Centuries-old angels uncovered beneath layers of paint at Boston church made famous by Paul Revere

Mural conservators are working to uncover 20 angels hidden under layers of paint for more than a century at the Boston church made famous by Paul Revere.

Gianfranco Pocobene has been working atop scaffolding at Old North Church, to uncover eight of the 20 angels that have been hidden.

The painted angels with childlike faces and wings were once among the defining features of Old North Church, the oldest church building in Boston, when they were painted around 1730. But the angels in 1912 were painted over with thick coats of white paint as part of a renovation that restorationists are seeking to reverse.

"When we first looked at the project six months ago, we had no idea what was here," Pocobene said as the church was preparing to reveal eight of the 20 angels.

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"It's really been quite a revelation to find these really interesting and historic works of art on the walls of the church that nobody has seen in our lifetime," he continued. "Just to be part of a project where we are revealing something from colonial America is really extraordinary."

The Old North Church is best known for the two lanterns hung from its steeple on the night of Paul Revere’s April 1775 ride to warn that the British army was coming. Revere was also a bell ringer at the church as a teenager.

"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," Old North Illuminated associate director of education Emily Spence said. Old North Illuminated operates the church as a historic site.

"The color scheme was an important part of the identity of the people who worshiped here as members of the congregation of a Church of England church," she said.

Spence said that efforts began in September to restore the sandstone and teal-colored angels, of which eight were completed this month and another eight are expected to be finished by the spring.

Researchers knew based on the historical record that the angels were still on the walls, and they still have a copy of a contract signed with John Gibbs, a congregation member who painted them. A paint study conducted in 2017 confirmed they were still on the walls.

Corrine Long, a painting conservator who works with Pocobene, said one of the challenges in restoring the angels was removing seven layers of paint without damaging the angels. Conservators first applied a solvent gel to soften the layers of paint before manually removing it with a plastic scraper. They then cleaned the angels with cotton swabs and retouched to remove any signs of damage.

"They all have their own character — they're not copies," Pocobene said. "The artist 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."

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Long said one of the most satisfying parts of the project was returning parts of the church to what the founders had intended.

"Whenever I go into a building with history, it amazes me to be surrounded with paintings or the decorations that were there originally," she said. "When it’s been repainted to be white, it takes away some of that majesty and some of that history."

One recent day, the church was largely empty except for the conservators. But a pair of tourists, Sean Dixon and Sarah Jardine from California, were there as well and walked the aisles and observed the scaffolding which obstructed the view a bit.

"I was kind of shocked when I first saw it," Dixon said. "It looks really cool, and I’m really excited to see the full picture once the scaffolding comes down."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.