Wood sculptures collection
The wood sculptures collection includes more than 250 sculptures, ornamental carvings, as well as nobility’s epitaph coats of arms from Latvian churches, spanning the period from the 14th century to the first half of the 2oth century. The collection reflects the evolution of art styles in Latvia from Gothic to Baroque and Rococo, as well as the specific features of Latgalian sacred wood sculpture at the turn of the century.
The majority of the collection was gathered thanks to the efforts of the Monuments Board, founded in 1923, in surveying and preserving monuments of art and taking into its care those objects of sacral art whose preservation was in danger. The Monuments Board collection was later transferred to the State Historical Museum (now the LNMH). In 1936, a part of the former Dom Museum collection of church art, taken over by the Monuments Board during the reorganisation of the Dom Museum, was also included in the collection.
The wood sculptures collection contains the oldest known examples of Gothic sculpture in Latvia: the statues from Ruhnu (c. 1320), the Triumphal Cross of the Roman Catholic Church of St Jacob in Riga (c. 1380) and Pieta (c. 1400). The Mannerist style is reflected in the ornamental composition with the Allegory of the Virtues, Caritas (Love), from the Zlēkas Lutheran Church (1652).
Noteworthy Baroque sculptures in the collection include those of the Ķerkliņi Lutheran Church (second half of the 17th century), Riga St Jacob’s Church sculptures by Christoph Mittelhausen (c. 1680), Rucava Lutheran Church sculptures by Eckert Fröhlich (c. 1710), Saka Lutheran Church sculptures by Joachim Kreutzfeld (c. 1710–1720).
Rococo-style features can be noted in the sculptures by Heinrich von Bergen (?), which have survived from Umurga Lutheran Church (c. 1730), as well as in the sculptures made by Josef Slavicek for Piltene Lutheran Church.
Curator of the collection Anete Ulmane
In order to research the museum’s collection in person, those interested are invited to fill out the contact form, indicating the topic of interest and the chronology. After receiving the form, a museum specialist will contact you.