition in which they were recovered from their hiding place, having undergone only essential conservation to stabilize their condition. Visitors therefore have the rare opportunity not only to admire these historically unique masterpieces of goldsmithing and silversmithing, but also to experience the authenticity of the finds and, in a sense, become witnesses to their most recent discovery.

Tickets are available here.

Curators

• Giedrė Mickūnaitė
• Laura Petrauskaitė

Exhibition Architect: Ieva Cicėnaitė
Exhibition Designer: Sigitas Gužauskas

Conservation Team:

• Rimvydas Derkintis
• Indraja Kubilytė-Bogan
• Vytautė Lukšėnienė
• Milda Tičkaitė

Editor: Audra Kairienė

English Translation:

• Kotryna Džilavjan
• Tomas Riklius

Organiser: Museum of Church Heritage

Partner: Vilnius Academy of Arts

The museum’s activities are funded by the Archdiocese of Vilnius, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, and the Vilnius City Municipality.

The project was partially funded by the Research Council of Lithuania.

Media Partners: Go Vilnius, bernardinai.lt, Artuma, IQ, Kelionė, Magnificat.

Special thanks for the digital images to the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the Lithuanian State Historical Archives, the National Museum in Warsaw, the Adam Mickiewicz University Library in Poznań, and the Sleńdziński Gallery in Białystok.