The arts Both folk and professional arts draw on the harmony, subjectivity and expressiveness of the Lithuanian character. Graphic and applied decorative art flourished in the palaces of the grand dukes and the Vilnius rulers, and the residences of noblemen and the churches. At the end of the 18th century, the Vilnius School of Art, headed by the noted artist, Pranciskus Smuglevicius, was established. The art of Mikalojus Ciurlionis, the apex in Lithuanian art, blossomed in the 20th century.
Religious art is an important part of Lithuanian art.
Most examples of this art have survived within churches of all styles and epochs. The highest concentration of Baroque religious art can be found inside the Church of the Saints Peter and Paul in Vilnius. Another aspect of religious art can be found in the Lithuanian dievdirbiai tradition. Thousands of country artisans have carved wayside crosses and statuettes of Christian saints of wood, most frequently oak, thus adorning the landscape of Lithuania with unique small-scale masterpieces. The crosses carved by Vincas Svirskis, the most famous artist of this type, who practised his art in the 19th century, are preserved in museums to this day, while several of them still stand in the central regions of Lithuania, in the open air.