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Painting from the past: A restoration mission in San Juan Capistrano

The 213-year-old painting of the Crucifixion currently hanging in the Serra Chapel (right) at Mission San Juan Capistrano was only recently revealed. It is believed to have been brought to the mission from Mexico.

The 213-year-old painting of the Crucifixion currently hanging in the Serra Chapel (right) at Mission San Juan Capistrano was only recently revealed. It is believed to have been brought to the mission from Mexico.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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In the early ‘70s, “The Crucifixion” painting, part of the Stations of the Cross at the Serra Chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano, was in bad shape. So a self-taught painter was enlisted to create a copy to be placed over the one painted in 1800. Now the original has been brought to the surface and will be restored.

Looking back

William Maldonado recently at St. Therese Church in Alhambra.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Mission's mission

Mission San Juan Capistrano Executive Director Mechelle Lawrence Adams says “the community lost its collective memory” of the original. The mission will try to raise the tens of thousands of dollars it will cost for the work’s restoration.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

"The Crucifixion"

The recently revealed 213-year-old painting depicts Jesus on the cross.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

12th Station

A close-up of “The Crucifixion,” part of the Serra Chapel’s Stations of the Cross.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The year: 1800

The date of 1800 is visible in the lower left-hand corner of the original painting.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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