17th-century tapestries receive 16-year cleanup

NEW YORK — Think your home furnishings are a dust magnet?

New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine just spent 16 years cleaning and conserving its rare, supersize wall hangings.

Now the historic house of worship is allowing the public to enjoy the fruits of its labor — “The Barberini Tapestries, Scenes from the Life of Christ,” which once graced the Vatican and European palaces. They were designed by baroque master Giovanni Francesco Romanelli; created by weavers for Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, from 1644 to 1656; and donated to the cathedral in 1891, a year before its cornerstone was laid.

The tapestries are kept well-groomed by experts at the Gothic cathedral’s textile-conservation laboratory — a labor-intensive process using dental probes, tweezers and a HEPA vacuum with microsuction attachments.

In addition to removing dust and dirt, the massive undertaking included work on tapestries that suffered smoke and water damage during a 2001 fire.

Ten tapestries, their images woven with wool and silk yarn, are displayed around the cathedral.

The works, hung with hand-sewn fabric fastener, are 15.5 feet high and up to 19 feet wide. There’s plenty of room, though. The Episcopal cathedral in upper Manhattan is larger than France’s Chartres and Notre Dame cathedrals combined.

The exhibit, which also offers educational activities, runs through June 25. The tapestries and artifacts will travel to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Eugene, Oregon, in the fall.

The answer was Adena Mansion, the home of Thomas Worthington, sixth governor of Ohio, in Ross County. Its view of the sun rising over hills inspired the Great Seal of Ohio.

A person with 10 correct answers whose name is chosen randomly in a drawing. Please limit your entries to one per household. The solutions will be published on April 15 — and, yes, I will have the usual Egg Hunt Court of Appeals to settle disputes afterward. Good luck.