Emotions and excitement were almost tangible at St John's Co-Cathedral, in Valletta, yesterday as a "historical moment" unfolded with the arrival from Italy of the Caravaggio masterpiece Portrait Of A Knight, which was warmly welcomed after a 400-year absence.

The painting, which flew in from the Galleria Palatina of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, was considered to be an important historical link that would seal the Caravaggio and Paintings of Realism in Malta exhibition, which opens at the co-cathedral tomorrow, celebrating the artist's stay in Malta.

It was almost a case of a homecoming, Portrait Of A Knight having been painted by the artist in 1607/08 in the co-cathedral itself. It was one of the five paintings - or six, according to art historian Keith Sciberras - that were created by Caravaggio in Malta. But of those that had left the island, it is the only one ever to return.

The "impossible journey" - as St John's Co-Cathedral curator Cynthia de Giorgio described it due to such a long absence - was coordinated by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, within the Tourism and Culture Ministry, and was a complex logistical operation for which the ball got rolling a year ago.

It was thanks to the "goodwill" and collaboration of Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech, Italian Ambassador to Malta Paolo Andrea Trabalza, the University of Malta and the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation that the painting was loaned by Palazzo Pitti and was now lying in the oratory, waiting to take up its prepared and rightful position next to the humbling St Jerome and The Beheading of St John the Baptist.

Others involved in the bringing over of the masterpiece were the Soprintendenza Speciale Per Il Polo Museale, Air Malta, Carmelo Caruana Co. Ltd, Joinwell Co. Ltd and the Valletta local council.

MCCA arts executive Davinia Galea was as emotional as the rest, having accompanied the painting from the airport, where it arrived on a freight plane from Rome, and was heavily escorted by police from Florence to the Italian capital and from Luqa to Valletta.

The transportation was smooth, she said, breathing a sigh of relief after overcoming the hiccup of a two-hour delay in its departure from Rome, where it awaited the necessary authorisation. Her mind was now at rest that it was in the right hands, with the appropriate security systems in place.

The Knight, a portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli, was accompanied "from nail to nail" - as the expression goes - by a courier from Palazzo Pitti. It would now be placed in a structure constructed to match that of the St Jerome.

An attempt had even been made to bring over the Sleeping Cupid, also painted by Caravaggio during his stay in Malta and also at the Pitti Palace. But it did not have the go-ahead as it was "resting", having been travelling.

Even the Portrait Of A Knight was meant to be resting but had acquired special permission, Ms Galea said. Ms de Giorgio, who is also co-curator of the exhibition with Dr Sciberras, said it was "like the return of a long-lost boyfriend" and she wanted to bend over the painting that was lying on the floor "to shake his hand".

"We are very fortunate to experience this in our lifetime... as well as the foreigners, who happen to be in Malta at the moment," she said. The painting has been returned to its family, she said.

Dr Sciberras, who had made the first contact with the curator of the Galleria Palatina and is also the scientific consultant to the exhibition, said it included 30 paintings by Caravaggio and the major masters of Caravaggism, who are famous in their own right. It would be proposing these major works to the public for the first time.

Gathered from local institutions and private collections, they were either painted in Malta, commissioned for Malta, or brought over in the 17th century, he said.

Speaking at the unveiling of the painting, Dr Zammit Dimech described it as a "fantastic occasion" that also served to highlight the long-standing friendship and collaboration between Malta and Italy - a sentiment echoed by the Italian ambassador.

Just down the road at the Museum of Archaeology in Republic Street, another Caravaggio exhibition - Caravaggio: L'Immagine Del Divino - is open until the end of November. It forms part of the activities being organised by Heritage Malta marking the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's sojourn in Malta.

Portrait Of A Knight

In the picture above on the right, Caravaggio brilliantly captured the essence of knighthood. Set against a dark void and turning to the right in order to avoid eye contact with the spectators, the knight holds a rosary in his right hand and the hilt of his sword in his left. Sword and rosary beads symbolically refer to the dual role of the Sacra Religione - that of professed Catholic brothers, who were also warriors, explains senior university lecturer Keith Sciberras.

Austere and certainly without much physical adulation, the painting is the result of Caravaggio's frank and direct naturalism. Typical of his late period, the portrait is painted fluidly and rapidly, leaving an impression of the unfinished in certain areas, Dr Sciberras adds.