May 15 (UPI) -- A historic painting that formerly was displayed at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., will be on display once again.
"We are moving Jesus out of the basement," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in a news release and video on Thursday.
"To all the great midshipmen at the Merchant Marine Academy, you let me know how important this painting was to all of you," Duffy said.
"Now we all know it was taken out of a place of prominence and put down in the basement."
Duffy called the painting "historic" and said he worked with the academy to display it once again.
"This painting is going to go from the basement back to its place of prominence," Duffy said. "It will be a moment to celebrate."
Midshipmen welcome painting's return
Duffy announced the painting's pending relocation while visiting the academy in April.
Midshipmen gave a loud and long applause upon hearing the painting would be restored to its former place of prominence, the Catholic News Agency reported.
Marine artist Lt. Hunter Wood of the U.S. Maritime Service painted the artwork in 1944 and named it "Jesus and Lifeboat."
The artwork portrays a lifeboat full of Merchant Marines whose vessel was torpedoed and sunk during World War II.
It shows Jesus appearing before them to guide the way to safety amid rough seas.
Wood likely used sail canvas, marine paint and spar varnish to create the artwork that was to be hung in a chapel being built in 1944 at the Merchant Marine Cadet Basic School in San Mateo, Calif.
The San Mateo Merchant Marine Academy closed in 1947, and the painting was transferred to its current location.
The painting had been displayed for nearly eight decades in the Elliot M. See Room in the Marchant Marine Academy's Wily Hall interfaith chapel.
A complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation prompted the Biden administration to remove the painting in 2023 and store it in the academy's flood-prone chapel basement, the news release says.
The academy had the painting professionally conserved and cleaned prior to moving it to the chapel's basement.
Artist was a seasoned sailor
Artist Hunter Wood is the son of marine painter Worden George Wood and began training at what now is the New York Maritime College in 1925 when he was 17.
Wood sailed for several steamship companies during the 1930s and created painted advertising works.
He also earned a commercial pilot's license and served in the New York National Guard before joining the U.S. Coast Guard on Dec. 17, 1941.
Wood saw action during the invasion of North Africa in 1942 and afterward became a member of the Coast Guard Combat Artist Unit.
The U.S. Maritime Service commissioned him as a lieutenant in 1944 and assigned him to the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point.
