Hidden But Now Uncovered: 200-Year-Old Architectural Detail Discovered at St. Mary Church

NEWPORT, RI—A mystery is unfolding at St. Mary's Church on the corner of Spring and Memorial Boulevard. When workers removed the 1,674-pipe organ from the choir loft, as part of a restoration project, they discovered a carving of a woman's face.

She had been concealed and all but forgotten for some 200 years. Now the question is, who is the woman?

"We have three theories," said Rev. Kris von Maluski, the pastor. She could be the Blessed Mother. After all, the church is her namesake, so that's one possibility. However, this woman's face has been cut in half. He's doubtful "anyone in his right mind" would have halved an image, meant to represent Christ's mother.

He also doubts there was anything accidental about this carving or its placement. Architect Patrick Keely's work shows he did everything for a reason.

"Unfortunately, through history, this reason has been lost," he said.

Rev. von Maluski is continuing to research the matter, though. He plans to contact the Keely Society, which maintains information about the architect's life and art, to see if there is an answer or a clue in a similar sculpture in another Keely church.

Keely designed some 600 U.S. churches, including every Roman Catholic cathedral in New England, along with other buildings.

"We may never solve it," he said. But he's convinced Keely was making a statement when he gave the woman's image a place of prominence.

"She deserves to be up there," he said.

But if she's not Mary, she could be Mary Magdalene, he said. Lending some weight to that theory, he said, all the other columns on the same horizontal line are decorated with images of the 12 apostles. Mary Magdalene has often been called the apostle to the apostles, he said.

"For her to be on the same level" visually as the 12, she must have been "someone of great significance" to the Church.

The third theory suggests she's St. Cecilia, patroness of music. But even though the sculpture was discovered in the choir loft, it's possible this woman had nothing to do with music.

"Our choir loft was not original to the church," he said, so the placement of that column might have happened before the loft was installed.

St. Mary's Church is working with parishioner Robert Russell, Ph.D., a Salve University professor in the Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation, Art and Art History, to cast molds of the carving and preserve them for historical and religious purposes, the church said. Dr. Russell, along with his students, are also conducting historical research to try and identify the mysterious woman as part of the University’s Spring 2017 Preservation Planning Studio program.

The students at Salve have already finished plaster molds of both halves of the woman's face. Her image will be displayed in the church, so everyone can see her after the 200 years of hiding, without needing to walk up to the loft.

Meanwhile, the 1958 pipe organ has been sent to the Casavant Frères Company in Quebec, Canada, where it is being restored. The project is part of the church's effort "to raise $1.2 million to preserve the Church building and choir loft, restore the 1958 pipe organ and expand the music program into the community."

Click here to find out more about the St. Mary’s Souls In Harmony campaign.