Iconic altarpiece of St. Michael’s Church to return as restoration is finished

The Church of St. Michael, considered one of the most important architectural gems of Transylvania, was recently completely renovated inside and out, and was re-consecrated in August 2022 by Archbishop Gergely Kovács. We also asked Archdeacon Attila László what it means for the church that the old altarpiece will be returned to its otherwise majestic and dignified house of worship. „We felt it was important to make the sacrifice, to professionally renovate the Baroque altarpiece previously kept in the sacristy, since the work of art is our treasure, which we not only wanted to save, but also let everyone else see and enjoy. Now that the painting has regained its original beauty, we will return it to the church, on the right-hand wall, above the fresco remnant depicting the baldachin” – said Attila László.

He also revealed that it is not easy to professionally fix the painting to the wall, since it is quite massive, weighing about 200 kilograms – but undoubtedly it will provide much joy as people will be able to admire it at the Church of St. Michael. We also asked Attila László how the number of visitors has changed following the renovation. He said that the church was visited by half a million registered visitors last year, and the number of visitors varies between 30-44 thousand per month.

The painter of the Baroque altarpiece of the Church of St. Michael revealed

Restorers Lóránd Kiss and Janka Melinda Oláh completed the painting’s renovation together; we asked them about the painting and the work process. “Following the restoration, the painting will be placed next to the southern side tabernacle, above the fresco depicting the baldachin, which was already restored in the 1990s, but the varnish applied back then completely darkened over time.

„We have now carried out a full restoration, and as an exciting discovery, the painter’s signature was found during the cleaning; the identity of the artist was previously unknown. Based on the signature we uncovered, it could be determined that the artist was Gottlieb Anton Galliarti (1688-1736), an Austrian artist of Italian origin who was active in Vienna, in the early 18th century, and whose signed murals and oil paintings can also be found in the Nitra Cathedral,” explained Lóránd Kiss.

It is a significant and outstanding work of art for Transylvania, which was most likely commissioned by the then Bishop of Transylvania, György Mártonffy. The restorers also recounted that the painting is 480 cm high and 280 cm wide and its original gilded decorative frame has also been preserved. The altarpiece depicts a scene from the Book of Revelation: the picture shows Saint Michael the Archangel, holding a flaming sword in his hand, in a classic Baroque iconographic representation.

„Before we begin the full-scale restoration, we first test smaller areas by cleaning them to help reveal what the picture will look like after restoration; removing the aged varnish and dirt layer will uncover the original colors of the painting. The restoration consists of several stages: conservation, cleaning, duplicating the original canvas, replacing missing parts, varnishing, and finally, retouching, i.e. we add oil paint to the worn and missing colors in the painting,” the experts explained.

Restoration is not just a craft – it's much more

Janka Melinda Oláh discussed how for her, restoration is not simply just a craft. She always experiences in some way that the object she is working on is in some sense reborn – not only in terms of matter, substance, and aesthetics, but also in its meaning and message. „What time and the darkened varnish layer cannot destroy becomes present. For me, it is very important that we do our work to the best of our ability, because we work primarily for the glory of God, and only in this way can it become a value for people. I believe that if this spirituality and thinking motivates our work, then it can truly become a blessing for the community,” said Janka Melinda Oláh. Ignác Hegedűs, Ferenc Márton and Melissa Pauliuc also helped in certain phases of the restoration work.