Another two priceless tapestries to be restored in Belgium

Two tapestries from the priceless collection of 29 conserved at the museum of St John's co-Cathedral in Valletta which were sent to Brussels for restoration last year will be returning to Malta on Monday.

A further two tapestries are being sent to Belgium on the same flight. The Belgian Ministry of Defence is providing the transportation of these tapestries following the intervention of the Belgian Ambassador to Malta Thomas .

The tapestries are being restored on the initiative of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation. The restoration of all the tapestries is a project which will take at least eight years to complete and will cost in the region of one million euros, the foundation said.

The tapestries were commissioned by Aragonese Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful in the late 17^th century. They were woven at the Flemish atelier of Judecos de Vos, famous for being the court weaver of Louis XIV of France. They arrived in Malta in 1701. This set is the largest and one of the few complete ones in the world.

The restored tapestries that are arriving in Malta are ‘The Triumph of the Catholic Church' and ‘The Portrait of Grand Master Perellos' while the other two that are being sent to Belgium this time are ‘The Institution of Corpus Christi' and ‘The Triumph of Charity' (picture)