Art: Grand Central Heaven

One of the most gaped-at murals in the U.S. glistened last week with a fresh, 750-gallon coat of paint. The concourse ceiling of Manhattan's Grand Central Station, a 40,000-sq.-ft. turquoise and gold-leaf image of the heavens (a romping Pegasus, twinkling Mazda stars, eight signs of the Zodiac) gleamed as bright as new. The big arched picture-ceiling, put up in 1913, had never before been repainted. It was a ticklish job. The busy, perpetually thronged space beneath it could not be shut off—and a mere half pint of paint dropped no feet might permanently...