In Lviv, there are about 300 mosaic panels, though there used to be more: At least 24 of these works of art have been destroyed or lost forever. The reasons are diverse: wars, vandalism, robberies, reconstruction of buildings, and de-communization policy, which required the removal of Soviet symbols. Tvoemisto.tv spoke to Natalia Piddubna, who is a Senior Lecturer from the Department of Architecture and Restoration in Lviv Polytechnic National University.
«If a panel is located on an architectural monument, it is protected by its status and remains under protection of the state. But no panel is protected separately as a work of art. Therefore, only some mosaics of the late XIX century are under protection,» – Natalia Piddubna says.
According to the mosaics researcher, the oldest panel in Lviv is located in the Ukrainian orthodox church of St. John Chrysostom on Lysenka street. It dates from 1889, though despite this, it’s in a fairly good condition.
«One of the largest ancient mosaics is located in the Department of National Bank of Ukraine on Kopernika street, in the form of a mosaic floor. It has a size of 740 square meters and was created most likely in 1914», says Natalia Piddubna.
A very detailed mosaic of the Soviet period can be seen in the interior of Torhpresa house on the Volodymyra Velykoho, 2 street. The work is called «Information Space» and was completed by Bohdan Soiko. It symbolizes the five continents and the exchange of information in the world.
«Now, the issue of providing a proper protection is raised not only for ancient mosaics, but also for mosaics of the Soviet period, because they can simply disappear. Stories like the one with the Okean (Ocean) store demonstrate it the best,» says the mosaic researcher.
As Lviv artist Ostap Patyk told Tvoemisto.tv, several serious works were created in Lviv in the 1980s. Among them «Sea and Fish» on the Volodymyra Velykoho street, a mosaic on the wall of Ukrainian Academy of Printing, a mosaic panel «Impulse and Control» on the Sakharova, 45 street, a mosaic «Ivasyk Telesyk» on the Tajytska street.
«As for ancient mosaics, there are many interesting works in Lviv which even decorate the entrances of some buildings. For instance, some of the oldest Byzantine mosaics can be seen in Lviv in the form of mosaic inserts in the entrances at Mentsynskoho, 3 street and Shota Rustaveli, 36 street. Here are works from the last century», – says the artist.
According to the City Council, there are 89 objects of monumental art in Lviv, but no mosaic works have been included in this list.
Here are the addresses, where in Lviv you can see ancient panels of late XIX – early XX centuries:
Architecture of the period of historicism (late XXI century)
1. Church of St. John Chrysostom (formerly the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Monastery of the Order of Franciscan Nuns of Holy Communion), st. Lysenka, 43.
2. Lviv Museum of History and Religion (formerly the Dominican Monastery), Sq. Museina, 1.
3. Dwelling house, st. Yu. Slovatskoho, 3.
4. Dwelling house, st. Yu. Slovatskoho, 5.
5. Dwelling house, st. P. Doroshenka, 65.
6. Dwelling house, st. S. Krushelnytskoyi, 17.
7. Dwelling house, st. S. Krushelnytskoyi, 13.
8. Dwelling house, st. S. Krushelnytskoyi, 1.
9. Dwelling house, st. B. Lepkoho, 20.
10. State Property Fund (former building of the State Railways Directorate), st. Sichovykh Striltsiv, 3.
11. Dwelling house, st. I. Hryhorovycha, 5.
12. St. George’s Church UOC (MP), st. Korolenka, 3.
13. Dwelling house, street Dudayeva, 5.
14. Dwelling house, street K. Levytskoho, 10.
Imitation of mosaic:
15. (DestroyedUnsaved) Latin Cathedral, Chapel of the Champions, sq. Katedralna, 1.
16. (DestroyedUnsaved) Church of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help (UGCC), formerly the Church of St. Mary of the Snows, st. Snizhna, 2.
In the architecture of Art Nouveau period of the early twentieth century.
1. Prosecutor’s Office of the Lviv region (formerly the Chamber of Commerce and Industry), T. Shevchenka av., 17/19
2. Church of the Assumption of St. Virgin Mary (Armenian Cathedral), st. Virmenska, 7-13
3. Secondary school № 6 (formerly the building of a private women’s gymnasium № 5, boarding house Z. Strzhalkowska and teacher’s seminary № 7), st. Zelena, 22.
4. Dwelling house, st. Shota Rustaveli, 36.
5. Court of Appeal of Lviv region and Lviv Research Institute of Forensic Medical Examinations. (formerly the Krakow Hotel), sq. Soborna, 7.
6. Dwelling house, st. Mentsinsky, 3.
7. Lviv branch of the National Bank of Ukraine (formerly Zemstvo Credit Society), st. M. Kopernika, 4.
Unsaved:
8. Pharmacy under the Archangel Raphael, st. Torhova (earlier
sq. Holukhovskykh). Preserved mosaic is exhibited in the Museum of the Pharmacy «Under the Black eagle»
9. Dwelling house, st. Kn. Romana, 34.
10. Sztuka Café, st. Teatralna, 10.
11. House of the Bromilski family, st. Chuprynky, 49.
12. (3 compositions) Dwelling house, st. Mentsinskoho, 3.
13. (16 compositions) Secondary school № 6 (once a house) private women’s gymnasium № 5, boarding house Z. Strzhalkowska and teacher’s seminary № 7), st. Zelena, 22.
14. Tomb of Russian journalists, Lychakiv cemetery, field № 72.
15. (Unsaved) Bromilski’s tomb with a medallion, Lychakiv cemetery, field № 1.
Imitation mosaic:
16. Chapel of the Three Saints, the complex of the Assumption Church, st. Russian, 7.
17. Church of the Assumption of St. Virgin Mary (Armenian Cathedral), st. Virmenska, 7-13.
18. (Unsaved) Centners’ Chapel, Lychakiv Cemetery.
19. (Unsaved) former Railway Directorate (now Lviv Railway Clinical Hospital), st. I. Ohienka, 5.
20. (Unsaved) st. Book Romana, 6.
During the architecture of the interwar twentieth century (1919-1939)
1. Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the UGCC (formerly the Church of Our Lady of Ostrobram), st. Lychakivska, 175.
2. Dwelling house, st. Panchishina, 8.
DestroyedUnsaved:
Chapel of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit, st. Copernicus. (probably an imitation of a mosaic, author PI Kholodny)
We’ll also notify, that Roman Patyk’s mosaic «Impulse and Control» on Sakharov Street, which was sewn under the lining for more than 10 years, was finally opened in Lviv. To create this mosaic, the author drew 300 sketches.
Anna Chystiakova
List of mosaic panels and photo by Natalia Piddubna
Translated by Vitalii Holich
