Andrea Faye Christians meets Joseph Schiro, Head of Conservation at Heritage Malta, and his team, who are busy restoring our national treasures.
In 2002, Heritage Malta was created through the enactment of the Cultural Heritage Act, replacing the former Museums Department and assuming the role of national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. In 2005 the agency was also charged with the takeover of the former Malta Centre for Restoration which has now become a centre of excellence for teaching, training and research as well as the conservation and restoration of Malta’s national treasures.
Schiro explains that, just like a patient, a painting is first examined to identify the symptoms
I meet Head of Conservation at Heritage Malta Joseph Schiro at the old Bighi military hospital in Kalkara. Schiro explains that in a way, this historical site is still a hospital, but now it is ailing historic pieces that are under its care rather than people. It is an interesting and fascinating analogy.
Nowadays, restoration is high-tech stuff. There are three laboratories and each requires its own area of expertise. All members of the restoration team are highly trained. The minimum qualification level is a first degree, but many have read for post-grad degrees and are specialised in particular aspects of their work.
In the first lab, the restoration of paintings and polychrome sculptures is carried out. Here a number of paintings are at various stages of restoration. Malta’s humidity is a serious problem and a number of new arrivals seem to be in a rather sorry state. However, it is of the utmost importance that they are documented and studied from an artistic and technical perspective before any work is undertaken. Rather ironically this lab is located in what was once the surgical block of the hospital. Schiro explains that, just like a patient, a painting is first examined to identify the symptoms. This can be a technical process involving X-raying and examining the painting under ultraviolet light. It is also important to understand any previous repair work that may have been carried out as restoration today functions under the dictum of reversibility.
One work in progress is the restoration of a 15th-century painting of Christ painted by Mattia Preti. Unfortunately, the painting suffered damage in World War II and has a jagged tear that runs across the centre of the canvas. The tear first been filled with a type of plaster and later the weave of the canvas was imitated with colour added later. The result is barely visible to the naked eye and standing at a distance of one metre it is hard to imagine there had ever been any damage at all on the completed sections.
Next year, the painting will be sent abroad to Preti’s hometown of Taverna in Italy as part of an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of his birth.
Adjacent to this stands another much larger painting, also by Preti. This has been removed from its frame, which is also undergoing restoration. This painting is particularly intriguing as on closer examination, another painting underneath has been discovered – this had been incorporated in the later painting. This discovery had caused quite a stir in the artistic world and it was finally concluded that this momentous painting of St Catherine had originally depicted St Paul and traces of his image were eerily just definable under close inspection. Other works being restored are a painting believed to be by Flemish artist Anthony Van Dyck and a 15th-century painted panel. The conservation department also carries out restoration of murals.
The second lab deals with a diverse range of artefacts both large and small made from various materials, most notably, ceramics, glass, metal and stone. There is a dry treatment room for documentation and general conservation work together with a wet treatment area where fume extraction for chemical treatment is carried out. A spray room also exists as a special facility for work involving high noise or dust levels.
The third laboratory is a textile conservation studio for items made or partly made of textile fibres. Here, the work involves anything from the detailed restoration of a small fan to large rugs, tapestries, uniforms and vestments. There are wet and dry treatment facilities including a quarantine room for infested pieces and the washing and dyeing of materials to be used on restored pieces. Most of the restorative stitching work is also done here.
As Schiro explains, restoration is an expensive business and it’s all too easy just to think of the expense instead of the capital gain of restoring what are often priceless pieces.
As an island steeped in history, there will always be a never-ending need for restoration and conservation. This is without taking into consideration other vast restoration projects that Heritage Malta is currently conducting, including work on Fort St Elmo, Fort Saint Angelo and the Inquisitors Palace as well as maintaining the Megalithic sites.
Heritage Malta is also involved in various public programmes as the key to long-term success is education and generally raising awareness of the importance of preserving Malta’s epic history. The past plays an important part in the present and this, in turn, makes preserving it for future generations a necessity.