The tombstone plaque of Paulus Alšėniškis (Holszański)
On the east wall is the tombstone plaque of Paulus Alšėniškis, the Duke of Alšėnai and Bishop of Vilnius (d. 1555), a relative and associate of Albertus Goštautas. He became Bishop of Vilnius in 1536, and supervised the repairs to the cathedral after a fire. He collected one of the richest private libraries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and is also considered to have started the legend about the Roman origins of the Lithuanian nobles.
Although the image was damaged in the mid-17th century, we can still see the bishop in his advanced years, dressed in sumptuous liturgical vestments and holding a book in his right hand. The coat of arms bears the family’s crest, indicating their noble origins, and above it are a bishop’s mitre, a duke’s crown, and a sword crossed with a bishop’s crozier, symbols of secular and Church power.
