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 Finished the restoration of this Life size corpus last month, I polychromed & gilded the piece, then David re-installed onto the sanctuary wall. It was part of a rood screen which had been in storage for some years... Father James saw its potential, and I was happy to be part of re-instating it and for it to see the light of day once again.
The Bambino from the crib set of the church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Wigan is restored.  Baby's broken arm poorly repaired  The repair has not held  The plastic putty has fractured the plaster  A new mould is made to cast a new arm  Old arm, clay model & plaster cast  The new cast is offered up to the remaining arm stub  The new arm is attached and the Bambino repainted.  This small statuette of Saint Joan, (my own patron saint), is beautifully modeled. Her banner was broken and the paintwork shabby. The decoration on her banner looked a little sad, with the names "JHESUS" and "MARIA" painted in a commonplace manner. Joan loved her banner, because in holding it, she did not hold a weapon. During her trial, Joan was asked which she loved best, her sword or her banner, to which she answered : " It was I who carried the aforementioned sign when I charged the enemy. I did so to avoid killing any one. I have never killed a man." Her captors asked her if carrying of the banner was her own idea, she replied that Saint Catherine and Saint Marguerite had told her ; "that she should take and carry the Standard boldly on the part of the King of Heaven." The flag was therefore decorated in a manner which honoured the king of heaven. One contemporary account of 1429, by the merchant Morosini described it thus: “she carries also a white standard on which Our Triune Lord holds in one hand the world and the other is raised in blessing. On each side (of Christ) is an angel who presents Him a fleurs de lys, as the symbol of the kings of France.” I think it is a good thing to be historically accurate, where this is practical. This statuette is displayed in a small church, and so I enriched the banner with the image of Christ enthroned, flanked by angels.   An older statue may undergo a number of makeovers during its existence; some better than others. Eventually, it becomes something the artist never intended. This statue belongs to a school, and some of its pupils may be future artists who will be inspired by the art they see. Here is an example of a four year old's interpretation of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus. Look at the concern the child has captured in Veronica's eyes, as she reaches out to a tearful Jesus.  Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, by 4 year old child. Long faced saints This statue of St.Chad had been repaired several times, with adverse affects to its appearance. The shape of the chin was overly large, and the upper lip sagged. The resulting caricature was not the sort of long face one wants to see on a Monday school morning...its possible that it had been adapted from a popular bearded saint, to a clean shaven one.  Musing on the reason for his dour expression, it was noted that the mitre was rather pinched. It appeared to have shrunk in the wash, perhaps causing the saint a headache. I pondered how the mitre could look if corrected...  The other problems included a broken crozier, and twisted arm. The arm had been formed from a grey putty. As plaster and putty are not compatible, they would never "marry up" and the break at the elbow would be permanent if it were not removed.  I used a hack saw to remove the miscreant limb, and modeled a replacement in clay. From this I produced a plaster cast, and attached the new limb with a new internal support iron. Completing the makeover Once all of the "messy" repair works were complete, I was able to prep the statue in readiness for its re-decoration. The photo below shows how truncated the arm had become due to old repairs. The mitre was remodelled to fit, and lower jaw reduced.  Early medieval Bishop vestments Early medieval bishops would have worn a dalmatic, although these are often painted as cottas. The difference between the two, is that one will have an obvious fringing, and the latter a lace hem. This small statue of St.Chad had the fringe with open sides, meaning he was wearing the dalmatic. With the arm now at the correct length, I could add the dalmatic sleeve to his blessing arm, which completed the makeover. 
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Jeanette Lewis
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