Checking Out the Cherubs at Old North Church

Old North Illuminated has announced that its project to conserve cherubs painted high on its interior walls in the 1700s is going faster than expected.

Each cherub, originally painted by John Gibbs, has proved to have a different facial shape and expression. The craftspeople expect to reveal all sixteen of the faces.

People can learn more in this GBH News interview with lead conservator Gianfranco Pocobene.

Visitors to the Old North Church can enjoy a closer view of the paintings by purchasing slots on a “Cheeky Cherub” tour. The church’s interpreters will lead that group up to the balcony (meaning there are stairs to climb) and discuss how these figures fit into the church’s original design scheme.

The “Cheeky Cherub” tour is available at different times and on different days. It costs $10 and includes regular admission to the church sanctuary. Tours are booked through this website.

Finally, there’s a live online event about the cherubs next week.

Wednesday, 11 December, 7 to 8 P.M.
Uncovering Our Angels: Paint Restoration at Old North Church

Gianfranco Pocobene, the lead conservator of the historic paint restoration project at Old North, will discuss the techniques, tools, and technology that have allowed his team to penetrate layers of white overpaint to reveal the beautiful artwork hidden underneath. He will share photos of the newly revealed angels, discuss theories as to how the angels were painted in the 1700s and why they were painted over, and answer your questions about the project.

Born in Italy and raised in Canada, Gianfranco Pocobene has spent decades working in art conservation for prestigious institutions like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Harvard Art Museums. Some of his most significant projects include the restoration of the John LaFarge murals at Trinity Church, Boston, the Women’s Gallery mural at Vilna Shul, Beacon Hill, Puvis de Chavannes’ Philosophy mural at the Boston Public Library, and Benjamin Constant’s mural at the Ames-Webster Mansion, Boston.

Register for that talk through this webpage.

More Angels in Old North Church

Old North Church in the North End has announced another eye-opening part of its project to preserve and restore parts of its interior to how it looked in the eighteenth century.

The building, more formally Christ Church, was one of Boston’s Anglican places of worship. Its minister and parishioners didn’t inherit Puritan attitudes toward decoration. The Colonial Revival archetype of the colonial New England meetinghouse as plain and white didn’t really apply.

The church explains:

For much of its history, the church boasted a rich color scheme with ornate and intricate designs. A highlight of Old North’s early decor was artwork from John Gibbs, an accomplished painter and congregation member. Between 1727 and the 1730s, Gibbs painted a series of beautiful angels in the balcony arches of the sanctuary. Gibb’s stunning artwork was covered over with white paint during a 1912 renovation and has been hidden for more than a century…until now.

We are thrilled to share that a 6-month restoration project is now underway to uncover the angels that Gibbs painted in the 18th century. An initial paint study in 2017 partially restored one of Gibbs’s angels, and now expert craftspeople are painstakingly removing layers of paint to reveal the rest of the angel and four additional angels. Later, a talented artist will paint replica angels on removable veneers to adorn the rest of the arches, giving us a glimpse of the sanctuary as Paul Revere would have seen it as a young bellringer.

This fall, visitors to Old North Church will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch long-hidden history being revealed. This sort of paint restoration is rare in the United States; you would typically have to go to Europe to see a similar project. We invite you to visit us throughout October and November and watch the conservation team in action.

Lead conservator Gianfranco Pocobene took the photo above this month, stating, “I am using different solvent gel and free solvent combinations from what the original team used in 2017, and so far I’m very pleased that I’m able to completely remove the overpaint without damaging the original paint surface.”

In other art restoration news, the Lexington Historical Society has received a grant from the Wyeth Foundation of American Art to support the conservation and reinterpretation of Emanuel Leutze’s “The News of Lexington.” The German artist painted that canvas in 1852, one year after he created his iconic image of Gen. George Washington crossing the Delaware.