Co-cathedral gets another two restored tapestries

A third pair of priceless Flemish tapestries yesterday started a 15-month journey of restoration at the world famous Belgian De Wit laboratories.

The two tapestries, called The Triumph of Faith and Time Unveiling Truth, form part of a unique set of 29 given to St John's Co-Cathedral by Grand Master Ramon Perellos in 1701. They were based on cartoons by Peter Paul Rubens.

They left Malta on a Belgian military plane that picked them up during a quick stopover from Chad.

While on its way out to Chad on Wednesday, the plane had brought back another two restored tapestries in the set - The Triumph of Charity and The Institution of Jesus Christ - restored at the same laboratories.

The De Wit labs restore pieces from the most prestigious museums around the world.

The stunning, six-metre-high tapestries are now hanging at the Perellos room at St John's Co-Cathedral.

The restoration programme started in 2006 on the initiative of the cathedral foundation, with the first ones to be restored being The Triumph of the Catholic Church and The Portrait of Grand Master Perellos.

The full set will be completed by 2016 at a total cost of €1 million.

The tapestries were at the centre of a controversy earlier this year when an underground museum proposed by the foundation to house them came in for intense criticism.

Eventually, the project was scrapped.

Foundation member Paul Attard yesterday pointed out that the project was a missed opportunity for exhibition space and funding.

"This, however, is a story of the past and we're discussing other proposals," he said.