The POLONIKA Institute and the Ukrainian "Foundation for the Development of Education and Banking Science" of the Lviv School of Banking are jointly funding the rescue and conservation work of the sculpture of the Sorrowful Christ.

The limestone figure crowns the lantern of the cupola, the late Renaissance chapel of the Boim family in Lviv. The chapel, built in 1609-1611 and located next to the presbytery of the Latin Cathedral, is one of the city's most attractive landmarks. The building has an unusually rich stone architectural decoration of the facade and stucco in the interior.

In the spring of 2021, it was reported that fragments of the crown of thorns sculpture of Christ broke off and fell onto the pavement. The Institute commissioned an expert opinion on the statue's state of preservation and the preparation of a programme and cost estimate for conservation works. The aim of the work is to protect the object from the influence of destructive atmospheric factors, to establish the original appearance of the statue and the extent of previous conservation interventions, and then to restore its original artistic qualities while preserving features that testify to the object's centuries-old history. A key task is to preserve the integrity of the sculptural composition as a whole representation.

The expert opinion carried out assessed the sculpture's state of preservation as very poor. The analysis revealed multifaceted cracks occurring in the area of the base of the statue, the rock block on which Christ sits and the sculpture's right leg. This damage threatens the statics of the object, which sits on top of a chapel located in a very busy area of Lviv. Urgent conservation work is needed.

A conservation commission took place at the statue of the Sorrowful Christ from the lantern of the Boim Chapel in Lviv on 8 October. It was attended by Ukrainian and Polish experts, representatives of the Lviv City Council, the Lviv Art Gallery and the "Foundation for the Development of Education and Banking Science" of the Lviv School of Banking, which is co-financing the rescue work.

The theme of the commission was a detailed inspection of the sculpture, an assessment of the degree of its destruction, and the delineation of directions for research and rescue and conservation work.

The work is scheduled to be completed by 30 November 2021.

Executor: ZKR Sp. z o.o. under the direction of Paweł Jędrzejczyk

Work carried out in 2021 within the framework of the strategic programme of the Polonica Institute "Protection of Polish cultural heritage abroad"