Thrissur: Mural paintings nearly 250 years old are being retrieved from under several layers of paints laid over them without knowing their antiqueness and artistic value at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral Pazhanji near here.
The church had a history of nearly 500 years and was constructed by those who escaped from the Arthat Orthodox Church near Kunnamkulam during the invasion of Tipu Sultan."Even though the paintings slowly started appearing on the wall in the 1990s after the layers of wall paint laid over them started coming apart, the church authorities and the laity have now decided to conserve it with the help of mural artists from Kozhikode," Joseph Cheruvathur, the priest at the church, said.The paintings convey three biblical themes - sin, salvation and faith.
"The theme regarding faith is conveyed through paintings of Abraham setting up the altar to sacrifice his son," said Kozhikode-based mural artist V.M. Jijulal, whom the church entrusted with the retrieval.
"This is the smallest among the paintings, and the other paintings are spread across 12 x 9 ft on the church walls."
An alumnus of Guruvayur Devaswom Institute of Mural Painting, he said that the antique paintings show Roman influence and the conservation of the two-and-a-half centuries-old paintings is done using traditional methods by treating the walls with sand, lime, jaggery and stems of climber plants along with other materials.
