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Restored centuries-old angels land in Boston’s Old North Church
The church is throwing an angel-themed homecoming celebration for the Baroque statues. Admission is free if your name is Angela.
Just in time for the holiday season, four hand-carved angel statues are returning to the Old North Church on Tuesday after undergoing restoration and repairs.
The Baroque-era angels are the oldest objects in the church. They normally sit atop the gallery railing in front of the pipe organ in the church’s sanctuary but were taken down in September and sent away for repairs.
The angels’ history is long and somewhat mysterious, according to the Old North Church and Historic Site. Though they are believed to have been carved in present-day Belgium in the 1620s, the angels’ whereabouts for the next 100 years after their creation are unknown. In 1746, they were looted from a French ship by the British privateer Captain Thomas Gruchy.
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Britain and France were at war at the time, and according to wartime laws, it was perfectly legal for Gruchy to seize what he liked from the captured ship. Gruchy, a resident of Boston’s North End, donated the stolen angels to the Old North Church, where they’ve resided ever since.
“It’s incredible to think that when these angels were installed in the mid-1700s, they were already over a hundred years old,” Nikki Stewart, executive director of Old North Illuminated, said in a press release. “They have since been admired by Presidents, the Queen of England, and countless visitors and worshipers over the centuries.”
The angels were sent to Manzi Appraisers and Restoration in September to be restored to their original glory. The 400-year-old antiques had become cracked in places and needed careful repairs. Each angel once held a trumpet, but two trumpets were lost at some point over the statues’ long lifespan. The restoration team crafted two new trumpets and painted them to look just like the older, authentic instruments.
“It’s been a very interesting journey looking through these pieces and looking at different aspects of the angels’ previous life,” Christopher Gutierrez of Manzi Appraisers and Restoration said in the press release. “There was evidence of previous damage that nearly split one of the angels in half, and you could see several cracks and fissures throughout the pieces that presented a challenge for the project. It’s important to make sure we don’t go too far with cleaning or restoration, therefore creating an irreversible situation for future preservationists. In this case, I think we got it just right.”
The angels’ restoration was funded by The Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, The General Society of Colonial Wars, and The Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund.
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The Old North Church and Historic Site is hosting an angel-themed homecoming celebration for the statues on Tuesday, Dec. 19, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Angel-themed songs (such as Train’s “Calling All Angels” and The Penguins’ “Earth Angel”) will play in the church throughout the day, and guests will receive specially-made angel stickers. Anyone named Angel, Angela, Angelica, or any other variation of “angel,” and anyone who dresses up as an angel, will get free general admission to the special event. Admission otherwise costs $5.
The Old North Church is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sundays from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. The church is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.
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