Relic

Not too long ago, I worked with a company who specialized in church restoration. It was a great experience. I *quickly* got over a life long fear of heights (or at least faced it from 60' up).

In one church, we removed images of saints who had been painted on canvas and "wallpapered" up - they required cleaning, touch up and to be rearranged to accomodate a larger alter.

Imagine my delight when I found this looking back at me from under the canvas...

Lovely, isn't he.
I love the over-large features and the serenity in the eyes.

Here is what it looked like prior to a repainting that happened around the late 1950s....
photo is circa 1935.


Unfortunately, there had been major water damage to the right portion of the apse, so a whole section of these fellows simply no longer exists. And after conferring with the diosese, it was determined that there was not the time nor the resources to undertake a full resoration.

We did protect them prior to replacing the canvas, just in case there are resources in the coming decades.

But sometimes, late at night, I think of them lying just below the surface...