Art Restoration

Henninger's recently finished the restoration of one Station of the Cross for Mary Queen of Peace Church in Cleveland.  Rev. Doug Brown approached Henninger's for the restoration of this century-old piece of art.  It is an oil painting on a copper sheet.

14th Station before restoration

The paint had flaked off considerably in the blue background, exposing the copper.  The entire Station was covered with a layer of dust and smoke from the years it hung in the church.

Anna Drewes, an artist specializing in conservation and restoration, took on the project.  The goal in art restoration is to keep as much of the original artwork as possible conserve what is still present in the piece.  Anna was successful in this regard.

She was able to remove the smoke build-up in the figures and foreground, then seal over those areas.  The areas that had flaked off in the blue background were first filled in, then inpaint those areas to match the rest of the blue area.

14th Station - smoke damage removed, filled in areas of flaking

After the inpainting was complete, a final varnish was applied.  The finished result is amazing.  Anna was able to bring new life to this gorgeous true piece of art.

14th Station after restoration

Westerville Windows

Henninger's stained glass studio recently finished its latest set of windows for St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westerville, Ohio.  The following photos document their design, fabrication and installation:

 

Our Lady of Mount Carmel window

 

Four windows for Holy Family and St. Paul Shrines

St. Joseph and St. Patrick windows

St. Joan of Arc window

Small archtop windows in parlors

St. Peter and St. Paul windows

St. Sebastian window

St. Michael's New Church

Due to a steady increase in parishioners, St. Michael Church in Garden City, South Carolina made a plan to build a new church about 7 years ago. Rev. Ray Carlo, St. Michael's pastor, began reserving liturgical items from church-inventory.com and having them restored by Henninger's skilled artists and craftsmen. Stations of the Cross, an ambo, multiple altars, statuary and more were in storage for the new church, waiting for the summer of 2012. Finally, the church building was ready to receive its patrimony.


Altar of Repose

Fr. Carlo selected this Altar, originally from St. Hyacinth Church in Cleveland.  It is constructed in Bottacino marble and it features a plaster Last Supper scene and gold painted Alpha and Omega symbols.

The first step required in its restoration was repairing and repainting the Last Supper.  It was cracked, broken, and pealing.  Henninger's statuary artist, Debbie Knopf repaired it, then painted it in faux marble to match the rest of the altar.

The marble was polished to its original finish and Henninger's crew installed it on-site using cinder block, plaster and epoxy.

These photos document the installation of the Altar of Repose and its finished state with a refinished Tabernacle and two Adoring Angel statues atop it.

 
Stations of the Cross
These stations are full round Daprato Statuary pieces that were originally from Christ the King Church in East Cleveland.  Each Station was touched up using sepia tones for the garments.  A total of 55 figures are featured in 14 Stations, so the touch ups were extensive.

The finished Stations were hung on the wall and spot lit, making each scene appear very dramatic.









Ambo & Altar of Sacrifice


Fr. Carlo picked carved marble Evangelist symbols for his Ambo and a carved marble Victorious Lamb symbol for his Altar of Sacrifice.  Each piece of used marble was extensively restored at Henninger's shop, then installed in the new sanctuary. 



 

The Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist as certainly tied together with these matching pieces.   They look stunning from a distance as well as up close.  The types of marble used on the Altar and Ambo are Bottacino on top and Rosso Atlantide on bottom.













Marian Side Altar and St. Joseph Side Altar

 Each of St. Michael's Side Altars are 13 1/2 feet tall.  These marble altars feature a mosaic background, gold mosaic decoration, large columns, and an impressive dome top.  Their restoration and assembly was a daunting challenge, but Henninger's marble workers were up to the task. 

Hanging Crucifix

Fr. Carlo selected this crucifix, originally from St. George Church in Cleveland.  The corpus was fully restored to a more natural skin tone, and a new cross was made.  The block style cross was selected so the stained glass window behind the crucifix would be more visible.

 

Adoration Altar
This Altar was originally from St. Procop in Cleveland.  It has a high level of decoration with carved Carrara marble arches and mosaic medallions.  It is a fitting Altar for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

 

Henninger's entire staff is honored to play such a large role in furnishing St. Michael's new church.  It was a blessing to work with such wonderful people in South Carolina and help create a stunning place to worship.

Sanctuary Transformation

During Lent, Henninger’s completed the final touches on the transformation of the sanctuary of St. Mark Church on the West Side of Cleveland that included new marble furniture and the repositioning of the Church’s crucifix. Late last year, Fr. John Miceli approached Henninger’s to design new sanctuary furniture that would beautify his sanctuary and introduce some marble to the sanctuary, which was awash in a sea of light oak. After multiple designs and numerous meetings discussing the right marble to create depth and beauty to the environment, Fr. Miceli and Henninger’s finalized plans to replace the Church’s Altar of Sacrifice, Altar of Repose, Ambo, and Baptismal Font.

Due to load-bearing restrictions, the furniture was made out of sheets of a beautiful red & green marble that had tinges of purple in it when viewed from afar. All of the slabs of marble were pre-cut and polished as the furniture would consist of cinder block with the pre-cut pieces of marble attached around it to convey the look of large blocks of marble, something that was impossible due to concerns about the flooring in the sanctuary.

After all of the carpet was torn out of the old sanctuary and with the old wooden furniture removed, Henninger’s artisans went to work installing the marble pieces that had been cut and polished in the workshop, putting them into place and securing them. The Altar of Sacrifice and the Altar of Repose were built as two legs, allowed to dry for a day, then were finished off with Mensas the following day by Henninger’s team of installers.

With the Altars completed, the crew went to work installing the newly created baptismal font and the Ambo, putting both together in their new spots in the Sanctuary. Once again, because of weight restrictions, the baptismal font was constructed with cinder block and pre-cut and polished pieces of marble and sealed to ensure that there would be no leakage when filled. The Ambo was positioned over the top step to maximize space in the Sanctuary as well as putting the Word of God closer to the congregation. A shelf was installed on the Ambo for storage and the microphone was connected to the existing audio output.

The tabernacle was returned to the Altar of Repose and the Ambo was finished with a wood-carved emblem of St. Mark that had previously been elsewhere in the Church, now more prominent on the front of the marble Ambo. After the furniture was completed and in place, the sanctuary was ready for new carpet as three shelves were created for the Holy Oils on the wall between the Ambo and the Baptismal Font.

A few months later, Fr. Miceli was ready for the final stage of the sanctuary renovation as Henninger’s removed the crucifix from the back wall, created a new cross that was in proportion to the beautiful wood-carved corpus and suspended the existing cross and the newly-created cross above the sanctuary.

Using scaffolding and wire, Henninger’s positioned the cross behind the Altar to a place in the sanctuary that put the finishing touches on Fr. Miceli’s vision for the sanctuary as it was transformed with new furniture and with a new positioning of the crucifix to add depth and beauty to the sanctuary at St. Mark’s Church for generations to come.