Restoration of Antin Manastyrskyi’s iconostasis (1934) from the Church of St. Andrew on Varshavska Street in Lviv was carried out in 2011–2013.

Restoration supervisor – Halyna Druziuk. Chief art restorer – Petro Skop. Restorers: Mariia Ivantsiv, Yarema Ivantsiv.

The icons were made on plywood 5–6 mm thick. The ground layer is thin. Oil painting with gilding. At the time of restoration, the iconostasis was significantly damaged. The bases of the icons had suffered extensive deterioration. They consisted of three thin layers of wood and two glue layers. All the wood was damaged by woodworms, with holes appearing on both the front and back sides of the icons. Most of the holes were on the front surfaces. A distinctive feature of these holes was that they were not through-holes and did not align between the front and back sides of the icons. The plywood was delaminated and cracked in many areas, particularly on icons depicting apostles. In the most damaged areas, the boards visually resembled paper, as only very thin layers of plywood survived on the front and back sides. The middle layer of the plywood was almost entirely destroyed by woodworms. Their waste products spilled out through the holes.

During previous restoration interventions, in areas of the most significant paint loss, ground layers with oil fillers were applied above the original paint layer. These were then toned with oil paints overlapping the original artwork. The toning did not match the original painting. The original varnish layer had darkened. The carved framing in the upper part of the iconostasis, made of limewood and originally gilded, had been overpainted with aluminum paint using an oil binder.

During the restoration process, the bases of the icons were cleaned and reinforced. The later ground and overpainting were removed. The varnish layer was thinned. Grounding, toning, and gilding of the losses were carried out. The icons were covered with a protective varnish layer.

Halyna Druziuk