The Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James in Bukownica is a Roman Catholic parish church belonging to the parish of the same name.
It is a single-nave brick structure, built around 1721 in the Baroque style, during the tenure of parish priest Wojciech Bączyński.
Most of the church's furnishings are Baroque and late Baroque works from the 18th century; only some of the polychrome paintings were created in the 19th century and are characterized by eclectic elements, as are the paintings in the right side altar (from the late 19th century). They depict Jesus crucified with Mary and John standing beneath the cross (next to them is a figure of St. Veronica with a veil and an unknown woman), above them a scene of Jesus standing before Pilate (the so-called Ecce Homo), and at the very top a scene of Jesus being mocked by passersby. The left side altar features a painting of a sleeping Jacob, who sees a ladder with angels ascending it, and at its top is God the Father (hiding beneath him an image of the Archangel Raphael leading the infant Tobias). This painting is surrounded by statues of St. Nicholas and a hermit. Above them is the Virgin Mary crushing the head of the serpent, surrounded by angels. The smallest painting at the very top depicts St. Anthony receiving Holy Communion.
The painting of the Virgin Mary, based on the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, located in the main altar is venerated in the parish as Our Lady of the Scapular, and like most of the furnishings, dates from the second half of the 18th century. It was painted in the Byzantine style, and the figures are covered in a silver robe, gilded in places. This painting obscures a very unusual painting of the Holy Family. In the Baroque style, it depicts St. Anthony. Joseph with the infant Child standing on a stool (Joseph kisses Jesus' hand), while the Mother of God watches from the background, one hand on her heart and the other slightly raised. In the lower right corner of the painting, with her back to us, sits an angel with a bouquet of roses in his hand. Numerous angelic heads and one full figure of a cherub also hover above the entire scene. Statues of bishops – St. Adalbert and St. Stanislaus – are situated at the pillars of the main altar.
Translated by Google •
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