Boston’s Old North End Reveals Pre-Revolutionary Angels

The eight angels on the wall of Boston’s historic Old North Church reappeared in 1730 after being repainted in 1912. Painted on a teal background, these cherubs look like trompe l’oeil stone reliefs. A garland of fruit hung between the two. There are 20 angels in total, all of which will be revealed once the scaffolding is completely removed.

Seven coats of white paint were applied during the renovation, which was intended to give the interior of the church a Puritan look, which the parish authorities mistakenly believed was how the church originally looked. But Old North Church was not a Puritan meeting place; It is an Anglican church whose design was inspired by Christopher Wren’s London churches. The walls and wood were originally painted in a variety of rich colors.

“For most of the church’s history, people who came to the church would see those angels and see the colorful interior,” said Emily Spence, associate director of education at Old North Lighting, the company Consider this church a historical site.

“The color scheme was an important part of the identity of the people who worshiped here as members of the Anglican church,” she said, adding that the interior would set the church apart from the Puritans who ruled Boston at the time. .

Old North Church is the oldest church building in Boston. Construction began in 1723, and its brick tower and 191-foot-tall wooden spire were completed in 1740. The steeple made the church famous as the place where sexton Robert Newman hung two lanterns on April 18, 1775, to warn the Massachusetts militia in Lexington that British troops were approaching on the Charles River. The lanterns were ciphers designed by Paul Revere, and the legend later emerged that he hung the lanterns himself, rode alone through the night, shouting “The British are coming!” Although fictional, he ( and several others) did ride out that night to warn the militiamen. It was also his father’s parish church and therefore the church of his youth. When he was 15 years old, he was one of the Chargers who rang the church bells, which were historic in themselves as it was the first time that eight bells were brought to the United States. (They were cast in Gloucester, England, in 1745.)

Restoration work on the church began six months ago in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride next year. Church records include a contract for John Gibbs, a member of the congregation, to paint the angel in 1730, so the restorers knew they had been there. Early studies of the paintings suggested that there were still some paintings beneath the white layer, but they did not know what condition they were in.

Corrine Long, a painting conservator, with [murals conservator Gianfranco] Pocobene said one of the challenges was removing seven layers of paint without damaging the angel. The team first used a solvent gel to soften the paint layer and then manually removed it with a plastic scraper. Afterward, they cleaned the angel with cotton swabs and then touched it up to remove any signs of damage.

Once Pokobeni and Long started removing the paint, they knew they had found something special.

“They all have their own character—they’re not replicas,” said Pocobeni, who has his own studio in Lawrence, Massachusetts. “The artist John Gibbs painted them individually, and they are all in different poses, which makes them form a really wonderful rhythmic pattern on the surface of the church.”