Coloured panels installed at Newman University Church replace works that had darkened with age.
The brightly coloured acrylic panels installed at Newman University Church on St Stephen's Green in Dublin are replacing earlier works that had darkened with age.
The painted replicas replace the canvases, which have become blackened over time. The original mid-19th-century panels depicted the lives of St Peter and St Paul, copied from Raphael's tapestry in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. They were commissioned by Cardinal John Henry Newman, founder of the Catholic University of Ireland and painted in Rome by two relatively unknown French artists. Cardinal Newman believed at the time that they would last forever, but this was not to be.
The original panels were stuck to the walls with latex, which has leaked, causing them to blacken. The new replacements were made in New York under the guidance of the Office of Public Works (OPW). Pat Murphy, advisor to the OPW, provides some history on the panels, which were painted in Rome 150 years ago.
They're blackened beyond reasonable possibility of reading them and there's no point in having visual art in a church if you can't see it.
Following advice that some of the old panels could not be restored, they have now been removed. Father Pearse Walsh says the intention is to make the paintings visible again for visitors to the church..
The new panels will be in place to coincide with a series of events to mark the church's 150th anniversary.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 11 May 2006. The reporter is Philip Bromwell.
