St. Leo the Great Catholic Church is the religious cornerstone of Baltimore’s Little Italy neighborhood.  Built in 1881, the building integrates influences from Italianate, Romanesque and Queen Anne styles.  Due to water infiltration from the exterior wall, the painted plaster and glue behind the apse murals had weakened, resulting in some unsightly damage. In addition, the paintings had darkened from atmospheric soiling and aging varnish. During scaffold erection, it also became clear that the painted design in the frieze just below the dome had become damaged as well.

Once exterior repairs were completed, a conservation team from WEI performed conservation and restoration treatments on all murals within the apse.  All scaffold was free-standing, with no anchors or compression ties – all areas of the walls could be accessed, and the murals would incur no additional damage.  Conservators treated detached areas of canvas with brushes, rollers, and injection techniques to re-adhere the sagging canvas to the substrate with conservation adhesives. Once stable, they were gently cleaned and coated with an isolation layer.  Conservators in-painted areas of paint loss and discoloration and finished with a reversible varnish.

Due to the extent of plaster damage at the frieze, the painted design could not be saved.  The remaining details of laurel festoons and the inscription were traced and replicated on a new canvas, with slight alterations per the church’s request. Once the plaster was repaired, the new canvas was adhered in the same manner as the surrounding murals.  At the end of the treatment, the crucifix was returned to its original location. Conservators noted areas of material loss on the figure and filled small voids, and touching up the paint to create a continuous appearance.

The archdiocese archival photographs were consulted and all previous finishes found were documented and dated in a report, as well as all treatments performed.