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Arts & Communication Altar “Passion of Christ” in Lviv

alabaster altar of the Passion of Christ. This altar was and patrician Jan Schölz-Wolfowicz, who hailed from
crafted by the Lviv-based sculptor Jan Zaremba, of Polish Silesia. 2(р.135),15(р. 20) Jan Zaremba was a pupil of Van Hutte
descent, in the workshop of the Lviv sculptor Van Gutte, and worked in his workshop from 1582 to 1596 as an
who arrived in Lviv from the German city of Aachen in the independent master. 1(p.48) The composition scheme is a
16 century. 1(p.46) Zaremba created the altar on commission triptych with a base, tier, and top, illustrating 12 scenes
th
and with funding from the prominent Lviv benefactor of the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection of Christ,
arranged across nine panels of the altar. The foundation of
the three-tiered structure of the altar consists of a predella
and side consoles (Figure 4). Four columns rest on these,
supporting the top. The columns divide the triptych fields
and support an entablature with a Latin inscription. The
spaces between the columns are filled with bas-reliefs of
the Passion of Christ in rectangular Renaissance frames.
The Renaissance relief altar “The Passion of Christ”
is crafted from black marble and light alabaster with a
yellow hue sourced from the quarries of Zhuravno, Lviv
region. 16(р.551) The first records of the Renaissance alabaster
altar commissioned by Jan Scholz-Wolfowicz date back
to 1595, when the Lviv patrician Jan Scholz-Wolfowicz
donated the altar to the Lviv Cathedral. 17(p.20) It was placed
against the northern wall of the Chapel of the Holy
Cross. 5(p.60-77) Donor Jan Scholz-Wolfowicz was not only a
Figure 2. General view of the Cathedral of the Protection of the Mother Lviv benefactor and art connoisseur but also participated
of God in Lviv 1(p.55)
Source: Author’s photo, 2024 in the creative work. Some researchers speculate that
Jan Scholz-Wolfowicz himself might have been involved in

Figure 3. Placement of the Passion of Christ altar in the left nave of the
Cathedral of the Protection of the Mother of God in Lviv. Figure 4. The Jan Scholz-Wolfowicz Altar
Source: Author’s photo, 2024 Source: Author’s photo, 2024

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 5 doi: 10.36922/ac.4738