Restoration, Phase 1: June 29, 2007

On June 29, 2007, I accompanied a film production crew on a trip around the Calvary Cemetery grounds. Their project ultimately had little to do with Calvary Cemetery and nothing at all to do with the Civil War Memorial, but I showed them this monument on my sight-seeing tour of the grounds. In reviewing some photos from that day I happened to notice this shot capturing the axe-bearer's coattails with a noticeable yellow stain. This yellow stain is not visible in the previous picture taken in April of 2006. This reflects the NYC Parks Department's preliminary work on the statue in which they took samples of the figure from a "discrete location" to determine with confidence the metal with which the figure is made. These tests revealed that the statues are made of bronze. I did not realize at the time that I had captured a picture of the monument's restoration in progress, nor was I even aware at the time that any restoration was under way.