Rukomysh villagers refused to surrender Pinzel’s works to the Louvre

A month ago, residents of Buchach and Rukomysh (Buchach raion, Ternopil oblast) refused to surrender Pinzel’s works – deacon doors from the Intercession of the Theotokos Greek Catholic Church in Buchach and stone sculpture of Saint Onuphrius the Great from Rukomysh Orthodox church dedicated to the saint – to be exhibited in the Louvre, arguing that all the master’s works that had previously been removed for restoration never returned, The Day informs.

Therefore, Culture Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Kulyniak arrived in the region on September 7 to resolve the conflict. He agreed to all the demands of the district center’s residents, asked only for the deacon doors and vowed at the church that their relic would be back. The Day was told by deputy chief of organizational department of the Buchach District Council and the chairperson of the district commission on preservation of historical and cultural treasures Olena Surmiak that the locals agreed to an equal exchange: “We will give bail to get two antypediums by Pinzel from Ternopil fine arts and local history museums – Saint Nicholas and Journey to Emmaus, which, incidentally, are also parts of the Intercession of the Theotokos church’s single sculpture composition.

In the meantime, we will negotiate about these sacred artworks returning to the shrine for good. We have also received information on the royal doors’ whereabouts and will negotiate their return to Buchach. We are so lucky that they are still in Ukraine. In addition, we will receive four copies of sculptures from the pediments of Buchach Town Hall (originals were removed in the 1980s for restoration). Moreover, they are already talking about creating an architectural reserve in Buchach.” However, the minister’s attempts to come to terms with Rukomysh villagers failed. To be honest, how could the community trust officials, if the government did not provide any help after a powerful crash of travertine rocks in August caused a substantial destruction in the church, with Pinzel’s masterpiece miraculously surviving? “Why nobody helps us to restore the church? We are doing it on our own!” outraged residents exclaimed.

The outrage was met with promises to commit 280,000 hryvnias from the regional and district budgets and raise funds from patrons. However, the villagers stood firm, not going to surrender “their own” Saint Onuphrius who protects them. “We have pilgrims coming from Kolomyia, Halych, Lviv and other places to pray to Saint Onuphrius. This is our treasure,” they stress. Nobody spoke about the relic’s value in any but spiritual terms before, but buyers started emerging recently. “A Pole came to us and said they are ready to build three churches as good as our current one, if only we would surrender the sculpture,” the locals tell. After it was “assigned” a price on the Web (online conversations are citing it at about 10 million dollars), the community started to fear for its safety. The Rukomysh villagers harbor suspicions that the Paris exhibition might be just a cover for an attempt to make a handsome sum from their relic. Thus, minister Kulyniak left Rukomysh empty-handed, without even seeing the masterpiece. After the crash, parishioners took the sculpture from the church, and now refuse to reveal its new location. They are ready to give a copy to the Louvre, though. The parish priest Mykhailo Sukanets told that the community would not change its decision.