'The Martyrdom of St Lawrence' undergoing restoration at St John's

An important painting by Mattia Preti showing the martyrdom of St Lawrence, is to be restored thanks to a €12,000 sponsorship by APS Bank. The painting hangs in the Chapel of the langue of Aragon at St John's Co-Cathedral.

The whole chapel is currently being restored by the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation.

The painting fits in one of the two lunettes of the chapel.

Paul A. Attard, president of The St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation, said that one of the major aims of the foundation was to generate revenue for the maintenance and restoration of the co-cathedral's works of art and artefacts. Funds were never enough and the initiative of the APS Bank, which had offered to sponsor the restoration of the painting, was much appreciated and highly commended. He encouraged other entities, especially those that benefit from tourism, to contribute to safeguarding this unique and precious monument.

This restoration project has been entrusted to RECOOP, an expert local firm of restorers.

The canvas of the painting has suffered several tears and the wooden frame has deformed, weakening the tension of the canvas. The paint layers lack cohesiveness and the risk of losing some of the pictorial areas is imminent.

Cynthia de Giorgio, the Curator and CEO at St John's, said that the painting had previously undergone restoration where it was glued to a wooden support and was heavily over-painted and given several layers of varnish which had oxidised and darkened the canvas. As a result, the painting, which is typical of Preti's mature style, forceful in both composition and technique had lost much of its aesthetic appeal masking the vibrant colours and sharp draughtsmanship for which Preti is well known.

The restoration procedure shall consist of the removal of the wooden support, the old varnishes and the over-painting. This will be followed by consolidation of the pictorial layers and relining after which the painting will be fitted with a new stretcher frame.

The Chapel of the Langue of Aragon is the third chapel on the right of the Co-Cathedral and was allocated to this langue by Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt as a result of a decision reached during the General Chapter meeting of 1603 to assign to each langue the responsibility of a chapel. The Chapel of Aragon also holds Preti's famous painting of St George and the Dragon commissioned by Grand Master Martin de Redin.