Mural restorers are working to uncover 20 angels that have been hidden beneath layers of paint for more than a century Boston Church Made famous by Paul Revere.
Gianfranco Pocobene worked on the scaffolding of the Old North Church to uncover eight of the 20 hidden angels.
The painted angels with childlike faces and wings were once one of the defining features of the Old North Church oldest church building in Bostonwhen they were painted around 1730. But the angels in 1912 were painted over with thick layers of white paint as part of a renovation that restorers want to reverse.
“When we first looked at the project six months ago, we had no idea what was here,” Pocobene said as the church prepared to unveil eight of the 20 angels.
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Restorer Corrine Long of Dover, NH, restores nearly 300-year-old painted angels on the walls of the Old North Church on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP)
“It was truly a revelation to find these really interesting and historic pieces of art on the walls of the church that no one has seen in our lives,” he continued. “Just to be part of a project where we reveal something from colonial America is truly extraordinary.”
The Old North Church is best known for the two lanterns that hung from its church tower on the night of Paul Revere’s ride in April 1775 to warn of the approach of the British army. As a teenager, Revere was also a bell ringer at church.
“For much of the church’s history, people who came here saw these angels and the colorful interior,” said Emily Spence, assistant director of education for Old North Illuminated. Old North Illuminated operates the church as a historic site.
“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 England church,” she said.
A nearly 300-year-old painted angel appears on a wall at Old North Church in Boston on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP)
Spence said efforts to restore the sandstone and teal angels began in September, eight of which were completed this month and another eight are expected to be completed by the spring.
Based on the historical record, researchers knew that the angels were still on the walls, and they still had a copy of a contract signed with John Gibbs, a parishioner who painted them. A paint study conducted in 2017 confirmed that they were still on the walls.
Corrine Long, a painting restorer who works with Pocobene, said one of the challenges in restoring the angels was removing seven layers of paint without damaging the angels. Conservators first applied a solvent gel to soften the layers of paint before manually removing it with a plastic scraper. They then cleaned the angels with cotton swabs and retouched them to remove any damage.
“They all have their own character – they are not copies,” Pocobene said. “The artist John Gibbs painted them individually and they are all in different poses, giving them a really wonderful rhythmic pattern on the surface of the church.”
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Recently restored, nearly 300-year-old painted angels decorate an arch at the top right of the historic Old North Church in the North End neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP)
Long said one of the most satisfying parts of the project was restoring portions of the church to the condition the founders intended.
“Whenever I enter a building with history, I am amazed to be surrounded by paintings or decorations that were originally there,” she said. “Painting it white takes away some of that majesty and some of that history.”
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One day the church was largely empty except for the restorers. But two tourists, Sean Dixon and Sarah Jardine from California, were also there, walking through the hallways and observing the scaffolding that somewhat blocked the view.
“I was kind of shocked when I first saw it,” Dixon said. “It looks really cool and I’m really excited to see the bigger picture once the scaffolding comes down.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
