A note reports that restoration work has begun on the presbytery of the Church of St Francis and St Bernard in Vilnius. The work, which began in 1928, consisted in removing a layer of plaster and repainting part of the non-Gothic walls. The work was led by Juliusz Kłos and Ferdynand Ruszczyc. The information was published in the magazine "Sztuki Piękne",1927/1928, no. 10-12, pp. 443-444 (public domain, reprinted from the Library of the University of Silesia, Katowice).

A modernised reading of the text

Restoration of the chancel of the post-Bernardine church in Vilnius.

As the view of the architectural group in the exhibition square from Krolewska Street and the building of the former Bernardian monastery and church was unveiled, the Conservation Office started three weeks ago to restore the most neglected presbytery of the church. As is well known, the entire apse was covered with a thick layer of plaster, painted in a glaring red colour.

The Bernardine Church, built from beautiful Gothic brick, as evidenced by many parts of the church, especially the tower, had undergone some alterations during the Baroque period, which were evident in the upper parts of the church with the cornice, the replastering of the brickwork in the windows (glyphs), which were widened at the time, and in other parts, which became apparent after the plaster was stripped. In view of this condition of the masonry threads, it was decided to leave the Gothic parts in the brickwork after appropriate cleaning of the bricks, and to plaster and paint the other parts of the masonry from the Baroque and later periods in a suitable colour, harmonised with the overall brickwork of the building.

In this way, the post-Bernardine church will be given a proper coat of paint that is unquestionable in terms of either its historical or artistic appearance. The work is being carried out under the direction of the conservator Prof. Juliusz Kłos and Prof. Ferdynand Ruszczyc.