Today I wished to introduce our readers to Daprato-Rigali Studios, a Chicago based firm that has been in operation since 1860, originally founded by four Italian brothers -- the Daprato's -- originally as a statuary company. Eventually, a young intern, John Rigali, would suggest that the company consider switching its focus from statuettes provided to people to altars and statues for churches. By the turn of the 20th century, the company had grown and expanded beyond its Chicago base into New York and Montreal, expanding its operations further into full scale ecclesiastical interior decoration.
In 1910, Pope St. Pius X bestowed on the firm the honour of being a "Pontifical Institute of Christian Art."
Daprato-Rigali offers a wide range of services (which you can read about here), but for today I wished to highlight just a few of their past projects, one of which includes the well known church of St. John Cantius in Chicago -- which will be very familiar to many LAJ readers. With that in mind, let's begin with St. John Cantius where Daprato-Rigali has been working for many years now, including decorative painting, stenciling, faux finish, cleaning, marbleizing, stained glass window restoration and repair.
Next we have their work at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, IL. where they were hired to undertake "re-plastering and repair of water damage, stained glass window restoration, altar and furnishings restoration, new marble flooring in the nave and sanctuary... new painted angels installed in the apse in the sanctuary, and a beautiful blue ceiling was painted the length of the nave..." Let's take a look.
Finally, just one more from their extensive portfolio, this time coming from St. Hedwig's in Chicago where they "completely restored the Altar and re-painted the entire church interior. We conserved and cleaned all murals, performed extensive and continuous plaster repair and installed new flooring."
For more information, or to see more of their work, please visit them on social media, or by way of their website.
