In a dark workshop in a Kensington basement, a golden rider sits atop a gilded steed.
At first sight, the gilded bronze statue, hidden behind plastic sheets in a wide, spacious workspace, looks like something out of Indiana Jones.
Surrounded by tools and encased in its gritty plastic protective covering, the brilliant, shining, statue is an impressive sight.
It is French sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet's Joan of Arc, currently in storage at Milner and Carr Restoration, 1431 N. Cadwallader St., after undergoing a complete overhaul.
The statue usually can be found perched high above Kelly Drive near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but in July, the piece was relocated in order to repair a crack in its marble stand and to regild the statue, which was starting to show significant signs of weathering.
Last week, conservator Adam Jenkins carefully examined the glittering, golden statue under an opaque light, searching for any spots in the gilding that might need to be patched.
He said that it had been about 50 years since the piece originally was gilded.
The statue is a bronze copy of the gilded original, located in the Place des Pyramides, the center of Paris.
The 15-foot-tall figure was originally sculpted in 1874; in 1890, the Fairmount Park Art Association brought one of the original three bronze copies to the city.
In 1960, the piece was covered in a fine layer of gold to match the original in France.
"We're restoring it to its original gild," said Jenkins.
He said that when the piece was brought in, the gilding was worn along a seam where rainwater found a path down the statue.
Most noticeably, he said, were two long tracks along each side of the horse's saddle and down the animal's front leg, where runoff made a continual journey.
"Think about it. (Rainwater) is always going to follow the same path," he said.
Also, he said the statue had a sort of tiger-stripped look to it because the original sheets of gold leaf wore down, leaving only golden lines where leaves had overlapped.
Using a grant from the French Heritage Society and $75,000 in funds from the city's capital budget, Jenkins said the conservationists used just under 4,000 sheets of gold leaf to restore the statue to its glittering, original appearance.
In fact, to help protect the statue - he said the gilding acts "like a raincoat" protecting the bronze figure from the elements - Milner and Carr used double weight gold leaf.
Instead of ordinary golf leaf, which weighs in at nine grams of gold per sheet, this striking piece was covered in 22-ounce per sheet gold leaf, imported from Giusto Manetti Goldbeaters of Italy.
The piece is now covered in about $7,200 in gold.
"First, we stripped it down," he said. "We removed all that old paint and oxidation. We gave ourselves a clear slate, an absolutely clean surface."
However, said Jenkins, gilding the statue proved tricky, as Fremiet was noted for his ability to accurately sculpt the anatomy of animals.
That made fitting the delicate, tacky gold leaf into the many, many crevices on the musculature and flesh of the horse and rider exceedingly difficult.
"Fremiet was an absolutely brilliant sculptor. His animals are very lifelike," said Jenkins.
Jenkins, who studied art conservation at the University of Delaware - one of the few schools in the country to offer the program - said he believes that taking time to preserve the works of a fine artist like Fremiet is an important part of our cultural heritage.
"We're preserving cultural history, why not do it?" he asked. "Not to preserve this would be unconscionable."
Taking a walk around the brilliantly shimmering piece, Jenkins pointed out the original artist's attention to detail.
In the ground beneath the horse's feet, there is a hoof print sculpted into the base, making it seem as if Joan of Arc is riding onto heavily traveled land.
The conservator noted the horse's ears. One tilts forward while one is turned backward. This is because warhorses, like the one the young soldier might have ridden, were trained to listen to their rider's commands with one ear and their surroundings with the other.
"It's just intricate detail. That makes it incredibly complicated to gild. These textured areas are a nightmare," he said, pointing to the finely sculpted flesh of the animal. "But, that's fine. It makes it interesting to gild."
The statue will be returned to its rightful spot come spring. Jenkins said the conservators could return the statue at any time "if we could levitate it." But, the gilding needs to set, and the straps needed to move the heavy piece would scratch it.
Stepping back from the piece, Jenkins grinned last week looking at the work the conservation team accomplished over the past few months.
He noted that while the piece is attractive when lit under the false lights of the studio, he believes it will look more beautiful once it is returned to its home on Kelly Drive and is illuminated by the light of the sun.
"It was pretty exciting when it was there, but it's just going to be blinding now," he said.
Reporter Hayden Mitman can be reached at 215-354-3124 or hmitman@phillynews.com
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