Historical Stained Glass in Ukraine: Still in Danger

A collaboration between CVMA (Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi), ISCCSG (International Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Stained Glass), Ernst von Siemens-Kunststiftung, UNESCO World Heritage, ALIPH (International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage) and Museum for Change

Dr Elena Kosina, CVMA Deutschland

Kyiv, The Khanenko Museum

Following the ‘Stained Glass in Danger’ masterclass at the University of York in 2023, Ukrainian glass artist Oksana Kondratyeva reported the particularly endangered stained glass in Ukraine, including the stained glass collection of the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv. During the heavy bombing of the historic centre of this city in October 2022, a missile hit thirty meters away from the façade of the museum building. The shock wave blew out all the windows on the façade, but fortunately the glass panels installed in the permanent exhibition had been secured with standard tape a few weeks earlier. The extent of the damage to the stained glass in store could not be assessed as there were no stained glass or glass conservation experts among the museum’s highly professional staff.

The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Art Museum (Fig. 1), one of the most important art collections in the country, was founded by an art-loving private couple. Bohdan Khanenko, a descendant of an old Ukrainian noble family, had been a passionate art collector since his youth. His wife Varvara was the eldest daughter of the Ukrainian entrepreneur and philanthropist Nykola Tereshchenko, whose generosity to Kyiv included the founding the Technical University, the city’s largest public hospital and several public art museums.

 

The Khanenkos, a well-travelled couple with a wide range of interests, had collected objects from ancient Egypt and Greece, Western European art from Italy, France, Flanders and Spain, as well as from Persia, China and Japan. The collection was originally housed in a purpose-built historicist villa in the city centre, built between 1887 and 1888. Various rooms in the house were decorated in the style of different art periods, which predetermined the unique character of the future museum space (Fig. 2). In 1918, Varvara Khanenko fulfilled her late husband’s will by donating the collection and the building to the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

Today, the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv comprises some 25,000 art objects, including twelve high quality works of Western European stained glass from the 13th to 18th centuries. The highlights of the collection are well-preserved figurative panels from the Cathedral of Soissons (c.1220, Fig. 3), two artistically outstanding panels from the Austrian pilgrimage church of Maria Straßengel (1350/55, Fig. 4) and a monumental Pentecost scene from a prestigious glazing from St Etienne in s’Herenelderen in Belgium (1540, cover image).

Ivo Rauch from the German National Committee of the Corpus Vitrearum communicated directly with the open-minded Director of the Khanenko Museum, Yulia Vaganova, to discuss ways in which we could help. In the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, headed by Dr Martin Hoernes, we found an extremely committed ally who agreed to finance all necessary measures to secure the Kyiv stained glass collection, if the objects could be temporarily accommodated in a museum in Germany. In the spring of 2024, the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne agreed to house the collection and present it in a special exhibition. Ivo Rauch and Elena Kosina took responsibility for the professional transfer of the objects and the scientific management of the project. Finally, the glass conservation department of Cologne Cathedral agreed to provide conservation support for the glass collection from Kyiv. Negotiations on the bilateral cooperation and loan agreement between the Khanenko Museum in Kyiv and the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne lasted from March to November 2024.

At the end of November 2024, we travelled to Ukraine to examine the stained glass objects from the Khanenko Museum and prepare them for transport (Fig. 5). An oversized light panel was sent to Kyiv by Ukrainian post, while equipment and solvents that were not allowed on the flight were procured or creatively replaced by Ukrainian friends and colleagues of the museum on site.

Thanks to the dedicated support of our colleagues in Kyiv, led by chief curator Olena Kramareva (Fig. 6), all planned work was completed smoothly within five days. All the panels in the collection were examined to establish their condition, documented, secured, packed and prepared for customs in crates especially constructed for these pieces (Figs. 7, 8). Fortunately, the museum building was spared from power cuts during these days. During the air raids, however, which were unfortunately very intense at the time, we and other staff retreated to the museum’s basement, where a temporary air-raid shelter had been set up.

The remarkable mental attitude, professional spirit and daily courage of our colleagues at the Khanenko Museum is one of the most valuable experiences of this mission. Even after the rocket attack, when the staff removed and salvaged the entire exhibition by their own efforts and resources, the museum continued to work. Over the past three years, the Khanenko Museum has offered imaginative “empty space tours” and invited visitors to view exhibitions and actions by modern artists. Concerts, theatre performances and film shoots about the museum’s history and its special objects took place in the museum building (Fig. 9). In addition, the ‘Single Masterpiece Exhibitions’ change every month. The social resonance of the Khanenko Museum’s commitment is as great as the number of visitors. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQmGF9OvI80)

 

In the second week of December 2024, the collection of stained glass from Kyiv, classified as a national cultural treasure, arrived safely in Cologne. The glass panels were unpacked and re-examined together with Anastasia Matselo, curator of the Khanenko Museum, who had travelled to Germany for the occasion (Fig. 10). Finally, the intact collection was handed over to our colleagues at the Schnütgen Museum. The Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung covered transport, travel and insurance costs. The Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz donated my working time, while Ivo Rauch worked on a voluntary base.

From 3 April 2025, the stained glass collection of the Khanenko National Museum in Kyiv will be presented in dialogue with stained glass from the Schnütgen Museum in the exhibition titled ‘Light in Dark Times’. (https://www.museum-schnuetgen.de/Light-in-Dark-Times)

Odesa, Philharmonic Theatre

On 31 January 2025, the historical centre of Odesa was attacked by Russian ballistic missiles. In addition to the human victims, six important architectural monuments were damaged, some of them severely. One of them was the former building of the New Stock Exchange, now the Odesa Philharmonic Theatre.

The stock exchange of Odesa, built between 1894 and 1899, was intended to replace the old trading hall, which was no longer able to keep pace with the dynamic development of the Black Sea metropolis. The Viennese architect V.J. Prohaska won the project and then the leading architect in Odesa, Alexander Bernardazzi, was commissioned to carry out the work. The magnificent eclectic complex, with a 910 m2 main hall, had a rich interior and exterior decoration, including wall paintings, wood carvings, bronze sculptures and mosaics which all staged a symbolic-allegorical programme of trade and industry (Fig. 11).

The main façade was modelled on the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, whose commercial fame Odesa was keen to emulate. The oversized windows of the New Stock Exchange were also intended to connect the elegant plain leaded glazing of Venetian palazzi with colourful neo-Gothic tracery lights and oriental ornaments. They were executed at the time of construction by the Karlsruhe stained glass studio of Hans Drinneberg (Fig. 12). Since 1924, the building has been increasingly used for cultural and musical events and today serves as the main venue of the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra.

The first to respond to the missile attack on 31 January was the voluntary public organisation Museum for Change (MFC). Founded in 2017 to support Odesa’s museums, the MFC has become an efficient communication and fundraising network during the war years, with 71 rescue projects for over 150 art and heritage institutions across Ukraine. Within two days of the attack on Odesa, we were contacted by MFC co-founder Oleksandra Kovalchuk, through our colleagues at the Khanenko Museum, with a request for professional assistance in securing the damaged stained glass windows of the Philharmonic Theatre (Fig. 13).

In addition, the MFC mobilised $30,000 in emergency aid from the ALIPH Foundation (International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage) for all monuments now affected in Odesa and commissioned teams of craftsmen to begin clean-up and salvage work.

The MFC coordinator, Daria Diakova, who led the salvage operation at the Philharmonic Theatre, was in constant telephone and video contact with Elena Kosina during this period, focusing on the controlled and professional handling and safeguarding of the stained glass (Fig. 14). She was assisted in this mission by a total of seven changing volunteers from various municipal museums, an artist from Odesa, a glazier from Kyiv and a four-man crew from the ‘1000 Doors of Odesa’ wood restoration project (Figs. 15, 16). In less than 14 days, Daria’s team managed to remove, photograph, document, pack in acid-free paper and store on specially constructed wooden shelves almost 200 m2 of badly damaged glazing from the Philharmonic Theatre (Fig. 17).