A note published in the periodical "Sztuki Piękne",1934, no. 6, p. 233 describes a mural painting which Władysław Cichoń created for a missionary studentate in Bologna in 1934. Two reproductions showing a fragment of the painting were published in the following issue ("Sztuki Piękne", 1934, no. 7, pp. 271 and 273, public domain, reprinted from the Library of the University of Silesia, Katowice).

A modernised reading of the text

Bologna. Polychrome by Władysław Cichoń.

In the spring of this year, after a year's work, the young painter Władysław Cichoń, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, completed a polychrome of the chapel of the Missionary Studentate in Bologna. For this reason, the well-known local artist-painter and art theoretician, Giuseppe Rivani, published in the daily Awenire d'Italia an article on the work of our young artist, which we reproduce below (in translation by X. Fr. Zawadziński).

In these days a new painting decoration was unveiled in the chapel of the Missionary Studentate of XX. Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bologna, a work of great value and interest by the Polish artist Władysław Cichoń. The new polychrome is indeed new and very original for Bologna, which is still lost in the traditional chiaroscuro of the eighteenth (eighteenth) century in the decoration of churches. It is the result of the thoughts and studies with which the artist combined modern concepts with traditional principles on the foundation of the best and most subtle religious decoration of the Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles, which more than any other strive to raise the spirit to God.

The chapel is dedicated to the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus-King. His figure is made by an artist in a large painting above the main altar in the depths of the ciborium of a work (also precious) by the School of Beato Angelico of Milan. At the sides of Christ seated on a throne in a golden field and with a crown of thorns on his head, stand angels carrying a rich royal crown and sceptre, His royal symbols offered by humanity as a whole adoring Him in the figures of others kneeling at the angels' feet. The ciborium, which covers the altar and the image, bears on the vault a painted shining cross in a starry sky with ornamental motifs shining fantastically in the corners. The triangular façade is dominated by the monogram of Christ surrounded by a golden crown. The extensive vault in the chancel depicts the

"The struggle for the Kingdom of God in created beings".

- In the angelic world, on the Gospel side, St Michael the Archangel, in knightly garb with a fiery sword in his hand, strikes down Satan - while on the other side of the vault, secluded by a ragged starry sky, in the earthly world, is Saul, overthrown by the appearance of Christ, who, pointing to His divine pierced Heart, addresses him saying: "Why do you persecute me, Saul?" In the corners of the vaults in the chancel and in the side cantories, the figures of angels, seeming to link heaven and earth symbolically, are impressive, well related to the architecture, against a characteristic luminous background. The centres of the vaults in the side choirs are dominated by the characteristic symbols of remuneration to the Sacred Heart.

In the convex apse above the ciborium, three angels with rich and fantastic wings sink in silent but very eloquent prayer, several symbolic burning incense sticks give the whole a special shade of light and colour that seemingly reduces the size of the ciborium. Parallel to the altar, on the walls under the choirs, are placed the four Holy Evangelists, exaggerated as having a special relationship with the Missionary Studentate. On the main arch are placed whole figures of saints related ideologically to the main painting of the divine Heart of the King: Francis de Sales, Francis of Assisi, Augustine, Margaret M. Alacoque, Gertrude and Fr Xavier.

In the nave, motifs of the same style are woven around the windows and under the arches, characterising the stylised figures with a particular elegance of form. In the coffers on the ceiling of the nave, the rich cross appears once again among the arabesques and luminous motifs. As a whole, this polychrome, not yet completely finished on the walls in the nave and side chapels, is indeed worthy of attention for its originality and the spiritual content that makes it a work of true Christian art.