Orthodox Church Art, Gothic House, Nowy Sącz

Orthodox Church art from the 15th to the 19th century is on display in three northern rooms on the upper floor of the building. The exhibition consists of painted icons, banners, procession and altar crosses, wooden sculptures, candlesticks carved in wood, liturgical accessories and paraments. The items are from the collection of the Nowy Sącz museum and present the culture of the Lemkos, Rusyn mountain people dating back to the Wallachian and Rusyn settlement in the 14th to16th centuries who lived in the southern part of the Sądecczyzna region until 1947. The Lemkos were Greek Catholics (Uniates) who shared the culture of Byzantium but whose art was later significantly shaped by Western European influences. The changes are particularly visible in the icon painting that used to be based on orthodox schemes of religious presentation, when in mid-seventeenth century it began to submit to and assimilate and Western artistic standards. The first room exhibits the oldest and most valuable icons, namely the Mother of God with the Child of the Hodegitria type from Nowa Wieś that dates to the late 15th century, and St. Nicholas from Bincharowa from the early 16th century. Both icons are masterly creations in line with Byzantine conventions. The icon from Nowa Wieś was donated to the museum by Polish settlers who took over a former Lemko farm and found it in the attic of the house. Other valuable exhibits include the Pokrov icon – Mother of God’s Veil from Wojkowa, dated 1703, that depicts John III Sobieski with his wife Marysieńka as well as an altarpiece from the Orthodox Church in Izby from the late 18th century in the shape of a small iconostasis with a rich iconographic program. The second room presents an iconostasis consisting of icons from various locations that shows the visitors the strictly set arrangement of icons inside an Orthodox church. The iconostasis is surrounded by numerous icons and candlesticks on the walls. The third and the smallest room presents icons, altar retables, banners and liturgical paraments. This is where you can admire a small icon of the Holy Trinity from the late 18th century with a different iconographic perspective that combines Byzantine and Latin conventions. It would also be worthwhile to stop by a polychrome tabernacle (a kiwot) of 1655 decorated with a scene showing Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the heads of a cherub and a seraph.


 
Download free VisitMałopolska app
 
Android
Apple iOS
Windows Phone
<
>
   

Related Assets