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Constructed in 1723, Old North Church is the oldest surviving church in Boston. Beyond its age, the colonial building is renowned for the two lanterns hung from its steeple in 1775 by Paul Revere as a warning of the British army’s approach. Nearly 250 years later, the church is now gaining recognition due to a significant restoration project.
Led by conservators Gianfranco Pocobene and Corrine Long, the project seeks to restore an 18th-century mural of angels painted across the walls of the church. The mural was painted in 1730 by John Gibbs, a member of the church’s congregation, and depicts 20 angel images, each rendered in playful poses and with cherubic expressions.
“John Gibbs painted them individually and they’re all in different poses, which gives them a really wonderful rhythmic kind of pattern across the surface of the church,” Pocobene told the Associated Press.
By 1912, however, the mural was covered with several layers of white paint during a renovation. Now, the resulting austerity and blankness strike church officials as historically inaccurate.
“For much of the church’s history, people who were coming here to the church would have seen those angels, would have seen the colorful interior,” says Emily Spence, the associate director of education at Old North Illuminated.
Indeed, the angels in the mural were, at one point, bathed in sandstone and teal tones to resemble stone sculptures. As a Church of England establishment, other decorative features retained a similarly dynamic and colorful character. These color schemes, according to Spence, are what set Old North Church apart from those managed by Puritans, the predominant population in the Boston area during the time.
The mural restoration, then, is an effort to salvage the church’s original identity. So far, Pocobene and Long have recovered eight of the mural’s 20 angels. The pair manually scraped seven layers of white paint with solvent gel and, after this, carefully cleaned the angels with cotton swabs to mitigate any potential damage.
“Whenever I go into a building with history, it amazes me to be surrounded with paintings or the decorations that were there originally,” Long states. “When it’s been repainted to be white, it takes away some of that majesty and some of that history.”
Another eight angels are slated to be restored by Spring 2025. To stay updated on this initiative, follow Old North Church on Instagram.
An 18th-century angel mural is being restored at Old North Church in Boston after being painted over in 1912.
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Old North Church is Boston’s oldest surviving church and gained notoriety due to its role during the Revolutionary War.
A plaque detailing Old North Church’s historical significance. “The signal lanterns of Paul Revere displayed in the steeple of this church, April 18, 1775, warned the country of the march of the British troops to Lexington and Concord.” (Photo: Lady Rose MacClare, via Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0)
The mural depicts 20 angel images, and so far eight have been recovered by the restoration team.
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Source: Centuries-old angels uncovered at Boston church made famous by Paul Revere
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