The wall painting of the Polotsk Transfiguration Church will be presented at a museum exhibition

On September 12, a unique exhibition of wall paintings removed from the walls of the Transfiguration Church in Polotsk will open at the Art Gallery of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, BELTA reports.

The museum exhibition "Wall Paintings of the 12th-19th Centuries. Transfiguration Church" is a kind of summary of the restoration work carried out, the goal of which was to reveal the 12th-century fresco paintings and preserve several layers of 18th-19th-century oil paintings in the Transfiguration Church of the St. Euphrosyne Monastery in Polotsk.

"The exhibition demonstrates a scientifically developed technological process, applied for the first time on the scale of an entire complex, for delaminating and conserving multi-layered wall paintings created in different centuries. Every millimeter of the frescoes was uncovered from under several layers of oil painting, cleaned of dust and soot, treated with a special fixing agent, and today adorns the walls of the functioning church of the monastery. The delaminated layers of 18th-19th-century oil paintings, removed from the walls and museumified, allow us to fully appreciate the historical and cultural value of the unique architectural and painting monument – the Transfiguration Church of the St. Euphrosyne Monastery in Polotsk," the Art Gallery noted.

The exhibition of wall paintings was created thanks to a grant from the Foundation of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the Support of Culture and Art and is the result of many years of work by scientists, restorers, and museum staff.

The Transfiguration Church of the St. Euphrosyne Monastery is rightfully considered a pearl of East Slavic architecture. According to legend, the church was built with the blessing of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, the abbess of the Polotsk Monastery, and, according to experts, the design of the murals also belongs to her.