The ancient Bolesławiec Town Hall, which astonishes visitors and may have become commonplace to us long-time residents of the town, still conceals many secrets. One of them was the sgraffito discovered after the war on the exterior wall above the bay window on the northern side, that is, facing Ignacego Daszyńskiego Street, at first-floor level. Sgraffito is a decorative technique used in mural painting, most often during the Renaissance. It involves covering a surface with several layers of coloured plaster and scraping away the upper layers according to a specific pattern (sgraffito means literally “scratched” in Italian), thereby creating a colourful composition or decorative motif.
About 20 years ago, during renovation of the Town Hall, the sgraffito—or, more precisely, the fragment mentioned above—was covered with plaster. I intervened with the Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments, who replied that, yes, I was right, but it was difficult and the damage had been done. He ordered that the sgraffito be uncovered, but we would have to wait until the next renovation.
The 1902 renovation was nearly completed: the Town Hall was becoming more beautiful in its new exterior form, the sgraffito had been freed from the layer of plaster, and instead of leaving it in its original form, it was once again covered with cement mortar. The sgraffito is invisible again—only strange geometric figures above the bay window remain.