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The Boston Public Library is celebrating the return of its renowned John Singer Sargent murals after a long process of restoration with a month-long celebration in October.

Sargent’s masterpieces, a mural series titled “The Triumph of Religion” are housed in the BPL’s national Historic Landmark McKim Building. Dimmed and decayed over the years, the murals have been beautifully restored by Harvard’s Straus Center for Conservation with funding from the Boston Public Library Foundation and grant support from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Controversial for their subject matter, the BPL’s Sargent murals have long provoked awe, and occasionally anger. All are welcome to join the discussion and see Sargent at the BPL.

A “Sargent Sunday" open house will kick off the celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10, in the Sargent Gallery, 3rd Floor McKim Building. The public is invited to a reception to celebrate the completion of the restoration. Visitors can gaze at the murals, enjoy a snack, and strike up a conversation. The BPL's knowledgeable tour guides will be on hand to answer questions.

Come talk about Sargent at an open forum discussion at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 14. A discussion leader will cover a variety of topics including aesthetics, religion and public art, history and the response of the Jewish and Christian communities.

An expert panel will discuss "Triumph or Travesty: Judeo-Christian Controversies Surrounding Sargent" at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 18, in the Abbey Room of the McKim Building. When Sargent installed the panels "Synagogue" and "Church," many observers felt he was at best perpetuating negative images of Judaism from the past, or at worst, that he was anti-Semitic. The placement of these controversial paintings in a public building unleashed a powerful backlash. Speakers will include James Carroll, writer, historian and BPL Trustee, Dr. Philip Cunningham, Center for Christian-Jewish Learning, Boston College, and Adam Strom, Facing History and Ourselves.

"The Murals Over Time: Personal and Professional Responses to Sargent" will be discussed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 27, in the Sargent Gallery. Join an art historian and a conservator who lived with the murals for several months as they cover the paintings and the restoration and their professional and personal responses to these works of art. Speakers will include Dr. Sally M. Promey, Art Historian, University of Maryland, and author of Painting Religion in Public: John Singer Sargent's "Triumph of Religion" at the Boston Public Library and Kate Smith Maurer, Conservator, Straus Center for Conservation, Harvard University Museums.

For more than 150 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America with revolutionary ideas and famous firsts. Established in 1848, the BPL was the first publicly supported municipal library in America , the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library and the first to have a children’s room. Today, the BPL boasts 27 neighborhood branches, free Internet access, two unique restaurants, an award-winning website www.bpl.org and an on-line store featuring reproductions of the BPL’s priceless photographs and artwork. Each year, the BPL hosts nearly 5000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions and serves millions of people in its National Historic Landmark McKim Building in Copley Square . All of its programs and exhibits are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning!

Prepared by the Boston Public Library's Communications Office. For more information about news, programs and events at the BPL, call 617-859-2212 or send a message to the Communications Office.