Verdala's whitewashed frescos slowly becoming visible

The restoration of the 16th century frescos on the vaults of the main hall of the Verdala Palace, in Buskett, is "well underway", President Eddie Fenech Adami said during a visit to the palace.

The full-blown restoration project by Heritage Malta, estimated to cost at least Lm40,000, is being sponsored by the Malta Financial Services Authority and entrepreneurs Joe Gasan of Gasan Group, George Fenech of the Tumas Group and contractor Charles Polidano.

Since the project was launched in last December, large parts of the frescos have been uncovered to reveal characters from Greek mythology including Hercules, Neptune, Bacchus and Mars by the restoration team led by Roberta DeAngelis of Heritage Malta.

Ms DeAngelis explained that besides removing the beige whitewash, the team is assessing the condition of the paintings and acquiring data on their history.

"The big challenge is to uncover pictures which you do not see," she said, explaining that the restoration process involved a study of the kind of solution that was used to whitewash the mural paintings.

It is believed that the paintings, which were whitewashed over in the early 20th century, are the work of Filippo Paladini, who also painted the lunette scenes from the life of Grand Master Verdala (1582-1595), who built the palace.

Several attempts have been made, by the Malta Centre for Restoration among others, to remove the top layer in the past years but never has a full-blown restoration project been launched to bring the frescos back to their original splendour.

Designed by Maltese engineer Glormu Cassar in 1586, the Verdala Palace was used as a hunting base for the grand masters. It was temporarily turned into a prison in 1800 when the French surrendered to the British.

It fell into disrepair for several years until it was given a facelift by British governor William Reid in 1855.

In 1982, it was turned into the official government guest house hosting visiting heads of state.