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

These angels are getting their wings — again.Mural conservators in Boston are working to uncover 20 angels hidden for more than a century underneath layers of paint at the church attended by Paul Revere — just months before the 250th anniversary of the patriot’s historic ride.Gianfranco Pocobene has been meticulously and tirelessly chipping away atop scaffolding at Old North Church, most famous for being Revere’s house of worship — where he even served as a bell ringer as a teen.

The angels, painted around 1730 and sculpted with round almost childish features and wings, used to be one of the church’s defining features when they were first painted in the early 18th century.They remained there until 1912 when they were inexplicably covered by thick coats of white paint — a steep departure from its original look.

“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,” said Emily Spence, the associate director of education at Old North Illuminated, which 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.”Now, restorationists like Pocobene are working to put the angels back on their rightful display.They began by removing some of the scaffolding in early December to reveal eight of the 20 obscured angels.Another eight are expected to be uncovered in the spring, Spence said.“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.

Just to be part of a project where we are revealing something from colonial America is really extraordinary,” Pocobene said.The Old Church is one of the most popular tourist attractions on Boston’s North End, having been made infamous by Revere’s 1775 ride to warn of the British arm...