Lm168,000 restoration job on Italy chapel

Close to Lm168,000 from the fifth Italian financial protocol will go to restore the chapel of Italy in St John's Co-Cathedral, in Valletta to its original splendour.

The agreement for the financing of the project was signed yesterday at St John's by Francis Zammit Dimech, Minister for Resources and the Infrastructure, and by the Italian ambassador, Alvise Memmo.

Mgr Philip Calleja, president of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation, augured that other embassies would take the cue by the Italian embassy and offer their assistance in the restoration of the remaining chapels representing the other langues of the knights of the Order of St John.

The restoration will be carried out by a team led by Sante Guido, of Sante Guido Restauro, who has already been responsible for a number of restoration jobs in St John's Co-Cathedral apart from several public monuments in Malta.

Keith Sciberras, an expert in Baroque art, has compiled documentation about the chapel.

Daniela Apap Bologna, curator at St John's Co-Cathedral and museum, said the historical documentation constitutes the backbone of restoration projects.

The chapel of Italy was built in 1578 and the decoration in stone including the monogram RC for Grand Master Rafael Cotoner was carried out in the 1660s.

The altarpiece by Mattia Preti shows the mystic marriage of St Catherine of Alexandria who was the protectress of the Italian Langue forming part of the Order of St John.

The altar surround was designed by Romano Carapecchia while Ciro Ferri designed the tomb of Rafael Cotoner.

Although known primarily as a painter and draftsman, Ferri designed engravings, architecture and sculpture. He died in Rome in 1689 and his self-portrait is preserved in the Palazzo Pitti, in Florence.

Carapecchia (1666-1783), who created a number of buildings in Rome, eventually settled in Malta, where he designed several projects transforming Valletta and its environs into a vibrant hub of baroque artistic activity.

Joseph Galea Naudi, executive secretary of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation, said new lunette windows with UV protected glass would be installed in all the chapels.

More funds from the Italian protocol will be used to restore the 16th century organ in the Oratory of St John's which is estimated to cost Lm100,000. For the two restoration projects, the VRP will fork out Lm26,000.

Until a few years ago, the chapel of Italy used to house the St Jerome by Caravaggio which is now exhibited at the oratory in St John's. In its place hangs a high resolution photographic copy of Caravaggio's original.