Poles Again Want to Return Altamonte’s Paintings to Zhovkva Church, Art Experts Against Move

A meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Poland, according to preliminary information, will be held in Lviv on December 2 at the opening of customs crossing at Hrushiv-Budomezh.

Hal-Info informs that on the eve of the meeting the Polish side again raised the question of the return of the battle paintings by Martino Altamonte “Battle of Parkany” and “Battle of Vienna” to the church in Zhovkva. Last year after their restoration (at the expense of Poland), the paintings were placed in the Zolochiv and Olesko castles.

The director of the Lviv Art Gallery Larysa Voznytska-Razinkova said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine appealed to the Lviv Art Gallery with a letter, in which it asked the gallery to consider the possibility and feasibility of a temporary exhibition of Altamonte Martino’s paintings in the church in Zhovkva.

“Yesterday the restoration council met. Our answer is no. It cannot be done because these are not paintings that can be removed from the wall and hung on another,” said Larysa Voznytska-Razinkova.

According to her, moving such large canvases is technically impossible.

“The paintings were acclimatization. In addition, it would cost a lot of money, money which we don’t have. To move the painting “The Battle of Parkany” from the Zolochiv castle we would again have to break the window, and what would we do next? Due to problems with the gallery’s treasury, we cannot even buy a nail. Borys (Voznytsky - ed.) thoroughly thought out how these paintings should be mounted. These canvases date to the late 17th century and their place is in a museum, because they need constant supervision by restorers,” said Larysa Voznytsky-Razinkova.

In addition, she stressed that the church in Zhovkva is functional and opened only for worship, so visitors will not always be able to see the canvases. The church has no climate control, which is required for the canvases.