Emvin Cremona paintings in final stages of restoration

Restoration work on a set of 20 original paintings by prominent Maltese artist Emvin Cremona has reached its final stages.

Sixteen paintings have already been restored and work on the remaining four is well underway. The paintings, which depict the life of Our Lady, had served as the original works on which the mosaics adorning the Ta' Pinu Sanctuary in Gozo were commissioned.

This restoration project is being funded by Bank of Valletta under the Heritage Pillar of its Community Programme.

The restorer, Godwin Cutajar, who was entrusted with the restoration works, has just completed the conservation and restoration work on the painting Marriage of Virgin Mary and St Joseph.

The painting, measuring 302cm by 97.5cm, was painted on industrial canvas. The paints used were probably oil. The preparatory and paint layers are so fine that the canvas weave is still visible on the painted surface. Neither the signature nor the date of execution was found on this painting. The restoration process of this latest painting first consisted of the reinforcement of tears and creases. The painting was successively stretched and nailed onto a new wooden stretcher. Superficial dirt and straw were removed. Gold and silver leaf fragments, although part of the painting's history, were removed as these disturbed the aesthetic look of this artefact.

The filling up of lacunae followed, and this was another important step to give the painting a more unified look. Lacunae on the painted areas were filled with restoration paints. Lacunae that also had the preparatory layer missing were deeper and were thus filled with stucco. The painting was finally framed with a transparently varnished wooden strip.

The 16 restored paintings are temporarily being displayed in the sacristy of the sanctuary. Four paintings still require conservation and restoration treatments. Work is proceeding and it is estimated that all the paintings will be restored by October and displayed for viewing by the general public in a new museum room that is currently being set up for this purpose.