Damaged Palace painting taken to restoration centre

A portrait of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, which hangs at the President's Palace in Valletta, has been taken to Heritage Malta's restoration centre in Bighi after it was damaged during conservation works.

The portrait of the Grand Master sustained a 10 to 15-centimetre tear at the side where the canvas meets the frame when it was placed to lean against a wall but fell on a chair.

The damage was not considered to be serious, Heritage Malta chief executive officer Luciano Mulè Stagno said. He explained the tear was reversible. It had been temporarily fixed and would now be restored.

Since the work was not planned, it was difficult to tell when the painting would be returned to its place, Heritage Malta senior curator, arts and palaces, Sandro Debono noted.

The incident happened earlier this month when the painting was removed from its usual hanging place in the Palace's corridor during conservation works on the walls. It was placed in the Throne Room leaning against a wall and, somehow, it tipped over and landed on a chair.

Dr Mulè Stagno explained that Heritage Malta investigated the matter and drew up a report, which concluded it had been an accident and not the result of negligence because the painting had been handled according to normal practice.

Had the investigation resulted in negligence, he said, disciplinary action would have been taken against the person responsible.

Grand Master de Vilhena was a Portuguese aristocrat of royal descent who served between 1722 and 1736. To meet the demand for housing and accommodation in Valletta, he laid plans for the building of a suburb in the neighbourhood later called Floriana after architect Pietro Floriani who designed the Floriana Line. A statue of Grand Master Vilhena stands facing St Anne Street in Floriana in the open space between the Catholic Institute and Middlesea House in Floriana.

The Grand Master had built Fort Manoel in Marsamxett Harbour and the Manoel Theatre in Valletta, which is believed to be the second oldest theatre in Europe.

The portrait of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena that usually hangs in the corridors at the President's Palace in Valletta. Image scanned from The Sovereign Palaces Of Malta by Miranda Publishers.