The first Polish volume in the international Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi series (The Medieval Stained Glass in Poland, CVP) – Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien in der Stadtpfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt in Krakau [Medieval Stained Glass in the City Parish Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Cracow] – appeared in June 2018. It discusses medieval stained glass of St Mary’s Church in Cracow, a building that counts among the most important city churches in Central Europe. To mark the occasion, the Centre became deeply involved in promoting the understanding of stained glass. Following an agreement of the “Heritage Institute” Association and the Municipal Authorities of Cracow, a series of events, under a common slogan “Cracow – a City of Stained Glass”, intended to propagate the city’s stained glass heritage among Polish and international stained glass specialists as well as among wider audiences interested in Cracow’s heritage, was organised.

Open lectures

A series of open lectures on stained glass, delivered by specialists involved in the research on stained glass within the Corpus Vitrearum Poland and at the Centre for Stained Glass Studies, were held in the Wyspiański Pavilion in Cracow from May to June 2018:

Joanna Utzig – Technika witrażu: o pracy witrażysty w średniowiecznym Krakowie [The Stained Glass Technique: On the Work of a Glass-painter in Medieval Cracow]

Marta Kamińska – Witraż w pracowni konserwatora: ostatnie konserwacje witraży średniowiecznych ze zbiorów Krakowa [Stained Glass in the Conservator’s Studio: The Recent Conservation Treatments of Medieval Stained Glass from Cracow Collections]

Tomasz Szybisty, Anna Zeńczak – Między Wilnem a Krakowem: witraż w kaplicy Szafrańców w katedrze na Wawelu [Between Vilnius and Cracow: A Stained-glass Panel in the Szafraniec Family Chapel in Cracow Cathedral on Wawel Hill]

Wojciech Bałus – Witraże Stanisława Wyspiańskiego [The Stained-glass Work of Stanisław Wyspiański]

Dobrosława Horzela – Średniowieczne witraże kościoła Mariackiego [Medieval Stained Glass in St Mary’s Church]

Grzegorz Eliasiewicz – Jak fotografowano krakowskie witraże? [How Was Cracow Stained-Glass Photographed?]

Other events

In April 2018 a two-part training on the stained glass heritage of Cracow was organised for persons working in the tourism industry. It was conducted by Dr Dobrosława Horzela and Dr Tomasz Szybisty in the seat of Cracow’s Municipal Authorities.

On 18 July 2018, in turn, an event launching the newly published book and promoting the Centre for Stained Glass Studies was held in the spaces of an exhibition of Stanisław Wyspiański’s work in the Main Building of the National Museum in Cracow. The city’s stained glass heritage was presented by Professor Wojciech Bałus, Dr Dobrosława Horzela and Dr habil. Marek Walczak.

The Centre was also actively promoted in the local mass media. Particularly worthy of note are two Radio Kraków broadcasts on medieval and nineteenth-century stained glass in Cracow, available on-line here and here.