Preparatory work and research for the restoration, implemented by the Polish institute "Polonika" in cooperation with the St. Michael Monastery of the Studite Rule, have been ongoing for over a month in the Lviv Church of St. Archangel Michael of the UGCC.
Specialists note that the restoration of the original wall paintings is a complex and lengthy process that may take a long time.
"Restoration work is a lengthy process, it takes much longer than repainting scenes in a church. Restoring the original paintings, which are quite often overpainted, as in our case, takes a lot of time", – says "Your City" restorer Lesia Hanuliak.
According to her, even with stable funding, the work may take years or even decades.
"However, even with sufficient funding, restoration work can take years and even decades depending on the scope of work and the area of the church," – she notes.
This year, 175,000 zlotys were allocated for the restoration of the sanctuary. The funds were provided by the Polish government within the state program "Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad."
Restorers emphasize that the work requires significant physical effort, precision, and time, as it is performed in difficult conditions on scaffolding and demands high concentration. Currently, they are working directly under the church's vault, where they have begun a detailed study of the painting to determine methods for its cleaning and prepare for the next stage of work.
Specialists are conducting material tests and photographic documentation, including macrophotography and ultraviolet photography, which allows them to capture details that are impossible to see from below.
"It's not visible from below, but we can currently observe various interventions by previous restorers where we didn't expect them," she says. "And under the vault, we can see them up close and examine them more thoroughly using ultraviolet light and our other methods. By examining every corner, we see how much the composition fully repeats the original or if there are changes somewhere, for example, a cloud is painted over a bit more," – noted restorer Solomiya Biganych.
Currently, preparatory research is continuing in the church, after which the next stages of work will be determined.
It should be noted that "Your City" managed to see the process of restoring frescoes on the church vault with their own eyes. We also learned what has already surprised restorers, how pigments are selected to reproduce lost fresco fragments so they don't differ from the original, and other interesting facts about the church. Read more in our report.
