In the middle of the18th century, the epitaphial plates made of stucco were embedded in the walls of the crypt of the Corpus Christi Church in Nesvizh. Currently they are in a very bad condition and it is further deteriorating due to high humidity. They flake and crumble, and the inscriptions on some of them are illegible. There are also stone commemorative plaques in the crypt and their condition is satisfactory. In restoring it would be suffice to clean them or highlight the inscriptions on them.
One of the commemorative plaques was restored (restorers were Kęstutis Norkūnas and Indrė Valkiūnienė). This plaque is the first thing that catches everyone’s eye on getting down the stairs to the crypt and testifies to the privilege granted by Pope Benedict XVI in 1750 to install and sanctify the altar in the crypt. This event was given prominence because no privileges to install an altar were usually given by the Pope. The plaque is made of grey-pink polished stone (jasper), oval-shaped with a text in Latin on it. Pope Benedict’s XIV seal, in the size of a coin and made of varnish used for postal stamps was attached to it (later missing). Prior to its restoration research was conducted to find out the composition of the old paints, which were later used to highlight the letters. When restoring it the illegible part of the text was recreated, the letters were tinted and the copy of the Pope’s seal was reconstructed using durable materials (silvered tin). The border of the plaque was restored and painted.
The work was done by the restorer-sculptor of the highest category Kęstutis Norkūnas
The text was prepared by Audronė Vyšniauskienė