Verdala Palace murals being brought to light

The slow, patient labour of Heritage Malta conservators, under the guidance of Italian Roberta De Angelis, is bringing back to life a mural series of mythological figures in the vaults of the main hall at Verdala Palace, in Buskett.

The hall is embellished with lunettes showing episodes from the life of Grand Master Verdalle while the vaulted ceiling was adorned with mythological figures framed within an architectural painted decoration.

Theresa Vella, Heritage Malta's senior curator for fine arts and palaces, said there was very limited historical information on the vault paintings.

Heritage Malta was keen to hear from anyone who may have recollections of the murals before they were painted over.

The vault paintings were covered with two coats of paint in the 1930s. Ms De Angelis, together with Francesca Muscat, Ritianne Psaila and Lisa Ambrogio are painstakingly removing the paint to uncover the paintings.

The work is extremely delicate, as they attempt to save as much of the original as possible while removing the intrusive layers. Where necessary, they secure loose parts that come off in the process.

Art historian Bernadine Scicluna said the paintings are traditionally dated to the late 16th century and are attributed to Filippo Paladini.

There is, however, no known documentary evidence to back this up.

Giuseppe CalG touched up the mythological figures between 1908 and 1912 and some 20 years later, the paintings were covered by a beige whitewash.

A watercolour painting kept in the archives of the Museum of the Order of St John in the UK, and dated to about 1890, shows what the vault paintings looked like at the time. But there are significant differences from how the paintings look now.

"It is evident that the colour of some of the drapery the figures are wearing was changed, possibly by Giuseppe Cali'. There could be various reasons for this change.

"Through this conservation we are doing our best to shed light on what led to this change. In the past, artists and restorers had a free hand when intervening on paintings.

"Nowadays we try to intervene less and conserve more and whatever we do is reversible so that, if need be, the materials we are using can be removed," Ms De Angelis said. The first attempt to uncover these paintings was in the late 1980s when restorer George Farrugia from the then Museums Department unveiled some of the figures.

In 2003 the Malta Centre for Restoration completed the removal of the beige coat of paint that revealed the figures representing Bacchus and Mars.

A more thorough exercise is now being carried out to reveal all the ceiling paintings.

The process started at the end of last July and is expected to be complete by August.

"It is difficult to explain the complexity of a project like this, with a painting with such a rich history and sequence of events.

"One should also consider the fact that a large part of the paintings was covered, and this limited the inspection of the paintings," Ms De Angelis said.

The restoration works are being undertaken by Heritage Malta, spurred by President Eddie Fenech Adami.

The sponsors include Tumas Group, Gasan Group, Polidano Brothers and the Malta Financial Services Authority.