Stained glass restoration beautifies Pompeii Shrine
By Sheila Elliott
Stained
glass images have peered over faithful worshippers at the Shrine of Our Lady
of Pompeii for more than 80 years, their brilliant violets, blues, greens,
and golds illuminated by the sun. Parishioners long have been comforted
gazing at St. Liberata, St. Philomena, St. Rocco, St. John the Baptist, St.
Anne, St. Raphael, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and others.
This impressive collection of stained glass art soon will be enhanced with the reinstallation of seven windows that had been removed for restoration.
Windows in the east side have been restored, said Pompeii spokesperson Marcia Piemonte. Combined with the seven other windows to be installed opposite them, the shrine has taken a major step forward in its building restoration program. Ten more need to be removed and restored before that part of the church renovation project is finished.
The newly restored stained glass sits inside Romanesque arches located at least several feet above the tallest visitor, and the windows tower above the average adult. Those who have worked on the restoration project said the shrine’s windows are important because they date to Pompeii’s earliest days and were part of the building's original design, according to Piemonte. Also, the windows on the east and west sides are distinctive because they depict saints who are important to Italian culture and heritage.
Conrad Schmitt Studio, a Wisconsin company, is restoring the windows; Gunar Gruenke oversees the craftsmen and artists responsible for the very detailed, meticulous work.
Gruenke has worked on numerous stained glass restorations and has learned that one of the revealing traits of window art is the quality of the material from which they originally were fabricated. In this aspect, the shrine’s windows stand out because they feature “high quality, turn of the century construction materials,” Gruenke said. The glass itself “is exceptional in that it is so well fired, perfectly and permanently fired.”
Ironically,
one important element in the windows’ creation has eluded those involved in
the restoration: the name of the original artist. Neither Piemonte nor
Gruenke knows who he or she was or even the country in which they were made.
“We think the windows are from Germany and were shipped here,” said Piemonte, noting that opinion really is only a guess. Although some have speculated the windows came from Italy, that seems unlikely, she said. Gruenke added they might be from Austria but quickly noted no one knows for certain.
Regardless of the artist's name or nationality, the effort to restore the stained glass art some 80 years after it were made has been an important undertaking for the shrine. With 14 windows completely restored, and only ten still needing work, the big job should be completed by spring.
“Some needed to be re-leaded,” Piemonte said, while others require more specialized care. Removing the windows, looking for weak, worn, or damaged points, and cleaning are mostly routine in this type of job, she said, although every stained glass window restored presents unique challenges. Yet every successfully restored window brings the goal of a completely renovated church closer, she said.
The Shrine of our Lady of Pompeii is located at 1224 W. Lexington St. For more details on the window restoration campaign, call (312) 421-3757.
