Belgian foundation to pay for tapestry restoration

The King Baudouin Foundation of Belgium is to sponsor the restoration of one of the tapestries conserved at St John's Co-Cathedral.

Consisting of 29 pieces, the tapestry collection is the largest of its kind in the world and the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation is committed to restoring it.

The Aragonese Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful had commissioned the set of tapestries on his accession in 1697.

They were woven between 1697 and 1700 at the atelier of Judocos de Vos, the court weaver of Louis XIV of France on the designs of various artists including Peter Paul Rubens.

The tapestries, which were designed to be suspended along the main nave of the church, were woven with silk and woollen yarns.

The collection consists of 14 tapestries representing the divine truths of the Catholic faith and episodes from Christ's life and 14 smaller ones representing the Apostles. Another tapestry portrays Grand Master Perellos.

The tapestries are to be restored at the De Wit Laboratories in Belgium at an estimated cost of Lm429,300 (€1,000,000).

The first two tapestries left Malta last November and their restoration is expected to take nearly two years.