October 18, 2004
Vol. 18 No. 3
Vol. 18 No. 3
FDNY’s Rescue Company 1 Sounds the Alarm
and IFA’s Conservation Center Answers
and IFA’s Conservation Center Answers
By Richard Pierce
In December 2002 Rescue Company 1 of the Fire
Department New York put out a call for help.
Hanging in the back of its historic firehouse, located
on West 43rd Street, is a large-scale oil-on-canvas
painting entitled Reverence for Life. Painted by J. E.
Capriano, the work depicts a major urban
conflagration complete with firefighters rescuing
civilians, extended ladders, water hoses, a burning
building, and in the foreground six firefighters
carrying a fallen comrade in a “stokes basket” out of
harm’s way.
Reverence for Life has always had a special
significance to the officers and firefighters of Rescue
1 but after September 11, 2001, when the company
lost eleven of its own, the picture took on even more
meaning. Firefighter Mike Schunk, an 11-year
veteran whose father and grandfather were
firefighters, decided it was time to restore the
painting, which suffered after years of hanging on a
wall in the firehouse kitchen.
Schunk placed a call to the Conservation Center at
NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, whose chairman,
Michele Marincola, answered his call for help. She
mobilized the Center’s painting conservators and
asked them to take a look at the work. It wasn’t
long before Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Institute
lecturer and paintings conservator in the Samuel H.
Kress Program in Painting Conservation, and Nica
Gutman, associate paintings conservator, paid a visit
to the firehouse themselves.
In December 2002 Rescue Company 1 of the Fire
Department New York put out a call for help.
Hanging in the back of its historic firehouse, located
on West 43rd Street, is a large-scale oil-on-canvas
painting entitled Reverence for Life. Painted by J. E.
Capriano, the work depicts a major urban
conflagration complete with firefighters rescuing
civilians, extended ladders, water hoses, a burning
building, and in the foreground six firefighters
carrying a fallen comrade in a “stokes basket” out of
harm’s way.
Reverence for Life has always had a special
significance to the officers and firefighters of Rescue
1 but after September 11, 2001, when the company
lost eleven of its own, the picture took on even more
meaning. Firefighter Mike Schunk, an 11-year
veteran whose father and grandfather were
firefighters, decided it was time to restore the
painting, which suffered after years of hanging on a
wall in the firehouse kitchen.
Schunk placed a call to the Conservation Center at
NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, whose chairman,
Michele Marincola, answered his call for help. She
mobilized the Center’s painting conservators and
asked them to take a look at the work. It wasn’t
long before Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Institute
lecturer and paintings conservator in the Samuel H.
Kress Program in Painting Conservation, and Nica
Gutman, associate paintings conservator, paid a visit
to the firehouse themselves.
| Reverence for Life by J. E. Capriano |
| IFA graduate students painstakingly cleaned the painting’s surface. |
The work, measuring 8 ft. by 6 ft., is one of Rescue 1’s most cherished possessions in a firehouse full
of mementos. Smoke from cigarettes and cigars, exhaust fumes from the fire trucks, and cooking
grease from countless meals prepared in proximity to the painting had taken a toll on the sentimental
work, which was painted for the men in 1976.
“The image was difficult to make out because of the grime and soot on the surface,” said Modestini.
“The canvas was slack and buckled, and we couldn’t tell if it had been varnished. The firefighters
were worried that the smoke from the kitchen was damaging the paint on the canvas.”
After first making some cleaning tests and finding that the black coating was only dirt, grime, and
grease the restoration process began in earnest. Five graduate students—Lauren Fly, Kelly Keegan,
Joanne Klaar, Wanji Seo, and Gawain Weaver—under the supervision of Modestini and Gutman
began to painstakingly clean the painting’s surface.
“Typically, our students work on old master paintings, primarily Italian, or on paintings that we have
specially selected because of a particular structural problem that we find interesting,” said Modestini.
“We would not have taken on this painting under any circumstances were it not for the men of
Rescue 1 reaching out to us. We could see how much it meant to them, and we decided we had to
help.”
The Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts is dedicated to the study of the technology and
conservation of works of art and historic artifacts. It prepares students for careers in conservation
through a four-year program that combines practical experience in conservation with historical,
archaeological, curatorial, and scientific studies of the materials and construction of works of art.
Students undertake research projects, laboratory work, seminars, and gain intensive conservation
experience through advanced fieldwork and an internship.
“The dirt, grime and grease were very stubborn,” said Modestini. “They had worked their way deep
into the canvas. It was necessary to clean the surface three times because the dirt was so stubborn.
We used an enzyme and another agent specifically for removing grime, a one percent solution of tri
ammonium citrate in water, and gradually the painting was brought back to life that way.”
The 32-man unit of New York’s bravest, organized in 1915, is the oldest rescue company in the
United States. Their core job is saving other firefighters from all manner of dangerous situations. With
a truck full of specialty equipment these highly trained men are the equivalent of the Green Berets or
Navy Seals of the fire department. But there was one job even this group of elite professionals was
unable to do on their own.
It took over twelve months and hundreds of hours of labor by the staff and students of the
Conservation Center to restore Reverence for Life. Last month, three days before the third
anniversary of 9/11, members of Rescue 1 rolled up in front of the Conservation Center on 78th
Street to reclaim the work.
“Our members were astounded when they saw the painting after it was cleaned,” said Schunk. “The
difference was almost like night and day. You could see details that were not visible before it was
cleaned. The work has taken on a whole new meaning for us. We couldn’t be more pleased with the
results.”
of mementos. Smoke from cigarettes and cigars, exhaust fumes from the fire trucks, and cooking
grease from countless meals prepared in proximity to the painting had taken a toll on the sentimental
work, which was painted for the men in 1976.
“The image was difficult to make out because of the grime and soot on the surface,” said Modestini.
“The canvas was slack and buckled, and we couldn’t tell if it had been varnished. The firefighters
were worried that the smoke from the kitchen was damaging the paint on the canvas.”
After first making some cleaning tests and finding that the black coating was only dirt, grime, and
grease the restoration process began in earnest. Five graduate students—Lauren Fly, Kelly Keegan,
Joanne Klaar, Wanji Seo, and Gawain Weaver—under the supervision of Modestini and Gutman
began to painstakingly clean the painting’s surface.
“Typically, our students work on old master paintings, primarily Italian, or on paintings that we have
specially selected because of a particular structural problem that we find interesting,” said Modestini.
“We would not have taken on this painting under any circumstances were it not for the men of
Rescue 1 reaching out to us. We could see how much it meant to them, and we decided we had to
help.”
The Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts is dedicated to the study of the technology and
conservation of works of art and historic artifacts. It prepares students for careers in conservation
through a four-year program that combines practical experience in conservation with historical,
archaeological, curatorial, and scientific studies of the materials and construction of works of art.
Students undertake research projects, laboratory work, seminars, and gain intensive conservation
experience through advanced fieldwork and an internship.
“The dirt, grime and grease were very stubborn,” said Modestini. “They had worked their way deep
into the canvas. It was necessary to clean the surface three times because the dirt was so stubborn.
We used an enzyme and another agent specifically for removing grime, a one percent solution of tri
ammonium citrate in water, and gradually the painting was brought back to life that way.”
The 32-man unit of New York’s bravest, organized in 1915, is the oldest rescue company in the
United States. Their core job is saving other firefighters from all manner of dangerous situations. With
a truck full of specialty equipment these highly trained men are the equivalent of the Green Berets or
Navy Seals of the fire department. But there was one job even this group of elite professionals was
unable to do on their own.
It took over twelve months and hundreds of hours of labor by the staff and students of the
Conservation Center to restore Reverence for Life. Last month, three days before the third
anniversary of 9/11, members of Rescue 1 rolled up in front of the Conservation Center on 78th
Street to reclaim the work.
“Our members were astounded when they saw the painting after it was cleaned,” said Schunk. “The
difference was almost like night and day. You could see details that were not visible before it was
cleaned. The work has taken on a whole new meaning for us. We couldn’t be more pleased with the
results.”