Saved by an Angel Portrait of Paul Domenic by Lisa Domenic

From the artist and daughter-in-law Lisa Domenic: When my husband was seven years old, he and his brother woke up to a house full of family, police, and strangers. His father had been shot overnight. The community had rallied in support lining up to donate blood outside of Hahnemann Hospital and were there to help take care of them and their mother, who was expecting.  Paul Domenic had suffered near life ending injuries when, as he recounts, an honest mistake caught him in a hail of friendly fire by fellow officers when he was mistaken for the suspect they were in pursuit of. He kept the Policeman’s Prayer tucked together with his badge and that night, while working undercover, it was in his front breast pocket. That night it deflected one of the many bullets and the picture of Saint Michael bears the imprint on the breast plate. Paul keeps it in his wallet today, credits it for saving him and named his third son after the angel. Dedicated to protect and serve and given the second chance at life so many victims do not get, he returned to the work he loved and later retired as a lieutenant. He served as a Peace Officer for the City of Philadelphia for 42 years and two of his sons now serve in the same Police Department.

 From the curator: Lisa has added to this portrait and the collage aspect has become a 3 dimensional piece resembling golden wings. As with all our portraits, it is most impressive in person.