In Lviv, a unique 130-year-old stained glass window from the Church of St. John the Chrysostom – an architectural landmark of local importance – is being restored.
It is a round stained glass window depicting the Immaculate Conception. The work is performed by the craftswoman Maria Shumska-Barvinok. And funds for the restoration were provided by the ALIPH Foundation.
As the Department of the Protection of the Historical Environment of the LMR said, at the beginning of March, a group of restorers led by Ruslana German carried out measures to secure the most valuable elements of the monument from possible damage as a result of military operations. The large stained glass windows in the altar part were covered with special protective structures. But the round stained-glass window above the entrance had to be dismantled, since its condition did not allow for on-site protection.
“The stained-glass window crumbled under my hands, had many different defects, chips. The bond between the elements was destroyed. Therefore, simply protecting it with shields, similar to how it was done in other temples, is impossible. And the slightest shock wave or storm would destroy it,” said restorer Maria Shumska-Barvinok.
Restoration work is difficult, because you need to study each element, find and fix all defects, take care of proper fastening.
“The peculiarity of such stained-glass windows is that most of the color is obtained by applying black and brown paints on colored glass. This type of decoration makes the stained glass very difficult in the restoration process, since the paint layer is thin and much more delicate than the glass, colored in the main mass”, – noted the Department of Protection of the Historical Environment of LMR.
The Church of St. John Chrysostom, the former Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the monastery of the Franciscan nuns, located on the street. M. Lysenko. The author of the project is the architect Julian Zaharievich. All three stained-glass windows made in Munich by F. Mayer in 1887-1889 have been preserved in the interiors. The central one depicts the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the side stained-glass windows are dedicated to St. Melania and Archangel Michael. The stained glass window in the round window on the facade of the church depicts the Immaculate Conception.
Over the past 10 years, the spire, wooden doors, and roofs have been restored in the monument.
As a reminder, in cooperation with the ALIPH Foundation in Lviv, stained glass windows from a residential building at 34 Kn. Romana Street will also be restored.