The turbulent history of the iconostasis by Adam Stalony- -Dobrzański and icons by Sotyrys Pantopulos for the Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Wrocław and the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Gródek

Abstract

Contemporary Orthodox church art in Poland is an issue that influences many areas of research. Current research focuses both on the work of individual artists, as well as on new formal solutions used by them, and aimed at enriching the Orthodox tradition. Apart from Jerzy Nowosielski and Adam Stalony-Dobrzański, who contributed to the renaissance of Orthodox church art in Poland, the works of Sotyrys Pantopulos and their correct attribution also deserve more attention. Two sets of icons depicting the Pantocrator and the Virgin Mary painted in 1969 by Pantopulos for the iconostasis designed by Stalony-Dobrzański for the Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Wrocław and the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Gródek near Białystok are examples of this. For many years their authorship was mainly attributed to Stalony-Dobrzański. Today, both pairs of icons found a secondary location as a result of the reconstruction of an iconostasis (Gródek, 1995) or its dismantling (Wrocław, 2019) – in this case, according to the opinion of the church’s custodians, as a structure that does not meet the requirements of the Orthodox liturgy. For that reason art historians have an urgent task to bring the importance of these works to public attention, and ultimately to have them entered into the heritage register. It appears that this is the only chance to preserve this legacy in an unchanged condition.