Interiors
Church of Sainte-Amélie of Baie-Comeau
Region: Côte-Nord
The church of Sainte-Amélie was built at Baie-Comeau by the architect Gaston Gagnier between 1937 and 1939. Inspired by the style of the architect Dom Bellot, the building has a steel structure, and the outside is covered with granite. Inside, the building's prominent features are its large ribbed arches. Upon the suggestion of Gagnier, Guido Nincheri was employed to carry out all the interior decoration of the church.
The frescoes were carried out between 1939 and 1945, and they cover the walls and the ceilings of the church on a surface of 1 500 m2. Nincheri also designed 30 stained glass windows which were installed between 1950 and 1960. In early 1996, the community decided to undertake a cleaning of the frescoes. The preliminary examinations revealed two types of damage to the frescoes.
Painted decoration of Saint-Romuald Church of Farnham, Montérégie, carried out between 1905 and 1908 by Ozias Leduc.
Ceiling panels of Sainte-Amélie's Church during cleaning (photo : Pierlucio Pellissier).
Painted decoration of Sainte-Amélie's Church after restoration work (photo : Pierlucio Pellissier).
Detail of a drawing from Sainte-Amélie's Chruch (photo : Pierlucio Pellissier).
Stenciled detail from the painted decoration of Sainte-Amélie's Church (photo: Pierlucio Pellissier).
Chapel of Archevêché de Sherbrooke
Region: Estrie
The neo-gothic chapel of Archevêché of Sherbrooke was completed in 1920. Ozias Leduc carried out the painted decoration between 1921 and 1932. In addition to the paintings on the ribs of the vaults, the ceilings and the false dados, Leduc composed four large canvases depicting the life of the Virgin, which were glued to the walls. The whole chapel was classified as work of art by the Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine in 1993 and is considered a major work by Ozias Leduc.
Restoration of the vault took place between 1995 and 1996. The reinforced canvases (glued directly onto the plaster) as well as the painted decorations were generally in good condition. Some sections of the canvases had detached themselves from the walls, and a layer of dirt covered the surfaces. The examinations also revealed that the canvases were practically no longer varnished.
Treatment consisted of a cleaning of all the surfaces. The old varnish found on the ribs, the decorated borders, and the stenciled paintings was removed. The canvases that had detached the most from the walls were completely removed so that a new layer of adhesive could be applied. Touch-ups were done on the others. Appropriate varnish was applied to the various surfaces.