There are two aspects of this window that make it especially significant. Also assisting with the framing, masonry surround, plaster, and paint are the following companies: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Bulley Andrews Masonry Restoration Kelly Plastering, National Decorating Service, Gilco Scaffolding, Ralph H. The window will be restored over fourteen months at the New York Venturella Studio. The window will be removed in March 2023 and reinstalled in late spring 2024. This will be the third of our Tiffany windows to undergo restoration by Venturella Studio in New York. Driehaus, to be used for the restoration of the “Mount of the Holy Cross” window, made by Tiffany Studios in 1902. We are very pleased to announce that Friends has received a donation of $500,000 in honor of the late Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, as well as to the four companies that assisted in this complex restoration effort. Once the crown chandelier project has been completed, our electrical attention will turn to rewiring of the remaining under-balcony light fixtures, as well as the rectilinear chandelier in the church narthex (entry lobby). After the restored and rewired chandeliers were reinstalled in late-February, Gilco took down the south balcony scaffolding and reerected it in the north balcony, so that the restoration and rewiring of its crown chandeliers-and angel brackets-can be completed, hopefully by Easter Sunday. These vivid colors had not been visible for nearly a century due to accumulated dirt and soot. One of the unexpected discoveries of the angel bracket restoration effort is that each of the angels, which are situated just below the church’s rose-colored clerestory windows, actually feature different colors of tunic, including yellow, green, blue, and rose. (Parma was the firm responsible for last year’s cleaning and restoration of Frederic Clay Bartlett’s “Tree of Life” mural, which dominates the front wall of the sanctuary see Fall 2022 issue of The Herald.) In early February, while the chandeliers were being restored, Parma Conservation took advantage of the still-extant scaffolding to carefully clean and repair the five plaster angel brackets that support the chandeliers. Fortunately, the old wiring had been housed in steel conduit, which has made replacement much easier. With the crown chandeliers removed, B&Z Electric then replaced the cloth-covered 1901-era wiring connecting all five chandeliers with new wiring, as well as an expanded electrical panel that will provide better efficiencies and improved fire safety. The multi-tiered scaffold enabled the electrical contractor, B&Z Electric, to carefully detach and lower the five south chandeliers to the church floor, where they were collected by Archistoric Products for in-studio restoration, including cleaning, repair, and rewiring. erected a 35- foot-tall scaffold atop the steel-framed south balcony. Driehaus Foundation to fund a complete restoration and rewiring of the church’s other nine crown chandeliers. The success of that chandelier pilot project (see Spring 2022 issue of The Herald) convinced the Richard H. Rewiring of the church’s many original light fixtures has been a priority of Friends, given the threat that electrical fires have posed to other historic churches. Driehaus Foundation, Friends of Historic Second Church was able to remove one of the chandeliers to see if it was possible to easily rewire and restore the 120-year old fixtures. Last year, thanks to a grant from the Richard H. As with most of the church’s distinctive lighting fixtures, the crown chandeliers were designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1901, in collaboration with pioneer lighting designer Willy H. The chandeliers are suspended from a decorative iron chain strung with three additional light fixtures. The crown is topped by ten tall finials (or candle tubes) with glass shaded bulbs. Each of the Arts & Crafts-style chandeliers feature a crown studded by 10 bare light bulbs framed by angel wings. Among the many unique features of Second Presbyterian Church are its 10 highly distinctive “crown chandeliers,” which are hung from angel brackets high above the south and north balconies.
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