As Carlos Nunes and his team uncover the visual glories that have been plastered, painted and papered over in historic churches, he can’t help but joke about what that work has meant to him and the livelihood of other fine art restorers.

The restored, glorious, award-winning sanctuary of St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica distracts a little from the unfin-ished business underneath and tucked in back. Though the construction scaffold-ing is gone and the earth movers are no longer parked outside, there’s still work to do on Toronto’s Catholic cathedral, said St. Michael’s Rector Fr. Michael Busch.