The restoration of the cupola of the chapel at the Cathedral Museum in Mdina is under way thanks to a donation by Fenech & Fenech Advocates and the Fenlex Group, who agreed to fund the necessary works. The management committee of the Metropolitan Cathedral Museum has commissioned the Restoration Directorate/National Museum of Fine Arts to carry out the works to the highest standards.

The cupola, altar and sotto quadro.The cupola, altar and sotto quadro.

This baroque octagonal chapel was constructed under the directions of Bishop Alpheran de Bussan (1728-57) and is a museum in miniature. It is decorated with fine stone carvings finished with coatings of marbled paint, rendering it very imposing. The choice for the painter to embellish the chapel fell on the court painter Antoine de Favray, who created five canvases depicting the titular painting of the Annunciation together with four oval paintings depicting St Peter and St Paul, St John de la Salle and St Charles Borromeo, all signed and dated.

Alpheran thought of constructing a fine marble altar surmounted with a sotto quadro depicting St Francis de Paul by Maltese artist Francesco Zahra. The chapel is fully equipped with a sacristy armoire of Maltese craftsmanship of the 18th century, a fine marble flooring and a domed ceiling which once depicted an architectural trompe l’oeil. During the 19th century, the domed ceiling was painted over with a greyish green coating and was later whitewashed, completely covering the baroque architectural trompe l’oeil which the Cathedral Museum has been seeking to restore for many years.

When invited to tour the museum and the chapel last year, the partners and directors of Fenech & Fenech Advocates and Fenlex, impressed by the rich collection of historical artefacts on display and by the ongoing efforts to restore the exhibits, offered to fully sponsor the restoration of the architectural trompe l’oeil depicted on the domed ceiling of the chapel.

This was also because the preservation of Maltese art and culture is a key priority in the expression of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility.

The management committee of the Metropolitan Cathedral Museum was delighted to accept this generous sponsorship and looks forward to unveiling the cupola and the chapel restored to their original splendour in the coming months.

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