"Belly of Luck" Relief

One of the city's most interesting symbols of luck is the "Belly of Luck". In 2013 the sculptor Romas Kvintas placed this 40-centimetre bronze bas-relief in the shape of a belly on a business centre building. The sculpture is believed to bring luck to all enterprising and business-minded people who stroke it. What links a belly with enterprise? According to legend, a poor family once lived in Vilnius who could barely make ends meet. And although the children ran about ragged and hungry, to everyone's surprise they grew up exceptionally gifted, and as adults they became rich merchants and skilled craftsmen making the most fashionable items for the nobility. The children's mother explained their success by saying that every morning she had stroked the tummy of the one who became a merchant and the hands of the one who became a jeweller, because, as she put it, "what you stroke is what grows". So if you walk along this street, take the chance to lure some luck your way – after all, it costs nothing.