Renovated figures of angels back atop St. Isaac’s in Petersburg

St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg has had its bronze angel figures reinstalled on the rooftop after a five-year-long renovation. To ensure security, the 15-ton sculptural set was carried to the cathedral under the cover of the night.

According to Russian television Channel One, this was the first time that the bronze angels – one of the best pieces by 19th-century sculptor Ivan Vitali – had been taken down from their position, 35 meters above the ground.

St. Isaac’s bronze angels are represented holding lamps. In the 19th century, those lamps would have been lit to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. By the 21st century, the sculpture’s pedestal decayed, its bronze armature rusted, and its bronze shell became shabby.

“They [the angels] sat [on the rooftop] for 150 years without any major repairs. That’s a long time. [Moreover], during WWII, the cathedral’s southwestern side was badly damaged in the fire from German cannons installed at Pulkovo Heights,” says Alexander Grintsevich, director of the restoration company in charge of the renovation works at St. Isaac’s.

The bronze angels were taken off the roof of St. Isaac’s Cathedral five years ago. Specialists were amazed to discover that the sculpture had been made using electroplating – a rarely employed technique that consists in covering a sculpture’s armature with multiple bronze layers rather than casting it in bronze.

The restoration team spent a long time thinking about what would be the best way to renovate St. Isaac’s angels. One of the options was to remove them and install them in a museum, putting a bronze replica on the rooftop of St. Isaac’s. Eventually, the restorers found what seemed to be the optimum solution, thanks to the assistance from scientists and specialists in military and nanotechnology.

Restorers say the newly renovated bronze angels from St. Isaac’s will not need to be refurbished for 100 years.

The sculpture’s delivery to the site was a carefully planned operation. The piece is huge even when dismantled, measuring three life-size figures. Moving such a massive load is quite a challenge, especially given that the journey from the workshops to St. Isaac’s involves crossing bridges.