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Artisans from the Shadows

The Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Petrovaradin has a complete workshop for working on art objects on a wooden support, and it employs shadow craftsmen. The work of carpenters who deal with the conservation and restoration of cultural property is extremely delicate and complex, and the sophistication of their tasks was also expressed in the work on the interior of the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God in Čakovo.

The iconostasis, created between 1768 and 1771, the work of Dimitrij Popović, was destroyed in a fire in 2005 due to a malfunction in the temple's installations. On that occasion, 40 percent of the iconostasis burned down, including the icons and the supporting structure. The statics of this altar partition of unusual dimensions, with a characteristic, extremely high first zone, were very seriously damaged, and carpenters saved it by building the missing part of the supporting structure.

During 2024, they also made the missing parts of the frieze in the factory workshop, which were then transferred to Čakovo where they were mounted on the iconostasis and integrated with the preserved original part.

Decorative moldings were also made. Cracks and parquetry repairs were carried out on the wooden supports of the icons of Saint John, Saint Nicholas and the Virgin Mary, all in accordance with the most modern conservation principles – small-format wedge-shaped packages.

The extent to which the work was challenging is shown by the wormhole and fragility of the supports, along with the exposure to fire and additional damage caused during firefighting.
Photo: Marija Erdelji and the archive of the PZZZSK