Conservation of epitaph plaques of Teofilia and Marek Sobieski in Zhovkva

Ukraine
2016
conservation
orthodox church, Pole, polish people, tombstone, Żółkiew

o projekcie

Zhovkva, Ukraine. A former Dominican church, now known as the St Josaphat Orthodox Church of Dominican Convent. A place treating the visitor to the sight of amazing grave markers of the mother and brother of King Jan III Sobieski. The history of the memorials is quite turbulent. They were created in the late 17thcentury. Their creator was Andrzej Schlüter, a world-class artist. Soon, however, their beauty would come to be compromised. In the 1sthalf of the 18thcentury, there were two fires inside the church. The incidents resulted in the alabaster ornamentation of both grave markers becoming destroyed. It was restored in the 2ndhalf of the 18thcentury, but two centuries later, in the period 1945-1991, it appeared to be degrading again. Polish conservators managed to reconstruct it in stages only in 2001 and 2007. The stone inscription plaques of both grave markers were preserved in 2008.

2016

The architectural background of the grave markers still needed to be taken care of. Unlike the sculpted decoration, the original 17th-century background made of black Dębnik limestone (black marble) survived the test of time despite the fires and overall devastation. It was in a pitiful condition, though. Large parts of the stone surface were missing, and there were many cracks and chips covered by grey build-up. The necessary restoration activities were commenced in 2016, as soon as it was possible.

The task was performed by a conservation team composed of: Bartosz Markowski and Krzysztof Jurków, Joanna Muniak and Bogdan Markowski.

The project was financed from the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, granted as part of the “Cultural Heritage” programme, priority: “Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad”

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