By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
A striking, 19th century painting depicting the crucifixion of Christ nearly ended up in the trash heap before it was rescued in the 1960s by a parishioner at the historic St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Now, the artwork has been restored and is prominently displayed again in the former Sea Isle City church after a nearly 60-year absence.
The oil painting, known as “Christ on the Cross,” was unveiled during a public viewing on Good Friday, the day Catholics commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus.
Two families with longtime ties to the church helped to save the painting and have it vividly restored before it was returned to St. Joseph’s.
Measuring 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide, the painting now hangs on the south wall of the old church, framed by two arched, stained-glass windows. A light fixture directly above the painting bathes Christ in white light.
The painting was done in 1890 by the Italian artist Luca Sacco. Decades ago, it served as a centerpiece of the historic church while hanging on the wall above the altar.
When St. Joseph’s altar was removed around 1966 or 1967 to conform with changes ordered by the Vatican for how church services were conducted worldwide, the painting was removed and was nearly discarded.
Frances Romano Steelman, a parishioner, recalled that her late father, Frank Romano, who was also a church member, was doing plumbing work at St. Joseph’s in the 1960s when he spotted the painting.
“He asked them what was going to happen to the painting. They told him they were getting rid of it, that they were throwing it out,” Steelman said.
However, Romano saved the painting, took it home and had it framed. It hung on the wall on the second floor of his house at 122 42nd Street in Sea Isle.
“The painting was so inspiring to them. It meant so much to them,” Steelman said of her father and her mother, Amelia Romano.
After her parents died and their house was demolished, Steelman took possession of the painting and placed it in climate-controlled storage. She donated the painting in 2022 to Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church, a preservation group that has been restoring the 139-year-old building.
But the painting was damaged and needed restoration to return it to its original splendor. Another church member, Vincent L. Lamanna Jr., paid $4,800 to have it restored in memory of his late parents, Albina and Vincent Lamanna Sr.
“This is the church I grew up in. We had family funerals here. We had family baptisms. It was a family church for us,” Vincent Lamanna Jr. said in an interview.
Lamanna noted that he had served as an altar boy at St. Joseph’s and graduated from eighth grade in 1954 at the church school. He is now 82 years old and is an attorney.
He believes that the restored painting will complement the restoration work being done on the old church and will also help to draw more people to the building.
“I’m getting to see people I haven’t seen for years,” Lamanna said of the public viewing for the painting.
A plaque has been erected in honor of the Lamannas, the Romanos and Steelman to recognize their roles in the painting’s return to the old church.
The Gothic-style old church is located at the corner of 44th Street and Landis Avenue and stands side-by-side with the modern $7 million St. Joseph Catholic Church that opened in December 2011.
The new church includes a 1,300-seat sanctuary that serves as the main worship hall for the congregation. The old church has since been decommissioned by the Vatican as a sacred place of worship, but continues as a religious, historic and cultural landmark in Sea Isle. It was built just two years after the founding of Sea Isle in 1882 by visionary real estate developer Charles K. Landis.
Mike Boyle, a parishioner and trustee of Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church, praised Father Perry Cherubini, the pastor of St. Joseph’s, for allowing the preservation group to hang the restored painting in the building.
“Father Perry has been very accommodating and allowed us to open up today,” Boyle said of the painting’s public viewing.
Luca Sacco, the Italian artist who painted the crucifixion of Christ, was born in 1858 and died in 1912. He specialized in portrait, historical and religious paintings, according to his biography posted online.
According to a history of the painting, Sacco won a competition in Italy for “Christ on the Cross.” The painting was originally destined for a Philadelphia church.
It remains a mystery how and when the painting was moved from Philadelphia and found its way to Sea Isle City at St. Joseph Catholic Church.
“It gets people in to see it. It’s like coming home again when you come here,” Boyle said of the painting’s impact on the parishioners.
