Three antique alabaster sculptures from the second half of the 16th century by Friedrich Gross will soon once again adorn the canopy of the pulpit at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Wrocław. The sculptures were recovered as a result of restitution efforts by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (MKDiN).

The pulpit in the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Wrocław is entirely the work of Friedrich Gross the Elder, born around 1540 in Bohemia and died in 1589 in Wrocław, a master sculptor and architect. It was created between 1579 and 1583 using the most expensive sculptural materials, such as alabaster, and is one of the most valuable Lutheran pulpits in Europe.

The sculptures were stolen before 1972, when the church was handed over to the Cathedral Parish of the Polish Catholic Church. Then twice (in 2009 and 2013) they appeared on the auction market. It was then that the years-long effort to recover them began. Eventually, a decision by the Supreme Court confirmed the Treasury’s ownership of the lost putti (decorative motifs depicting a small naked boy). The figures were transferred as a deposit to the National Museum in Wrocław, where they were subjected to conservation.

As a result of arrangements between the Wrocław Museum and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the putti will be transferred as a museum deposit to the Church of St Mary Magdalene and will return to their original place on the pulpit canopy.

In the many years and complicated process of restoring the stolen sculptures, special merit has been given to the Monitoring of Monuments Association in Bytom, headed by chairman Adam Widera, the Monitoring of Monuments Association in Lwówek Śląski, headed by Arkadiusz Gutka, and Sebastian Borecki, who popularises the issue of Lower Silesian monuments.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński