With their gold leaf and intense colors, the sanctuary’s Frederic Clay Bartlett murals are among the most prized decorative elements in the church. The twelve balcony archway murals depict the Praise of God and Celebration of His Works. In these murals, Bartlett shows his inspiration by mid-nineteenth century English Pre-Raphaelite painters who notably rejected the three-dimensional painting techniques of the Renaissance and celebrated the very flatness of the artist’s canvas. Bartlett’s murals show the influence of his teacher at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898), who designed his murals to be subordinate to their architectural surroundings. Using another technique learned from his European teachers, Bartlett was the first American painter to use bas-relief in his murals.

Scope of Work
Before the conservation process can begin, the murals will be tested for consolidation and cleaning. Next, a re-cohesion of the “paint” and/or pigment to the existing plaster will occur. Cleaning will include the removal of all unoriginal products, dirt, varnish, paints, fills, and/or previous restorations. Areas of previous paint loss will be color-matched and in-painted in a reversible manner. The in-painting is a very technical and controlled process and is exclusively limited to the areas of loss. It is important that the entire painted surface reads homogeneously and is brought to its best state-of-conservation.

Photo credit: Martin Cheung