Three valuable sculptures of the Virgin Mary were found in an old cemetery in Lviv

Three sculptures of the Virgin Mary were found on the site of an old cemetery in Lviv, near Mazepa and Topolna Streets. The damaged figures may be the work of a well-known Lviv artist. They will be restored by students at the Ivan Trush College in Lviv.

Yuriy Kochmar, a stone restorer and instructor at the Ivan Trush College, approached the Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage with a proposal to examine the sculpture of the Virgin Mary at the site of the former cemetery. As a result, three figures were discovered at once.

“I saw a handle sticking out of the ground. When we started digging it up, it turned out to be an entire sculpture, albeit without a head, and the lower part of another one was lying nearby. As a restorer, I couldn’t just walk past it. I noticed that this was the work of a professional craftsman. It would have been a shame to leave them in that condition,” said Yuriy Kochmar.

According to the restorer, these are works from the early 20th century, with inscriptions on the tombstones engraved in the Latin alphabet. All the sculptures have broken-off heads, and one is split in half. This is likely the result of Soviet vandalism.

“Despite significant damage, they retain signs of masterful craftsmanship. And the artist’s signatures on some of the sculptures may help establish their origin. There is speculation that the sculptures may be the work of Lviv artist Ludwik Makolondra. However, this still needs to be confirmed by expert research and archival materials,” according to the Office for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

With the help of employees from the Lviv Municipal Ceremonial Service, the sculptures were transported to the college’s workshops. There, under the guidance of instructors, students will restore them as part of their thesis projects.

On October 1, specialists from KARP Restorer conducted a workshop on laser stone cleaning. Students tested this technology on figures from the cemetery. The ancient sculptures will be examined in greater detail, and restoration methods will be selected based on their condition. Once restoration is complete, the sculptures will be returned to their original locations.

According to the local history website “Photographs of Old Lviv,” the Zamartyniv Cemetery, located near what are now Mazepa and Topolna Streets, emerged as early as the late 19th century as a spontaneous burial site, but 1917 is considered the official date of the cemetery’s founding. In the mid-1950s, it was closed, and School No. 81 and garages were built on the site. According to the restorer, about 12 gravestones still remain there. Those in the most dilapidated condition were selected for restoration.

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