The project entitled: “The Stained Glass from the Years 1800–1945 in the Roman Catholic Churches of the Metropolises of Cracow and Przemyśl”, carried out at the Art History Institute of the Jagiellonian University, was launched in 2012 thanks to the funds granted by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities and has been completed in 2017.

The Head of the project was Professor Wojciech Bałus, and its main author Dr Tomasz Szybisty. Regular members of the research team were: Irena Buchenfeld, Grzegorz Eliasiewicz, Mikołaj Golenia, Dr Paweł Karaszkiewicz, Rafał Ochęduszko. Numerous other collaborators were involved, in particular: Danuta Czapczyńska-Kleszczyńska, Irena Kontny, Dr Andrzej Laskowski, Bartosz Podubny, Krzysztof Trąba, and Anna Zeńczak.

The aim of the project, which was part of an international undertaking under the auspices of the Corpus Vitrearum, a worldwide organisation working on the research on stained glass, was a possibly detailed survey and initial scholarly research of stained glass from the period 1800–1945 surviving in sacred buildings on the territories of the Metropolises of Cracow (Archdiocese of Cracow, Diocese of Bielsko-Żywiec, Diocese of Kielce and Diocese of Tarnów) and Przemyśl (Archdiocese of Przemyśl, Diocese of Rzeszów, and Diocese of Zamość-Lubaczów). The research was carried out along two parallel tracks, encompassing above all first-hand recording of stained glass (photographs and measured drawings) and archival surveys conducted in Church and state archives, as well as in museums and local offices of the heritage board, in the press and various collections related to the work of particular stained-glass designers and manufacturers.

The results of the survey were being regularly published in a richly illustrated book series.

The project yielded also an Internet database of research results, comprising entries on all stained-glass panels covered by the survey.

It is worthy of note that Poland was the first country to have launched such a complex research project dealing with stained glass dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The experience gained during its completion and research methods developed in the process have significantly influenced the directives on the surveying and scholarly recording of stained glass originating after 1800, set down by the Corpus Vitrearum. The directives, compiled with contribution of Dr Tomasz Szybisty, were officially adopted at the 26^th Colloquium of the Corpus Vitrearum, held in Troyes in 2016.