THE DISCOVERY AND STUDY OF WALL PAINTINGS AS A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PART OF THE INTERIOR DECORATIVE PROGRAMME OF THE BERNARDINE MONASTERY IN LVIV

Abstract

The article aims to present the discovery and study results of wall paintings in the monastic cells and galleries of the Bernardine Monastery in Lviv, one of the most significant 17th-century architectural monuments in the city. The previously unknown murals came to light during investigations prompted by the critical structural condition of the northern wing of the building. During research and conservation works carried out in 2024–2025, fragments of historical polychromy were uncovered beneath later layers of plaster and whitewash in several interiors. The research covered the ground-floor galleries and the cells on the first and second floors in a part of the building currently occupied by the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lviv. Methods. The research methodology included stratigraphic sondages and the gradual uncovering of plaster and paint layers, photographic documentation, and the sampling of materials for microscopic and physicochemical analyses. In addition, the compositional structure of the paintings was analysed in relation to the architectural organisation of the interiors. Several historical phases of polychromy were identified. Main results. The earliest layer of painting, executed in glue technique on lime-sand plaster using earth pigments and carbon black, can be preliminarily dated to the mid-seventeenth century and is associated with the original decorative scheme of the monastic complex. In the ground-floor galleries, fragments of a Renaissance architectural decorative programme were revealed, combining architectural and vegetal ornament integrated into lunettes and wall bays between arched windows and coordinated with the rhythm of the arcades and the vaulted spatial structure. In the cells on the first and second floors, fragments of several layers of painting were identified. The earliest decoration consists of ornamental compositions, devotional inscriptions and figurative scenes from Christian iconography, including episodes of the Passion cycle. Conclusions. After the suppression of the monastery at the end of the 18th century and the adaptation of the building for administrative functions, particularly as an archive, the original paintings in many rooms were covered by numerous layers of whitewash or plaster. Paradoxically, these later coatings contributed to the preservation of parts of the early polychromy without substantial repainting. The results of the study make it possible, for the first time, to outline the principles of the interior decorative scheme of the Bernardine Monastery in Lviv and to clarify the chronology of its interior development. The discovered wall paintings constitute an important source for the study of 17th-century painting practices in Lviv and allow the architectural decorative programme of one of the city’s largest monastic complexes to be partially reconstructed, while also opening new perspectives for further historical-architectural, art-historical and conservation research.