Centuries-old angels uncovered at Boston church made famous by Paul Revere

BOSTON (AP) — Straddling the scaffolding high up in a historic Boston church, murals conservator Gianfranco Pocobene is working to uncover eight angels that were hidden under layers of paint for more than a century.

The painted angels — with round childlike faces and wings — once were among the defining features of Old North Church when they were painted around 1730. But officials at the church, a seminal location of the Revolutionary War, painted over the angels in 1912 with thick coats of white paint, part of an austere renovation that restorationists are trying to reverse.

“When we first looked at the project six months ago, we had no idea what was here,” Pocobene said as the church, the oldest church building in Boston, was preparing to remove the scaffolding earlier this month to reveal eight of the 20 painted-over angels.

“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," he continued. ”Just to be part of a project where we are revealing something from colonial America is really extraordinary."

A popular stop for tourists visiting Boston's North End, the Old North Church is best known for the two lanterns hung from its steeple on the night of Paul Revere’s 1775 ride to warn of the British army’s approach. Revere was also a teenage bell ringer in the congregation. In 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride,” mentioning the church and introducing the phrase, “one if by land, and two if by sea.”

But as the 250th anniversary of Revere's ride approaches in April, church officials also want to draw attention to its beginnings in 1723 and its identity, both as a beacon of liberty but also its connections to the slave trade — many of its first congregants profited off slavery. The church was built to house Boston's growing colonial Anglican community and its interior was much more colorful and dynamic than what visitors see today.

“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,” she said, adding the interiors would have set the church apart from Puritans who dominated Boston at the time.

Spence said that exploration started in September with efforts to restore the sandstone and teal-colored angels — eight completed this month and another eight by the spring. They were made to look like stone sculptures and it remains unclear why they were painted over.

Researchers knew from the historical record that the angels were on the walls and they still have a copy of a contract signed with John Gibbs, a congregation member who painted them. A paint study completed in 2017 confirmed their presence but their condition was unclear.

Corrine Long, a painting conservator who works with Pocobene, said one of the challenges was removing seven layers of paint without damaging the angels. The team first applied a solvent gel to soften the layers of paint and then manually removed it with a plastic scraper. After that, they cleaned the angels with cotton swabs before retouching to remove any signs of damage.

Once Pocobene and Long started removing the paint, they knew they'd uncovered something special.

"They all have their own character — they're not copies,” Pocobene, who has his own studio in Lawrence, Massachusetts, said. “The artist John Gibbs painted them individually and they’re all in different poses, which gives them a really wonderful rhythmic kind of pattern across the surface of the church.”

For Long, one of the most satisfying parts of the project was returning parts of the church to what the founders had intended — and what tourists should see.

“Whenever I go into a building with history, it amazes me to be surrounded with paintings or the decorations that were there originally,” she said. “When it’s been repainted to be white, it takes away some of that majesty and some of that history."

On a recent day, the church was mostly empty except for the conservators. But two tourists, Sean Dixon and Sarah Jardine from California, did slip in. They walked the aisles and stared up at the scaffolding. It was hard to see the angels through all the steel but what they did see inspired them.

“I was kind of shocked when I first saw it,” said Dixon, an account manager from San Francisco. “It looks really cool and I’m really excited to see the full picture once the scaffolding comes down.”

Passers-by walk near Old North Church, center, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Visitors walks down an isle of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A statue of an angel rests in an elevated position at Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Statues of angels rest in an elevated positions at Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Knobs on an 18th century organ are attached to a wood panel at Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

An 18th century organ reaches toward the ceiling of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A statue of Paul Revere, right, stands in front of Old North Church, behind, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Conservator Corrine Long, of Dover, N.H., top, hands equipment to conservator Gianfranco Pocobene, of Malden, Mass., center, as they climb down scaffolding after working to restore nearly 300-year-old painted angels on the walls of the Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Conservator Gianfranco Pocobene, of Malden, Mass., climbs down scaffolding after working to restore nearly 300-year-old painted angels on the walls of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Recently restored, nearly 300-year-old painted angels adorn an arch at the historic Old North Church in the North End neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Recently restored, nearly 300-year-old painted angels, at top right, adorn an arch at the historic Old North Church in the North End neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Conservator Corrine Long, of Dover, N.H., restores nearly 300-year-old painted angels on walls of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Old North Church, right, is reflected in a storefront window, left, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Conservator Corrine Long, of Dover, N.H., restores nearly 300-year-old painted angels on walls of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A nearly 300-year-old painted angel appears on a wall of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Conservator Corrine Long, of Dover, N.H., restores nearly 300-year-old painted angels on walls of Old North Church, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

WASHINGTON (AP) — American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday because of a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive and winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive.

Government regulators cleared American flights to get airborne about an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a national ground stop for the airline. The order, which prevented planes from taking off, was issued at the airline's request.

The airline said in an email that the problem was caused by trouble with vendor technology that maintains its flight operating system.

Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing American Airlines pilots, said the airline told pilots at 7 a.m. Eastern that there was an outage affecting the system known as FOS. It handles different types of airline operations, including dispatch, flight planning, passenger boarding, as well as an airplane's weight and balance data, he said.

Some components of FOS have gone down in the past, but a systemwide outage is rare, Tajer said.

Hours after the ground stop was lifted, Tajer said the union had not heard about any “chaos out there beyond just the normal heavy travel day.” He said officials were watching for any cascading effects, such as staffing problems.

Flights were delayed across American's major hubs, with only 37% leaving on time, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Out of the 3,901 domestic and international American Airlines flights scheduled for Tuesday, 19 were canceled.

Cirium noted that the vast majority of flights were departing within two hours of their scheduled departure time. A similar percentage — 36% — were arriving at their destinations as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 3,712 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed Tuesday, with 55 flights canceled. It did not show any flights from American Airlines.

Cirium said Dallas-Fort Worth, New York’s Kennedy Airport and Charlotte, North Carolina, saw the greatest number of delays. Washington, Chicago and Miami experienced considerably fewer delays.

Amid the travel problems, significant rain and snow were expected in the Pacific Northwest at least into Christmas Day. Showers and thunderstorms were developing in the South. Freezing rain was reported in the Mid-Atlantic region near Baltimore and Washington, and snow fell in New York.

Because the holiday travel period lasts weeks, airports and airlines typically have smaller peak days than they do during the rush around Thanksgiving, but the grind of one hectic day followed by another takes a toll on flight crews. And any hiccups — a winter storm or a computer outage — can snowball into massive disruptions.

That is how Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers in December 2022, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. That is especially true for smaller budget airlines that have fewer flights and fewer options for rebooking passengers. Only the largest airlines, including American, Delta and United, have “interline agreements” that let them put stranded customers on another carrier’s flights.

This will be the first holiday season since a Transportation Department rule took effect that requires airlines to give customers an automatic cash refund for a canceled or significantly delayed flight. Most air travelers were already eligible for refunds, but they often had to request them.

Passengers still can ask to get rebooked, which is often a better option than a refund during peak travel periods. That’s because finding a last-minute flight on another airline tends to be expensive.

An American spokesperson said Tuesday was not a peak travel day for the airline — with about 2,000 fewer flights than the busiest days — so the airline had somewhat of a buffer to manage the delays.

The groundings happened as millions of travelers were expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers through Jan. 2.

Airlines expect to have their busiest days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up.

About 90% of Americans traveling far from home over the holidays will be in cars, according to AAA.

“Airline travel is just really high right now, but most people do drive to their destinations, and that is true for every holiday,” AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz said.

Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average Thursday was $3.04 a gallon, down from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA. Charging an electric vehicle averages just under 35 cents per per kilowatt hour, but varies by state.

Transportation-data firm INRIX says travel times on the nation’s highways could be up to 30% longer than normal over the holidays, with Sunday expected to see the heaviest traffic. Boston, New York City, Seattle and Washington are the metropolitan areas primed for the greatest delays, according to the company.

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Associated Press writers David Koenig, Mae Anderson and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.

An employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks past boards showing flight delays, in the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

An employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks past boards showing flight delays, in the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Cesar Davila, who works for the American Airlines partner providing wheelchair assistance, wears a Christmas tree hat and festive glasses as he waits for a traveler to help inside the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Cesar Davila, who works for the American Airlines partner providing wheelchair assistance, wears a Christmas tree hat and festive glasses as he pushes a traveler through the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Two travelers nap near the Alaska Airlines ticketing area at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Travelers wait in line for security checks at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Marie Digna, traveling to Grand Rapids, Mich., enters security with her two sons, Lucian, right, and Samson, at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Travelers wait in line for security checks at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

American Airlines employees, some wearing Santa Claus hats, check in travelers in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat walks through the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat looks toward quiet check-in counters in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

FILE - American Airlines planes wait at gates at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Friday, July 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)