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The most important element of the exhibition presented in Lviv is the over 400-year-old figure of the Sorrowful Christ, which has been successfully preserved after two years of conservation work conducted by the Polonika Institute in collaboration with the Lviv National Art Gallery and Lviv conservation services. The sculpture was first presented in October and November 2023 at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage’s “Window on Culture” Gallery in Warsaw.
Gratitude to the director of the Lviv National Art Gallery named after Boris Woznitsky, Taras Wozniak, and the director of the “Polonika” Institute, Dorota Janiszewska-Jakubiak, as well as the authorities of the Ukrainian Foundation for the Development of Education and Science Banking for the successful completion of the lengthy research and conservation process. Sculpture of the Sorrowful Christ from the Boim Chapel.
The figure of the Sorrowful Christ was created as the crowning element of the dome of the Boim Chapel in Lviv, one of the city’s most valuable landmarks, standing at approximately 30 meters in height. In 2021, the limestone sculpture, weighing 280 kilograms, was dismantled from the chapel’s dome for the first time in its history due to the ongoing process of decay. It was then transported to Poland, where it underwent thorough examination and conservation.
The ability to view the sculpture from a distance of a few dozen centimeters allows for the observation of the material structure from which it was made, as well as its details. Up-close, visible anatomical irregularities are the result of it being designed for viewing from a distance. Looking from a lower perspective corrects the “flaws” intentionally created by the author of the sculpture.