The recent case of the application of silver paint to the side of Mdina cathedral is in the process of turning into the latest soap opera.

While the cathedral is claiming that no enforcement order from MEPA was received, MEPA is insisting that not only had the cathedral received the order but that it had acknowledged its receipt!

One would be inclined to burst into fits of laughter had the participants in this developing tit-for-tat not been two respectable institutions. Someone, somewhere for some obscure reason is not telling the whole truth. But regardless of who it is, people want a solution.

The cathedral has insisted that the wall already had a coat of paint applied to it some 50 years ago and that this coat had faded in time. Mdina must be one of the most photographed places on the island and I have yet to see an old picture or postcard that shows this silvery eyesore. Be that as it may, I would have expected the people currently in charge of the upkeep of the cathedral  to be more conscious of our heritage than their counterparts of half a century ago.

The reason given for the silver paint was to protect a Mattia Preti painting from damp. The dome of the church of Our Lady of Porto Salvo in Senglea was covered in paintings by Lazzaro Pisani. To protect them from the elements someone came up with the idea of sealing the dome from the outside. The result was counterproductive as the damp had nowhere to go but inside. The Pisani paintings were lost.

Hopefully the cathedral authorities will realise and admit that covering the wall in silver paint was a mistake.