Northern Sky mural (sgraffito) referring to one of Johannes Hevelius’s works

Technique: sgraffito

Object: The gold painting of constellations on a burgundy background is a representation of the 17^th century Northern Sky map (one of Hevelius’s works). It is executed on one of the walls of the tenement in front of the Johannes Hevelius statue so that the sculpted representation of the scientist looks at the map of the sky. The painting was made in one of the decorative wall painting techniques, sgraffito, which involves covering the wall with several (usually two) layers of coloured plaster and then partially scraping off the wet upper layers with sharp tools to expose the colour of the lower layer. This creates a two- or more-coloured composition.

Place: wall of the tenement on Bednarska Street, right next to Heweliusza Square and Korzenna Street, opposite the Old Town Hall

Before World War II, the Old Town Hall formed part of dense Old Town architecture. Its façade, like that of the Main Town Hall (Ratusz Głównomiejski), faced the façades of the tenements forming the frontage of the street – in the case of the Old Town Hall, today’s Korzenna Street.

The municipal square in front of the main façade of the Old Town Hall was created in the course of post-war reconstruction of the city, when the authorities decided not to rebuild the tenements that used to stand opposite it. The square was given a clear compositional axis linked to the symmetrical façade of the Town Hall. On this axis were located: the statue of Johannes Hevelius, the sundial and the Hevelius fountain. Contemporary urban development around the Old Town Hall makes it possible to see it as the central object of an almost square space, cut by the carefully enclosed Radunia Channel, on which the old city mills are built.

Information about the author/authors:

Jan Szczypka (b. 11 February 1962) in Jordanów is a sculptor and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He is the author of numerous medals and statuettes for Pomeranian institutions.

Andrzej Dyakowski (b. 1936 in Krakow, d. 14 January 2020) was a painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He graduated in 1969 from Prof. Władysław Jackiewicz’s studio and specialized in architectural painting.

Jacek Zdybel (b. 1963 in Gdańsk) is a painter, graphic designer, draughtsman and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He graduated in 1990 from Prof. Hugo Lasecki’s studio. Zdybel likes to work in the mural and sgraffito techniques.

Anna Waligórska, Agnieszka Budenko, Anna Kloc, Małgorzata Witschenbach, Anna Taut, Justyna Dziechciarska, Zofia Błażko and Sergiusz Powałka were all students or graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk at the time.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk Road and Greenery Authority

Author of the entry: inventory made by the Gdańsk University of Technology team, description of the place: Jacek Dominiczak, additional information: Małgorzata Paszylka-Glaza