The painting by M. K. Čiurlionis, created in 1907, is unusual because, according to Jadvyga Čiurlionytė, it was commissioned for the Church of St. Roch in Jurbarkas, but when the church declined the painting, it ended up at the nearby Kaimelis Church.

St. Roch, the patron saint of the sick, is often depicted with a small dog accompanying him. For M. K. Čiurlionis, the model for the dog was the family’s pet, Liamoris, which delighted the youngest members of the family. The painting’s journey to Jurbarkas also became a family legend—Konstantinas, together with his brothers Jonas and Stasys, built a small boat with which they sailed down the Nemunas River. They had to sail through stormy nights, during which thunder rumbled and lightning flashed in the sky, but both the passengers and the painting reached their destination.

The painting was found in the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Kaimelis; M. K. Čiurlionis’s authorship was established based on stylistic analogies with his early works from 1903–1907, the recollections of contemporaries, and a handwritten note by the artist—the date “1907” and the phrase “Nieruszac” (“Do Not Touch”) on the reverse side of the canvas.

The painting is housed at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, while a copy adorns the wall of the church in Kaimelis (Šakiai District).

Property of Vilkaviškis diocese.

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