Inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Italian restorationists have uncovered many ancient mosaics and have restored their tile colors, bringing these beautiful pictures back to life. The newest restored mosaic features an angel.
With thermal cameras, similar to those used by the military at night, they scanned the walls to see if there was anything behind them, said Giammarco Piacenti, CEO of the Piacenti restoration company which is leading the work.
“In that part it was completely different, you could see the angel. We said ‘what is this? It can’t be an angel’,” he told AFP.
After peeling back the plaster they uncovered the mosaic, bringing the number of angels in the church to seven.
Its outstretched hand is pointing in the direction of the cave where Jesus is believed to have been born.
And the discovery has already spawned a myth after the excavator who discovered it, who happened to be Piacenti’s niece, became pregnant shortly afterwards.
Read the complete article on ifcj.org
