The Creativity of Francisk Olensky and His Sculptural Works in the Decoration of Lviv Buildings

Lviv sculptor Francisk Olensky remains one of the most original figures of his time among the younger generation of Lviv Baroque of the second half of the 18th century, whose creative heritage is a significant contribution to the history of the development of art and culture in Ukraine. The article explores the stylistic features of the artistic sculptural works of F. Olensky of the late Baroque period in the decoration of sacral and residential buildings of Lviv. Based on the works of previous researchers of the creativity of Francisk Olensky and a natural survey of sculptural works, the artistic heritage of the sculptor has been thoroughly analyzed and the main features of the plastic solution of the artist’s works have been revealed. The peculiarity of the creative manner of performing sculptures by F. Olensky is the naturalistic character of the figures - a short torso, with a head with a neck drawn into the shoulders, thickened open arms and legs of angels and female figures, similar to male ones, and a special interpretation of the face with a slightly protruding forward nose and upper lip. The baby faces of the angels lose their softness and inner beauty, inherent in similar works of his teacher J.G. Pinzel. Olensky quite originally solves the complex problem for any master-carver of transmitting hair on the heads of saints, usually forming disheveled heads of elders. His sculptural works belong to the cultural heritage of Ukraine and have artistic value. In the process of research, the technical condition of the works of art was studied and conservation-restoration measures were proposed to protect against further destruction.