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Lviv, Latin Cathedral, Yablonovskiy Chapel, interior view, photo Aleksy Łoziński, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv
Lviv, Latin Cathedral, Yablonovskiy Chapel, fragment of a crucifix, condition before restoration, photo Jan Wiłkojć, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv
Lviv, Latin Cathedral, Jablonowski Chapel, fragment of a crucifix (torso and perizonium), condition before restoration, photo Jan Wiłkojć, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv
Lviv, Latin Cathedral, Jablonowski Chapel, fragment of an altar with crucifix, photo Aleksy Łoziński, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv
Lviv, Latin Cathedral, Jablonowski Chapel, fragment of a crucifix (wound in the side), condition before restoration, photo Jan Wiłkojć, all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv
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ID: POL-001880-P

Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv

Lviv | Ukraine
ukr. Львів
ID: POL-001880-P

Gothic Sculpture of Christ Crucified in the Latin Cathedral in Lviv

Lviv | Ukraine
ukr. Львів

The sculpture of Christ Crucified has been preserved in Lviv Cathedral from its Gothic furnishings. During modernisation of the presbytery, the crucifix was moved to the Jablonovskis' chapel, which serves to display the work in a particularly impressive way.

Gothic furnishings of the Latin Cathedral
In the second half of the 18th century, Archbishop Waclaw Hieronim Sierakowski modernised the interior decoration of the Lviv Latin Rite Cathedral. One of the few works of art that remain and belong to the former Gothic furnishings is the large-scale sculpture of Christ Crucified. It was brought from Krakow in 1473 and is the work of a local sculptor, whose name we do not know, probably made shortly before that date. It is likely that a statue of St Mary Magdalene, unfortunately not preserved, was obtained from the same workshop three years later. It was probably a so-called 'assisting figure', often accompanying the Crucifixion. The news that it had been polychromed by the Cracovian painter Nicolas Haberschrak became, wrongly, the basis for attributing the authorship of both sculptures to him.

Cult of the Crucified Christ sculpture
. The crucifix with the representation of Christ was placed in the arcade by the rainbow, i.e. on the border between the nave and the presbytery. The archival records are not precise and do not allow us to reconstruct the shape of the resulting spatial composition, but they seem to contradict the possibility that the crucifix was exposed on the icicle beam, high under the vault. The site came to be known as Skałka or Golgotha, perhaps because of the shape of the altarpiece.

Numerous silver votive offerings recorded in old inventories testify to the growing veneration of the cathedral crucifix. Lamps were also hung by it, and it became customary to place images of Lviv councillors, jurors and people of merit for the cathedral on silver plate. The votive offerings were so numerous that in 1699 the cathedral chapter ordered small silver objects to be melted down. The material obtained was used to make a heart-shaped border for the cross. This shortfall was relatively quickly filled with new gifts, including portraits, as evidenced by an inventory of "things at the Crucifix" from 1756-1767. The technical condition of the composition was not the best, so in 1758 Archbishop Władysław Łubieński decided to move the tabernacle to the Wiśniowiecki Chapel.

Modernization of the presbytery of the Lviv Cathedral
. Skałka - Calvary survived until 1765. The old arrangement, hampering traffic during ceremonies in this part of the church, fell victim to modernisation measures. In mid-1765, when renovations were undertaken in the chancel, it was dismantled, as was the main altar. The venerable crucifix was temporarily placed in the chapel of the Campians.

Christ Crucified in the Jablonowski Chapel
. Eventually, the Jablonovskis' chapel was allocated for its display. The altarpiece's stucco composition, using architectural elements, serves to display the work in an exceptionally impressive way. The crucified Christ, with his expressive face painted with suffering, surrounded by figures of angels, appears to float in the light coming through the window placed in the background. The arrangement is a work from 1775-1777 by the Lvov sculptor Jan Obrocki (ca. 1740-ca. 1800).

Nothing of the old silverware surrounding the crucifix has survived. The only reminder of past splendour is the crown of thorns and the magnificent rays surrounding the wound in the side. The sculpture has survived in relatively good condition. It was restored in 2017 by conservator Jan Wiłkojć from Krakow, during work in the chapel carried out by a Polish-Ukrainian team led by him (2015-2017). The task was carried out with funds from the Chancellery of the Polish Senate by the Association of Polish Education and Culture in Krakow.

Time of origin:
before 1473
Keywords:
Author:
Jerzy T. Petrus
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