The author of the 1992 gouache is Ukrainian artist Alexei Gerasimov The gouache depicts the Korniakt Tower - the bell tower at the Volga Church.
The tower, erected by architect Peter Barbon in 1573-1580, is considered a monument to Mannerism in the lands of the former Republic. Byzantine, Italian and Polish influences intersected in its architecture. The three-story building was faced with stone, entwined with Ionic columns on each floor. The entire structure was topped by a low, tented roof. The tower burned down in 1672 during the Turkish siege of Lviv after the fall of Kamieniec Podolski.
In 1695-1696, King Jan III Sobieski's court architect Piotr Beber repaired the damage, raised the tower one story with bricks and covered the whole thing with a Baroque helmet with four corner spiral pinnacles at its base. In 1779 the tower was damaged by a lightning strike. A faithful reconstruction was carried out in 1792-1795 by the Construction Directorate in Lviv. In 1783 the tower was hung with the Kirylo bell, 2-meter in diameter, the largest in Lviv (weight 4 t), cast by local bellmaker Theodor Polansky. Several more bells were also hung in later times. The tower, separated from the rest of the church, founded on a 6-meter square plan, 66 meters high, was considered "the most beautiful Italian tower on Polish soil."
The lower tier of the tower, erected from unplastered stone blocks, is decorated on three sides with pairs of arcaded niches, separated by wide pilasters, and massive cornices supported by consoles. Semicircularly closed windows in the two upper stories also received an ornate setting.
Dimensions: 220 x 160 mm (gouache), 335 x 260 mm (framed)
