Marian Stroński, “Cathedral Tower,” 1960s, oil on board. Painting dimensions: 76.5 x 53 cm. Collections of the National Museum of the Przemyśl Region in Przemyśl. This realistic painting depicts the tower of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Przemyśl on a sunny day. The tower’s four-sided, slender form is shown on the right, against a backdrop of clouds. Below are tenement houses and trees. The painting was painted in autumn on a sunny day. In the foreground, at the bottom, is a section of a garden with green grass, ending with a wall. Above the wall are trees with discolored leaves: orange, yellow, and green. To the right, a three-story, bright tower soars upward. Dark windows line the walls of two floors. Statues are on the corners of the second floor, and above its windows are round clock faces. The tower’s slender form is topped by a dark, soaring lantern with a dome and a cross. The tower towers above the buildings. It stands alone. On the right, at the edge of the painting, a fragment of the cathedral building can be seen. On the left, in the background, are the light walls of a residential building, below it a red roof with chimneys, and above it, in the distance, the two towers of the former Jesuit church (now the Greek Catholic cathedral). A large part of the painting consists of billowy clouds, which almost completely obscure the blue sky. Marian Stroński greatly enjoyed painting Przemyśl. The motif of the clock tower at Przemyśl Cathedral was a frequent theme in the artist’s work. Another important motif in the painting is the clouds. Stroński greatly enjoyed studying clouds, their various shapes and colors. Here, they are almost as important an element as the tower. Construction of the cathedral tower began in 1744 in the Baroque style. At that time, only two levels were built. The third level was added in 1907 in the Neo-Baroque style. Statues, a clock, and a metal lantern with a dome were added. The cathedral tower is one of Przemyśl’s most distinctive landmarks.
“Cathedral Tower” Painting
