In 1888, a decision was taken to build a new Catholic church in Riga. The existing church of Our Lady of Sorrows was no longer sufficient for the growing community of believers. Riga Technical University graduate Florian Wyganowski was entrusted with the preparation of the project. Work progressed smoothly - as early as 1890, the new church was covered, a year later both towers and the vaulting were completed, and in 1892 the interior finishing work was carried out. The church was built in the neo-Gothic style and every detail of its decoration was carefully planned.

Particularly valuable are the stained glass windows funded by the faithful. They were made in Warsaw, in the well-known "Św. Łukasz" workshop of Countess Maria Łubieńska. Founders of these decorative window fillings included the 'Arkonia' and 'Welecja' corporations of Polish students at the Riga Polytechnic, the Ogiński, Sołtan, Bing, Rothert and Sitkiewicz families, as well as individual donors, including the architect Florian Wyganowski.

Unfortunately, much of the stained glass was destroyed in the autumn of 1944, when the Germans blew up the nearby viaduct. The destroyed glazing was gradually replaced with new ones in 1958, 1968 and 1976. Copies were made repeating the original compositions, but with altered figures of the saints.

Work carried out in 2024.

Two stained glass windows above the side entrances to the church porch were restored. The objects were created in 1892 and installed in identical fifteen-pane fanlights with moulded wooden frames in the neo-Gothic style. Both fanlights were composed by inscribing circles with four-leaf arms. The central field contains symbols and the two outer lower fields contain coats of arms. The remaining four petals of the central rosette and the sails were filled with floral ornaments, characteristic of the Art Nouveau period. One of the stained glass windows was funded by the 'Welecja' student corporation, the other by the 'Arkonia' corporation, and it is their coats of arms that are in the lower corners.

The state of preservation of the stained glass windows was poor. Compared to the other windows in the church, those in the porch had no protective glazing with a spacer. The stained glass fields on the outside were protected by glazing without a spacer, cracked and leaking in many places. The outer surfaces of the glazing were the most damaged, exposed to the weather and lacking free evaporation of moisture. The stained glass windows had severe soiling, cracks and cavities, and were deformed, with numerous gaps between the lead mouldings and the glass. The soiling significantly restricted the passage of sunlight. The wooden frames also had minor defects and cracks and had been repainted several times.

As part of the task, the historic stained glass and wooden frames were fully restored and preserved. The objects were cleaned and the cracked original glass was glued. Missing fragments of the stained glass windows were reconstructed - the largest scope of reconstruction required the quatrefoils with the representation of the shields of arms, which had been supplemented with glass during previous repairs, leaving out elements of the original composition. After repairing the lead lattice, the quatrefoils were puttyed on both sides with glazing putty to make them more rigid, and the stained glass windows were installed in conserved wooden frames. The pine additions to the oak frames, which had been made during previous repairs and were in good condition, were left in place. The external metal grids were replaced with protective glazing of a single sheet of safety glass. The work carried out made it possible to restore the original iconographic programme and aesthetic qualities of the stained glass windows, and to protect them for years to come.

Executor: Tiffany Ursta Kajetan Stadtmüller

Project completed.

The conservation work was carried out in 2024 as part of the Polonica Institute's strategic programme "Protection of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad".