The icon of St. Vincent, the patron saint of orphans, was discovered above the door of the Lviv Museum of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi in Lviv after a wall built during the Soviet era was dismantled.
It is being restored by artist-restorer Iryna Girna. She found even earlier paintings under the 18th-century architrave image.
The wall erected in Soviet times, behind which there were toilets, was dismantled by the museum administration at the beginning of June this year, having received all the necessary permits from the Lviv Historical Environment Protection Department and the Department of Architecture of the Lviv Regional Government. After all, the complex of the former monastery of the reformed fathers, at the address of st. Kryvonosa, 1, where today there is a church of St. Klymenty Sheptytskyi and the Museum of Metropolitan Sheptytskyi, is an architectural monument.
The wall with toilets and the “deaf courtyard” were built here in Soviet times, when a women’s colony and a police school were located in the complex of the former monastery.
Therefore, above the door to the museum, which was once a monastery, an icon of St. Vincent was found over the gate. And under it – baroque paintings, created, perhaps, during the construction of the monastery of the reformed fathers.
“When we dismantled the wall, we discovered a niche above the door. And when the brick was taken from it, they saw an image. It is from the end of the 18th century. But under this image, we discovered a very interesting find from the time of the Reformed Fathers, who were the first owners of this monastery. The icon of St. Vincent – it was already the time when this monastery was handed over to an orphanage. But there is another niche under it. It is colored pink, and below we have another beautiful baroque ornament with a vase. I assume that some sculpture could have stood in this older niche, which has not been preserved. Probably, when the orphanage came here, they walled up this ancient niche, because perhaps it was no longer fashionable. And on top they painted St. Vincent, who is the patron saint of orphanages and orphans,” says artist-restorer, manager of the museum’s exposition Iryna Girna.
Currently, the painting artist is fixing and opening a part of the older painting. Last week, the first restoration council was held in the museum, where experts decided what the final version of the restoration should be.
According to the director and founder of the museum, Father Sevastyan Dmytrokh, paintings from both periods will definitely be preserved and exhibited.
The restoration is planned to be completed by mid-August.
As a reminder, the Museum of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi was created in Lviv in August 2020 in the premises of the former monastery of the Reformed Fathers at 1 Kryvonos Street. Its director is Father Sevastyan Dmytrokh, the guardian of the art collection of the Metropolitan “Studio”. For two years, the institution operated in several rooms on the first floor, and this year the museum was finally given another part of the former monastery complex – the second and third floors above the current museum.