Wall painting restorer, Leitner dies

Heinz Leitner, one of the world's best wall painting restorers, died this week at his home in Dresden, aged 54.

Prof. Leitner was best known in Malta for his restoration project on the Mattia Perez d'Aleccio fresco in the Grand Chamber of the Presidential Palace in Valletta. He was commissioned to do this project by the Valletta Rehabilitation Project. The project was stopped half way due to a lack of funds.

He was particularly known for working on maps and on military scenes and was hoping to come to Malta to continue the project though he had not been feeling well over the past two years.

Prof. Leitner was head of the Conservation of the Wall Painting Department at the University of Fine Arts of Dresden.

He worked as a consultant on some projects for Unesco and at the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) course on wall painting. He was a prolific writer and researcher and a long-time ICCROM collaborator.