New York Public Library Lions

New York Public Library, New York, NY

At the request of the New York Public Library, we performed maintenance cleaning on the iconic Tennessee marble lion sculptures “Patience” and “Fortitude” at the 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue entrance to the New York Public Library Building. The goal of the work was to remove iron stains left behind on the stone by holiday wreaths. Cleaning was limited to a light general cleaning and stain removal on the sculptures only; no cleaning of the bases was included.

Using gentle methods, we have removed atmospheric soiling, biological growth, gypsum crusts, and iron stains. Cracks and losses in were filled with injection grout and color matched patching mortar. Work occurred in several campaigns between 2008-2011.