BOSTON – High on the scaffolding of a historic Boston church, restorer Gianfranco Pocobene is working to uncover eight angels that were hidden beneath layers of paint for more than a century.
The painted angels – with round childlike faces and wings – were once among the defining features of Old North Church when they were painted around 1730. But officials at the church, a key Revolutionary War site, painted over the angels in 1912 with thick layers of white paint, part of an austere renovation that restorers are trying to undo.
“When we first looked at the project six months ago, we had no idea what was here,” Pocobene said as the church, the oldest meetinghouse in Boston, prepared to remove scaffolding earlier this month to erect eight of the 20 to reveal painted buildings. -above angels.
Steven Senne / AP
“It was really quite a revelation to find these really interesting and historic works of art on the walls of the church that no one has seen in our lifetime,” he continued. “It’s really extraordinary to be part of a project where we reveal something from colonial America.”
Church famous for Paul Revere’s ride
A popular stop for tourists visiting Boston’s North End, the Old North Church is best known for the two lanterns that hung from the steeple on the night of by Paul Revere Ride from 1775 to warn of the approach of the British army. Revere was also a teenage whistleblower in the church. In 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride,” mentioning the church and introducing the phrase, “one by land, and two by sea.”
But as the 250th anniversary of Revere’s ride approaches in April, church officials also want to draw attention to its 1723 beginnings and its identity, both as a beacon of freedom but also as connections to the slave trade – many of the early church members benefited from slavery. The church was built to house Boston’s growing colonial Anglican community and its interior was much more colorful and dynamic than what visitors see today.
“For much of the church’s history, people coming here who have seen angels would have seen the colorful interior,” said Emily Spence, associate director of education at Old North Illuminating, which operates the church as a historical place.
“The color scheme was an important part of the identity of the people who worshiped here as members of the congregation of a church of the Church of England,” she said, adding that the interior would have distinguished the church from the Puritans who ruled Boston at the time dominated. .
Angels recover at the Oud-Noordkerk
Spence said explorations began in September with efforts to restore the sandstone and teal colored angels – eight completed this month and another eight in the spring. They were made to resemble stone sculptures and it remains unclear why they were painted over.
Steven Senne/AP
Researchers knew from the historical record that the angels were on the walls, and they still have a copy of a contract signed with John Gibbs, a parishioner who painted them. A paint survey completed in 2017 confirmed their presence, but their condition was unclear.
Corrine Long, a painting conservator who works with Pocobene, said one of the challenges was removing seven layers of paint without damaging the angels. The team first applied a solvent gel to soften the paint layers and then removed it manually with a plastic scraper. They then cleaned the angels with cotton swabs before retouching to remove any signs of damage.
When Pocobene and Long started removing the paint, they knew they had discovered something special.
“They all have their own character — they’re not copies,” said Pocobene, who has his own studio in Lawrence, Massachusetts. “The artist John Gibbs painted them individually and they all have different poses, creating a really beautiful rhythmic pattern across the surface of the church.”
Charles Krupa/AP
For Long, one of the most satisfying parts of the project was returning parts of the church to what the founders envisioned – and what tourists should see.
“Every time I enter a building with history, it amazes me to be surrounded by paintings or the decorations that were originally there,” she said. “If it is repainted white, it takes away some of that majesty and some of that history.”
On a recent day, the church was mostly empty except for the curators. But two tourists, Sean Dixon and Sarah Jardine from California, slipped in. They walked down the aisles and stared up at the scaffolding. It was hard to see the angels through all the steel, but what they did see inspired them.
“I was kind of shocked when I first saw it,” says Dixon, an account executive from San Francisco. “It looks really cool and I’m really excited to see the full picture once the scaffolding comes down.”
