AP PHOTOS: Inside Maine’s hidden ‘Sistine Chapel’ with 70-year-old frescoes
AP PHOTOS: Inside Maine’s hidden ‘Sistine Chapel’ with 70-year-old frescoes
Veronique Plesch, an art professor at Colby College, gives a lecture to art teachers about the frescoes that adorn the walls and ceiling of the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Visitors view the frescoes at the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Veronique Plesch, an art professor at Colby College, pauses during a tour of the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The unassuming South Solon Meeting House, built in 1842, is pictured Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The South Solon Meeting House, a clapboard building with Gothic architectural influences, is pictured, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A rock wall surrounds the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Veronique Plesch, an art professor at Colby College, gives a lecture to art teachers about the frescoes that adorn the walls and ceiling of the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Veronique Plesch, an art professor at Colby College, gives a lecture to art teachers about the frescoes that adorn the walls and ceiling of the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Visitors view the frescoes at the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Visitors view the frescoes at the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Veronique Plesch, an art professor at Colby College, pauses during a tour of the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Veronique Plesch, an art professor at Colby College, pauses during a tour of the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The unassuming South Solon Meeting House, built in 1842, is pictured Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The unassuming South Solon Meeting House, built in 1842, is pictured Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The South Solon Meeting House, a clapboard building with Gothic architectural influences, is pictured, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
The South Solon Meeting House, a clapboard building with Gothic architectural influences, is pictured, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A rock wall surrounds the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A rock wall surrounds the South Solon Meeting House, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Solon, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
SOLON, Maine (AP) — The recent launch of a website dedicated to frescoes in a Maine meeting house has created a new surge of interest in the paintings.
Colby College students created the website for the South Solon Meeting House. The interior of the building is covered in 70-year-old fresco murals that encourage some in the state’s art community to describe it as “Maine’s Sistine Chapel.”
The murals were painted by artists in the 1950s and have been appreciated by visitors for decades. Colby art professor Véronique Plesch hopes it inspires many more.