Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Local authorities have pledged to take action after a 200-year-old shrine in a Polish village was “renovated” by an unknown person, who repainted sculptures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary in a manner that has caused both amusement and anger.
The shrine was erected in 1820 alongside a road running through Studzionka, a village of 2,300 people in southern Poland. It is listed on the official register of monuments, meaning any work on it must be approved by conservators and vandalism of it can carry a prison sentence of up to two years
Earlier this month, an anonymous social media account first shared pictures of the repainted shrine, saying that it appeared someone had taken it upon themselves to redesign it in “the style of garden gnomes” using “the cheapest paint from a DIY store”.
They noted that the “artist” had even signed their work with their initials, “J.Cz.”, and added the date it was carried out, July 2024. The artist also painted a crude Polish translation of a German inscription on the shrine. (When the shrine was erected, the area in question was under German rule.)
Subsequently, pictures of the repainted shrine were shared on social media by Monika Bogdanowska, the former conservator of monuments in the neighbouring province of Małopolska.
She wrote that, while the person who carried out the work no doubt had good intentions, they have “tarnished” the monument, which requires professional conservation work.
Speaking to state broadcaster TVP, the spokesman for the conservator of monuments in Silesia province, where the shrine is located, said that they would carry out an inspection to determine the damage.
However, he added that “we are not dealing here with a case of vandalism, we are dealing with a case, quite common in smaller, local communities, of a shrine being restored in an absolutely unacceptable way. Unfortunately, this has led to the devastation of the monument”.
TVP reports that the last time the shrine was officially renovated was in 2007. Images from Google Street View taken in 2023 appear to show it in good condition.
In a similar incident in 2021, a row broke out in another village in southern Poland over the restoration of a statue of the Virgin Mary. In that case, however, the work was carried out by a professional restorer and was approved by local conservators.
A row has broken out in a Polish village over the recent restoration of a century-old statue of the Virgin Mary.
The owner complains that it is now unrecognisable. But local conservators say it has been restored to its original appearance https://t.co/g6yRqeMXE7
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 3, 2021
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Exegi Monumentum/Facebook
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
