The text recalls the chapel that remained on the grounds of the former Lviv cemetery thanks to, among others, Archbishop Wacław Hieronim Sierakowski. The construction of the chapel was founded by Jerzy Boim; the history of the Boim family is also recalled. The text goes on to describe the building of the chapel (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1868, Series 2, T:2, pp. 164-165, after: University of Łódź Digital Library).

A modernised reading of the text

The Garden Chapel.

The Boim Chapel in Lviv. Anyone who has visited Lviv will have noticed the chapel on the east side of the cathedral, adjacent to the row of chapter houses. The front of the chapel is especially impressive, as it is covered by a beautiful sculpture depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ, entwined with a network of fantastically winding arabesques and various ornaments.

It is one of the most beautiful buildings in Lviv and deserves, due to its architectural beauty and especially the artistic value of the sculptures decorating it, the careful attention of artists and archaeologists and the care taken to preserve it from destruction. The Lviv Cathedral used to be surrounded by a fenced cemetery with six different foundation chapels. During the restoration of the church, thanks to the efforts of Archbishop Wenceslas Hieronim Sierakowski, the cemetery was abolished at the end of the last century and the chapels obstructing the view of the church were demolished, leaving an extensive square around it.

At the time, only one chapel, the Garden Chapel, probably because of its particular beauty, escaped the same fate. It was left intact; however, in an exaggerated fervour of restoration, the trowel plastered the upper parapets and destroyed their original beauty. It is at least a good thing that as much as remains. Three hundred years have passed since Jerzy Boim, a citizen and city councillor of Lviv, built this chapel. The story of its construction is as follows: The Boim family came to Lviv from Hungary and accepted local citizenship.

It produced several distinguished men. The founder of the chapel in question was sent as a young boy to study in Bonn, as was the custom in Poland at the time. However, the young boy did not mind his studies at all and spent his time idling. Then he received news of his father's death. When he learnt of this, the young man's first thought was to abandon his studies and return to the country, where the fortune left by his father enticed him with the hope of providing a way to enjoy a multitude of pleasures.

But just as he was about to carry out this intention, his late father appeared to him in a dream and, sternly rebuking him, admonished him not to return to the country until he had finished his studies and was properly disposed to his service. This dream made a great impression on the young man. He remained in Bononia, following the order he had received in his dream, and, repentant, he began to work, and to atone for the shadows of his fathers, he vowed to build a chapel in his hometown to commemorate the Lord's Passion. However, this vow was not soon to be fulfilled.

Long years passed since then. Having married Jadwiga Niziowska, he reached a ripe old age. At a very old age, both devoted to piety, they decided to fulfil the vow they had made in their youth. Having removed various obstacles, they set about building a chapel which was also to be their family tomb. They wanted the intended construction to stand out from other chapels in Lwow by the beauty of its conception and execution.

The builder Janusz Głuski, a Cracovian academic, was called in by Boim to draw up the plan, while Mina, also a Cracovian and a wood-carver, was responsible for the sculptures and architectural ornaments. They both excelled in the work entrusted to them. As the chapel is dedicated to the memory of the Passion of Christ and called the Garden Chapel, all the main sculptures depict scenes of the Passion and crucifixion of Christ. Six beautifully carved Corinthian columns adorn its front. In the lower half, in two frames on either side of the entrance door, stand statues of St Peter and St Paul, with keys in their hands.

Above them, in eight medallions framed by beautiful sculpture, are busts of the Fathers of the Church. Above, on such medallions, inscriptions from Scripture. In the upper half of the front wall, sculptures framed by arabesques depict the last moments of Christ. The largest sculpture above the entrance door depicts the deposition from the cross, while on the sides smaller groups depict Christ carrying the cross and crucifixion, as well as other scenes of Christ's passion, in groups of three.

All of this is bound together by partly symbolic and partly fantastic sculptures, and is an artistic and architectural whole that delights the eye of both the expert and the casual viewer. Above this, in the still higher third storey of the front wall, in the middle of it, Christ is placed on a cross made of stone, leaning against a ring forming a window. On the upper cornice near the dome is a Latin inscription in honour of the Virgin Mary. Above the cupola rises a second smaller one, supported on eight pillars, whose glazed walls let light into the chapel from above.

At the top of this dome, a cross is carried on the shoulders of Christ wearing a crown of thorns. What gives the Garden Chapel much of its grandeur is that it overlooks the chapter houses on one side. Its other two walls, apart from the ornamentation of the cornices running around, are no longer decorated with sculptures in the same way as the front wall. On the eastern wall, facing Halytska Street, there are still traces of two busts, painted al fresco, life-size, depicting the two founders of the chapel, George Boim and his wife, in contemporary costume.

This archaeological monument is worthy of restoration and preservation; but the chapter cares nothing for it. This is a pity, as the hand of time is erasing and destroying both portraits more and more each day. On the south wall there are two paintings, also al fresco, depicting Christ and the Virgin Mary, as well as a sculpture of St George. The interior of the chapel does not quite live up to its external beauty, as the sculptures covering the whole of the main wall opposite the entrance, as well as the statues here, are of a lesser artistic value than the external sculptures. Above the altar, the main sculpture of great size depicts Christ praying in the Garden of Olives; an angel descending from heaven hands Him a cup; closer, a group of sleeping disciples.

Below this sculpture, above the altar itself, an oblong sculpture depicts the Lord's supper, not as they usually paint it, however, but according to the description of the Book of Moses. The apostles stand around the table with staffs in hand and in travelling clothes; they are known to have gone out into the world. On either side of the main sculpture is Christ washing the feet of the elderly on one side, and the Lord's supper on the other, depicted in the usual manner. According to the same sculpture, an oil painting is on the side wall.

Other sculptures beside the main one above the altar are: The Crucifixion of Christ and the Entombment, the Resurrection and the Ascension and several other religious-allegorical ones. These sculptures were, in the custom of medieval art, gilded in places and coated with colours. Traces of these gildings have been preserved to date. In the dome, in the coffers surrounded by beautiful stucco and rosettes, surrounding the rotunda of the dome in three rows, are the busts of the patron saints of the founders' family. The light from the upper dome spills in an even, gentle wave throughout the interior of the church.

At the south wall, to the right of the east, is a larger family tombstone. On it is a figure of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus; on either side kneel the founders of the chapel; at the top is a group made up of several people. All the persons are carved from yellow alabaster. This tombstone is of little artistic value. Beneath the chapel are the tombs of the Boim family. A mass for the souls of the founders is celebrated there every Friday, and it is continually open to the devout during Holy Week.

At the present time, thanks to the efforts of Mr Mieczysław Potocki, the government conservator of ancient monuments in Eastern Galicia, and at the expense of the chapter, restoration is underway of the ni fresco images of the two founders of the chapel, located on the outside of the eastern wall.