During 2025 and 2026, Lanzini & Sons repaired and reinstalled four existing canvas murals at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California. One mural had fallen from the ceiling, approximately 65 feet above the floor. The fallen canvas was roughly 20 feet wide. Three adjacent murals showed other signs of failure.
Repairing the canvas and painted surfaces
Our mural restoration work addressed rips and cracks in the canvas, chipping paint and other paint damage.
We repaired the affected areas and repainted or inpainted damaged portions as needed.
Painted face repair
Before
During installation
Renewing the attachment at the ceiling
The old adhesive and underlying primer had failed. We suspect heat buildup contributed to the earlier adhesive failure.
Scaffolding was set up in four working positions for the four-mural project. That access allowed us to carry out both the painting repairs and the ceiling attachment work.
We removed the old adhesive and primer from the ceiling’s receiving surface and prepared that area for the renewed system.
We applied new primer and adhesive, then re-adhered the canvas to the ceiling in a process similar to hanging wallpaper.
Concealed mechanical fasteners
After re-adhering the mural, we added concealed mechanical fasteners within the painted composition. These provided an additional means of retention alongside the adhesive.
Three adjacent murals in 2026
The three adjacent canvases had not fallen, but their signs of failure called for intervention. In 2026, we removed each one safely and treated it in the same way: repairing and preparing the receiving area, removing old primer and adhesive, renewing that system, reinstalling the canvas, repairing damage and adding concealed mechanical fasteners.
Other painting restoration projects include the decorative wall painting at St. Anne’s in Porterville and the vandal-damaged St. Cecilia mural at Our Lady of Refuge in Castroville.
Project location: Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1019 11th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
For a painting that needs restoration or a mural that needs reinstallation, send us overall and detail photographs, with its location and any known repair history.
