Trinity Church Press Preview

Trinity Church Press Preview 2005

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Visit the Trinity Boston Preservation Trust site: www.savetrinity.org
Visit the Trinity Church website: www.trinitychurchboston.org

Trinity Church as seen from Old South Church in Boston. © Peter Vanderwarker.

Photo by Cervin Robinson. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston.

Today's conservators discovered that a rejected design of floral and vine elements had shown through by the time of the 1950s restoration of Trinity Church, leading the conservators of that time to believe the decoration was intended to be there. Exposures proved that the floral and vine design had been rejected by the painters of La Farge's time who covered it with a simple gold band. Today's restorers have returned the Inscription Band to its original look. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

After treatment, the Inscription Band is much easier to read, now that the original floral and vine design rejected by La Farge has again been covered. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Now cleaned of decades of grime, the glorious red and gold colors shine. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

This view of the Inscription Band reveals the vibrant colors of La Farge's palette and the beauty of the cleaned Inscription Band. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Prior to cleaning, one can see how dull the colors are and where paint is missing. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Cleaning has restored the vibrant colors and, along with careful inpainting, returned the panels to their original beauty. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Here the cleaned panels with their vibrant red background, now restored to the red selected by La Farge and Richardson, are seen above the Inscription Band before it was treated. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

During previous restorations, a different red was selected for the walls than the one used in 1876-1877 by La Farge when he and his assistants were painting every inch of ceiling, wall, and column. Today's conservators have returned to the original more vibrant red used by La Farge. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

During previous restorations, a different red was selected for the walls than the one used in 1876-1877 by La Farge when he and his assistants were painting every inch of ceiling, wall, and column. Today's conservator have returned to the original more vibrant red used by La Farge. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

In this image, the water damage can be clearly seen between the Prophets Paul (left) and Isaiah. Prior to the conservation work inside the building, the exterior of Trinity Church's Central Tower was repaired and again made watertight. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

This image shows the Prophets Paul (left) and Isaiah with the area of water damage of the corner fully repaired. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

While nearly all of the murals in Trinity Church are painted directly upon the plaster, two were found to be on canvas, including Journey Into Egypt. When conservators removed the tympanium called Journey Into Egypt, which is seven feet wide and three feet high, they discovered a painting behind it that no one knew was there and that no one had seen since it was covered by La Farge sometime during the winter of 1876-1877. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Conservators removing Journey Into Egypt are about to discover a hidden painting. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

The hidden painting behind Journey Into Egypt has some areas of damage from the glue La Farge used to attach the new painting on canvas to the wall. The hidden painting shows Peter reaching into the mouth of a fish for a coin. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

A view of one of the new panels, 32-feet-wide and nine-feet-high, commissioned by Trinity and created by contemporary artists Alexander Beleschenko and Raffaella Sirtoli Schnell. On both sides are the granite piers revealed by the excavation. These piers -- there are four of them total -- support the weight of the massive Central Tower above. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

This view of the new Trinity Commons, the floor excavated underneath the church to create meeting space, shows one of four granite piers that support the weight of the Central Tower above. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston

With one of the doors in the new panels created by artists Alexander Beleschenko and Raffaella Sirtoli Schnell open, one can see across the new space created at Trinity Church underneath the church. © Peter Vanderwarker

This black and white image shows the space underneath the church before excavation began. © Trinity Church in the City of Boston